Dairy challenge

UMichGirl

I'm wondering if what we experienced tonight with ds is related to the challenge we've started with him or something unrelated. Some back info...grandma watched him today so I could get some things done around the house while dh was at work, and she couldn't get him to take an afternoon nap. So when I got him at 4, he'd been awake just over 5 hours. He fell asleep in the car on the way home but from the moment he woke up he was crying and screaming. After finally getting him calmed down after maybe an hour of this, he played happily. For like 5 minutes. Then it was like one big temper tantrum after the other with short periods of happy play in between. He'd writhe around, arch, thrash his arms around hitting me, bite my shoulder, smack himself in the face with his fist, and head bang. All while crying and/or screaming. I've never seen him like this.

We've been giving him yogurt for 6 days now at the direction of his GI nurse. This was the first step in his dairy challenge. Could it just be catching up to him? Or do you think we'd have seen a reaction already? He also had a runny nose and is a bit congested but I know that could be teething related or seasonal allergy related like dh and I get! I'm just at a loss. If this is normal 11.5 month old behavior, fine we will deal. But I hate wondering if it's his poor tummy!! Any ideas?

emberlee3

I definitely think it could be his tummy.  DD used to writhe and arch after every single food we tried.  Often, she would seem fine during the day, except she wouldn't nap, then all night she'd be writhing, arching, and screaming.

Finally, starting at 10 months she has been able to tolerate a few foods.  Right now, her diet consists only of avocado, banana, rice, sweet potato, watermelon, Happy Baby puffs, Rice Chex, and Neocate.  She reacted just as you described to a trial of oats last week. It's frustrating, isn't it?

Rachel*Neocate

It's so hard when they can't just talk and say what's wrong!!  What were your LO's MSPI symptoms before?  Have you been experiencing any stool changes or skin problems, etc with the addition of yogurt to his diet?

It definitely could be the yogurt, I know for my LO his demeanor changes when his tummy hurts due to food challenges.  He is almost 3 now and can finally express when his tummy hurts, and he is still dairy intolerant.  

If his screaming/crying continues I would consider taking yogurt out of his diet for two weeks (all milk actually if you're giving anything else) and see what happens.  The fact that he didn't nap could also be why he was so upset.  Has his sleep been disturbed otherwise?  Still sleeping at night, etc?

I hope your LO feels better soon!