Ped appt today - NOT good :(

[springmum]

I was dreading going in to talk about solids. DS is 10 months and EBF b/c anything he ingests causes bad mucous, eczema, bum rashes, pain (one or a combo of them)

His weight is down to the 10th% from the 25%.
He didn't even get any taller so now he's in the 3rd% down from 50%.

The amount of mucousy poos concerned her, especially when we've only tried foods that I eat regularly. She wants to do a cystic fibrosis test to see if it's a lack of enzymes.

The weight/height concerned her b/c he is nursing every 2 hrs around the clock and not able to maintain, and only barely meeting the min. req's for wet dipes a day. She knows he's very active and happy so that part is okay, we're not tall/big parents so that is a factor too.

She wants me to push ahead with solids before he become FTT, even when showing reactions b/c she believes in building tolerances.

I know some is scare tactics - it's working, I'm worried.

I'm going to see my ND to see i she has any suggestions, but the last time we were in she had run out of ideas other than just keep trying solids.

There's a long list of gut healing things I've done/am doing - no time to list it all.

I'm very upset right now, isn't a mother supposed to be able to keep her child nourished....

[Chinese Pistache]

I'm sort of in the same boat. My ds isn't dropping that dramatically, but enough that our ped wants to keep an eye on it.

After identifying wheat and eggs, ds stopped having constant green, mucusy, vinegary poops. However, even after those eliminations, he would have the same kinds of diapers intermittently. I couldn't really pinpoint any particular culprit, but I believe it was due to my general leaky gut (btw, we were/are already free of dairy, corn, soy, nuts, seeds, etc. Wheat and eggs were the last of the big ones).

Anyway, I started feeding him some solids, mostly fruits, carrots and avocado. He started having some more mucusy poops, often with a rash, and particularly when he ate the same food for several days (I was trying to be cautious about intro-ing too many foods at once).

After thinking about what to do, I decided to add a little rice cereal and water to his meals, to see if it would help. . .and it has! I believe the fruits and vegetables were too rough on his sensitive gut, particularly the fruits (likely due to their natural acid content). The rice cereal seems to coat everything. No more mucus, green or vinegary poop or rashes. I was a very "no grains for babies" kind of person, but I followed my intuition on this one and my babe is growing. I try to give him meat as much as possible, too, but he's not as fond of it.

I know I'm not following "the rules": No eating grains, no spoon feeding, only finger foods, baby's can survive on bm alone for the first year, etc. . .but I just don't care because my babe is healthier for it. Oh, and we still nurse every 2-3 hours around the clock.

ETA: Just wanted to add that my baby is 10 mths, too.

[springmum]

Thank you CP - funny you mention the rice - my ND suggested that as a food to try now, but I was trying to follow the "no grains" rule too.

Maybe I will re-evaluate my thoughts on feeding, b/c clearly this approach is not working.

What cereal are you feeding - homemade or store brand? (we're GF too)
I have some brown rice that I could cook and grind up myself, I wonder if the store bought (plain) would be better to try?

Funny how similar our little ones sound, thank you for sharing your perspective.

[Wugmama]

s

I guess I sort of knew this but was just told that my 7 yr old is FTT. And the last time I had my baby, now 17 months, to the regular doc I was told she was very close to being FTT. So I can relate, I can so relate.



Tracy

[Chinese Pistache]

Tracy I'm sorry about your dds. Are they doing any tests for dd 7 to figure out why she's ftt?

Springmum, I'm using Earth's Best Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal. I just noticed that it has vitamin E and electrolytic iron. I'm sure the vit E is soy-derived, but I'm fine with that as we have IgE allergies, so soybean oil/lecithin haven't been a problem for us (and I don't even know if my ds is allergic to soy protein; he's never been exposed).

I think homemade rice cereal would be fine, though, probably even better.

We also give a little bit of rice or puffed rice as a finger food occasionally.

Oh, I just started adding olive oil to his food for extra calories and he's tolerating it well. I put his probiotics in there, too (Kirkman bifido )

[preemiemamarach]

My son dropped in %iles like a rock- he's only now starting to gain a little after almost a year of misery (he's 20 months). I totally disagree with the ped's suggestion to expose him to things that are inflaming his gut. My son has had two colonoscopies and two endoscopies, and has severe damage to his colon- probably because he was continuing to ingest so many things to which he was intolerant (I was given the same advice by an allergist). If I were in your shoes, I would consult a good pediatric allergist and a pediatric gastroenterologist.

I was an EPer and had to stop giving my son breast milk at 12 months because he became intolerant of even breast milk protein when I was on a 5-ingredient diet. PM me if you want to chat more.

[springmum]

Well, I have a month before we have to go back.

I'm certainly not going to watch my son suffer, but I guess I will be a little more aggressive with foods.
If he starts pooping 5-6 mucousy poos a day, clearly he won't gain weight, but maybe I'll find a food that doesn't cause him to do that.

Olive oil is a good idea, if the rice goes well. Avacado gave him some serious eczema, so I need to focus on other high cal. foods I guess.

Sorry you all are here with me

[FireWithin]

big hugs everyone. it is hard to see your little one's suffer (at least according to pedi's definition) and not have a solution. I don't have any suggestions, just wanted to send hugs.

[springmum]

To update:

Saw my ND today.

She gave DS a remedy - phosphorus, to help.

We also did an NAET treatment for GF oats, so that I could try something else bland next.

She somewhat agrees with the Ped, to start trying things every day (waiting the 4-5 day rule of course), back off a little with more serious reactions, and try to not worry about the smaller reactions.

We discussed the fact that, of course, we don't want things to become more aggravated and get worse, so I'll have to keep a close eye on things.

No matter what I/we've done the mucous always comes back, even when he's not eating anything, and I just can't figure out why. I can get him to baseline, with no mucousy poos, so I know it's possible, but I'm constantly adding things into my diet that I'm deficient in, and sooner or later the mucous returns. Sometimes the triggers aren't even clear.

I've learned to overlook the runny/slimy poos, and only be concerned about the globs of sticky jello that happen multiple times a day with a reaction.

She also suggested giving the probiotics every other day at this point.


Going back the holistic allergist on fri for more BIE treatment.
Between the 3 HCP's and myself, we should be able to figure this out I hope.