New here and needing help please

[Lauren82]

This will be a long post because I want to describe everything in detail in hopes that someone has some advice. So I apologize in advance for the length.

The reason I started reading this forum is because my exclusively breastfed 7 month old has barely gained weight since birth. Her lowest recorded weight was 7 pounds 2 ounces and she started to gain from that point. As of yesterday she weighed 12 pounds 6 ounces. She is way off the growth charts. We don't do well baby visits, but my LO has seen a pediatrician. He was not overly concerned but really had no answers for me. His main advice was to either supplement with formula or feed her expressed breast milk after each nursing session at the breast. Of course I would not supplement with formula unless it was my final option and the advice about feeding her expressed milk was really funny since she takes it from my breast just fine.

I'm fairly certain this isn't a supply issue at all. However, there are some red flags that lead me to believe we may have some allergies or intolerance issues. We have been battling yeast since day one and yeast won the battle. My midwife had me take diflucan and use nystatin on my nipples and the baby's mouth. That didn't work. I tried gentian violet and probiotics. That didn't work either. I can see the thrush in my DD's mouth and I still have it in my nipples.

My dd also has always had strange poops. They are total liquid and always soak right into the diaper. They have never been seedy.

My diet consists of pretty much everything. I do not eliminate any food groups.

I'm really feeling like I have no idea what medical professional to turn to for advice. I strongly assume that our pediatrician will advise me to switch to formula feeding as if that would be the magic solution. He's not very knowledgeable about BF-ing.
I have already seen a lactation consultant several times to determine that my daughter's latch and input is okay. I don't know what to do.

I also want to add that as far as I know, my LO has no issues with reflux. She never spits up or vomits.

She doesn't have any problems with rashes on her bottom or hives. The only skin problem she has is the cradle cap on her head which I read is related to yeast overgrowth. She gets little patches of stuff behind her ears on sometimes on her cheeks which look like kinda like the scales on her head.

If anyone has any thoughts or advice, I would be so grateful. I'm lost!

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by Lauren82

This will be a long post because I want to describe everything in detail in hopes that someone has some advice. So I apologize in advance for the length.

The reason I started reading this forum is because my exclusively breastfed 7 month old has barely gained weight since birth. Her lowest recorded weight was 7 pounds 2 ounces and she started to gain from that point. As of yesterday she weighed 12 pounds 6 ounces. She is way off the growth charts. We don't do well baby visits, but my LO has seen a pediatrician. He was not overly concerned but really had no answers for me. His main advice was to either supplement with formula or feed her expressed breast milk after each nursing session at the breast. Of course I would not supplement with formula unless it was my final option and the advice about feeding her expressed milk was really funny since she takes it from my breast just fine.

I'm fairly certain this isn't a supply issue at all. However, there are some red flags that lead me to believe we may have some allergies or intolerance issues. We have been battling yeast since day one and yeast won the battle. My midwife had me take diflucan and use nystatin on my nipples and the baby's mouth. That didn't work. I tried gentian violet and probiotics. That didn't work either. I can see the thrush in my DD's mouth and I still have it in my nipples.

My dd also has always had strange poops. They are total liquid and always soak right into the diaper. They have never been seedy.

My diet consists of pretty much everything. I do not eliminate any food groups.

I'm really feeling like I have no idea what medical professional to turn to for advice. I strongly assume that our pediatrician will advise me to switch to formula feeding as if that would be the magic solution. He's not very knowledgeable about BF-ing.
I have already seen a lactation consultant several times to determine that my daughter's latch and input is okay. I don't know what to do.

I also want to add that as far as I know, my LO has no issues with reflux. She never spits up or vomits.

She doesn't have any problems with rashes on her bottom or hives. The only skin problem she has is the cradle cap on her head which I read is related to yeast overgrowth. She gets little patches of stuff behind her ears on sometimes on her cheeks which look like kinda like the scales on her head.

If anyone has any thoughts or advice, I would be so grateful. I'm lost!

That sounds exactly like my dd before we identified her food allergies. The poop is especially concerning because it means nutrients are passing right through. My dd was also underweight. We also had yeast, and for many months, I believed all those little rashes/scaly patches to be due to yeast. When I finally saw a somewhat holistic doctor, she diagnosed combined eczema and yeast rash and gave me some steroid/anti-fungal cream.

We next saw a pediatric allergist, but by that time my dd was 15 mths old and he was willing to do skin scratch and blood testing. He was quick to say that testing isn't always accurate in children under 4, so the information might be limited. In fact, we got useful results from the skin test but not from the blood. I don't know that an allergist would be willing to do much testing on a 7 mth old, and even if he/she did, it may not tell you everything you need to know.

Despite the results we got, there were clearly many other sensitivities. I kept a meticulous food journal of what I and my dd were eating and monitored her skin and bowel movement changes, behavior, sleep patterns, etc. That would be my recommendation to you. I would cut out the major allergens for a week or two and keep a journal during that time (those allergens include dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts, treenuts and then, the two next biggest, corn and sesame). You really have to read labels and know that corn comes in many forms that are not easily identifiable (http://www.cornallergens.com/list/co...ergen-list.php).

Also, you're right that many doctors recommend switching to formula, as if your breastmilk is the problem, but formula contains soy, dairy and/or corn and none of the protective properties of bm, so it's not a good option.

After you figure out what your dc is reacting to, you want to work on gut healing for yourself and your baby (probiotics, enzymes, etc.) You want to wait until afterward so you don't purchase supplements that might contain your dc's food sensitivities. Did you have abx during pregnancy, labor or shortly thereafter? Has your baby had them?

[Lauren82]

Originally Posted by Chinese Pistache

That sounds exactly like my dd before we identified her food allergies. The poop is especially concerning because it means nutrients are passing right through. My dd was also underweight. We also had yeast, and for many months, I believed all those little rashes/scaly patches to be due to yeast. When I finally saw a somewhat holistic doctor, she diagnosed combined eczema and yeast rash and gave me some steroid/anti-fungal cream.

We next saw a pediatric allergist, but by that time my dd was 15 mths old and he was willing to do skin scratch and blood testing. He was quick to say that testing isn't always accurate in children under 4, so the information might be limited. In fact, we got useful results from the skin test but not from the blood. I don't know that an allergist would be willing to do much testing on a 7 mth old, and even if he/she did, it may not tell you everything you need to know.

Despite the results we got, there were clearly many other sensitivities. I kept a meticulous food journal of what I and my dd were eating and monitored her skin and bowel movement changes, behavior, sleep patterns, etc. That would be my recommendation to you. I would cut out the major allergens for a week or two and keep a journal during that time (those allergens include dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts, treenuts and then, the two next biggest, corn and sesame). You really have to read labels and know that corn comes in many forms that are not easily identifiable (http://www.cornallergens.com/list/co...ergen-list.php).

Also, you're right that many doctors recommend switching to formula, as if your breastmilk is the problem, but formula contains soy, dairy and/or corn and none of the protective properties of bm, so it's not a good option.

After you figure out what your dc is reacting to, you want to work on gut healing for yourself and your baby (probiotics, enzymes, etc.) You want to wait until afterward so you don't purchase supplements that might contain your dc's food sensitivities. Did you have abx during pregnancy, labor or shortly thereafter? Has your baby had them?

Thank you for the reply. Yes I did have abx once during pregnancy. Baby has never had them. The list of items to eliminate seems so long! What can you eat? Just meat and veggies mostly?

I know the ped will blame it on breastfeeding and the LC seemed like she had no answers other than some babies just gain slow. While I know that yes some babies gain slow, they should gain more than 4-5 pounds in 7 months. I have an appointment with the ped next month but I know I have to tread carefully with the possibility of a FTT diagnosis and being "forced" to switch to formula.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by Lauren82

Thank you for the reply. Yes I did have abx once during pregnancy. Baby has never had them. The list of items to eliminate seems so long! What can you eat? Just meat and veggies mostly?

I know the ped will blame it on breastfeeding and the LC seemed like she had no answers other than some babies just gain slow. While I know that yes some babies gain slow, they should gain more than 4-5 pounds in 7 months. I have an appointment with the ped next month but I know I have to tread carefully with the possibility of a FTT diagnosis and being "forced" to switch to formula.

You can eat grains like rice (rice, rice cakes, crackers, rice milk, rice flour for pancakes, crepes, etc.), quinoa, and millet (which cook up easily, like rice). You can also do fruits, though things like strawberry, citrus, bananas, tomatoes, and a few others are frequently allergenic, so it might be good to stick with non-tropicals like pears and apples for the week.

Make sure to plenty of fat (through safe oils like olive and canola) so you get enough calories.

[kjbrown92]

how does she sleep?
I wrote on another thread my version of an elimination diet (not a TED), but a modified version of Dr. Rapp's. I'd have to find it for you. But it actually has a lot of foods on it. The poops and minimal weight gain would worry me more than the yeast. Are there any naturopaths around that you could consult with? Or a pediatric GI doctor?
I second the elimination diet (not TED) and food journaling to pinpoint problem foods, but there could also be just a digestive issue (like celiac) that should be ruled out.
K

[Lauren82]

She sleeps pretty good at night. She's not much of a daytime napper but at night she'll do 7-8 hours only waking to latch on to nurse. She sleeps really lightly though. She will not sleep unless she is in someone's arms or on someone's shoulder or next to me in the bed. If we try to put her down and walk away, she wakes up immediately.
I suspect that is because she is really attached.

She usually only poops once a day or every other day but it almost always just soaks into the diapers. I thought that was odd that she never had the seedy breastmilk poops like my other 2 had.

Where do I find the information to start eliminating? I ordered the book: Dealing With Food Allergies in Babies and Children today.

She will be seeing the ped next month but I'd like to start eliminating things from my diet ASAP to see if there is any improvement at all.

I have no idea if there are any naturopaths around here. I live in Knoxville so I know we probably have pediatric GI's. I'll hopefully get a referral after seeing the ped.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by Lauren82

Where do I find the information to start eliminating? I ordered the book: Dealing With Food Allergies in Babies and Children today.

That is a fantastic book- it helped me a lot. I just wanted to say that my DD has also gained slowly since birth, about 1 pound per month. She started out really big, but she went from the 97th percentile to below the 50th. Our ped says that is perfectly normal (??) and not to worry, and that it's not at all related to any food issues. I think it is partially... because her body has been rejecting so many foods that it's hard to imagine she's getting all the nutrients she needs. But she's been gaining better since we've started figuring out all the 'bad' foods in my diet.

She also had horrible cradle cap, and then she got spots of eczema on her forehead which have now spread to her whole face, legs, diaper area, stomach... Again, the ped said that cradle cap wasn't related at all to foods (I know sometimes it's not), but when I took dairy out of my diet it magically went away within a week- all by itself!

My DD's BIG BIG BIG reactions are to dairy, soy, and eggs which are pretty common allergens, so I would probably start with eliminating those foods from your diet.

[Lauren82]

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I'm compiling a little grocery list for myself so I can start tomorrow eating the non allergen foods.

I hope we can figure out something to help my tiny little babe.