Elimination Diet Challenge Phase question

[MeredithK]

Hey guys,

I have a quick question. Ok, we are at week 5 of TED. We went to the doctor today to discuss it all and get ready for the challenge phase. But, I am confused. He said to try a new food 3 times a day and wait 3 days before trying a different food.

So, do we eat that same food over the 3 days, or just do it one day, back to the TED for 2 days, then a new food?

I didn't even think about it while I was there because I was so excited to eat some different food!

Thanks!

[DevaMajka]

Different people do it differently. I think a lot of it depends on the severity of the reaction, kwim? Some people try a small amount, wait a few days, then try it again to be sure. Some people eat a lot of it every day. And all sorts of ways in between. For me, because none of ds's reactions seem to bother him much, I eat it a lot for the trial period, just to have some variety for nutrition and taste.

I've always read 4 days, and in this forum the consensus seems to be that you need 7 days to be sure, so keep that in mind. I suppose that would also depend on the reactions you're looking at, and if you think they happen immediately or they are delayed.

[kjbrown92]

Is this giving the food directly to him or is he getting it through you? It does depend how sensitive the child is. For me, if I ate one thing in it that had milk in it (like a roll) DS would react 24 hours later, and then for the following 3 days. So if I ate it all that day, the reaction would last even longer. Now that he's older, if I am trialing a new food, I give him one small portion (so when we tried white potatoes, I gave him 4-5 potato chips) and then waited the 4 days (that night and the next two, he was up wetting the bed and screaming all night in pain). So for us I always do one serving on day 1, then wait 3 more days (4 if you're nursing). Then do 2 servings on that day, and wait. If still good, then it can go into the rotation or every day. Are you keeping a food journal? Whenever something comes up, my first suspect is always the food that was added in last. I know some people eat a ton of it that whole first day. I figure if the child is going to react, they're going to react to one serving and I want to minimize it if there is a reaction.