How did you know your EBF infant had a food intolerance?

[Inquiringmind]

I'm wondering how you knew that your infant had an intolerance to something in your diet if you exclusively breastfed. I'd love to hear what signs/symptoms you saw and how your figured it out.

[Bokonon]

Mine spit up excessively, but that wasn't a huge deal - she also had a sort of dry rash on her eyebrows, had perpetual nasal congestion, and was so gassy in the middle of the night that I would spend 3-6am most nights just trying to get her to fart so we could both get some sleep!

I think I figured it out around 2 months, or about 2 weeks after her due date (she was a preemie). I eliminated dairy and soy, and within 2 weeks she was much better. Now at 14 months, I eat dairy and soy and so does she, and handles it fine, but was still reacting to it in my milk around 6 months. I don't think I tried again until around 8 months, and she was fine.

[ashleyhaugh]

my ds had really bad runny eyes and nose- we strted him on zyrtec at about 2.5-3 months or so, but we were thinking seasonal allergies...about4 months, he got what i thought was a yeast rash, an the doc agreed.we did the 2 weeks of cream, but it didnt go away... i read some on here, then started researching dairy allergies. i cut the dairy, and all of those symptoms went away, including a patch of eczema on his back we didnt connect. if i slipped up, the eczema would be back by the next nursing. it was crazy..

we thought he had grown out of it at about 8 months, but it had switched from mostly skin issues to mostly stomach issues. he'll be 3 in october and still cant have dairy. if he gets a trace(casein in soy cheese for example) he gets the runny eyes and nose,and gas, and painful constipation that leads to diarreah. if he gets a "big" amount (like when a little girl i was babysitting shared her cheese- he got a whole bite, lol) he gets all of that and breaks out in a rash too

[PatioGardener]

nak

mine screamed, writhed, peddled his legs etc for 2 h straight after i ate a lot of dairy. no dairy = no 'colic'

[texaspeach]

blood in his poop and excema were big clues

[carmel23]

My daughter was soy/dairy intolerant. *horrible, persistent diaper rash,* dark (old looking) blood in her stool, breathing difficulties (retracted breathing, with just a cold).

My little baby now is intolerant to soy, and he gets a really bad--red inflamed-- diaper rash.

[Geigerin]

It took us a while to figure it out. It was a lactation consultant we were seeing who suggested dairy was an issue. Maddy lets us know when she's not comfortable by screaming, fighting being held, and pulling her knees to her chest. I've had to eliminate dairy, soy, peanuts, caffeine, and reduce sugar intake. If I slip up, I have a miserable baby for a day or two.

Maddy still has congestion and a yeasty diaper. Our doctor has suggested gluten could be a problem (he thinks I have trouble with gluten, too). But frankly, she's not unhappy and I like bread! Lol

So, we're still trying to figure things out. At 3 1/2 months, it's all trial and error for us.

[miami mommy]

My DS had blood and mucus in his poo when I ate something he couldn't tolerate. There was so much he couldn't tolerate: soy, chocolate, eggs, peanuts, turkey, strawberries, too much dairy (he was ok with a small amount of dairy). He started tolerating a lot of these foods around 6 mos.

[Dee-Groovy]

She suddenly becomes a "high needs baby" about 48 hours after I have a tiny slip up in my elimination diet. Very fussy, wants to nurse constantly, doesn't want to be put down, won't nap except for dozing on the boob. Bright red diaper rash, diarrhea and gas. Not good times for anyone.

Good luck to you in figuring out whether it's a food intolerance or not. It can be really hard to quit dairy at first because it seems like it's in everything. My latest slip up, which I am paying for now, was a grilled chicken sandwich. Yep, I found out afterward that there was dairy and soy in it.

[redpajama]

Eczema, blood in stools, mucousy stools. All started around 2 months. Also, she had HORRIBLE diaper rashes.

My pediatrician dismissed my concerns about food allergies and sent us to a dermatologist, who prescribed a topical steroid that would suppress the eczema, but it would come back as soon as we stopped using it.

When she started solids, it was obvious that she was sensitive to dairy because she would break out from contact with it--so, for example, one day I gave her yogurt to eat with her shirt off, and everywhere the yogurt touched--on her face, chest, belly--she had a raised, red rash.

As it turned out, she is extremely allergic to cashews, pistachios and egg.

[zannster]

My DS would repeatedly pull off and cry (and relatch) during nursing. That was it. He had colic too, but it didn't seem to have any effect on that.

[Lillypop]

neither of my DSs did well with diary in the first few weeks. DS#2 was sensitive to it for the first 2 months. he got gassy, spit up, was fussy. he's fine with it now, but if I eat a lot of "gassy-type" vegetables, he gets extra stinky farts. no fussiness, but boy are they phew-y. cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli ... I avoid loads of dairy now (I can have a max of 8 oz of cow milk at once, or I get major GI upset, it's my Greek background), so that's not really an issue (before, just 2 oz of cow milk would make DS tooty a few hours afterwards).

so, it was mostly gas and stinky poos, a bit of fussiness, and spitting up (like projectile, he just nursed, and then BLAAAACH in my hair, all over the floor, across the bed, etc.)

[Inquiringmind]

Originally Posted by Lillypop

it was mostly gas and stinky poos, a bit of fussiness, and spitting up (like projectile, he just nursed, and then BLAAAACH in my hair, all over the floor, across the bed, etc.)

This is mostly what I'm noticing. He's pretty gassy, spits up (occasionally projectile), and writhes/grunts after nursing. I can't figure out if it's just a typcial gas problem or something worth investigating further, like an allergy/intolerance.

[Munchkimo]

My son cried a lot and slept very little. He would be smiling and laughing then suddenly wince and cry. He was gassy. He wanted to nurse constantly. He had rings under his eyes. His belly was taught. He was in the tenth percentile (and went up to and stayed at the eightieth percentile when we eliminated his allergen). He had eczema and seborrheic dermatitis on his scalp. He had tiny bits of blood in his green stools. Once he strained so hard he got a hemorrhoid.

Very early on, there was a series of days where all I had time to make for myself to eat was potato lefse with butter and cinnamon sugar. I noted that on those days he seemed to do better. I knew then he must have an allergy. I did the Dr. Sears elimination diet but saw no improvement. It got to the point where I would walk up and down the hallway for 45 minutes just to get him to sleep for 25 minutes. Ultimately, at my absolute wits end, I sent him to spend the night at with my mother and sister. I was too exhausted to pump, so I sent him with a bottle of Alimentum Ready-to-feed formula. I called to ask my mom how he was doing and she said he'd slept 7 hours straight. I just about fainted. He'd never done that for me.

To make a long story short, we discovered that my son has a corn allergy. The Alimentum RTF worked because it is the only corn free formula. When we tried the powdered Alimentum, he reacted. Turns out there is one ingredient different between the two--corn syrup solids instead of tapioca starch. That also explains why the total elimination diet didn't work. The fruits I was eating were coated in glycerine wax--corn derived, the symethicone gas drops--corn derived, the iodized salt--also corn derived.

My son is five years old now. He continues to react to corn and corn derivatives. I often suspect that he would have several diagnoses had we not discovered his corn allergy when he was four months old.

[MamaPhD]

DD had bloody poopy diaper when she was around 2-3months old. Our ped said maybe dairy allergy, so I stopped drinking my 1-2 cups per day, and it stopped immediately. She still turns red where dairy food touches her at 19 months old.

[dakotablue]

Spitting up a LOT. projectile vomit occasionally and pain cry after spitting up. I thought heartburn right away.

I did a full elimination of anything that could bother him, then reintroduced foods into my diet. DS spits up more (we'd gotten to the point where he almost never does around 5 months) if I eat dairy, soy, GM corn, and gluten.

It was frustrating because when I went to the ped immediately they gave us a script, which I filled because I wanted to help, DS broke out in a rash after two dose, went back they then wanted to send him to get put under and a tube down his throat. I freaked out said NO and started my own research aka elimination diet it took 2 weeks to see a difference, 3 for significant one.

[sunnygir1]

My dd spit up a lot, had a lot of tummy troubles (pain and gas), and bad diaper rashes. She had "colic" or "tummy troubles" until she was 7 months old. I eliminated all kinds of things from my diet. It didn't go away because of my eating habits, but if I tried to add things back in she would get much worse. I was off all kinds of things:
I'm gluten free anyway.
I also cut out: corn, dairy, eggs, brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, etc.), onions, night shades (tomatoes, peppers, etc.), soy, and probably some other things I'm not thinking of right now.

When she got better around 7 months I was able to start adding some things back in. I was very slow and careful about introducing solids, which I did around the same time (7-8 months). Now (at 3.5) she can eat everything except gluten.

[kismetbaby]

Dry skin, he would itch and rub his face, poor sleep, spitting up, fussy, and the finally clue that got me to go on an elimination diet was green mucusy poo with occasional blood specks. That scared me!

For us it was just dairy. I eliminated it completely and most everything resolved within a month. He is still a poor sleeper and still gets dry, itchy skin, but its not as bad. I think he is just a sensitive sleeper period. And I think the skin issues might be more environmental. The only other thing was the spitting up. . .elim dairy didn't seem to help that and I was worried, but I kept being reassured that it would go away on its own. Sure enough around 6-7m the spitting up slowed than stopped.

I tried going back to dairy a month or so ago and he seemed fine with it for awhile, but then I noticed some of the old symptoms. . .not as bad, but still there. So I have quit dairy again. Although this time, he isn't sensitive to any tiny little speck of it and he's not EBF now). So I am just avoiding the obvious dairy, milk, cheese, butter. I know I am getting some dairy in cooked foods, but it doesn't seem to be a problem. I really would like to go back to yogurt. .. I'll try that soon.