Allergy/intolerance or just a really nasty cold??

[felkov]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping some of you with wisdom and experience can help me. My DD is 6.5 months and for the past 4 weeks has been getting increasingly ill... persistent cough and waking every 2 hours at night and frequent vomiting. She also has started arching her back a lot and has been generally more unsettled. Until 4 weeks ago she was ebf but since we started weaning she just seems to be ill all the time. I know it could just be coincidence and maybe shes just had a couple of nasty bugs in quick succession, or its teething pains or something, but if anyone could shed light on when/how food allergies or intolerance is diagnosed I'd be very grateful. Today for example she's vomited 3 times, twice projectile this evening and once during breastfeeding and I tried her on some wholemeal bread this lunchtime.

[felkov]

Anyone? still having the same problems with vomiting 5 days later.

When trying to give vitamins for the first time today, her skin went very red on contact with the liquid. the only potential allergen i could see in the ingredients was barley (malt extract). does this sound like allergy or am i totally overreacting?

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

It can be that colds / tummy bugs result in temporary intolerances and that cutting back on grains, sugar, dairy can help.

Are there any allergies / atopic reactions / immune issues / food intolerances in the family?

I would see a GP, as for a double appointment and talk it through including the timing of food introductions and reactions. The red skin on touching the vitamins sounds like it could be a reaction.

I would also consider what foods you introduce, choose low risk vegetables and fruit first, leaving a couple of days between new foods. It may take a while to recover from the bugs or reactions depending on which it is.

I'll come back later and add.

[MsDran]

The only thing I would add to the above advice is if you haven't had her weighed recently get her weighed soon, then if symptoms do persist you will know if it's affecting her weight gain.

[felkov]

thank you both! My DH is allergic to horses and penicillin and I have extremely sensitive skin and hayfever so we do have some potential for a baby with allergies. just so hard to tell when it could be other causes and i don't want to overreact!

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

With your family history and what you have described, I think it pushes your risk up so I would tread slowly with food. I know a couple of people for whom early reactions followed stepping back then taking things slowly worked quite well. If you can get hold of Lucy Burney's nutrition for babies and toddlers book (written before the BLW revolution but still useful), it would be worth reading. Available second hand only.

Perhaps also speak to your local health food store about probiotics, essential fatty acids and vitamins for possibly sensitive babies as these can help repair the gut after illness.

[MayfairMummy]

felkov, i second another day's thoughts... if you think it is potentially a reaction, i would step back from all the food that you have tried so far, go back to food number one, and start a food diary. Allow 3 days of each different food before moving on to the next one. Start with steamed veg or fish, or simple foods that have only one 'new' ingredient (bread, for example has a LOT of ingredients of which any one could cause a reaction). If you've started on purchased milk instead of breast milk, this would also potentially be the first thing to consider, as dairy is getting to be quite a common allergy.

If it does turn out to be an allergy (forgive me; i know a lot about allergies; almost nothing about 'intolerances'), then starting your daughter on probiotics would be a good thing. It's proven recently that taking probiotics reduces the average age that most kids grow out of allergies (though of course, not all grow out of them)...

I did BLW with my 2nd son, and pretty much all the foods he refused he turned out to be allergic to (he has multiple allergies).