What to feed 11 mo old w/eczema ebf until now?

[Wugmama]

My baby is begging for food, it is so sad. She is almost completely exclusively breastfed at this point. Although her eczema is much improved, it is still there. Mostly she gets a rashy look around her mouth that comes and goes but isn't open or weepy. And she has really dry patches on places, mostly shoulders, a bit on her leg - these aren't pink at all, but the same color as the rest of her. And she has one bad spot on her arm.

So far what I know to bother her is (based on her reactions to what I've eaten):

wheat
dairy
soy
eggs
corn
nightshade family (tomato/peppers/potato/eggplant)

Also suspect pears.

I've tried giving her brown rice, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets and summer squash. She didn't go for any of them, making a gagging face.

I gave her some ground beef which she seemed to like. Then our natural practitioner told me she was too young for meat. I guess that was when she was about 9 months old.

For about the last week she's had white basmati rice and gluten free rice checks. Not very nutritious, I know.

She is also on CLO when I remember to give it.

I went to the Weston A Price website and would like to follow their advice. I am thinking about chix livers. Also, am wondering about just trying the egg yolk. When she flared from eggs was when I had put two raw eggs in my smoothie. So maybe it was the egg whites that bothered her? I'd like to try bananas. I'm currently living off of banana smoothies, so I don't think they bother her. But dh's dad is deathly allergic to them.

I am in the mindset that the foods that bother her do so because her gut (and mine) need healing so am trying to continue along those lines. I want to feed her like you would feed a child getting over the stomach flu.

Suggestions? Support? Divinations from a distance?

Thanks,
Tracy

[Chinese Pistache]

I don't have any great ideas, but I plan to follow something like this when my newest lo begins solids. Maybw it will give you some ideas. Scroll to food intro schedule: http://www.soaringcraneclinic.com/forms.html

[xekomaya]

From all that I've seen, I don't think there is any right answer, but I think eggs would really be a mistake. The choice is a food that is less ideal for gut healing vs. the potential for a very serious reaction. Also consider that it is next to impossible to perfectly separate the white from the yolk without any trace, and you just don't know how she'll react to the food directly if she was sensitive enough to react through your milk.

If she rejected those other foods, was it texture? Presentation/Preparation? There's nothing really wrong with any of them. How about another squash.. or cucumber?

You'll have to feed her food eventually , but how about breastmilk yogurt? Seems about as good a food for gut healing as I can imagine - maybe only bone broth would be better. Will she try some of that?

[nalo]

Avocado, oatmeal w/ safe fruit and coconut milk, yam (my DD loves yams and squash but refuses to eat sweet potato ), applesauce. I'm really tired - nothing else is coming to mind. Sorry!

I would definately skip the egg for now.

Just keep trying the foods she has refused too. It can take something like 10 offerings for a new food to "stick".

[changingseasons]

We're in the same boat. But we've tried a few bites of food here and there over the past couple months, and DD has finally stopped making the gag face when something touches the back of her mouth.

I would probably not do any grains at all, since they can irritate the gut. I wouldn't do the eggs either, just because both whites and yolks can cause problems in an atopic child. Better to wait a year or two on that one.

Meats should be fine at this age. DD loves beets, so that might be worth a try (although I read somewhere about concerns over nitrates in them?). She's not as keen on zucchini, but I keep trying since it seems to be one of the few things that she doesn't react to. We did try chicken, which she loved (I just ripped a long piece off my chicken breast, and she knawed on it until it was mushy enough to bite pieces off)... and then she reacted to it. Which was weird, because it's one of the few meats that I can eat without her reacting through my BM. Oh- she also loves blueberries.

[Wugmama]

I actually gave her some chicken last night. I ground up some dark meat between my clean fingers and balled it up in little balls and put her in the high chair with it. Poor baby bit her lip or tongue after several bites and had blood on her lip - like she doesn't have enough problems! She has 8 teeth, the little motor mouth.

Rice and oatmeal would be so easy, but I agree I should skip the grains. I guess I'll re-offer some of the other veggies.

BTW, her skin looks great today! We are out of our clay (which contained zinc) but I ordered another topical from the hazelwood or rosewood (I forget which ) site that also has zinc in it (but no clay). It seems to help her skin heal as well. I know that the real healing comes from the inside out, but this does seem to help the skin heal as well, after it has flared.

~Tracy

[mtn.mama]

My dd was never interested a whit in purees. She gets some grains (rice, quinoa, buckwheat) because she likes them and I'm having a very hard time getting food into her.

I agree that meat is fine, and I feed carefully separated egg yolks too. I know far too many allergic babes who can't tolerate avocado direct though...

Fruit and veggies (all cooked for now) are your best bets. But you kind of have to go with what your child will tolerate too. And for us, potato chips is always a sure bet on that one.

[elanorh]

Most authorities say that if an infant has allergies they shouldn't be introduced to eggs 'til they are at least 2 years old. So, hold off on the egg, even yolks, would be my advice.

IIRC, bananas are related to avocados. I know 'they' say that allergies to a particular food aren't heritable, but I've got several relatives with banana and/or latex allergies. So we waited to introduce bananas to my and Ina's diet 'til she was over one. And didn't introduce bananas to SJ's diet 'til she was one, too. I guess, for me it seemed that it couldn't hurt and might help.

Remind yourself that even the AAP says that breastmilk should be the primary nutrition source until an infant is a year of age. Your milk is higher in nutrients and calories than any of the solids you're offering. That said, offer safe high-calorie solids.

I think meats should definitely be fine at this age (and they're a good source of iron). Good choices would be the dark chicken meat, lamb, dark turkey meat, or even a beef roast (cooked tender in a crockpot).

Keep offering the low-allergenic foods; give 1-2 weeks for each introduction to make sure they're being accepted without reaction.

And, honestly, I'd keep examining your own diet to see whether there might be something you're ingesting which your little one may be reacting to, since there seems to be very persistent eczema. I've an online friend whose little one ended up being allergic to rice, of all things. So keep on food-journaling to see if you can find what's going on.