Any ideas of this for DD? could it be allergy or intolerance?

[GiraffeYoga]

Hi

Im reluctantly beginning to wonder if my 1.5yr old DD might have some intolerances/allegies going on. I say reluctantly as my DH is quite allergic and I was really hopeful that she would follow suit (although I know it might be totally unrelated!)

Her symptoms are:
Cannot tolerate weetabix or shredded wheat. comes out fast, looking exactly the same as it goes in. Always results in very explosive nappies.

She has had for some weeks, probably 3 months of more or less continual loose nappies. Was slightly better when we isolated and removed her occasional bowl of weetabix and then different episodes I've tried to put down to teething but it continues. She usually has 4+ very soft motions (sorry TMI) a day and they are foul smelling (like its moved through her system very fast).

She isnt losing wt and is healthy 50centile wt. She has great appetite- always has been like this and will eat anything.

This weekend these 'movements' have been pale in colour which seemed unsual.

Im considering trying her on an exclusion diet for first dairy and then wheat to see if there are any changes but Im reluctant to make a fuss, change things in her diet without good reason as she is such a happy good eater.

Does anyone have a view?

thanks!

*wouldn't !

Im bumping for myself

But the other symptom I didnt mention is chestyness she always has a lose cough and runny nose. She goes to a nursery so is subjected to colds etc but this is constant...

Any thoughts ?
thanks.

loose pale stools are indicattive of intolerenes etc. I would consult GP though before you do any exclusion diet in a LO so young.

Best of luck.

Hi ..... I am not an expert or medically trained but these sypmtoms sound very like my DS2s altho he has always had weight issues. My only real advice is to see your GP first before you start taking stuff out of her diet and get some professional help. I tried to 'do it myself' and its made things worse testing wise so its taken much longer to get to the bottom of things..... just a thought? Someopne with a bit more experience/ knowledge might come along soon.

HI

THanks for your thoughts. I might see the GP then.

I know what Im doing with an exclusion diet (my background is nutrition) and my friend is a dietitian so I will get her advice... but appreciate the guidance.:)

Any other experiences of the same thing?

just a thought. Would a HV been any more receptive to this kind of discussion with a child under2?

My docs has a great HV who is also a registered nurse. She is lovely. Maybe I should see her first...?

might be worth talking to her but she'll refer to to GP if she thinks its an intolerence so GP can refer you to the relevent specialist.

THanks lovely ladies.

FWIW DS has been suffering hives rash on his face, use to be ketchup then got hayfever and now suspect its pollen causing hives too.

He has loose irregular stools and I've considered exclusion diet so think your being extremly proactive.

Thing is I have IBS which has been severe and thought about BOTH of us doing it together iyswim as I believe allergies/intolerences must have a genetic link as asthma, excema etc do tend to run in families.

Best of luck and do come back and keep us posted as we've all been there - many with more allergic dc's than I have.

Thanks nottired.

She has been chesty for more or less 4 to 6mths. She has had the lose, soft frequent nappies for maybe 3 or 4 months. She hasnt been ill with anyhting major in that time. She is generally pretty robust (after her initial period of sickness when starting nursery in January).

The other thing Im not sure I mentioned is the runny nose, guess that's linked to chesty ness. We constantly wipe it and it doesnt seem to be cold related.

Will try the reduce lactose milk for a bit to see if that helps at all.

Thank you.

I would agree, it may be a temporary intolerance to lactose. My DD had on going intolerance that got worse over 4-5 months. By 9 months she was in hospital for a week as nothing would stay down, she had fowl nappies (about 10 a day) with food that was not digested and also contained stomach lining. Severe nappy rash/bleeding due to the intolerance causing her urine to be acidic. She was desperate to eat. She also had a continual runny nose (clear) and very chesty. My GP was really bad despite my frequent visits until she was admitted as an emmergency. The cure however was nothing short of a miracle - SMA Lactose free milk - for cereals, cooking and drinking. Also dairy free food - you can get a brand called pure which is dairy free margarine, soya yoghurts, Ethemel (really can't spell) cheese is good as it doesn't contain lactose. All advised by the hospital nutritionist. I would definately take advice. It may be nothing but there may also be something you can do so that it doesn't just continue.

Hi GYo - sorry to hear that your DD is suffering with this. It could well be an intolerance IMHO, or a disruption to the gut that is causing her to react uncharacteristically - e.g. if she had antibiotics in the last 6 months, which have disrupted the natural bacteria and caused her to react, so doesn't have to be an ongoing thing, but also could be...

I would definitely take some action, either excluding foods or seeing GP, whichever you are more comfortable with. As you will know with your nutrition background, it is entirely possible to follow a fully balanced diet while excluding foods as long as you plan. As you noticed it was weetabix (presumably with whole milk) causing the problem, it is probably difficult to determine whether it is milk, wheat or gluten causing the problem, so if you are going down food exclusion, I would recommend cutting wheat dairy and gluten out and then reintroducing one at a time. Within a couple of weeks you should have a good idea. If you are going to just go to GP without excluding foods, I would take a copy of food diary with you, even if you've just kept it for a few days. Will depend entirely on your GP and their approach as to what they do. Ours is useless!! Hope you find something that helps.

Thanks Star- I meant to post this yesterday but completely side tracked by DD being poorly (separate to this!)

really appreciate everyone's advice.

Hi i totaly am symapthetic with any parent who has concerns and you should always monitor your concerns.

Both my children and I have issues with wheat and diary, the way to tell as i was told by health consultants is that if your child has milk and it comes out within minutes in loose montions then is very likely they are intolerant, and as with wheat its harder to tell unless child gets bloating or gets rash or itchyness, or face swells or ears etc the best thing i did get my childrens hair analysed from chinese herbal shop which most towns have, i had their hair anylysed for allergies cost on average £30, and it will show what your childs body is senstive to , its not available or NHS , although some common allegies test are done but requires blood samples all the chinese docgtor will do is take a snip of hair and send it away for analysing takes up 2 weeks and i was told my children were senstive to juices nuts wheat and dairy so well worth knowing for futre problems. Try that and take it from their many children with allegies are predesposed due to gentic factors like if parents are asmatic, or hayfever suffers etc

hope this info helps