should I stop breastfeeding temporarily?

[handsandfeet]

We're struggling with trying to figure out what in my diet my son is allergic to. He is 8 weeks old and for the last 3 weeks has had green, mucusy poops with specks of blood. I have cut all dairy and soy 13 days ago and cut gluten/wheat 2 days ago and zero improvement so far. We're going to the pedi tomorrow and I'm afraid she's going to suggest going to an elemental formula at least for a while. I don't want him to be in pain, but I really don't want to stop BFing. Any thoughts??

[kriket]

i wouldn't formula poo is worse. then if he is sensitive, you have to try a million different ones, expensive ones.

stick with it, you're making the best decisions!

nak

[ruthmg]

How about nuts and corn? I avoid those as well as dairy and wheat.

Good luck.

[pbjmama]

I agree with the others - too risky. It will be hard but have you thought about the dr sears total elimination diet?
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041800.asp

[Bex80]

When you are eliminating dairy, make sure you cut out the casein as well. I had a friend whose son was allergic to not only obvious dairy like milk and cheese, but also the casein that's used as an ingredient in other foods/products. Good luck, mama. Don't give up the boob!!

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

i actually haver a good friend/former client whose youngest dd was allergic to RICE in addition to common allergens, so when she did the TED she actually did worse. her 3rd child nursed for QUITE a long time, and my friend was gonna be a LLLL for a loong time (til health problems with pregnancy #4 stopped it in its tracks) so she really didn't wanna have to ff, as she knows how much better bf is

[lilith1]

I started with a total elimination diet, (modified by my taste, turkey, potato, squash)To figure out why my 8 week old is miserable and has eczema. Turns out he was sensitive to eggs in my diet.(Although his Poo was never affected) I believe some allergens take a long time to clear from your system. And there is no cheating allowed. Even if you don't want to go that far, keep a food diary handy and compare to any symptoms your LO has. That should help as a general reference later to go back and draw conclusions. (Hopefully)
Good luck on that. I hope it can be resolved by diet alone. But I would stick with breast feeding.

[Taryn237]

I'm on the Dr. Sears TED. Its not really that bad. I wish I tried it first. Originally I slowly cut out the top 8 allergens. It took forever. I think its easier to just go TED first.

[Taryn237]

Just found this blog (thanks J!): http://tedmamas.blogspot.com/

[handsandfeet]

My pedi said the TED isn't good b/c there's not enough variety in mom's diet, so baby is repeatedly exposed to the same antigens and can develop allergies to THOSE foods... any thoughts?

[thepeach80]

You're welcome!

There is that theory out there, but there's no proof of it. Allergies and intolerances are a big mystery to most, those of us who deal w/ it do what we can and pray whatever we choose works. I did the TED w/ Evan and after I ran out of squash, he improved overnight. I did carrots, turkey, pears, and rice w/ canola oil and some seasonings. We knew he couldn't do potatos and suspected olive oil. He also reacted to carrots and turkey if HE ate them, but not me. He did move to rx formula at 12 mos and was in it till 24 mos, just like my odd. Thankfully I'm just dairy, soy, egg, and wheat so far, but all of my kids have had some degree of food issues and the last 3 had reflux as well.

W/ the TED though, the basic diet is supposed to be VERY short term. Those few foods shouldn't be your only foods for more than 2 wks. I didn't even wait that long b/c we saw improvements so fast (he was 11 mos old then so he was pretty damaged too). You need to start adding foods in as soon as you can and just suck it up and move on pass or fail and do what you can. For me, it seems like the quickest way to figure out waht's going on w/ baby and to clear them up.