[gracemamma]

<p>Hi expert mamas! DD is going on 16 months and is BF.</p>
<p>At 2 months, I eliminated dairy due to tons of crying and nightwaking and suddenly found myself with a MUCH  happier baby. This made me start paying close attention to other reactive foods too. Here's what I've noticed:</p>
<p>Dairy: Had through BM only. Cried tons, more reflux, more diaper rash and lots of nightwaking. Has never had directly herself (to my knowledge).  No other rashes, hives etc.</p>
<p>Wheat/Gluten: Nightwaking and bruised looking butt and red line up between cheeks. Never eaten directly. I eliminated shortly after dairy and have experiemented with spelt, oats and have gone gluten free.</p>
<p>Soy: same as above. Never eaten directly. Eliminated shortly after dairy.</p>
<p>Corn: Fresh corn ok for me and her. Minimal amounts of processed corn ok for me- a few chips. More than that-no.</p>
<p>Banana: red bumps in her diaper area</p>
<p>Blueberries: Broke out in hives on face within 15 minutes the second time she had this.</p>
<p>Nuts: We haven't tried nuts much but I stopped peanuts because of a perceived reaction but almond milk in my diet seems ok. She just tried something with eggs for the first time today. Pinenuts appear to be fine. Coconut is a regular part of our diet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her nightwaking from these is different from her usual nightwaking. She wakes up and rolls back and forth whimpering off and on through the night. This lead to my dictum that I repeated to myself the past year as I forwent food I wanted to eat: NOTHING TASTES BETTER THAN SLEEP.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Because she is now older, we have talked about reintroduction. However, due to teething and perhaps other sensitivities or just her temperment, we still dont sleep very well around here so I am loathe to mess this up and then suffer weeks of bad sleep and suffering. I'm also scared about the intestinal dammage I've read about ocurring if your babe is eating foods they are sensitive too. DH let's me choose what I think is best for her but refuses to have her tested (I wanted to try Enterolabs so we could know for sure without risking potential intestinal dammage). He believes she could get a false positive that could change her life negatively.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We have a trip to see family soon and they dont believe she has a problem and resent having to curtail their eating patterns. We also have DH family coming for Xmas from Italy and much pasta will surely be expected.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So- what do you recommend?</p>
<p>1) Is there a certain age when their systems can handle things better?</p>
<p>2) If she is/was sensitive as a babe but then appears to tolerate things, could they still be dammaging her?</p>
<p>3) If nightwaking and bruised-looking butt with red line in the middle is her primary symptom, does this mean she is less sensitive than kids with eczema, reflux, hives etc.?</p>
<p>4) How would you recommend reintroduction. Is there a protocol or something that works best? I imagine one at a time for a certain period would be best. </p>
<p>5) How long can a reaction last and or be delayed if there is a reaction with reintroduction?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thanks soooooooooo much! I want to do what is best for my precious daughter: Feed her well, introduce her to the joys of eating, protect her from harm and also be able to live within the world.  I am thinking of not eating dairy at home and keeping gluten minimized due to further study I've done since finding her sensitivity but with travel etc. want to know if we can find her things to eat while on the go.  Thanks, mamas!</p>

 

[gracemamma]

<p>I was just reading some other threads here and they reminded me:</p>
<p>When DD was very small and before the dairy was cut out, she had lots of green mucusy poops and a couple times had what appeared to be streaks of blood in her poop. that is what convinced me to stop dairy despite my DH and Mom telling me constantly that it was all in my head (so frustrating!)</p>
<p>She actually had a few green poops this week at 15.5 mo but I assumed they were from being a bit under the weather or exposed to a virus. No blood streaking since way back then- another reason I'm scared about reintroducing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Question 6) If she had hives on her face with eating blueberries does that somehow make this sensitivity more virulent than the ones that just messed up her sleep and made her bottom red?</p>
<p>7) I read in Baby Bond that when babies had read lines up their bottoms that that is an indication of the state of their intestinal irritation from the food consumed. Do you agree with this? It seems she just gets the red line after I/she eats certain foods and the line goes away within 24 hrs- sometimes less.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Look forward to your thoughts/recommendations. Thanks!</p>

 

[bodhitree]

<br><br><div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>gracemamma</strong> <a href="/community/forum/thread/1279179/recommendations-for-re-introduction-how-do-you-know-when-you-are-at-baseline-dairy-gluten-soy-corn-etc#post_16043649"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a><br><br><p>7) I read in Baby Bond that when babies had read lines up their bottoms that that is an indication of the state of their intestinal irritation from the food consumed. Do you agree with this? It seems she just gets the red line after I/she eats certain foods and the line goes away within 24 hrs- sometimes less.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p><br>
Wow, my DD has had a red line in her cleave since, like, forever. I had no idea that might not be normal. Looking forward to hearing what others have to say about this!</p>

 

[mamafish9]

<p>How often does she night wake normally?  For that age, I'd consider anything more than 1-2x a night a potential food reaction symptom (just perhaps not as severe as some of her others.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you need the added power of a current food reaction before the holidays, then I'd test foods one at a time, and test them directly with her (if you eat them, it will take longer to clear them from your bm if she's reacting).  I'll be honest, kids that react to lots of foods don't seem to grow out of them nearly as often or nearly as early as kids who react to one or two foods, so I'd assume you'll discover she still reacts to at least some of them.  Note that reactions can change over time, so look for any changes (skin, behaviors, sleep, GI, etc).</p>

 

[changingseasons]

<p>If she had hives that quickly after blueberries, and if you suspected a reaction to peanuts- please, PLEASE take her to an allergist and get her tested!!  And get an epipen!!!  Immediate hives is a sign of a true allergy, NOT a sensitivity- one that can lead to anaphylaxis.  That is really scary stuff, and you need to know what to do if you suspect an anaphylactic reaction.  I'm not sure how getting a false positive would change her life negatively- you're already avoiding the foods, and knowing that the allergy is serious might save her life!  I will say- at that age, allergy testing isn't 100% accurate- I would do a skin prick test rather than a blood test.  In our experience, we got a ton of false negatives at that age, NO false positives.  (So even if the test is negative, don't assume she's not allergic- especially if you've seen a reaction to that food.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That said- if she's still sleeping bad and you suspect other sensitivities, I wouldn't start reintroducing things yet.  I would keep a food journal and see if you can spot any patterns between what she/you are eating and her symptoms.</p>

 

[gracemamma]

<p>changing seasons- thank you for the warning. Our doctors are conservative and have not been helpful so I've just been thinking about this on my own.  I appreciate your clarity in the potential danger and the sensitivity/allergy distinction.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mamafish- last night was a great example of a reactive night.  She slept well for a few hours.  Needed comfort a few times from 12:30-4 and cried out. Then was wide awake 4-6.  The rocking back and forth nights and the wide awake for a couple hours seem to be food related.  Unfortunately, yesterday I had a few corn chips and also had chocolate and eggs in a gluten-free birthday cake I made for DH so its hard to know what the culprit was.  She also had a bit of eggs in GF/CF pancake for the first time.</p>
<p>Last week, we had 2 nights in a row that were non-reactive.  She half-woke maybe 3 times to nurse and went immediately back to sleep.  When she has reactions or is doing major teething she needs help back to sleep but I believe the wide awake for long periods of time is due to reactions to things.  She tensed her belly and cried a bit as I lifted her up too. She did alot of belly arching as a little baby.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Unfortunately DH was falsely tested positive for heart problems as a kid and it really had a big impact on his life.  He wants to prevent false positives from making us look at DD like she is less "strong and capable" however, I would really like to just know. I don't want to cause her harm in any way and if I'm wrong about any of the things, I'd enjoy being able to nosh on them again!</p>

 

[mama.rye]

<p> i dont have specific advice, but wanted to encourage you to keep up the good work.  your situation sounds alot like mine was about a year ago. I love your mantra!! </p>
<p> </p>
<p>just as an aside, my DS has similar reactions, night wakings, restlessness, crying and hard belly.  We ahve found the Hylands Colic Remedy to REALLY help on those nights.  Just a thought, if you have not tried Homeopathics already to ease her discomfort.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Take Care!</p>