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Parenting after a Loss
allergy mamas
Just wondering who else has babies with allergies? If there are enough of us, it might be nice to have a check in and compare notes from doctor visits, helpful resources, flare ups, etc. And then when somebody is newly diagnosed, they have an instant group for support.
So if your LO has allergies, what are they allergic to and how did you know?
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Re: allergy mamas
Known allergies for LO are milk, peanuts and dogs. Additional things that seem to cause flare ups are potatoes, sweet potatoes, and blueberries. He reacted earlier this week and I'm not sure if it was soy or something in hummus. He tested ok for soy, but the allergist said it can develop anytime and is common in folks with milk allergies.
I started asking about allergies around 4 months. His skin was horrid. Like sandpaper everywhere and his scalp, forehead and temples were red and inflamed, with some oozing. They were treating it like cradle cap, but everything was making it worse. I asked 2 pedis, urgent care doc and dermatologist. They all said it is very rare for babies to have allergies and you can't test for it then anyway. I was EPing at the time and had to start supplementing one bottle a day, so I eliminated dairy from my diet and got the hypoallergenic formula. Within 3 days he was much better, so I was even using that information when talking to docs about allergies. Anytime I'd have a little milk in coffee or something, he'd flare up again. At 6 months, pedi said to try milk based formula. He swelled up, vomited massive amounts and spent the night in the hospital. After that we had a blood test and started working with an allergist, who did a skin test. In retrospect, I think additional signs of his allergies are constant waking up and his low weight.
Yep.
DD's colic and massive spitting up should have been my first clue that something was up, but I chalked it up to normal baby colic. It wasn't until she developed awful eczema that I started to wonder whether she had food allergies. Despite the insistence of my pedi and many others that eczema isn't caused or exacerbated by food allergies, we did a bunch of diet eliminations. After I'd eliminated milk, soy, eggs and wheat, she was better, but not fantastic. I was totally frustrated and ended up going to see a practitioner of NAET (Natural Allergy Elimination Treatment). I was skeptical about the treatment, but figured it was worth a try. Through NAET's muscle response testing, we learned that DD was allergic to all of the things I'd already eliminated AND corn. As soon as I took corn (including corn syrup, which meant that I could not eat ANY processed food at all) out of my diet, DD"s eczema cleared up amazingly.
It's funny that we've had some similar experiences. My pedi urged me to try milk-based formula and yogurt when it became clear that my bm supply was tanking. She drank 4 oz of the formula and promptly projectile vomited all over the place (this is the only time she's ever done this). No milk allergy, my ass!
She is no longer allergic to eggs or wheat. We have tested milk and soy recently, and in both cases her eczema flared up immediately. I haven't tried corn yet.
I also agree with you that DD's bad sleep (which just turned into good sleep a month ago) and her low weight were also symptoms of her allergies. She has finally started gaining again. Since I stopped bfing and put her on goat milk two months ago, she's gained 3.5 pounds and is no longer at 0 percentile!
I've been wondering about NAET! Didn't realize you had tried it. Did they just test or also treat the allergies? What does the treatment consist of? I read about the identification of allergies and it seems so crazy, but am willing to give it a shot.
I'm so nervous to try goat's milk. Have some yogurt in the fridge. Knowing it works great for you gives me courage.
We did treatments, too. According to the chiro, she had been "cleared" of her egg and wheat allergies by the time we left. She is indeed not allergic to them - I give her both every day - but I can't say I'm ready to attribute the evaporation of the allergy to NAET. I do think that it helped strengthen her immune system overall, and maybe lessen the allergies a little bit. The real benefit for us, though, was the testing. I never would have thought to eliminate corn, and it was the missing link for us. The change after I stopped eating corn products was amazing.
In the beginning, we suspected that DD was slightly sensitive to goat milk. She would have random breakouts sometimes, and occasionally she will spit quite a lot of it back up. But I was out of options for things to feed her, and if she is sensitive to it, it's really a minor sensitivity.
That said, she did not go into anaphylaxis like your DS did. After that experience, I totally understand your hesitation.
My guy has a milk allergy (or intolerance) and so far I think (knock on wood) that's it...but I'm not totally sure as he still has lingering spots of eczema that don't seem to EVER go away, but he is 98% better.
It peaked for us at 4m too. He had "cradle cap" that was oozing....all over his scalp, forehead, etc. and his belly was all rashy too all the time. They kept saying cradle cap, cradle cap, but I knew it wasn't just that.
Then we had the mucousy stools, sometimes streaked with blood. One on-call doc told me flat out that dairy in my diet could not cause a reaction in him because I "make my own milk." HUH? Finally at his 4m well visit we got to talk to our own doc and she suggested I eliminate dairy and try that. We also tested his stool, but they didn't find any blood when they did that.
I've been dairy free for 2 months now, and within a week he was a changed baby. His sleep improved, he didn't need to be held constantly, his skin cleared, BM's returned to normal. It has been tough for me but now I'm used to it so it's easier, and totally worth it. He still gets the eczema but it's mild now, and sometimes a tummy rash...it comes and goes...but again it's mild...so I don't know if it could be soy (I don't cut out soy but maybe it's a mild intolerance? who knows...). We just started solids a few weeks ago and so far he's been ok with everything.
At his 6m visit the doc told me to at least hold off to 9m before I try re-introducing dairy into my diet, then if all goes well we can try him on something like yogurt, etc. She seems to think he'll grow out of it...I hope so!
Dairy and Soy allergy. I add in a little to my diet every now and then to see how she reacts. Dairy is bad. Soy is worse. Poor thing has extremely painful gas where she screams for hours. She did breakout with baby food bananas (extreme ecezema) but has had fresh ones two days ago and is doing alright. She did not get tested other then stool tested due to blood in stool (showed high levels of lactose - due to her protein allergy). I don't really see the blood anymore thankfully! Pedi does not want her to eat anything with dairy/soy (including hidden).