~*~*MSPI Moms Weekly Check-In*~*~
Welcome! This is a check-in for moms who are/were on a dairy free and/or soy free diet due to their LO's intolerance. The check-ins will be posted every Monday morning on the Breastfeeding board and XP'd to the Food Allergy board. If you'd like to join the group, just post an intro here and dive in! To check out the archive of our previous check-ins, please see the MSPI Moms Blog (www.mspimoms.blogspot.com).
1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing?
2. Let's talk more about food! What are you craving that you can't have? Have you found a good substitute (store bought or home made)?
3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?
Re: ~*~*MSPI Moms Weekly Check-In*~*~ 2/24
1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing? We are doing ok. I swear sometimes I look for problems where there aren't any. DS and I both had a bit of food with soy oil in it this weekend. He was pretty much constipated all weekend. He probably just wasn't drinking enough water. He also had dark circles under his eyes. I just feel like something is bothering him, but can't pinpoint what. It's probably just my anxiety.
2. Let's talk more about food! What are you craving that you can't have? Have you found a good substitute (store bought or home made)? Giving up most store bought baked goods was really hard. I have had pretty good success with these black bean brownies: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/09/06/no-flour-black-bean-brownies/
With Enjoy Life chocolate chips, this recipe is really sweet. I only used 1/3 c maple syrup or agave nectar (didn't add the 2 Tbs stevia/sugar). Definitely let them cool before eating (difficult I know!) or they will taste a little bean-y.
3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share? Nope. Hope everyone else is doing well!
1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing? We are both doing well.
2. Let's talk more about food! What are you craving that you can't have? Have you found a good substitute (store bought or home made)? Oh gosh I want everything. I am so sick of eating bacon, sausage or oatmeal for breakfast. I miss bagels smothered in cream cheese. I miss cereal. I don't want to try any substitute products though. I am pretty sure that fake bread with fake cream cheese is probably really gross. I have just been making a lot of rice and mixing meats and veggies in for lunch/dinner.
3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share? Not today!
2. Let's talk more about food! What are you craving that you can't have? Have you found a good substitute (store bought or home made)? Lo mein from PF Chang's. I've made spaghetti, chicken, and veggies sauteed in a little bit of sesame oil with a tiny bit of garlic salt.
3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share? not today
2. I love cookies, cakes, anything! I did buy the so delicious almond milk mint ice cream. It's pretty good. I'm looking for a good cookie!
3. My pediatrician told me to call her after two weeks of my elimination diet and check in. If symptoms were still present we would need a consult. Would 2 weeks be long enough for me to see an improvement? (I thought symptoms may persist for up to 4 weeks, after I remove from my diet?) Would all blood/mucus be gone by then? Would it still be green?
Just want to say thanks for this post! I have read some back weeks, and you all have some great info!
1. We are doing well! DS has his 4 month check-up and got another "perfect" from the doctor! Way to go! Haha! However we are having some major sleep issues. The kid hates sleeping in his crib. He needs to feel cuddled at all times.
2. I want to shove a big, greasy cheese pizza in my face in the worst way. I really miss cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, and I haven't found any substitutes that I really like. I'm a sad panda sometimes.
3. Nothing really. We gave DS some mashed up avocado the other day, which was fun. I wanted to wait a little big for solids, but he is SO interested in our food that it doesn't make sense to make him wait.
Also the pediatrician said at 6 months I could try a cheese that has less casein in it, and see how he does with that. From what I've seen on the interwebz, that would be something soft like ricotta, which is made from the whey that is left over after the casein is removed to make hard cheeses. Am I understanding that correctly? I don't know. I'm going to roll with it, though, and see what happens. But I've got like a month and a half before that happens. Must. Control. Myself.
1. How are you doing? Today I'm feeling overwhelmed and with DS's food allergies. I'm very anxious for his Mar. 13 appointment with the Children's Hospital allergist to get here. How is your LO doing? His eczema returned to his face big time in the past two days. I'm suspecting the coconut milk. We're eliminating coconut as of today. I'll ask his allergist about it.
2. Let's talk more about food! What are you craving that you can't have? Pizza, donuts, chocolate
Have you found a good substitute (store bought or home made)? Since DS tested allergic to 7 foods (dairy, soy, wheat, corn, peanut, egg, and sesame seed), I have been cooking all meals from scratch. Pacific Foods has a chicken broth (and more) that is free of his allergens, which is helpful for making soups. As I wrote last week, I really like Boulder Canyon chips for salty. I'm still working on the sweets.
3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share? No
1. How are you doing? How is your LO doing?
I'm doing alright, I think. DS is having stomach/GI issues again (not that they ever completely went away, but they had been getting better up until yesterday). I'm not sure if I had a tiny slip-up, or if it just still hasn't been long enough (we're three weeks into cutting out wheat and nuts, on top of the dairy/soy).
2. Let's talk more about food! What are you craving that you can't have? Have you found a good substitute (store bought or home made)?
Lately I've been craving everything. We've been out and about a lot this week, and it's so incredibly frustrating that I have to pack so much food to survive a day away from home.
There is no substitute for being able to just swing through a drive-through when you're hungry. I mean, I have granola bars in my purse, but it's just not the same, KWIM?
3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?
Nothing this week.
For those craving pizza, here are a couple recipes.
Polenta pizza: https://happyherbivore.com/recipe/polenta-pizza/
Cauliflower pizza crust: https://detoxinista.com/2014/02/vegan-cauliflower-pizza-crust/
I haven't actually made either of those. What I have done is roasted some of the toppings I usually like on pizza (red onion, bell peppers, mushrooms, olives) and just eaten a big bowl of that.
Sort of dampens the craving a bit.
You might be seeing some improvement after 2 weeks, but symptoms may still be present. Just keep that in mind when you talk with your pedi. I would want to give the diet at least 3 to 5 weeks before making any other changes.
Re: cookies, Enjoy Life does make some allergy friendly cookies. You can order them online if you can't find them in stores!
I have not personally researched anything about low-casein cheese. You might also consider trying goat cheese first, since some babies can tolerate that better than cow cheese.
I hear you on the sleepless baby.. DS was very wakeful and mostly slept attached to mama. Hopefully your DS is just going through the 4-month wakeful phase and will be sleeping better soon!
Re: ice cream, have you tried some of the alternative ice creams, like almond or coconut? I know they're not the same, but some are better than others. There's also this recipe I've been wanting to try: https://greatfoodpins.com/?p=213
@Salemkitty13 Welcome! That is a lot of foods to eliminate! I hope you are able to add some back in soon. Have you consulted with a dietician? It might be helpful to get some guidance so you can get enough calories. My DS was also sensitive to coconut. When I had coconut milk or oil he would get a rashy bum. Coconut flakes seemed to be ok. Our allergist said some kids who are sensitive to tree nuts can also be sensitive to coconut, though my DS was never sensitive to nuts. My DS had more yellow poop after I cut out dairy and soy, but it was still a little mucousy and had occassional blood before I cut out eggs/peanuts/wheat/coconut/cabbage.
@pmduggan01 I hope eliminating coconut helps your LO! Have you tried Enjoy Life chocolate to satisfy your chocolate craving?? It is really good. I will still eat it even once I can have soy again. You can order it online if you can't find it in stores.
@AnnP84 Now that DS has more solid poop, sometimes the only indication something is off is that it's a little shinier than normal. I take that to be mucous. I look forward to the day when I don't feel the need to inspect every poop...
TIA!!
2. I am lactose intolerant so the dairy is not as hard for me but I miss the hidden dairy I use to eat! Also I really miss being able to whip up a box cake. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE Mac and cheese but have never found a good substitute for that cheesy goodness!
3. I can't find any bread that's safe for me to eat and am really missing it. Has anyone tried making there own? I'm thinking about getting a bread maker. the idea of adding one more homemade item is a little daunting (I'm currently making homemade tortillas for carbs) but I think having the bread machine would make it really easy.
I'm doing okay. We are exactly one week into our dairy free journey and LO seemed to be improving everyday. Yesterday I accidentally had a small (1/2 tsp) of cream cheese in some sushi and I'm a little upset about it. I'm hoping that doesn't set us back. Today LO has been really gassy and crying on and off for about 5 hours. We have given her gas medicine and she is just now starting to pass some of the gas. Every toot is music to my ears right now. Lol. I feel so bad and I feel like that tiny bit of dairy may have caused it?
2. Let's talk more about food! What are you craving that you can't have? Have you found a good substitute (store bought or home made)?
I am craving cheese just like everyone else. I have found that almond and coconut yogurt are both really delicious thankfully.
3. Any other burning questions you'd like answered or experiences to share?
Are the dairy free coffee-mate creamers safe? They seem to have some gray area in their ingredients. It says dairy free but then says it has "Sodium Caseinate (a Milk Derivative)." Have your LO's reacted to them?
I love my bread machine! It's really easy to just throw all the ingredients in and let it do all the work. In recipes that call for milk I've had success with both coconut milk and almond milk.
I guess that would be "hidden" dairy? I wouldn't consider that dairy-free. I usually drink my coffee black now, but there are coconut milk creamers and soy creamers that are pretty good.
DD1 didn't like WCM for a long time. We nursed until 21 months so it wasn't a problem. I did give her almond milk in addition to my own milk since she didn't like WCM.
@AnnP84 My DS was still nursing a lot at 12 mo. I pumped until like.. 15 mo or so? He did drink WCM but I didn't sub it 100% for my milk on work days. I just sent extra food to DC and asked them to make sure he drank plenty of water. Most docs recommend trying dairy/soy around 12 mo since most babies outgrow MSPI at that age.
@Sarelnad I would say that creamer has hidden dairy in it. Many do, even if they say dairy free. There can be a certain percentage, something like 0.1%, of the milk protein in foods and manufacturers can still call them dairy free. Just keep checking those ingredients! I never subbed any creamer so I don't have any recommendations, sorry. I hope your LO feels better soon. The elimination period is usually difficult with some ups and downs. Just keep at it and you'll get there!
Thanks! Those who are avoiding soy might want to be careful. Looks like most of their products contain or may contain soy.
@JarynA thanks! I'm going to giving making my own bread a try!
This elimination period is no fun but I am seeing results so that keeps me going. This check in is also very encouraging. Thanks ladies!