CAUTION: This is NOT gentle. - Page 3

[Ks Mama]

Originally Posted by justKate

No rashes, no constipation. When I first cut back on dairy I ate more soy, and she really reacted to that: explosive, loose green poop with chunks, stomach cramps, fussiness. But I still eat "hidden" soy and dairy, so I guess that could be causing the problem. Maybe an elimination diet is in order? Ugh! What are other symptoms of food sensitivities?

Oh DEFINITELY an elimination diet is in order!
Have you checked out the Dr. Sears elimination diet? My daughter was "colicky" for 10 months of her life - ALWAYS had to be held, always fussy, had to be held upright, while we did deep knee squats in order for her to fall asleep. And then we couldn't put her down. Until I went back to a breastmilk only diet for her, and a barebones diet for myself (no dairy, no soy, no eggs, no wheat, etc., plus I was already vegetarian - it was a bit crazy for a few weeks there) - then gradually introduced things back into my diet, then hers, one at a time, keeping a detailed daily log. It made such a huge difference.

Dr Sears elimination diet: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041200.asp
Dr Sears colic causing foods in breastmilk: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t083301.asp
Dr Sears tracking down food allergies: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041800.asp

Just a note: PLEASE don't substitute soymilk for milk. Its just as allergenic, with the added downfall of being loaded with aluminum from processing, as well as being hormone mimicking. Studies suggest this leads to growth/hormone problems in babies. I personally skip it altogether. Try ricemilk if you need a substitute, though if you find milk is not the allergen culprit, organic, grass fed, and raw (if available) is best.

Take care & please update on your & her progress!

[justKate]

Still okay! I'm doing my best at soy and dairy free, and the baby is eating only fruits, veggies, and meat in terms of solids. Last night was a little rougher because she fell out of bed for the first time but overall things seem better.

The dark red rings around her eyes are gone, which is a major sign that there is a food sensitivity there. The investigation continues....

[onyxravnos]

i wasn't able to read all the posts....

besides what everyone else said:

dose she nap? is it the same issue at nap time? if she doesn't nap you might try and see if it helps at night time. also perhaps you could try some rhythm to bedtime? Like start about an hour before, bath, clean diaper/clothing, reading a book, singing a song, rocking, nursing..... same every night to give her more wind down time before dozing off.

[Violet2]

Haven't read all the replies but DD was like that and we found she did so much better in her own crib and falling asleep by herself.

Although it took her a night or two to sort it all out, but we could not believe the difference in her sleep quality. We still roomed in though until she was about 11 months.

V

[LorenaAZ]

Originally Posted by justKate

Still okay! I'm doing my best at soy and dairy free, and the baby is eating only fruits, veggies, and meat in terms of solids. Last night was a little rougher because she fell out of bed for the first time but overall things seem better.

The dark red rings around her eyes are gone, which is a major sign that there is a food sensitivity there. The investigation continues....

My daughter is also 10 months old and I had to start swaddling her about 1 month ago. She just could not keep still but was obviously tired (rubbing eyes, slow in movement, cranky, etc.). We don't swaddle every time she needs to sleep. Sometimes if we have a change in routine, she'll fall asleep a lot easier. It's like Kristinekristine said, so many new developments, it's hard to keep still. My little one is cruising, crawling and learning new things almost daily. The new thing now is to sit up after nursing to clap her hands (she learned to clap a few weeks ago) then collapse on me and look for the boob again.

I am curious about the eye rings as I've never heard of that as being related to food sensitivity. Did you read that at the allergy forum?

[UptownZoo]

Originally Posted by justKate

That makes sense. She really can't control herself--she just HAS to move. So what do you use to swaddle them when they get bigger? Just a bigger blanket?

Jersey sheet.

[cinderella08]

No judgement or help mama, but wanted to offer hugs!

[bjorker]

We went through something like this that has me re-thinking swaddling my upcoming baby much beyond the first weeks of life. DD always seemed to respond well to swaddling, so when she got older and bigger and it was a bit too difficult/impractical to keep swaddling her, she had a much harder time getting to sleep. Unlike the OP though, she wasn't scratching or freaking out, she just couldn't stop moving around, or get to sleep. So we would improvise, either taking her arms out of the sleeves in her pajamas and tying the sleeves tight around her so it was pretty similar to being swaddled, or just kind of hold her down. It felt really... odd... like I was doing something wrong, even though I knew I wasn't... but then she could get to sleep before getting so overtired and turning into a sleepy monster.

Anyway, I think it's a good idea to rule out other problems because your dd is so violent and upset about it, but I don't necessarily think it's the wrong thing to do.

[justKate]

Originally Posted by UptownZoo

Jersey sheet.

Oh that's a great idea. I'm getting a sewing machine for chirstmas and I can turn some old sheets into swaddlers. So far so good with soy-free and (mostly) dairy free, plus our little modified-swaddle until I can find something better to wrap her up in. --modified because I just wrap a receiving blanket around her front to hold the arms down.

Thank you all for the advice. Now to the sewing forum to learn how to make a weighted blanket!

[etsdtm99]

I'm just now seeing this thread - glad to hear things are going better, my 1st DD was like that around that ageo .. 8-12 months or so many many nights i had to hold her down or she would not sleep.. i held her on my chest and she would cry for a few mins and then nurse to sleep ..she was always a sleep-fighter and was colicy as a newborn but she got better around 1 year with no diet changes.. she did have obstructive sleep apnea (super huge tonsils) though which wasn't officially diagnosed until 2.5 i suspect that that a lot to do with her fighting sleep and her panicked night wakings as an infant..

[annie2186]

I haven't read all of the responses - but someone I know had a son (he's 8 or 9 now) and he had food allergies. Pretty allergic to alot of things as far as I know.

The one thing that stuck out in your post was that you DD would hit her head on the wall. My friends son would do the SAME thing. I think looking into allergies is a really good idea. It took her 7 years to figure it out for her son. Now her youngest DD has the same problem and she was able to help her out in a few days!

(do you ever feel like your first child is kind of an expierment?! I'm glad I'm the 5th!! )

[jjwifey]

Hello, I didn't check how old this post was, so I apologize if this is late. I just wanted to say that my daughter was exactly like this as a toddler. We discovered later on that she has some sensory processing concerns, so maybe look up some Sensory Processing Disorder or Sensory Integration Dysfunction tips. Most of them are just occupational therapy exercises or tools that can help even children without SPD.