Background I feel is important :
While 13 weeks pregnant with my son I became very ill while visiting family in Mexico, probably ecoli. I was put on an antibiotic, anti-amoeba and an anti-parisitic, I believe. I didn't take the full course because I worried about the effect on baby.
He was breech and born via c-section
He was diagnosed with reflux around 10 weeks of age and prescribed Zantac, I later switched to a probiotic with great results.
Introducing solids was terrible, back arching, screaming etc, around 6 months of age.
Because of the solid issue, he was almost exclusively breast-fed until 10 months of age ( May ). He is still breastfed and prefers that over food.
He had some issues with vaccinations, so we stopped all shots when he was about 4.5 month old, prior to that he was on a delayed schedule.
Christmas 2010 - first illness, no fever, lots of congestion - 5.5 month of age
3/11 second illness - congestion/running nose, no fever, borderline ear infection
5/11 - Third illness same as above, no ear problems
6/24/11 - Croup
8/18/11 - Roseola - Also diagnosed as anemia levels 6.4
9/15/11 - Fever/Runny Nose
10/8/11 - Hand Foot and Mouth Disease - iron level blood test pending
I do have a neighbor with constantly sick children who's not forthcoming regarding when they're ill, so we've decided no contact for at least a month. We know for sure his 9/15 illness came from her. The roseola came from another neighbor's child.
His bowel movements have never really been solid, sort of like peanut butter, varying in color. The iron supplement he's now on makes it worse. We cloth diaper him and I've never been able to simply shake his poop off in the toilet.
He eats very little processed food, but he does have grains and occasionally ( not often ) raw milk as I know the lactose in raw is much lower.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I tend to think this stems with a gut imbalance thus compromising his immune system. I'm taking him off all grains and dairy and he's now on a probiotic and I just started enzymes. I'm personally on fermented cod liver oil and butter oil ( and have been for three weeks ), and I'll also be giving him this. He'll also have daily broth made from the carcasses of chickens that we raise, free range. Unfortunately, I discovered some cavities in my own mouth, so as of 3 weeks ago, I'm drinking a lot of raw milk and I won't be able to cut that out of my diet, but I can convert the milk to yogurt or kefir to eliminate the lactose.
I'm completely desperate. My instinct tells me it's simply not normal for him to get so frequently. I feel like a bad mother. I thought if I breastfed him, he wouldn't get sick often. I also see a connection between regular introduction of solids in May and how frequently he started getting ill. I feel some light, as the hand foot and mouth disease seems to be clearing up quickly, much faster than his doctor indicated. I welcome any questions, suggestions, and encouragement.
On an off note, I was frequently ill as a child and also have some tummy issues.
Many probiotics can and do have extra ingredients that are harmful. This one is organic and NO EXTRAS.
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