Breastmilk Intolerances

[Bubandbump]

So DD now 16 weeks is under a gastro paed for what we thought was reflux but has turned out to be intolerances (she is ebf).

I had previously cut out dairy but under his advice have also cut out soya, wheat and eggs. She definitely has an intolerance to soya as I had a vitamin and it set her off again.

So would you helpful ladies answer a couple of questions for me?

Is it normal to react so badly to the slightest trace of something through my breast milk? Volume seems to make no difference and it takes 9 days to stop having hourly wake ups with reflux.

Does this mean she is likely to develop allergies to these intolerances in the future?

If they are just intolerances, how old before she might grow out of them?

Given this list, is there anything else she is likely to be intolerant to? I am trying so hard but it seems that something else keeps triggering her off and despite keeping a food diary, sometimes I can't work out what. She reacted to the egg whites that is used to clarify wine and I had some fruit pastilles which I thought would be ok but I think triggered her again but I have no idea what it was in them.

It's hard isn't it? So sorry to hear you're going through this, it's such a worry when your DD is so young.

Reacting to traces of food in breastmilk is normal, and the most recent NICE guidleines recommend that breastfeeding mothers are given information about exclusion diets (it's great that your paed is so clued up - some 'reflux babies are simply given Gaviscon with no further investigation!)

Keeping a food diary is a very good idea - sometimes, even if you don't know at the time what she is reacting to, you can trace patterns by looking back through it.

I'm no expert(!) and I'm afraid I really don't what your DD's future might hold, but some children do grow out of allergies and intolerances. Other's don't, and you may need to be very careful when you start to introduce tastes of foods in a couple of months time (keep some Piriton handy!) Anyway, you are doing all the right things by keeping a careful watch on what she seems to be reacting to.

Good luck to you... and do stick with this allergy forum - it is full of useful information and support.

It's great that you have started an elimination diet already - my DD had painful eczema from 2 to 7 months until we knew she had allergies...which meant she never slept well. The smallest traces unfortunately make a difference in some babies, including mine.

But it's great that you still ebf her, it might be tempting to wean to formula to have some peace of mind about what you eat but I'm a strong believer in breastmilk helping to outgrow the allergies quicker... Every child is different so until she is old enough to be tested (around 6 months I think) you cannot be sure if those intolerances from your breastmilk are just intolerances or real allergies.

Agree with greenbananas with the food diary as sometimes it takes 2/3 days to show. Good luck, and keep faith! And keep asking questions in this forum, there are some very, very knowledgeable moms in here who helped me lots in the past. And take good care of yourself with this restriction diet! It's hard at first but then you get used to it and become less paranoid.