- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Food Allergy
kem717
member
At the end of my rope.
kem717
member
in Food Allergy
I've been dealing with diapers containing mucous and specks of blood daily for 3 months DD is 4 months. I was Top 8 free for a month, had scratch allergy testing which showed nothing, I was down to turkey and potatoes for a week. Finally, I was put on pancreatic enzymes which seemed to lesson the amount of blood. But still not cured. I'm adding back in allergen foods...now I eat tree nuts, wheat, beef, and yesterday made pumpkin bread with eggs in it. She is no worse and no better. Every stool has mucous and occasionally they will be green and at least one diaper a day will have some amount of blood.
Pedi told me to keep nursing until I've added everything back since eliminating and adding foods hasn't made a difference. She has never been a great nurser...she will stop after 5 minutes and won't keep nursing for another letdown. I nurse her to sleep so she will keep nursing in her sleep to get more hindmilk just in case that's the issue.
She has always been a happy baby, so that's made the process easier. She does not sleep well...it take hours for her to go to bed at night and she basically sleeps 3 hours around the clock. That's great for her daytime naps, but not at night! I don't know if that's related to her GI or if she's just a bad sleeper. My 4 year old was a great sleeper, so this is new territory.
I'm tired of stressing out over everything and for nothing to change. I'm tired of being the only one to feed her since I don't know what formula will work for her. I'm just tired. I want to enjoy bfing not be stressed out by it. I know "they" say not to quit on a bad day, and I'm trying to make it until 6 months! But I'm so worn out and frustrated.
Vent over.
Pedi told me to keep nursing until I've added everything back since eliminating and adding foods hasn't made a difference. She has never been a great nurser...she will stop after 5 minutes and won't keep nursing for another letdown. I nurse her to sleep so she will keep nursing in her sleep to get more hindmilk just in case that's the issue.
She has always been a happy baby, so that's made the process easier. She does not sleep well...it take hours for her to go to bed at night and she basically sleeps 3 hours around the clock. That's great for her daytime naps, but not at night! I don't know if that's related to her GI or if she's just a bad sleeper. My 4 year old was a great sleeper, so this is new territory.
I'm tired of stressing out over everything and for nothing to change. I'm tired of being the only one to feed her since I don't know what formula will work for her. I'm just tired. I want to enjoy bfing not be stressed out by it. I know "they" say not to quit on a bad day, and I'm trying to make it until 6 months! But I'm so worn out and frustrated.
Vent over.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: At the end of my rope.
I feel your pain. Our guy stopped having the mucous and blood after I eliminated dairy, soy, corn, and nuts. However, there is more bothering him and I feel just at a loss as to where to start. He is fussy and miserable a lot and does a lot of arching his back and sobbing, which is definitely worse after I eat a lot of certain foods. Meanwhile, he can't eat any solid without getting ill (see post below yours!). He also sleeps like crap. We're up every 2 hours to eat because he'll only take 2 ounces at a time (I pump).
I can't imagine that a formula would go well. We have a can of Alimentum but the first ingredient is corn based which would totally tear him up, so I'm just going to grin and bear it.
Fun!
DD also had mucus, diarrhea, fussiness and terrible sleep that did not stop even on a total elimination diet. Her stool tests showed lactose intolerance, which the GI said was likely secondary to all the food intolerances tearing up her poor intestines. She was a very fussy eater, and BFing was not even enjoyable because all she did was writhe, cry, and constantly come off, which caused milk to spray everywhere. Plus the dietary restrictions, and pumping at work, it was basically just a huge PITA.
At 4 months, I gave up and started Nutramigen. After 3 weeks, it was clear she was not tolerating it. She has been on Neocate for a little over a month. Unfortunately, she got an ear infection soon after the switch and had to take 2 different antibiotics to clear it up. So, I am hopeful that we will finally get rid of the mucus soon.
Honestly, even though her tummy is not perfect (and her sleep is far from it!) on the Neocate, at least I can eat whatever I want. Overall, life is a tad bit easier. I didn't see the point in torturing myself if it wasn't going to make DD better.
I have been dairy free since Nov 15 and LO still has bloody mucus in her stools. Our ped referred us to a GI specialist since it's been a few weeks and there's no improvement. He suggested eliminating soy too. In the meantime, he gave me a sample can of EleCare formula which is amino-acid based. It's supposed to be good for babies with all food allergies, so ask your ped about it if you want to try formula. The formula is special-order from their website or Amazon and it is EXPENSIVE. You can also have your pharmacy order it, but my understanding is there is a huge mark-up in price with them.
I started feeding my daughter formula only today and plan to do it for a week to give her poor intestinal tract a chance to heal from whatever allergen is in my system. I've already seen a major improvement with how she feels. She used to scream before a bowel movement and she normally had a dirty diaper (diarrhea) every 2 hours or so.