Could this be allergies? How do I start?

[lisavark]

My DD is four months and has pretty much never slept longer than two or three hours at a time. I figured this was normal night waking, but some reading I've been doing lately made me wonder if it might be related to allergies. She had a really bad night last night and then a bout of diarrhea, with a red ring around her anus, today. It was the ring that made me wonder, since I've heard that's a telltale sign of allergies...and I had a big chick-fil-a milkshake yesterday at dinner. Usually I eat pretty healthy but, well, we haven't been getting much sleep lately, and my diet has been going steadily downhill in proportion...

DH and I are both sensitive to dairy, so I'm thinking that could well be a factor for DD as well. I'm definitely going to start with eliminating that, but I'm wondering how long it should take to notice a difference if it is affecting her. The rash is a recent thing; she rarely has diaper rash, but we EC and she's diaper-free a lot. The diarrhea is weird too; usually her poop is very regular.

That milkshake was NOT the only dairy I've had, though; I've been eating ice cream pretty regularly since it got hotter. I was eliminating a lot of things when I was pregnant because I had chronic stomach problems for most of my life, but they magically went away when she was born, so I've been a lot less careful about my diet since. I know I should have been, since she's EBF, but, well, it was just so nice to be able to eat without getting sick. Now I'd really like to sleep, though. Any ideas? Suggestions?

TIA!

[kjbrown92]

Well 4 months is when one of my kids started sleeping through the night, but some of them are still eating every 3 hours. So I don't think that part is so odd. But the red ring around the butt can be a sign of allergy, as well as the diarrhea. But it also just could be a virus with poop that bothers the skin. If you and DH are both sensitive to milk, I would cut that out first. But it seems like if you've been having dairy all this time, and this is the first reaction, for some reason it sounds unlikely to me. Is there anything else that you just started eating?

[lisavark]

No...I barely ate anything yesterday; we were out of groceries. : Mostly spelt bread.

She's had diarrhea before, but it was milder and it was right after I had it with the flu. Yeah, it seems unlikely to me too that she would only just now start to react, but could it be that she only now reached a level that caused a reaction? Like touching poison ivy the first time doesn't cause a reaction? I usually *kind of* avoid dairy, or at least try not to eat too much of it at once, since I'm sensitive to it, and the other day was the first time I had such a big serving of it. (On the bright side, I didn't have a reaction!)

Are there any other symptoms/signs I could look for to figure out if this is allergy related as opposed to a virus? So far today it's still pretty acute and there was blood in it last night. No fever, though, and she seems cheerful when she's not trying to go to the bathroom. I'm going to call my ped as soon as they open...but is there anything else that could help me figure this out? Last time DD had diarrhea, the ped just said to call if it lasted longer than...can't remember, but longer than it lasted. Not very helpful regarding figuring out the cause.

Thanks...I am going to cut out dairy, regardless. It's something I should be doing anyway for myself.

[lisavark]

Forgot to say thanks for the encouragement on the sleeping thing. My friend's four-day-old baby is sleeping five hours at night. I know all babies are different, but that kind of thing makes me wonder if something's wrong! And it's hard to be objective about sleep when you're so sleep deprived.

[changingseasons]

I think cutting dairy is a good idea to start, especially since you are sensitive- more likely that your LO will be too. And blood in the poo is another sign of dairy allergy.

[Astromom]

I would suspect allergies... the fact that she doesn't have a fever would make me really suspicious. Hopefully after you completely cut dairy you'll see an improvement with her sleep quickly!

[lisavark]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

And blood in the poo is another sign of dairy allergy.

Yeah, DH googled it last night and all the top hits said dairy allergy. That was actually encouraging, though...it would be GREAT to find a real cause for this so quickly, you know?

I talked to my ped and she thought that a virus would probably have additional symptoms besides just the diarrhea and the rash. I mentioned dairy and she said she'd been just about to suggest that. So I'm definitely eliminating it as of now. Help me out with this...I've never done a strict elimination of dairy before. Does that include chocolate? (gasp) How long should I stay off it?--six weeks, I think I've read?

Mainly I'm wondering how I'll know if it's helping. DD has had diarrhea twice in her life but both times *could* have been/be a virus. What other symptoms can I look for?

I was thinking that she does tend to get a little bit of a diaper rash even though she's diaper-free a lot of the time...pretty much every time she wears a diaper for a long time (like overnight) she gets a little bit of a rash. And I'd been wondering if that was food related, since it seemed so strange for her to get a rash when she gets so much nakey-butt time. She's got cradle cap, too, but not severe at all. Ack! I hate to give up dairy forever and not know if it's making a difference. (I know it's not forever...just till she weans...but I'm planning on that not happening for three or four years...) But I guess if that slight rash goes away for good with dairy eliminated, that would be a pretty good indicator, right?

I guess the thing to do if I really want to know is eliminate it and then try eating it again. That sounds scary, though...I don't want to ever go through this again. I am SO not down with the poopy diapers...with EC'ing we catch almost all her poos in the toilet, and I just don't have a system for poop on the changing table.

On the bright side, DD seems to be getting better...poops are farther apart now and not as big, so hopefully tonight will be better than last night...and she's gotten a lot of sleep today, too, which is awesome.

[Chinese Pistache]

In the "resources" sticky there is a post about how to do an elimination diet. You need to eliminate it for 6 wks or so and then, if you see improvement in your lo's symptoms, you know that dairy is the culprit and you need keep it out of your diet for a long time (minimum is 6 mths, with a little babe, I'd wait a year at the very least). You need to keep out even trace amounts, so know the alternate names for dairy products on ingredient lists. Most of us have found gut-healing an important component of discovering and healing from allergies, so taking supplements like dairy-free probiotics, cod liver oil, l-glutamine, digestive enzymes are a good strategy.

[changingseasons]

Well, I hate to say it- but if you already know that you're sensitive to dairy, you probably should just cut it permanently. Because although you might not have noticeable symptoms, the dairy you consume could be having an effect on your body and health. In fact, that could be the reason that your LO is (possibly) having a reaction to the dairy- because your body isn't breaking down the proteins properly.

There are some chocolates that don't have any milk in them... but they're harder to find, and very dark/bitter.

DD had cradle cap too, and it totally went away by itself when I cut dairy. Doc said that was just coincidence, but I don't think so. So that might be an improvement to watch for. And the sleeping, if that gets better.

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

DD had cradle cap too, and it totally went away by itself when I cut dairy. Doc said that was just coincidence, but I don't think so.

[lisavark]

Ah, did I mention yet today how much I love MDC? What would I do without you ladies as a resource?!?

Yeah, I know I should cut dairy anyway. : I was just really enjoying the freedom of being able to eat...but now I feel like I got rid of my symptoms by giving them to her. Weird. And I've kind of stopped focusing on my own health since she was born because I've been so focused on her...but reading here has made me remember that my health IS her health right now. So cool.

Off to read the elimination stickies...and I'm going to talk to my chiro next week about supplements.

[kjbrown92]

The other thing is, if you are sensitive to dairy, then it may be your antigens that she's reacting to, and she's not really reacting herself, if that makes sense. Somewhere on here was a link to an article about that....