red bottom= allergy always? please tell me not

[Deir]

my lo is 3 weeks today. so far pretty mellow which i am not used to compared to my other 2 (1ht) anyway- i am trying to keep perspective here but feeling a bit upset.she is crying pitifully during some feedings not all but not in any pattern and she has a red anus. i have been mostly avoiding dairy- only had some mashed potatoes the other night. Does a red area around the anus always equal allergy?

Also- I definitely had serious oversupply and have been feeding from one side only. I may start 2 feedings on one side to see if that helps. (I am a bf counselor so I know a lot about that)

I don't want to be overly paranoid about food allergies but I also want to do the right thing!!

It is the red around the anus that concerns me the most. Ugh. Stress.

[DevaMajka]

I think the red ring around the anus can be caused by citrus. I don't think that necessarily has to be an allergy. I'm not sure how likely it is to affect lo through breastmilk, but I'm fairly sure that my ds *did* get the red ring from me eating lots of citrus over a few days. There wasn't anything new he had eaten.

Does the red come and go? If so, you might want to keep a food diary for a while. If it's constant...hmmm.., I'd be tempted to cut out some of the top allergens, just to check.

[Kmama2]

I never get the same answer when I ask that question. Ds also has a red anus 90% of the time. I was dairy and soy free for about 5 months and recently started eating it again. I notice no change. He consistantly has it no matter what I eat. I think he has some dairy intolerance but other than excessive spitting up he has no other signs of a true allergy. I showed his ped and she said to give him probiotics which I do and no change.

[Deir]

Originally Posted by Kmama2

I never get the same answer when I ask that question. Ds also has a red anus 90% of the time. I was dairy and soy free for about 5 months and recently started eating it again. I notice no change. He consistantly has it no matter what I eat. I think he has some dairy intolerance but other than excessive spitting up he has no other signs of a true allergy. I showed his ped and she said to give him probiotics which I do and no change.

Do you notice fussiness when you eat dairy? have you thought about tomatoes or citrus? That is my other thought since I am addicted to citrus.

[karika]

IME red ring around anus always equals food allergy or intolerance. If it is in a EBF baby, it is from something momma is ingesting, or maybe could be from something touching the baby, though that would more likely cause contact dermatitis. Dairy is in so many things. It has so many names. It also takes 2 weeks to get totally out of your system. People don't realize that they are ingesting a dairy component.
Here is a list of the names dairy takes from tacanow ( http://gfcf-diet.talkaboutcuringauti...-is-casein.htm )

Other likely allergens are soy, corn, and citrus. Soy generally acts the same on the brain as dairy, so the rest of the body too. Try cutting out gluten, corn, soy, casein, all food dyes and all preservatives/ chemicals (from foods as well as household products like toothpaste and skin care and make up).

Here is all things that are soy, so you can avoid it too again from tacanow
http://gfcf-diet.talkaboutcuringauti...hat-is-soy.htm

[miami mommy]

My 5 mo DS has a lot of food allergies/sensitivities and I have noticed a correlation between me eating something that he's sensitive to and the dreaded red ring on the anus. I still haven't been able to figure out everything he's sensitive to, but at the minimum it is dairy, soy, chocolate, eggs, peanuts, turkey, and strawberries. I don't like much citrus, so I haven't tested that out. My DS also has green poos with blood and mucus when I eat one of these foods, so it's pretty obvious to me that he's allergic/sensitive.

I had bad oversupply issues and did block feeding...it worked like a charm! I highly recommend it.

[Plummeting]

Too much foremilk can also cause the ring IME, so if you solve that problem and it goes away, then there's your answer.

[MamaMorgana]

Originally Posted by Plummeting

Too much foremilk can also cause the ring IME, so if you solve that problem and it goes away, then there's your answer.

Why would too much foremilk cause the ring?

Also, I'm having trouble discerning if my LO's poops are sometimes mucosy, or if what I'm seeing is the normal EBF poop. It's loose, sometimes pretty watery, usually a little seedy. If any of it is sort of sticky and stringy looking, is that mucous?

[DevaMajka]

Ime, mucousy poop looks like, um, a bunch of snot throughout the poo. (I know that's kinda gross, but it's the best way I could think of to describe it). If you touch it together, it would forn a string of snot when you pull it apart.

[zazenist]

I have oversupply and mild OALD, and if I don't block feed, DD gets the red ring and rash. All it takes is one time of not doing that and she goes from being clear to being red. It's amazing. I tried elim diets, and none of them made any difference. So it seems like for me it's definitely a oversupply and foremilk/hindmilk imbalance issue. To the OP - what color is LO's stool? For us, normal yellowy breastmilk poop is fine, but the minute it tends toward green, we have problems. That green poo is really acidic! And like I said, it only happens when I slip up on the strict block feeding. Just a thought - hope it helps.

[akind1]

I noticed this - the red ring - but as DS is otherwise happy and has no other rash, isn't upset during feedings, and rarely spits up (usually only if joggled too much right after eating), I just figured it was a little diaper rash. Maybe it is too much foremilk or an imbalance. I don't block feed normally, but I could start and see if that makes a difference. Since I don't see any of the other allergy symptoms, I don't think he's sensitive to anything, and the only time his poop was green tinged was the day after sucking on piece of asparagus.

[Kmama2]

Originally Posted by Deir

Do you notice fussiness when you eat dairy? have you thought about tomatoes or citrus? That is my other thought since I am addicted to citrus.

Yes he was fussy when I ate dairy as an infant but now at 6 months he is fine.. Tomatoe porducts irriate his reflux and I never tried going citrus free.