Veggie Mama on Elimination Diet- HELP!!

[anamama]

I am bf'ing a sweet 9 week old baby girl, and am going on an elimination diet to get to the root of her gas issues. She is really uncomfortable. So I went to the Dr. Sears website and it says to cut out everything but turkey and lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini and yellow squash, rice and pears. I have been a vegetarian for twenty years, but I will do almost anything for dd to be comfortable. I don't think I could ever eat a lamb, but I might venture into turkey territory.
Has anyone done this before? Is there any other protein source that isn't a major gas producer/allergen? Is there a healthy veggie way?
Any personal experiences/suggestions are welcome!

[flapjack]

IME, the cruciferous vegetables weren't a problem. Something else you could try would be eating your usual diet, but excluding all dairy products (including hidden milk proteins and sugars- check labels of premade food), eggs, soy, nuts, wheat, citrus, corn and tomatoes. This would leave you with the majority of your normal diet to start with, and after 6 weeks you can start reintroducing foods- tomato and corn first, and then work your way backwards.
Cows milk is, however, far and away the most likely culprit. It's down to you whether you want to start with a full elimination diet, or the major suspect.

[anamama]

I also drink A LOT of caffeine- usually 32 oz of coffee in the a.m. and sweet tea all day thereafter (I'm a southerner). I'm thinking that could be bothering dd, too. Today is my 2nd day (almost) caffeine free. I'm allowing myself one cup of green tea in the a.m.
If I cut out the foods you suggested, that does leave me some wiggle room with beans and soy for protein sources. But isn't soy a fairly common allergen as well? Ack. I just want my baby to feel better.

[smirlynwittles]

I've been there... I'm an ovo-lacto veggie and my son had colic/reflux. Citrus was an obvious offender. It took two weeks off dairy as well for everything to go away (mostly). I ended up having my blood tested for food sensitivites (Immuno Labs Bloodprint). We were sensitive to dairy, almonds, brewer's yeast, eggs, and gluten (just me). I managed to give up everything except the eggs. I about keeled over when I gave them up as well. I called my ped crying hysterically.

For protein, they make lentil pasta. I pretty much ate some form of beans and rice for about 6 months. Try "Feast without Yeast", "Allergy Self-Help Cookbook", and "Vegan Planet" for recipes. They also make rice pasta, but it doesn't freeze well. Supposedly you can also order pea protein online. Trader Joes' also carries some vegan nutrition bars (have almonds though).

[anamama]

So lentils would be a good non-allergenic protein source? That's good to hear, I have some in my pantry!

[G&B'sMama]

I am vegetarian and went on an elimination diet with my son too. I ate a lot of lentils and split peas. Beans can be gassy, but I couldn’t cut out everything- and I made sure they were really well cooked. It helps if you buy dry and soak them at least over night, then drain and rinse them before cooking. Also throw out the cooking water and rinse again before eating. That gets rid of most of the gas producing compounds in legumes.

I was really strict and eliminated everything for a little over two weeks. It was hard, and I cried a lot, but I did it. I also started to notice improvement in DS gas and colicky symptoms. Then I added the protein type foods first- saved things like citrus, chocolate, broccoli for last. Luckily, he didn’t seem to have a reaction to nuts- so I was able to eat nut butters again and that really helped with the rest of the time. I did find, however, in our case that onions and garlic were huge offenders gas wise, soy was a minor offender gas wise, and dairy was a major problem. It was worth the investment of time and energy to figure it out. We ended up eating lots of vegan meals- and had to find ways to make them tasty that did not involve onions.

BTW- caffeine can cause big tummy troubles for little babes- so giving it up for the time being is a step in the right direction.

Another thing that helped us was for me to take acidophilous tablets. I can't remember if I took them before or after the meal- but the directions were right on the jar. My midwife said this might help him digest better- and it did seem to help.

[kaydee]

A vegan-focused food allergy guide: www.foodallergysurvivalguide.com --by vegan R.D.s