hurting 5 week old -- are there "safe" foods for me to eat

[DAR mama]

My DS is 5 weeks old. I am not sure if he is having a reaction to something in my breastmilk or not. He rarely burps, and often has alot of gas and abdominal discomfort. There are times he wants to nurse but pulls off in pain. He also occassionally has some very impressive spit-ups. He does not have any rashes other than an occasional red bottom and I can't tell if that is related. He seems so uncomfortable, I want to do everything I can to try to find out what it is but I am a little lost and overwhlmed.

I have been on an elimination diet and avoiding citrus, dairy, wheat, nuts (but not seeds), and eggs. Though recently I phased wheat and eggs back in and could not see that things got worse. But anyway, he is still not feeling well, so I am thinking I need to just start over, eliminate as many possible allergens as possible, and focus on adding one food at a time.

I know there is a whole other list of foods I can/should eliminate starting with soy and corn, and including tomatoes, onions, broccoli, beans etc... I am a vegetarian and it is a little overwhelming to think about doing this but I really want to make sure what I eat is not causing him pain.

So I thought if I looked at it from the positive side and made a list of what I CAN eat that might help. So based on your experience what are the "safe" foods I can eat? I thought I would probably be safe eating the following foods:
grains: oats, rice, quinoa, kamut
seeds: sesame, pumpkin
veggies: potatoes, lettuce, carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado
fruit: apples, grapes, pears

Also, do you have hints for getting enough protein if I am avoiding dairy, eggs, nuts, and beans?

Thanks for any advice you have.

--Debbie

[smirlynwittles]

I was there. Don't starve yourself. For my son I had to go off dairy, citrus, almonds, yeast, and gluten (also supposed to do eggs). You need to go off for atleast 2 weeks to get the antibodies out of your systems. I'd start with just the dairy and citrus without adding soy. They you can try to get the immunolabs blood print to see what the two of you are sensitive to (so you don't starve yourself for nothing... You can supplement with rice or pea protein powder if needed.

I opted for gluten-free over the eggs because gluten can damage you intestines if you are sensitive. I figured that by avoiding it I would help my intestines heal and therefore be better able to digest other foods.

[DAR mama]

Thanks for the advice. I was on the elmination diet for three weeks before adding anything back. And adding wheat and eggs back did not make things noticeably worse. I tried to add dairy back (just a few pieces of cheese) and he seemed to have a reaction. But all in all things aren't any better than they were a month ago. Who knows maybe its not even allergies? Its so frustrating!

I had not heard of rice protein powder. I will look for it.

FWIW, I just found this list on the Dr. Sears site (http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041800.asp#T041805),

Least-Allergenic Foods
apples
apricots
asparagus
avocados
barley
beets
broccoli
carrots
cauliflower
chicken
cranberries
dates
grapes
honey
lamb
lettuce
mangoes
oats
papayas
peaches
pears
poi
raisins
rice
rye
safflower oil
salmon
squash
sunflower oil
sweet potatoes
turkey
veal

[smirlynwittles]

Hylands colic tablets seemed to help during an episode. You give them every 15 min until he falls asleep. It kept the episodes to around 30 min. Daycare also discovered that if they gave him the colic tabs 10 min before a bottle (of ebm) that he wouldn't spit up (projectile hurl).

I was dairy/citrus/gluten free for about 6 months and now I can eat again. We still try to minimize our dairy.

Hang in there! I know it can be tough... But don't starve yourself!! I just about keeled over when I tried giving up eggs as well (also a veggie).

[DAR mama]

Amy, thanks for your encouragement. If you have time, can you tell me more about how you isolated those foods and more about what an immunolabs blood print is? Thanks!

[todzwife]

Could it be reflux and not an allergy? The pulling off the breast in pain and impressive spit ups make me think maybe reflux.

[smirlynwittles]

What it seemed with my son was that the colic/reflux was due to a food "sensitivity" or delayed immune response. Since the response is delayed, it is difficult to pinpoint the offending foods. The immuno labs bloodprint is a blood test of mom's blood for food sensitivities. The baby's sensitivities show up as well since mom is nursing and producing antibodies for her son. Thus you can't tell if a food is really mom's problem or baby's.

www.betterhealthusa.com

[DAR mama]

Originally Posted by todzwife

Could it be reflux and not an allergy? The pulling off the breast in pain and impressive spit ups make me think maybe reflux.

That's a very good question. I guess I need to read more about reflux. I guess because he only occassionally pulls of the breast I figured he was hurting first and wanted to nurse for comfort but hurt too much. And he doesn't always spit up. Somedays he doesn't at all. Time to go read threads on reflux ...

[jeanine123]

Might want to check out these links to Kellymom on fussy baby, reflux and elimination diets. Also, here's a link for infant massage, it really helped tons with my son's gas and he loved getting his massage each night. Hey, extra naked time with daddy, who could complain!! :LOL

Fussy eater http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/...e-nursing.html

Oversupply (a lot of times it masks itself as reflux) http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

reflux
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/reflux.html

food allergies
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns...nsitivity.html

infant massage
http://familyfun.go.com/parenting/ba...infantmassage/

[Missy]

Hi!

First of all, please remember that what smirlynwittles said is true--reflux and colic can by caused by allergies; the only time my son had reflux was after ingesting an allergen.

Sometimes it is easier to just do a more extreme elimination diet to start with, particularly if you're dealing with multiple food allergies. We were lucky that our ds' early testing was fairly accurate and consistent with both reactions and future tests, but it's not uncommon for early testing to be completely off. If you eliminate more foods to start with, there will be less guessing as you proceed. For example, let's say you eliminate dairy, see a little improvement or a temporary improvement and then the baby just gets worse and you decide, ahh, must not be dairy then and so you eliminate soy instead. Same thing. So you eliminate eggs instead. Same thing. Could be that your baby is allergic to dairy, soy and eggs and you've never eliminated all the allergens at the same time so you never see a complete improvement. Make sense? If you eliminate as many allergens as possible, for at least four weeks, (time to clear your system and baby's system and time for baby to heal), you choose one food to add back in about every two or three weeks. That way, if you see a reaction in those three weeks, you know to keep that food out of your diet. Let your baby heal again, and try another food. If you don't see a reaction in two or three weeks, keep eating that food and add another one.

Another thing to keep in mind in deciding to try a total elimination diet is that the ongoing presence of any allergen can damage the gut. By eliminating as many allergens as possible to begin the diet, you allow more time to heal.

Personally, I'd be careful with the avocado; my son is anaphylactic to it and I know several other kids who are also allergic to it.

My son is allergic to dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, nuts, peanuts, quinoa, barley, buckwheat, mustard, corn, avocados and bananas (and latex), most fruits--and I definitely don't starve. We aren't vegetarian, but I do eat a lot of beans and most people can eat quinoa, which is a great source of protein. I eat a lot of salad and rice. Sunbutter is made out of sunflower seeds and it's taken the place of peanut butter in my house--really good stuff.

Good luck!!

Missy

[DAR mama]

Just an update ... I have limited myself to the foods on the list from Dr. Sears (plus bananas, sunflower seeds and quinoa) for just over 24 hours now and DS seems so much better. Very little fussiness, no spit-ups, no grimacing and pulling off or not being able to eat because he hurts, no crying jags (except in the carseat which he hates!). And he has had the longest active alert time tonight that I can remember.

I know I may be leaping to conclusions, and a day is not very long, and I don't obviously don't want him to have allergies but, today was so much better than yesterday I am just so relieved.

Now I just need to hang on for three weeks and start adding things back. I guess I will spend that time fantasizing about what to add back first. Probably beans (and not soy) so that I can get more protein.

Thanks you all for your support and advice.

[veggielover]

Can you give an update as to how it's goin?? I am starting an elim. diet with my almost 3 month old and just found this thread, so I'm curious..........

[MMMOM]

Also a veggie, and experienced what you are now. For me eliminating wheat and dairy showed an improvement quickly. Also, I stayed away from soy and all leafy greens. For protein I ate a lot of lentils and rice. The pink lentils are suppose to be highest in protein. Massages work. I also bought the Baby Bjorn bouncer, it reclines in three positions and the baby slept in it for the most part, especially after a feeding. I could not believe the price when I checked it recently, I guess I got lucky and paid $40. I do love it, dd is 16 mo. and still uses it to drink her milk. Also, instead colic tablets (milk based), we used gripe water, Colic Ease.

Hang in there, don't starve yourself. It will pass.