Elimination diet: Support & Resources

[Mama Bear]

Just wanted to start a thread for mama's who are breastfeeding and are doing an elimination diet for their babes.

My ds is almost 5 mths old and I have been on an elimination diet since shortly after he was born. It's been difficult, but worth it.

Lately, this is what my diet has consisted of:
Rice, Millet, Amaranth, Teff, Chicken, Turkey, beans, Sea Salt, Olive Oil, Apples, Pears, Apricots, Raisins, Prunes, Carrots, Zuchinni, Yellow Squash, Butternut Squash, Kabocha Squash, Maple syrup, honey (can't think of what else)
I was eating eggs, but decided to stop and see if ds excessive spitting up would stop and it did

(I had posted on another thread for support a little while ago. Here's my more 'complete' story: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=236441)

[Jessica36]

Can I join, even though mine is 27 months! we are avoiding the following:
Egg, Peanut, Dairy, Wheat, Corn, Peas, Rye Avoiding fish
EA-Dog, Cat, Feather
Passed SOY! Trialing Oats

[LaLa]

Good for you mamas!
I wish I would have known about elimination diets in relation to breastfeeding when it would have helped!

I'm glad to hear you are figuring things out!

[KathinJapan]

Count me in! I have not been good recently, sneaking little bits of stuff here and there. If you had told me a year a go I would *cheat* on this diet I would have laughed. But, frankly it is HARD, and my list is much shorter than others...
We avoid
eggs, dairy, soy, seafood, treenuts and peanuts.

I am back on track after a few nights of not so good sleep and finding rashy spots on babe where she had been clear.

Please send me some good vibes.
Warmly,
Kathryn

[LaLa]

Kathryn,
You've got it! Good "stay off the bad foods" vibes coming your way
~~+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++~~

[Mama Bear]

Welcome Kathryn & Jessica!!!
It is good to know I'm not alone
And thank you LaLa!

I also wanted to make this thread a place for resources to help other mama's with an elimination diet. If you have any websites and/or books that have helped you, please feel free to post them (or PM me and I can make a large list with links in one post) with a brief description. I know I could've used something like that when I was starting out.

Here's some websites I've found helpful:

Dr. Sears Elimination Diet: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041200.asp

Tracking Down Food Allergies: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041800.asp

Here's a cookbook that I've found resourceful:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/boo...7954276X&itm=2

[brooklyngirl]

Hi, I started on an elimination diet after moths of feeling horrible. I was not recovering well from the birth of third child and I knew it was more than the fatigue of having three children. I knew I had every reason to be tired but I was exhausted. I could barely make it to six in the evening. Then there was the almost constant headaches and stomach upset. My baby has no symptoms of any food intolerances yet.

I looked at everything I could find.

I found this one:
http://www.noaw.com/Elimination%20Diet/eliminat.htm

but I ended up using this one by Metagenics:
http://www.functionalmedicine.org/co...iet_091503.pdf


I cannot locate the original site where I found this diet listed. I wanted something really thorough because I had no idea how to start. This one had the list that I carried with me to the supermarket. Plus it was not caloric restricted diet which gave me some comfort.

I am about to start reintroducing/challenging in four days. I decided to eliminate for four weeks. A friend who went through an elimination was on a similar diet for six weeeks. I found that I saw vast improvements in my second week. I am a new person and my family is benefitting from my increased energy and stamina. It wasn't easy for them because I found it difficult to cook for them while I was trying to avoid certain foods. I've gotten past that this week and am not having many cravings for "forbidden foods."

I found that I had to break certain habits including:
-not tasting or taking a bit of everything I fed the kids (I was surprised how this adds up)
-sweetening everything
-not thinking about what I was going to eat when leaving home

Thanks Mama Bear for starting this. I hope it helps moms who might be considering trying a change in diet.

[georgia]

I like this site

http://www.kjsl.net/~beanmom/nomilk.html