Breast fed baby- Allergy help

cremenn · March 2014

Anyone have advice on breast feeding baby with a possible allergy?

LO is 3.5 mo old and the ped and I are sure he has an allergy to something I'm eating because his stools are so mucousy, he was so gassy and fussy, he is taking zantac for reflux which could also be from an allergy, and his face continues to break out with little bumps and pimples with pus.

So I went on an elimination diet of dairy, eggs, soy, wheat and nuts to try to find the culprit, I did this for two weeks and his temperament seemed to be better, and the gas went away BUT his face is still severely broken out and tons of mucous in stools again. So I called the ped and she convinced me to put him on nutramgien formula for cows milk allergy for 2 weeks while still pumping and with reluctance I did. He just started it yesterday and hates it, he keeps trying to breast feed which is breaking my heart, not only that he is miserable from gas, he's so gassy and crying again AND his new clay in texture stools has given him a terrible diaper rash, however no mucous.

I really want him to continue to have breast milk I just can't figure out what he's allergic to, it seems when moms have gone on this elimination diet they figure out pretty quickly what was bothering their LO but its not coming so easy for us, can anyone offer help please? What do you think about being on the formula, should I stop, I obviously want to do what is best for him whatever that is. Thank you!

LSU628 · March 2014

Dairy and soy can take up to 4 weeks to exit your system, so I wouldn't give up quite yet if you are seeing an improvement with the mucous.

MaineMama33 · March 2014

My son is mspi and it took a good 4+ weeks of cutting out those foods to see an improvement. It's frustrating but the reward when it finally comes is totally worth it. You are doing good, mama! Stick with it!

Also, I'm obviously no expert but it seems odd to me that your pedi would jump to formula so quickly. Figuring out what your LO is allergic to could be a long process but I think breastmilk is still the best thing for him no matter what.

sschwege · March 2014

As pp said it can take up to 4 weeks for it to leave LO's system.

Honestly that seems like pretty lousy advice from your pedi, I would be getting a second opinion on that!

funchicken · March 2014

DC2London said:

I would try Dr. Sears' elimination diet.
https://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-eating/feeding-infants-toddlers/food-allergies/elimination-diet
That was going to be my next step if eliminating dairy and soy didn't help my DS. Good luck, I hope you find the solution!

I second this. I used it with DD2. It took a couple of months to figure out what she could and couldn't tolerate and for the mucous to clear up. Good news is she outgrew all intolerances except dairy at 10 months.

Justabean3 · March 2014

Baby acne is also really common like cradle cap and that part may not be allergy.

darkangel42 · March 2014

You might be better off speaking to an allergy specialist than a doctor-doctor, they can be quicker off the mark to figure out what's going on since it's all they do and some allergy/intolerance symptoms are pretty generic (such as headaches, wheeziness, upset tummy, skin changes).

If you can't get in to see one straight away, you could always ask for a phone consultation to see if they think it's worth going in to see them. That's what I did when the doctor said DD had a facial bone deformity affecting her breathing, I went for a second opinion from a specialist and it turns out she has pollen allergies.

cremenn · March 2014

Thank you for the encouragement to keep going we're back on breast milk now and happy. Being on the formula his mucous in his stools went away and his baby acne started to clear up which to me seemed to confirm we're definitely dealing with an allergy here and not a scarier problem. Back on breast milk now and mucous came back like whoa... I asked his pediatrician about testing for allergies and she said she wouldn't do it because it's so hurtful/invasive to him being so young, but I was thinking really? This has to be a common test parents get when they have this issue. Has anyone had their LO tested, what was your experience and is 4 months too young?

darkangel42 · March 2014

Mine was older (old enough to talk) so our experiences wouldn't really help you other than maybe asking an allergy specialist's opinion - the worst they can say is wait and see, just like your doctor.

Have you tried making a food diary? Writing down everything you eat and drink plus any medications/supplements (and the day/time) then baby's reaction (and the day/time) sometimes narrows the field a bit in terms of what it could be because you can notice patterns and from that, use trial and error to work out what the issue is. It might not get you any closer to solving it but it's worth a shot and if your doctor isn't going to do anything further right now, it can't hurt to do this so you have something to go on.

Thankfulforwine · March 2014

I was told by my daughters allergist that a baby's immune system isn't developed enough until a year for skim testing to be accurate. Up until six months they still have your antibodies so that would make the testing inaccurate as well.
We are in a similar situation to you. DD is six months and started having green mucusy/bloody stools at 2 months. I have cut out milk, soy, eggs wheat and nuts over the last four months and nothing has changed and she still isn't growing properly. I just started the dr sears elimination diet a week ago, things haven't changed yet but I pray they do soon. I hope you are able to figure out what your LO is allergic too soon!

PipSqueak0313 · March 2014

We just confirmed ds is milk allergic. I was breastfeeding and supplementing with formula -- now I'm doing the reverse -- he only nurses 2-3 times per day, usually early morning and before sleeping. We had to put him on Neocate because he still reacted to the milk in Nutramigen.

shotzie · March 2014

DD2 was milk and soy protein intolerant. I cut out dairy and soy when she was about 6 wks old. It took 5 weeks for all her GI symptoms to clear up. It takes time for the dairy and soy proteins to clear your and baby's systems.

I ended up having to eliminate eggs and nuts shortly after going dairy and soy free, because DD2 developed eczema. Once we had her tested for allergies, sure enough, she is allergic to eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts.

A lot of allergists won't test prior to age 1, because the results are not very accurate on young babies. Also, if it's a milk, soy protein intolerance, an allergy test would come out negative.

I would continue the elimination diet, and give it more time. There's a check in on the Breastfeeding board for MSPI Moms, if you need more support/recipe ideas. The site www.mspimama.com has lots of great recipes too.

light52 · April 2014

We suspected a food allergy but no one would test before a year. Our chiropractor told us about another chiro office in town that does food allergy testing. We had to pay out of pocket but we did a blood test through them that showed a pretty significant gluten allergy. We have eliminated gluten and a few months after he is fully weaned the pediatrician wants to test again. I thought our ped would be upset that we went out on our own for testing but he was happy we found something out and were being proactive.

Stephanie2167 · April 2014

I could have written your post. At DDs 4 month appointment I mentioned Hs constant congestion, ezcema, and spitting up. She recommended us trying nutramigen for a week to see if it clears up the issues. I tried for two days and she would not drink it. I've been on the elimination diet for 3 days now and am hoping it works. I just feel terrible switching her from formula, to half formula half breastmilk so she'll drink it. It just all seems so pointless. I just want her to feel better.

Rachel*Neocate · April 2014

LIke a pp mentioned I too followed the Dr Sears total elimination diet for my LO:

https://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-eating/feeding-infants-toddlers/food-allergies/elimination-diet

And for my LO I had to eliminate dairy, soy, eggs, nuts and tomatoes. Or you could also try eliminating some of/or all of the top 8 allergens (dairy, soy, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish and wheat).

I continued to BF my LO through his symptoms and after several weeks was able to get his stools to "normal" and then start slowly adding food back into my diet. I nursed him for over two years, and he grew out of all of his intolerance except for dairy.

If you decide to use formula I would encourage you to look at an elemental formula, like Neocate, rather than Nutramigen. Nutramigen still contains partial milk protein chains, and while this type of formula is broken down farther than "normal" formula, some sensitive babies may still have trouble digesting the partial protein chains. Elemental formulas like Neocate are broken down 100% into free amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, so there are no protein chains for your LO to break down.

Also, just be sure that your diet is truly dairy/soy free... you'd be surprised where dairy and soy can hide out... read labels carefully, it can be found in things like spices, medicines, vitamins, prepackaged foods, breads, etc.

Hang in there! Here are some links that I found helpful:

https://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/food-sensitivity/

https://kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/hidden-dairy01.pdf

https://intolerantoffspring.com/

Breast fed baby- Allergy help

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