Breastfeeding - how can I tell what my LO is allergic to?

[Gina1981]

DD is 13 wks now and is ebf and I've noticed that she is intermittently spitting up! She has done so alot today and I'm wondering if it's something I've eaten or is it reflux??

My question is how long after I've eaten something does it go into my milk and how long does it last for?? E.g if I ate peanuts yesterday would it affect her today or would she of had a reaction yesterday??

I've had issues with oversupply and fast let down in the past!! Still have a fast let down which I'm sure gives her wind!! I'm so confused and don't know what to do or where to start from!!

She use to have very offensive green spinachy poos but I'm convinced that was due to too much foremilk because of oversupply! This has stopped now and we get the occassional yellow/green nappy but mainly orange! I have to add that they are very runny and I notice mucus sometimes too! She passes wind quite alot too!! She winges at time but never seems to be in pain! She had dry skin but I'm using doublebase gel which really helps!

Would really appreciate some advice

TIA

I'm not really sure exactly how long different foods take to get into your milk, but it's generally within the same day.
If you notice that she's spitting up a lot, you can try cutting out some foods that are most likely to bother her.
I would probably start with dairy. This is one of the most common food type to cause problems in babies. The proteins from cow's milk pass pretty much unchanged into breast milk and many babies are intolerant, though not actually allergic.
My own DS was intolerant and it caused him to sick up after every feed.
When I stopped eating all dairy, the problem finished completely within 24 hours.
If you'd like to try, you can replace your usual milk products with soya milk, soya yoghurt etc. You can also safely eat sheep and goats milk cheese as these do not cause the same problems.
Most intolerant babies grow out of it before the age of 1.

Doesn't diary take quite a while to fully come out of your system? I thought that soy had the same protein as cows milk? I get very confused as I was told that BM has the same proteins as cows milk? What exactly is in cows milk that you can be intolerant to or allergic to? Whey and caesin?

DD is 14 wks not 13, I'd lose my head if it wasn't screwed on, lol!

From personal experience, the problem cleared up within 24 hours, so I can only assume that it cleared from my system within that time.
If I ate any dairy after that, I found that DS sicked up his next feed. It all seemed to be quite quick in our case.

No, the proteins in soya milk are not the same as those in cow's milk. DS had no issues with anything other than cow milk dairy products. Even cooked milk was less of a problem as the proteins are changed by heating.

BM only contains the same proteins as cow's milk if the mother eats cow's milk. I don't think the same proteins are naturally occuring in the BM of a mother with a dairy free diet.

Many people are allergic or intolerant to lactose in cow's milk, but in young babies' cases, it is often the protein. This is not a long-standing intolerance but one that they grow out of. It can cause vomiting and also silent reflux.

Of course, this may not be the cause of your baby's problem. It's worth trying giving up dairy, but otherwise you can keep a food diary to see what else seems to make a difference.
You could also consider having your baby allergy tested if it gets very bad.

when i cut dairy out of my diet it took 2-3wks for all of ds3's symptoms to disappear, i thought some foods took longer to get out of your system that others?

tomatoes for example made my me react really badly but 24hrs without and i was fine (as a baby, i am fine with them now tho sometiems they make my mouth itch)

Very confused tbh! If DD was allergic to cmp then would it not have started from birth? Dd3 has definitely kept me on my toes since she arrived!

lots of babies spit up, not all of them are food intolerent. remove caffine out of diet and normal foods that give indigestion first before thinking food intolerence.

babies learn by sucking as they get older to control the flow of milk, and gradually newly used /made guts mature as time passes.

What's normal when it comes to spitting up? Apart from the odd bit of chocolate I don't have caffeine!

She also had a very vinegary smelling nappy this evening which was illuminous green! She has also been spitting up alot today and Im convinced something is going on!!!

Green nappies are not normal.
When it comes to spitting up, I think you have to follow your instinct.
The doctor told me there was nothing wrong with DS and didn't agree with me when I suggested he might have an intolerance.
He told me that as long as he was feeding and gaining weight he must be ok.
However, I was having to feed him twice as much as normal because he lost just about every feed and was projectile vomitting in a way I'd never seen with DD.
My instinct told me something wasn't right.
Quitting dairy solved the problem immediately.

I gave up dairy when the GP agreed that ds had reflux but wasn't prepared to medicate. DS was probably 6 weeks old. Like Ruthchan he was much better in 24-48 hours. However eating goats cheese caused a night of screaming pain and writhing and when I put soya substitutes in (milk, yoghurt and alpro chocolate puddings) he was a lot more sick. I've not gone back and retested these things yet but I will. It may be coincidence or it may just be a matter of how foods are processed etc because I'm sure I've eaten veggie sausages which contained a trace of cows milk and this week I've eaten soya ice cream which both seem to have been fine. I'm hoping that he will out grow it.

We saw a different GP who prescribed gaviscon and she said she will refer us to a dietician when we start weaning bit bloody late in my opinion to only refer us then because he'll be using a knife and fork before we get seen by anyone but there you go

breastfed infants surprise everyone with the colours of their poo.however mucas is not . take nappy to doc and wave under their gaze, that should make him/her sit up.

btw

doctors only take interest in unhappy spit up infants, not the ones that are growing and developing well.

in general milk is a common problem. but with other allergens its impossible to tell via removing from maternal diet.

skin prick testing can happen from a young age, if you want to be reffered for IgE allergies. but other symptoms would show themselves. like ezcema , poor weight gain and inability to sleep for long periods.

lots of infants are very sicky but grow well. so its hard to tell, a true intolerant infant looks quite dreadful, and is so not happy. others are developing normally but happily spit up the milk they dont need.

the mucas in the poop IS a sign of intolereance. so ask to be reffered to a pead and or ask for a immunologist or gastro doc. you dont get anything unless you really push for it. So jump up and down, get the nhs sort this out. mucas in stools wont be cured by any reflux meds.

true intol allergy that causes vomiting is because the protein in the milk irritates the lining of the stomach valve. this inflamed valve releases the milk back up and digestive acids. which burn the upper tract causing pain. then because the milk left in the stomach does not have enough acid to digest fully, the food passes through the system undigested. causing inflamed gut lining. This is why your baby screams when layed flat on back at night, it pulls on gut and causes a lot of pain. lifting feet or propping up will help.
often dehydrated because of gut swelling so may need more fluid, etc.
appears misrable, runny nose , often with clear liquid, etc.

if removing milk doesnt work, a totally protein changed formula is considered. improvement while on this milk may take about 6 weeks. As gut needs to settle down and heal for a while.

my son showed the three symptoms of classic food allergy before he was 3 months old. however only testing confirmed the allergens, or when weaning being given the food he was allergic to and reacting. it would have been impossible for me to work out which food , via breastfeeding , removed from my diet would be the allergen. only when older did we get some idea of the huge problem we were ,and still are, facing.

good luck.

Some really good information given above. Sounds like you do need to be referred.

it would have been impossible for me to work out which food , via breastfeeding , removed from my diet would be the allergen.

Yes, it is very, very difficult, but I did manage to work out most of what DS was/is allergic to by keeping a very detailed food diary when still ebf. I logged everything I ate and also kept a record of DS's symptoms (change in eczema, poos, wheezing, mucous, 'colicky' symptoms etc.)

The food diary thing is a huge undertaking, and I did have to be very meticulous. It took months to figure out everything he was reacting to - this was a long list including dairy, eggs, nuts, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, cherries, apricots, bananas, string beans, peas, lentils, citrus fruits... I lived on chicken, broccoli and rice for weeks, just introducing one thing at a time. DS can have apricots and citrus now and is okay with ketchup but still reacts with varying degrees of severity to the rest of those things.

It can take a few weeks for some foods to be cleared from your system totally, but I did notice improvements sooner than that (i.e. within a few days). It takes about 2 hours for what you eat to get into your breastmilk, so a worsening of symptoms can be fairly easy to spot (although it is often much harder to figure out exactly what has caused it!)

Good luck to you!

the doctors in allergy clinics do see a lot of malnourished breastfeeding mothers , so proceed with great caution, dont risk long term ill health with a extreme diet without medical advice . e.g yr bone health .

my sons ige allergies were, dustmite, tree pollen, hay fever, dogs , cats , eggs peanut, tree nuts, yeast extract, all beans/legumes .

as his skin reactions to his environmental allergies were hives, swellings and ezcema, by restricting my diet while breastfeeding would have done little to help. Allergies are complicated, esp with multiple allergic children, so its incredibly important to get a immunologist support.

Just to add another potential cause for some of the issues you have noticed. Mucus texture nappies can be caused by your baby having a cold. At this young age, being sick and pooing is the way babies get rid of phlegm. My DS also had some drier greenish nappies at this time, but in between 'normal' ones so not all of the time.

Vinegar smelling nappies can also occur during teething. Could this be the cause?

When your baby is 'spitting up' is it just positing milk straight after a feed, or is it partly digested milk a while afterwards? If it's the second, this can also be caused by the baby taking too much milk during the feed and being overfull. My DS can sometimes be a little greedy and will be a bit sick, but not after every feed.

Of course, talking to a medical professional is the only way to get a formal diagnosis but I wanted to suggest that it might potentially not be a serious, longer term problem. Hope you get it worked out.

DD has been a little snuffly come to think about it! The majority of the time she brings up digested milk! And other times it's clear fluid that she spits up! If she brings up milk that she has just consumed it would be with wind and is never that much! She is definitely thriving as she is following her birth centile line on the 91st! I'm having her weighed in a week or so, so I guess I will find out if it's affecting her weight! This problem only started on Friday! DD will be 15 wks this Tuesday!

My baby's cows milk protein intolerance first became noticeable at about two weeks. Been blogging on it, if interested.

My baby's cows milk protein intolerance first became noticeable at about two weeks. Been blogging on it, if interested.

Yep! Best see a doctor and ask to be referred to a dietician, rather than DIY. They like food diaries though, so def a good idea to start one asap.