Is GAPS for my 7mo and me?

[CookAMH]

Am I on the right board for this? I don't view this as an allergy issue and we eat TF a good bit, and I know GAPS is discussed a lot here. I'm not looking to do allergy testing or elimination diets at this point, I don't feel its warranted right now.

And my husband needs GAPS too, for sure. Ezcema on knees, flaky skin when eating gluten/wheat, history of lots of abx, dandruff even with a chlorine filter.

My only observable symptom is some mild acne. I have loose stools off and on, but I don't know if that is die-off from kombucha and kefir (but, if it is, then that indicates a poor gut right?? LOL).

My 7 mo DD (vaginal birth, no abx, EBF until 3 weeks ago when I started solids) was sensitive to dairy the first four months. I cut it out of my diet, and trialed it periodically. She also had some reflux which I resolved with cutting out the dairy and reducing acidic things like chocolate and OJ. She has gained weight slowly. Started at 8lbs 4oz, gained very well the first few weeks, then slowed wayyyy down to about 1/2 lb a month (led us to finding tongue and lip tie and working on bf issues which was a whole other challeng). Now, she's gaining maybe 1lb a month, so she's still small, about 15lbs at 7mo.

My mom read that daughters are more likely to get their mama's gut than sons? So even if my poor gut doesn't bother me, could it be manifesting more in her? It's so strange to me bc DS (2.5) was a c/s but never had these issues! He does occasionally get a diaper rash and irritations on his face though, so he probably has some mild issues.

So, she is on my mind a lot because of the following:

1. Reacted to raw milk yogurt immediately - redness on either side of head, on the temple area, within the first three bites, faded in 10 min. Happened twice, no more yogurt.

2. Spotty red rash around anus after some bowel movements. Well, after many bms.

3. Green poop a lot of the time, formed

4. I see little flecks in her bms, like itty bits of spinach or lettuce (she ate none).

5. I *think* I observed a spot of fresh blood in her bm yesterday. None today.

What's she eating?

avocado, banana, chicken stock, chicken, coconut oil, salt, sweet potato, carrot, applesauce, soaked brown rice, and a little pastured butter.

What I wonder is - could this be die off??? If I'm drinking kombucha and kefir, and she has that through bf, and then she's taking in chicken stock, I dunno. Any thoughts? I guess either way, as I hinted above, even if it IS die-off, then it indicates an issue.

So, how to proceed?  Read the book?  How to approach for nursing mothers? We'd been talking for a couple months about doing GAPS after the holidays, mostly for my husband. We mights as well all do it. Would I do full GAPS and not intro, since I'm nursing?  We started a therapy for DH with L-glutamine, colostrum and probiotics after noticeable reactions to gluten. I did NOT want him to go GF, so he just reduced it and took the supplements. We wanted to observe but not have him become hypersensitive to gluten by eliminating when we weren't ready to start GAPS yet.

Since we don't have serious health issues, I'm wondering if intro GAPS will be a short time before we could move to full GAPS.

Should I not have started solids?  She is eating a good bit when I feed her (1/2 cup) 2x a day, and I waited until she sat up and no tongue thrust, and I wanted to help her grow more. :(

[Ravenlunatic]

From my personal experience I will share several things.

For me green poop means undigested food (I don't know that this is true for everyone), but I have been on GAPS for 2 years now and when my gut is overwhelmed and can't digest something... I poop green.

Also, it is incredibly difficult to discern what is die off and what is symptom unless you are very strict with the GAPS diet.  An example for this is that in my experience my body behaves very differently now (after many months) on the diet then it did with the same food at the begining.  Also, my body behaves very differently if I ingest something like rice and/or peanuts (both illegal on the GAPS diet).

It is only when I am fanatic about what I eat that I get a true clear picture of everything.  It is difficult to be fanatical all the time for me and so small things slip through my eating habits and then I have some general mild sypmtoms htat I know are tied to my 'slipping up', but at this point they are so mild that it is worth it for me for convenience sake.  For instance I have been making these almond flour muffins that I LOVE, but seem to give me a little trouble.  They are made with all legal ingredients but are just hard for me to digest for some reason. 

If you are trying to figure out your DD's reaction to foods that you ingest and all of the symptoms and potential die off that goes with it... well I would save yourself months of guessing and poop examining.  Either do the diet fully, or don't.  If you don't you will never know if the starch in a sweet potato is giving symptoms or if it was something else.  Also, if you go on the diet I would commit to at least a six month run so that you can get through any initial issues and reach an 'even keel' with the food so you can 'see' if there are issues with starch in general.

Yes, read the books:)