Breastfeeding/Food Allergies

[lih330]

Anyone have experience w/a complete elimination diet while breastfeeding. My best friend's daughter is breastfed (6 months old) and is suffering from allergic reactions to food in her breastmilk. She's already eliminated dairy and soy. But the issue has not been resolved. She's thinking about eliminating gluten now but has no idea where to start or what to eat...she's desperate. Can anyone recommend a good holistic nutrionist that may be familiar w/this issue? Thanks! Worried for my friend, LIH

[mytwomonkies]

I did a total elimination diet when my DD was 2 or 3 months old. Your friend can either stay on the track she's on by eliminating foods one at a time to see if that helps or she can do a total elimination diet where she starts on an extremely limited diet until her little one's symptoms improve or go away and then slowly introduce foods back in one at a time noting how her little one reacts.

I personally went for the total elimination diet because I wanted quick results for my DD. It was not easy at all but we pushed forward and we are still nursing at 21 months. We are still on a somewhat restricted diet but nothing like when we started. When i first started I didn't see any results in my DD until I went to only eating rice, squash and zucchini, olive oil, sea salt, and fresh pears. I ate this for a couple months for 3 meals a day trying to add foods back in but getting reactions to everything, I finally found that she tolerated lamb so I was able to add a protein which I was in desperate need of. I ate this mixture of lamb, rice, squash and zucchini, and olive oil and sea salt for a while before I finally started to be able to add more vegetables back in. Then I was able to slowly add some fruits back in. My diet eventually got a lot more varied but we're still not able to eat any gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, oats, or peanuts. I would be lying if I said it was easy but I'm so glad that I did not give up. Who knows how much worse she could have been if she was formula fed and she may not have even been able to tolerate hypoallergenic formula. The benefits of breastmilk are huge, especially for a child that already has allergy problems.

Let me know if she has any questions and I would be happy to try and help!

[elanorh]

Dr. Sears has a basic description of a total elimination diet on his site:  http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041200.asp

I eliminated dairy/soy (didn't eat tree nuts, fish, shellfish anyway); then I eliminated wheat/egg; next I eliminated all legumes (at that point it was an Elimination Diet of the Big 8).  I didn't know about TEDs at the time, and that was the advice I was given. 

I think for some moms, it seems less overwhelming to just eliminate foods in the "most likely to cause reactions" order (dairy/soy, then wheat or egg....).  For others, the TED feels less overwhelming.  It varies. 

The big thing is to make sure she's still getting adequate caloric intake.  It took awhile for me to adjust to adding calories to my food while I was on such a strict elimination diet. 

You could suggest that she come visit this board for help, if she has questions (that kinda "outs" you as a member here of course if you're trying to keep your online stuff anonymous).... 

This is totally do-able.  I was on the Big 8 + legumes ED with dd1 for about 6 months, and then able to have wheat but still eliminating everything else for another 10 months or so --- then gradually dd1 outgrew all her allergies other than egg.  With dd2, I was Big 8 + legume-free for 4 months, then able to have wheat but still free of everything else, plus legumes, to 1 year of age; able to add legumes in after 1, and egg into my diet at 2 years of age, and then at about 3, she outgrew her dairy/soy allergy and never reacted to peanuts/treenuts/fish/shellfish. 

It takes awhile, and having friends who support her is helpful.  My LC didn't believe in breastfed infants having food allergies; my Ped did.  She may find that she runs into that, not everybody is "up" on things.  Having a friend who is supportive and willing to listen and help, is really helpful.  I had a couple local friends who really helped us out while we were on such a restricted diet, and I appreciated it so much! 

ETA:  Remind your friend to check toiletries (lotions, shampoos, etc.) for the allergens she's avoiding - those she uses, and those used on her baby.  Also, to check vitamins to make sure they don't have anything she's avoiding in them.  And, it would be a good idea to add a good allergen-free probiotic to her diet (and possibly baby's too).  Our allergist recommended it to me with dd2 - but thanks to online research here and elsewhere, I'd already been on them since before she was born.  I think they help a lot. 

[sunnygir1]

I eliminated a lot of foods while breastfeeding dd (gluten, dairy, eggs, chocolate, nightshades, brassicas, etc.) and with ds I did a total elimination diet.  I think the elimination diet was more effective.

I ate:  lamb, turkey, rice (rice noodles and rice cakes with only rice as an ingredient), celery, carrots, green beans, zucchini, potatoes, blueberries, pears, salt, olive oil, (I think that's all).

If she wants to go for it, she should just cook up a big pot of brown rice and eat rice and approved vegetables for every meal.  It's an easy way to cut out gluten, just don't eat bread or baked goods at all.

breakfast:  rice with blueberries or pears

lunch:  lamb or turkey with rice or potatoes and approved vegetables

dinner:  same

snacks:  pear, rice cake, more breakfast, lunch, or dinner

It gets boring, but is SO worth it when you see positive changes in the suffering baby!