I'm at a loss

[chlobo]

So I'm not sure what to think.

Last week we started coconut milk yogurt & it seemed to go well. In fact, in the first couple of days he had nice creamy poops & slept a little better.

Then we tried avocado & he broke out in spots. They are by and large fading. Then, this morning he has a bunch more (like 5) spots on his face only. They actually look slightly different than the other spots. The other spots had a hard, raised center. These have a slightly raised center but its softer. I have no idea what caused them. He did get his hands on an avocado last night & bit it but it was only the skin. Could this have caused it if he's sensitive to avocado?

At this point I have no idea what to do. He sleeps like crap (obviously uncomfortable), he poops irregularly & often it's not quite "right" and he's not gaining weight. For my health I really need him to start eating more food or take some formula or something. But he had no interest in the formula when we tried it. And very little interest in food other than to make a mess with it.

I'm sure the GI doctor will say to just force him onto the elemental formula but that seems so cruel at this age and he's just such a boob guy.

There are no more virgin chickens left to slaughter under a harvest moon. I have no idea why neither of our guts are healing and I'm at loss as to what to do next. I feel like a total failure. I feel like I'm in a hole & I can't get out. I get so angry in the middle of the night when I'm woken up again for the umpteenth time, even though it's not his fault.

[kjbrown92]

Avocado is a high allergy food. What are you eating right now? And what is he eating right now? Does anyone have any frozen chickens anywhere? One of the things that is crucial to growing is sleep. I've found that each time I've gotten the foods right and DD has slept, she's had a big growth spurt, and then when she's reacting to foods and not sleeping, she's stagnant on the growth charts. And the doctor said that made sense. Have you tried Gripe Water? It was essential to my DD sleeping soundly when she did sleep. Don't give up hope. When nobody is getting sleep, it all seems worse. But eventually you'll get somewhere. C'mon. I've been on this trek for 8 years, and it seems like I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. If I can keep up my Pollyanna attitude over 8 years, it seems like there must be hope for everyone!

[Chinese Pistache]

My guess is that the new spots were caused by the avocado. What solids will he eat? Just coconut yogurt? If you can find some other safe solids (maybe sweet potato), I would feed it to him, but add coconut milk and/or coconut oil and/or some other oil, just to increase the fat calories. If you know he can tolerate elemental formula, you could add that to his foods, too, for the added nutrition. I'm so sorry things are rough right now. The lack of sleep can be so debilitating. Have you tried giving a sippy cup?

ETA: I just read what Kathy wrote and I think she's right on about sleep, too.

[changingseasons]

I'm right there with you clobo. I feel like I've finally gotten my diet under control, but every food I try to give DD directly, she reacts to. And between reactions and teething, we were up about 15 times last night. I am a zombie today...

[chlobo]

I am eating foods based on my ALCAT results. So I'm eating chicken, turkey, scallops (rarely), salmon (rarely), rice, millet flour, bok choy, yellow squash, swiss chard, peaches (local), plums (local), watermelon, maple syrup, coconut milk yogurt, olive oil, salt and a few other things. I was limited in what didn't conflict with his results. However, I did 100 foods and I only did 50 for him so there might still be conflicts I just don't have the energy for another blood draw right now.

The only thing he'll readily take is lemon flavored CLO, believe it or not. He is very lukewarm on the coconut milk yogurt. Just tried sweet potatoes last night & he had no interest, except to smear them on his stomach. I just got some Healthy Toddler rice formula to try. We have tried sippy cups and straw cups but he's lukewarm no matter how/what we try. At this point he's not even getting much coconut milk yogurt. He flat refused the elemental formula so who knows if he'd react.

I have gripe water but it says to refrigerate so I'm not sure how I'd get it into him in the middle of the night without waking him up totally if I need to go downstairs to get it.

The sleep is killer - for both of us. I just don't think I can do this anymore yet i have no idea what the alternative is. Like CS I ahven't found a competent practitioner to help me on this journey.

[WC_hapamama]

It definitely sounds like he's having problems with avocado, but is it possible that he's having trouble with the lemon flavoring in the CLO as well?

[mtn.mama]

We ran into trouble with the lemon CLO, even though dd liked it, she ended up sensitizing to it.

[Astromom]

I'm so sorry.

Yes, it sounds like the avocado.

Please hang in there. My kids need me right this second but I'm going to think on this and come back later.

[kjbrown92]

Since DD is weaned, I put the gripe wate in with her rice milk and give her a sippy cup when she wakes up. I can usually tell when she wakes up because she's thirsty and if she wakes up in pain. If he won't take any liquid that you'dve tried, I would express some breastmilk in a bottle and add the gripe water (or put it in with coconut milk?).

I just baked some butternut squash with maple syrup. It's sooooo good. I need to call/write ALCAT and see what they consider "whitefish" since I've got 3 different answers from 3 different seafood counter people (1 said it was really salmon, 1 said it was a hake, and another said it meant any white fish like tilapia, cod, etc.). Since zucchini is on another day, I think that yellow squash might mean butternut and acorn type squashes.

I had a hard time when I only had the 50 food test for DS. There were so few foods on there.

[JaneS]

Not sure what to say but sending lots of love and light.

If it were me I'd stop everything except boob. Did you try that on your diet and he still wasn't going well and that is why you feel he needs supplemental food? Lemon and coconut and avocado have caused reactions in my DS.

I'm so sorry this has been such a difficult journey for you! I can say I know exactly how you feel!!!!! Lack of sleep and stress of a limited diet put together is a killer.

What about trying every food according to the Joneja rules, which is approx. this:

-first rub on cheek and wait 20 min. to see if reaction
-then rub on outside of mouth, along lines of lips
-then 1 tsp. etc.

Sorry don't have her book anymore right now.

I wasn't sure what to say but I still found *something* to say, I'm such an older sister. Hang in there.

[Punchy Kaby]

Sorry you are having such problems finding safe foods for your DS.

YOu said he likes his CLO, that probably means it makes him feel better. There are many things good in CLO and one or more of them is probably what he needs. Have you tried giving him the vitamins separately? Like vitamin A (from fish) vitamin D (can you get him in the sun?) DHA, or plain old fish oil, maybe salmon oil? Get gelcaps and puncture them and give him the oils, they are less likely to be rancid.

I had the hardest time figuring out that my DS's eczema and other rashes were from not being able to digest fats. As soon as I added L-carnitine and CoEnzyme Q 10 the rashes went away (there are other things we were already taking such as b complex and magnesium that are also essential to fat digestion.). I cannot eat a meal without taking my carnitine!

I try to give supplements away from milk products, I have found that they block us from absorbing them (especially iron.) I know at this stage when he is still nursing that is next to impossible but for DS it is essential.

hope that these ideas spark you to some new thinking!

[matey]

Just wanted to say I totally understand about the sleep. When ds was waking 10,000 times a night I would get angry at him, then feel guilty, and i would try to do better and then it would all fall to shit again. I know it is so hard when sleep is being lost. So hard! But try and remember it isnt his fault and he really does want to sleep too, he just is having trouble. I dont know if you have a dp or dh, but if so, coud that person let you get some rest? Man mama, if I were there I would come over and tell you to go take a nap to refresh yourself.

[Punchy Kaby]

I forgot to add another idea:

Iodide is a necessary nutrient and when we are on these elimination diets we often don't get much or any because we use sea salt. I added potassium iodide to our supplements and saw a big difference. Iodide is used not only by the thyroid but it is present in breast tissue and stomach lining. PM me if you want more info on how to get this supplement. YOu must be very careful with it! Lugols is iodine + iodide and they do different things in the body, we usually need iodide (it is what they add to salt, but that is not a great place to get it.)