Food Allergy Living Blog Tagged Results

Our post today is a guest blog entry from Rachel Miller, Baby E’s mom. We’d like to thank Rachel for guest blogging for us.

Never could I have imagined that adding another bouncing baby boy to our family last summer would not only add extra snuggles and smiles, but that it would also add a seemingly long and sometimes stressful journey into the world of food allergies. 

Baby E was born last August happy and healthy.  He was welcomed home by mom, dad, and his two big brothers.   Almost right away Baby E started showing signs of possible reflux.  We had been down the reflux road before since big brother 2 had reflux when he was a baby.   So when Baby E started sounding like something out of Star Wars (think Darth Vader), I mentioned to his doctor that I was concerned his nasal congestion was being caused by reflux.  So, Baby E was put on reflux medicine and it seemed to help a little bit. 

Baby E Before

Then came the eczema.   Baby E was like a snake (but way cuter).  He started shedding away his soft newborn baby skin, and angry red baby acne took its place.  The doctor said it was completely normal and likely caused by hormones.  It was at this point that I started to consider the possibility that Baby E may be reacting to something in my diet.  Refluxand terrible skin?  But, I shrugged it off.

Then came the mucous-filled diapers.  I knew from having been down the breast-feeding diaper route before, mucous is an uninvited guest.  Seeds, yes.  Mucous, no.  He also had terrible tummy aches and painful gas.  He would often cry and had a hard time settling down.   Gas relief drops didn’t seem to help.

Then came the blood and green poops.  There is really no way to shrug off lime green bowel movements with streaks of visible blood throughout.  I immediately took Baby E back to the doctor where they took a stool sample and made sure Baby E didn’t have an infection.   No infection.  And so our journey began.  

 I knew I wanted to continue breastfeeding Baby E, so at the doctor’s recommendation I cut dairy out of my diet immediately.  Baby E seemed to make slow improvement after only a few days.   We then eliminated soy as well.  After almost two weeks of being dairy and soy free, Baby E had “better” diapers but not normal. 

This is where TED entered my life.   Total Elimination Diet. 

Unfortunately, my doctor was not able to offer much advice or information about TED, so I found most of my information from infantreflux.org and kellymom.com.  Determined to get kick mucous out of this diaper party and to continue to breast-feed my “intolerant” child, I started eating nothing but chicken, turkey, rice, potatoes, apples, and bananas.  Being on such a restrictive diet allowed me rid Baby E of mucous diapers, reflux, and his eczema.  Then I slowly added foods back into my diet and waited for a reaction. This was how I was able to determine that Baby E cannot tolerate dairy, soy, eggs, and tomatoes.  So now, I am still breastfeeding but avoiding these foods in my diet, and Baby E is doing great!   

Baby E After

Our journey is still continuing.  Since starting solid foods Baby E has had reactions to pears and infant oatmeal cereal.  In spite of this, I feel lucky and blessed that Baby E is doing so well and that I am able to continue breastfeeding him. 

-Rachel Miller

Some little ones, like Rachel’s son Baby E from our guest post last week, are allergic to the dairy proteins passed along in their mother’s breast milk.  This can often result in a cow’s milk allergy and a confused mom.  Fortunately this doesn’t mean the end of breastfeeding, but rather the start of an elimination diet.

When starting an elimination diet the breastfeeding mom removes all dairy including “hidden” dairy from her diet.  Because this can be such an adjustment, it’s important to make sure both mom and baby get the nutrition they need, so we recommend having the supervision of your doctor for this diet.

Keep in mind, children being not breastfed will also need to go on an elimination diet if diagnosed with a food allergy.  Any elimination diet will need to be supervised by a Registered Dietitian to ensure all the important nutrients are being met in the diet.  Studies show that children on elimination diets are often lacking in Protein, calories, Vit D, and Calcium.¹

In addition to our blog and cookbook, once you begin your elimination diet we recommend checking out these great websites for more information and recipes. 

• Kids With Food Allergies: In addition to helping families cope with dietary restrictions and lifestyle adjustments, they also host a breastfeeding with food allergies forum which provides support for mothers on allergy elimination diets.  
• Go Dairy Free: Is an informational website for dairy-free living and the goal is to provide honest, unbiased information about going dairy free. 
•  AllergyMoms: Provides support for parents of kids with food allergies.  They provide dairy-free allergy recipes as well as the latest news and research on breast-feeding, eczema, reflux and anaphylaxis.
• KellyMom: This site is run by an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant who provides lots of helpful information and articles on breastfeeding. 
• The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network: Provides educational information, recipes and support for the many parents who need help managing food allergy.
• CoFAR(Consortium of Food Allergy Research): Provides a wealth of information for families and HealthCare professions.  This consortium was provided by a grant from the NIH.

Hopefully you’ll find these resources helpful and not just for eliminating dairy but also for eliminating the top eight allergens including egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat.

If you’re already on an elimination diet what do you think of these websites?  Do you have any other websites you’d recommend?

- Christine

1. Henriksen C, Eggesbø M, Halvorsen R, Botten G. Nutrient intake among two-year-old children on cows’ milk-restricted diets. Acta Paediatr. 2000;89:272–278