New and MSPI question/help needed, EBFing and upset

hlc820 · February 2012

I EBF and have OS and OALD. I block fed and stopped and had to start block feeding again this past Monday. My history is that LO has reflux. Was on zantac for a month and now switched to prevacid. About a month ago he had three random green tinted diapers and a speck of blood one day, and a streak another day. I called my pedi and her response was that if it wasnt a fissure he probably had a mllk allergy. Her response was "Its an easy fix, you will give him formla.". I told her no, I will eliminate all dairy. She said i can do that but it might not work. Whatever.

I Decided to eliminate obvious dairy to start and bring her his next bloody diaper. He didnt have another. Fast forward a few weeks and now for about a week he has had 75% greenish poops. NOT bright green, just green. ONE was mucousy but that was only once. The past few diapers have had streaks of blood. I brought his diaper in today and she tested it and it was blood. She said i had to eliminate hidden dairy now as well as soy. Sucks, but happy to do. She said she will test another diaper in two weeks and if there is still blood he will have to be put on allementum (sp?). I am NOT happy. Is this true? She said the blood is because the allergy is breaking down his stomach lining. Is formula really where this is headed? I feel like i read so many of you successfully EBF with LO having the allergy? Please encourage me, as I am super upset.

browneyedgoil · February 2012

i'm in the same exact boat as you. i cut dairy & soy (including hidden) which is difficult b/c soy is in EVERYTHING. you have to look for whey, casein, etc which are dairy. my daughter had bloody/mucousy diapers & after one month on alimentum, they was still blood & the dr put her on neocate. we went to an allergist who tested her for the top 8 allergens on skin prick, but they were all negative. it's so frustrating b/c they just assume it's milk/soy because those are the top allergens. he told me to also try to limit egg. he explained that it is more of a delayed allergy that causes inflammation in the intestines b/c she cannot break down the proteins. the alimentum still has casein which is milk but most babies can tolerate that. mine couldn't. she is doing really well on the neocate. he told me that once the blood clears, i can try to add ounce breastmilk into her neocate & see if the blood resumes. if it doesn't, i can add an ounce more & keep going from there. but he did warn that babies that go on neocate usually don't do well w/ going back to breastfeeding.

i'm with you. i was hysterically crying when i had to stop breastfeeding. i am pumping to keep up my supply & it is so exhausting. i'm also scared that when i try to breastfeed her, she isn't going to want to because now she is used to formula and bottles. ugh!

the thing that helps me, is that #1 you want the blood to go away & for the baby to be happy and comfortable. since we put her on the neocate, she is so happy/no gas never cries & is sleeping 8-9 hours per night for the first time.

once i do try the breastmilk, if the blood returns, i know that i will just have to give up to do what is best for my daughter.

www.enjoylifefoods.com (they have some top 8 allergen free foods)

good luck- i know it's a hard road. i have cried so many days. i just hope it's all worth it & i can go back to bf'ing her. it takes time for the dairy to completely leave your system & your babies (can take up to a month)

GE · February 2012

Took a full month for all the dairy and soy to get out of my system and DS diapers to be mucous/blood free. He actually still had green poops off and on until we started solids and now still has a green one here or there but as long as there is no blood or mucous and they are not too frequent, green is totally fine. Dairy free/soy free is totally doable, really hard but doable. I too was in tears over possibly quitting breeding at 2 months. I powered on and he stayed EBF until he was 4 months and I had to start supplementing due to going back to work. First we tried the Alimentum and I thought he had a reaction to it, then we tired Elecare which he was on for a few weeks but he totally hated it and I had to mix bottles with mostly breast milk. We tired the Ali again when he turned five months and he did not have a reaction. He is currently bfed for his morning and evening feeding and getting formula during the day. He will be seven months next week. I never thought I could do this diet this long, originally was just committed to when he turned six months, but mow I care about bfeeding way more then I care about food. I'm planning to continue as long as he doesn't have teeth and still seems interested. Do you have a whole foods near you? This has been my saving grace- they have dairy free/soy free bread and other products. Soy was the hardest for me. It's in everything! One the plus side it's a good weight loss diet!

hlc820 · February 2012

GE:
Do you have a whole foods near you? This has been my saving grace- they have dairy free/soy free bread and other products. Soy was the hardest for me. It's in everything! One the plus side it's a good weight loss diet!

I have a Wegmans up the block and a whole foods 15 minutes away. There is also a natural food market nearby. The hard part it locating foods throughout the store as their isn't a particular section. I often find suitable stuff when I was looking for snacks in the gluten free aisle as some of that stuff is also soy/dairy/casein free. I already have almond milk and earths balance butter spread. I dont eat cheese or cream etc. I haven't in about a month. So it must be the hidden dairy or soy. I guess time will tell.

browneyedgoil · February 2012

GE:
Took a full month for all the dairy and soy to get out of my system and DS diapers to be mucous/blood free. He actually still had green poops off and on until we started solids and now still has a green one here or there but as long as there is no blood or mucous and they are not too frequent, green is totally fine. Dairy free/soy free is totally doable, really hard but doable. I too was in tears over possibly quitting breeding at 2 months. I powered on and he stayed EBF until he was 4 months and I had to start supplementing due to going back to work. First we tried the Alimentum and I thought he had a reaction to it, then we tired Elecare which he was on for a few weeks but he totally hated it and I had to mix bottles with mostly breast milk. We tired the Ali again when he turned five months and he did not have a reaction. He is currently bfed for his morning and evening feeding and getting formula during the day. He will be seven months next week. I never thought I could do this diet this long, originally was just committed to when he turned six months, but mow I care about bfeeding way more then I care about food. I'm planning to continue as long as he doesn't have teeth and still seems interested. Do you have a whole foods near you? This has been my saving grace- they have dairy free/soy free bread and other products. Soy was the hardest for me. It's in everything! One the plus side it's a good weight loss diet!

it makes me happy that you were able to do it. like you, even if i just get to breastfeed her twice a day, that will make me happy because i feel like at least she is getting something. i haven't tried the breastmilk again yet b/c my doctor wants me to wait for a blood-free diaper. so hopefully next week i can try to feed her once per day. the dr wanted me to mix in 1 oz breastmilk w/ the neocate but i'm worried that she will get used to that taste & not want plain neocate if needed. it took me a week to get her on the neocate b/c it is so gross so i had to gradually get her on it. i'm praying the blood doesn't come back, especially because this diet is so hard!

whole foods is my best friend also!

shouldbworkin · February 2012

I would cut out both and continue to BF as you were. BFing with it in your system isn't going to make the intolerance worse. It's not like an allergy where each exposure could make the allergy worse. It will just take time to heal and get out of both of your systems. Did your DC's disposition improve after removing all but hidden dairy? That's really what I would focus on for now. I also wouldn't go back for more testing until 3-4 weeks of being MSP free. I might even try to add soy back once you're free of all dairy and his diapers are clear just to see if soy is a culprit too. it wasn't for us, but my kids could not tolerate hidden (baked, cooked, etc) dairy in my diet. I wouldn't take out something I didn't have to if I didn't try to eliminate everything in one category first. But, I think it's best to go free of both for now and see how it goes when you add soy back in.

TaraBeth384 · February 2012

If you're not ready to give up, ask your ped for more time to experiment with your diet. My DD had blood at one month, but both our ped and GI doc were okay with me trying to make a diet change work for 3 months of experimenting. I was diary-free then dairy- and soy-free and then top-8 free. Since DD was still gaining weight and fairly happy, they were fine. Her GI doc even said that they're okay with blood for months and months as long as weight gain is okay.

Eventually, at 4 months, when no dietary changes were making a difference, we decided to make the switch to Neocate. We had started noticing other negative reactions -- eczema, sleep regression, and chronic congestion -- so we figured it was time. We saw improvement within 48 hours. She still deals with the congestion and we're assuming she has other environmental allergies, but everything else is better.

It was super hard for me to give up BFing, so I hope you don't have to. A lot of people have success with the dietary changes and then can even re-introduce them with no problems. So for now, ask your doc for more time before switching to formula. If you DO have to switch, know that the switch was much easier for me than I thought it would be. DD's improvements made me happy and I wasn't stressing over everything any more.

Good luck!

funchicken · February 2012

My younger DD had TONS of food intolerances, and basically I had to stay on a modified elimination diet for about 8 months. It took two months for me to get my diet to where she was no longer having blood in her stool, and fortunately, my pedi was very patient and pro-bfing.

I did go to see an allergist who said that since the amount of blood we were seeing was small, and DD was gaining weight well she thought it was fine to continue bfing. It was hard to maintain such a limited diet, but I'm glad I stuck with it. At 10 months all of my DD's food intolerances just went away. I'm still nursing and eating normally now, and she's starting to eat table food.

You don't have to switch to formula if you don't want to. There are so many other things to try to eliminate. The allergist told me that if DD wasn't having any other allergic symtoms (hives, vomiting, etc) there was a good chance that these were just intolerances that she would outgrow and not true allergies. The Dr. Sears site has a good elimination diet to try if it comes to that. If your LO is doing well otherwise, then I wouldn't let the pedi push me to quit before I was ready. GL!

sccalla · February 2012

I just brought DD to a pediatric gastroenterologist. He suspects she has a soy & milk protein allergies. I am EBF as well so am on the restricted diet. The Dr. said that it may take as long as 6 weeks after starting the restricted diet for her diapers to stop having mucous and blood. You may want to bring a pediatric gastroenterologist on board as well as an IBCLC. Good luck!

Want a personalized experience?

New and MSPI question/help needed, EBFing and upset

Re: New and MSPI question/help needed, EBFing and upset

Choose Another Board

Search Boards