Bf-ing an allergic baby

[ImNotAnsweringIt]

ds2 has non-IgE allergies to cmp and soy. He is 9 mths now so eating solids but still on about 5 bfs in 24 hours.

There is no test for non-IgE allergies, just trial and error based on food elimination and symptoms. I am so lucky I have an NHS paed dietician friend, who is really knowledgable about allergies, so I have loads of support and knowledge on the end of the phone. I don't know how I'd have coped with my unhappy, crying newborn baby otherwise, as I knew nothing about allergies. It wouldn't have crossed my mind.

I thought this could be a general thread to discuss the difficulties of bf-ing allergic babies, esp non IgE allergies as it involves so much detective work. I have found it to be so hard and even now I never know if or how often I'll be woken each night.

What are others experiences? Any welcome!

Hello again

My experience was that DS had horrendous eczema from about 2 weeks old, and was generally very wheezy and unwell. I now know this was because he has allergies (IgE) to quite a few different foods but, at first, the midwives, HVs and doctors all said that he had fluid on his lungs from delivery and was just a 'colicky' baby. Later, he was diagnosed with bronchialitis and then a series of chest infections, and was on antibiotics three times before he was 3 months old.

I googled colic, and discovered that some babies improved if dairy was excluded from the bf mothers diet, so I did that when he was about 5 weeks old. He improved hugely, and then improved again when I also excluded eggs. I didn't know anything about allergies, I was just trying to tackle his eczema. One day I ate eggs by mistake, and he was very unwell with awful weeping eczema again. At that point, I started keeping a very careful, detailed food diary, making a note of any 'colic' and changes in his eczema.

I'm really glad I kept the food diary, because I was able to go back through it later spotting links that I had not seen straight away. It was very hard doing all the detective work - but DS did react fairly quickly to anything I ate (unhappy and/or getting rashes within 2-3 hours and eczema much worse the next day).

I know that living with allergies and intolerances is hard, but I think it does get easier as you come to terms with it and get into routines of eating safe things (instead of missing all the things you can't eat because you are bf!)

It's great that you have a dietitian friend who can help you. I didn't have any support in real life, but these boards helped me so much... Good luck with your detective work!!!

Hello, sorry to hear your baby is suffering.

My baby is bf, 10 months old allergic to milk, eggs, possibly more we arent sure yet.

I totallt eliminate the above from my diet, its hard to start wit. I had a friend who I asked 46825 questions to about food, what foods, how, where etc. If you want to PM me I'll happily pass on my knowledge.

For us it all started 5 months back its all very overwhelming. But it doesnt last, it actually made the weaning process so much easier by me eliminating the offending foods because it meant he could ear anything I was preparing for myself. (he blw despite me trying mush).

Good luck with it all, like I said feel free to ask any questions. :-)

So sorry to disappear lime that. For some reason my phone (we are away) logged me out and wouldn't let me back in!

Thanks for your replies. bananas sounds like you had a really tough time. It's amazing you did all that yourself. I'm not sure I'd have had the energy; it was only that said dietician friend (was really just an acquaintance but so kind) took me under her wing as she saw how much I was struggling.

Whitetrash have you been referred or had to work it all out yourself? Does you'd friend have allergies/allergic children? And lastly, is your dc's allergies non-IgE or IgE?

Despite having some support I also wanted to do things officially so asked gp to refer me to a paed, with a view to then bei g referred to a dietician. Going this route has meant I do not have an appointment with a paed dietician until ds is a few weeks off a year old! Imagine if I (as is the case for most people) had no one to advise me. What a ridiculously long time to have to wait!

I have been advised to start 'challenging' ds with dairy (in a specific way) when he is 1. What are your and regards this?

Sorry. What are your plans...?

And sorry for other typos!

My DD is now 2 and breastfed, though some days she doesnt feed at all, other days she feeds a few times - its up to her really! She is allergic to CMP, eggs and nuts.

My DD was a very "sicky" baby in the early days. After a breastfeed she would be really sick - it seemed liked gallons of milk came back up. H/V's and GP's were not very worried, as my DD was otherwise a happy baby, who was gaining weight and generally thriving. However, I realised that every time I had cereal with milk, the next morning my DD would be very sick after a breastfeed. I decided to cut out raw dairy and it made a huge difference. Pretty much no more sick within a few days, unless I ate too much raw dairy.

When my DD was around 1 she developed eczema around her mouth. It has never been horrific, just very itchy for her at times, and has always cleared up quickly with antihistamine creams. I'm pretty sure it was linked to my diet and the allergens I was eating. My DD had a slight red patch on her chin for roughly 9 months - it wasnt always visible unless she lifted her chin, but nothing took it away (I didnt totally eliminate allergens though).

Around christmas last year my DD's eczema almost vanished...around a time when she was breastfeeding all the time and I was eating a ridiculous amount of chocolate, so I am not sure why it improved...I secretly hope its a sign that her allergies have improved. I still moisturise her face every day at least once or twice and use a/h cream as soon as any redness appears but her skin is looking fantastic!

Anyway, sorry for long post - we have a slightly different situation in that we know what my dd's allergens are, but yes, you are right, it can be difficult when breastfeeding, though in many respects it can be easier as you know that your baby is getting all the benefits of breastfeeding rather than having to try differnt formulas which are not always particularly nice.

The advice about eliminating allergens from a mother diet varies - our consultant advised me to continue as I had been - i.e avoiding alot of raw dairy (we discovered my DD's allergies after starting to wean, were referred to a consultanr, but by this point I had avoided raw dary for months anyway due to realising myself that it was affecting my DD) but not completely eliminating them from my diet as my DD seemed fine with this.

Hope you get more answers soon.

It's too late now to type but marking my place to come back and chat about this tomorrow

Our plans for challenging DS with dairy... well, we have been told to stay well away from all dairy for a long time yet. Even though his RAST score has dropped dramatically, the consultant says there is no sign he is growing out of his allergies just yet.

I'm a total wimp when it comes to trying DS with new foods. There never seems to be a good day to risk making him ill, so I tend to keep putting it off. When I do pluck up the courage, I start by putting a bit on his skin to see if he gets hives, then if all is well I give him a tiny bit and wait to see what happens (with Piriton and epipen close to hand!) However, I realise this may not be very useful to you - most of DS's allergies are the IgE type, so it is easy to see quickly if he is having a reaction. You would probably be better getting advice from somebody who is more used to dealing with intolerances.

Thanks harverina. I know what you mean about being able to worry less knowing they are having bm. I am not sure about if/when to introduce food back into my diet. Dietician obviously got me to eliminate all traces of it completely to diagnose the allergies, and has now given me a programme of how to start re-introducing it direct to his diet (he was diagnosed pre-weaning). I guess I just try it. Like you bananas there never seems to be a good time to risk him being I'll (in our case, awake all night!)

Gah, ill not I'll! Bloody autocorrect always does that!

My DD reacted by being violently sick after a breastfeed in the early days when I didnt realise what was causing the problem. It seemed like litres and litres of milk came back up...but she never seem that bothered. She would be sick then go back to normal - not sure how she actually felt...I mean her body was obviously telling her to get rid of the allergens, so maybe she felt unwell (or maybe not, ???), I'm not sure. We never seemed to have any other problems, no sign of her having tummy pains etc and she gained weight well despite the sickness. Once I made the link the sickness literally stopped overnight. It was always the day after I had raw, or a lot of, dairy that my DD would be sick after a breastfeed.

I am extremely embarassed to admit that when it came to weaning, allergies did not even cross my mind...I gave my DD yogurt at 6 months old and didnt even think about the milk in my breastmilk affecting her. I suppose a few months had passed since the sickness had been an issue. How could I not have thought of that :(

I would never have suspected allergies in mine either; don't beat yourself up. Perhaps HVs should be better trained to help look for these things. Your daughter must have IgE allergies then? Non-IgE allergies have less acute symptoms which occur hours after ingesting the food. Less dramatic (he is almost never sick) but equally debilitating as, prior to diagnosis, he never slept more than 90 minutes at night (rarely napped at all), and cryed lots.

Is dd your first? Ds is my second and I can't believe how different it has been as a result of these issues. If he'd been my first my confidence would have been in tatters.

Yes, IgE allergies.

My DD is my first baby. She is now 2 and my confidence levels have gone up and down - as many of my posts on here would show...my DD has had two severe reactions, after both I have been a nervous wreck for some time. I still live in a simmering state of anxiety - I probably sont seem like that on the outside but as you know, the allergies are always on your mind :( though you do learn to live with them and make the best of the situation.

Yes, our experiences are probably quite different in terms of how our children react - but it sounds horrific for your DS and for you - sleeping for only 90 minutes must have been terrible for you both, and it sounds like he was very uncomfortable.

Gosh, no that was a stupid thing to say. Of course it is far worse for the IgE types! I wasn't really thinking, was waffling as I was about to go to bed (bit under the weather). My ds isn't in any danger from his allergies, and they'll never cause an emergency. I just find it hard as the symptoms are so indirect so it's tough to always pinpoint what foods affect him.

If I inadvertently feed him (or myself) dairy or soya he would simply be up all night with stomach cramps and dreadful, noisy wind. Sorry to have implied that my situation is like yours. I would be a nervous wreck I think.

How do you do with eating out? We are going on holiday next month (UK) and, while I dont suppose ds2 will mind being fed out of a pouch when we eat out, I'd love to enjoy some good meals. Have you found if you phone ahead to check that most places can accommodate you? They'll love me: vegetarian, no dairy, no soya, no beans, peas, lentils of any sort. Not a big fan if mushrooms either... Not too fussy otherwise. Perhaps I'll just stay home with a sandwich

Harveina I could have written that myself, word for word. Allergies never crossed my mind when I gave my bf 5 month old yoghurt and he went into anaphylactic shock. I stopped dairy in my diey and his awful reflux stopped almost over night.

I couldnt remember the difference between Ige and Non-Ige but from what you've just explained OP I think my baby must be Ige.

With regards to eating out, we too are going on a UK holiday soon but dont think we'll brave that one just yet. Adrenalin and an ambulance with ovr night stay in hospital would pretty much screw up the holiday.

However, when Im feeling brave enough I'll be calling round some local resturants and seeing if they do egg, milk etc free food and just takinv the baby his own (just not worth the risk).

Hi I'mnot...your situation may not be as dangerous but it is still very difficult to deal with so don't worry, I didn't think you had implied anything! You and your ds probably face more symptoms on a day to day basis, whereas day to day my dd is fine. My dd leads what I think is a pretty normal life, at least I hope she does. Of course, her allergies are on my mind constantly but that's something I hope to hide from her. I want her to be careful, safe and aware but I don't want her to be anxious about her allergies.

Eating out is very hard. We have ordered off of kids menus a couple of times, things like sausage and chips, and it has been fine but we generally just take a packed lunch for my dd. We are going to cornwall in the summer and are going self catering so that I can cook some things that we can take out with us. McDonald's is great, the allergy advice is very clear and we have had no problems so far. We go there quite a lot!

Whitetrash, are you going self catering? And have you tried McDonalds? Not the healthiest, but fine as part of a healthy balanced diet :)

Sorry to post again, but just wanted to say that when we have eaten out in local restaurants I asked so many questions about the menu that the chef sent out the bag of sausages for me to check! Think I'd just ask to see packages now!

Hi, my dd (9 months old) had severe eczema since she was 3 weeks old. Her eczema was constantly infected, weeping and inflamed. She was put on long term antibiotics (oral and cream) and strong steroids. I was also moisturising her every 1-2 hours day and night. At one point, her antibiotics had to be changed as antibiotic resistance was suspected and even the strong steroids did nothing for her eczema. On top of that, she was having reflux / wind. I spent many nights carrying her all night as she screamed in pain.

When I first saw the dermatologist, I asked about food allergy. The dermatologist said that it would be difficult to pin point the cause of the eczema, hence no point in eliminating anything from my diet (she was exclusively breastfed at that point).

However, when dd was about 5 months old, I decided that it would be easier for me to control my diet than to control both hers and mine (I was planning to wean her to solids at 6 months). So I decided to cut off dairy. The difference to her reflux / wind was dramatic. By day 3, she was much more settled at night.

The eczema slowly improved too. To my amazement, after about 6 weeks, her skin was almost completely clear. I had to stop soya as well. It has been a difficult journey but so worth it.

One question: any breakfast ideas for a dairy-free, soya-free baby? She isn't fond of the usual baby cereals and fruit purees. Tried weetabix & oat porridge cooked with Oatly and she didn't like them either. She seems more fond of savoury food but I can't always be cooking savoury meals for her first thing in the morning, especially after I return to work.

Another question: have any of you lost weight since changing to a diary free diet? A lot of friends have been commenting on my weight loss. I have always been slim to begin with anyway. I eat loads as well (3 proper meals and snacks in between. A 'snack' could be half a cake!).

Sorry for the long post!

I always ask to see the packaging of the sausages&fishfingers etc. in restaurants and cafes. It saves a lot of hassle in the long run, because I am so used to checking ingredients and sometimes the staff in restaurants do miss 'obvious' things.

We don't eat out much (except at Macdonalds!) because there is usually nothing or very little on the menu that DS and I can eat. I find the whole restaurant experience more stressful than it is worth so we tend to take packed lunches in DS's 'special bag'.

Breakfast ideas: we eat mostly toast and crumpets in the mornings and try to balance out the diet over the rest of the day. DS used to like dry cereal (strange child!) but now sometimes eats cereal with chocolate soya milk (chocolate oatly is also very yummy). I have a fairly good recipe for vegan pancakes that we make sometimes as a treat - can pass this on if you like.

I lost quite a bit of weight when I started to cut dairy and other things out of my diet when breastfeeding. The staff at the local children's centre actually thought I was anorexic because I got back into my size 10 jeans so fast. However, I put quite a bit of weight back on when I learned to make egg and dairy free cakes.

Ds usually has bread/toast (made in bread machine as shop bought often has soya in) with 'Pure' olive oil spread and peanut butter, or Yeo Valley fruit compote as jam, or (newly discovered) pumpkin seed butter (really good as high in fat). He likes porridge with compote or mashed banana. My dietician also suggested semolina as breakfast (make a batch the day before obv). You can give anything really, needn't be 'breakfasty'.

Your experience sounds awful custard. Ds also had eczema which initially got worse as I eliminated dairy and started eating loads of soya (milk, puddings, yoghurts etc). When I eliminated soya too it completely cleared up, never to be seen again.

Yes, lost tons of weight (and also slim generally). I eat constantly and make sure I always have a sponge cake on the go! Can be made to a normal recipe but replace butter with 'Pure' spread. Make sure you are taking calcium and vit A supplementstoo, as well as eating plenty of calories.

Thanks for the breakfast ideas, Greenbananas & ImNot. She hasn't tried crumpets before, so will try that. I would love the vegan pancake recipe too, if you don't mind sharing it, Greenbananas.

ImNot, I have recently bought a breadmaker too as I could not really find bread without soya in shops. I have never given her peanut butter though as I was afraid she might react to it. Did your dietician friend say that it is generally ok to give peanut butter to an allergic child? Pumpkin seed butter seems a good alternative though. Where did you get it from?

I am not too sure if dd's reactions is non-IgE or IgE. Guess it is non-IgE?? On the other hand, she has never had direct contact with dairy or soya products before. Just exposure through breast milk. Wonder how she would react to direct contact.

Vegan pancake recipe:

1 cup plain flour
2tsp baking powder
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 and a half tbsp veg. oil
1 cup soya milk (but you could use rice mik or oatly instead)

Whisk into a smooth, thick batter and drop 4 inch circles into a medium-hot, oiled frying pan. Turn when golden underneath.

custardpies, I think you need to know whether your DD's allergies are IgE or not. Can you ask your GP to refer you for testing?

Gah, not sure where my reply went! Anyway, re: peanut butter, I think I just tried it so suggest you check with someone if unsure. The umpkin seed spread is from October Books (obviously). I think there are branches in other towns. Anyway, made by 'Meridian Organic' so could try online.

I agree re: testing for IgE allergies. Non-IgE allergies do not show up on any tests; they are only diagnosed via elimination of foods and resulting symptoms/disappearance of. AFAIK (not very far) non-IgE symptoms appear hours (in our case 2-4) after ingestion and relate to the digestive system. So, no hives/rash on skin contact. Ds has stomach pain, flatulence, very disturbed sleep (used to be awake most of night). Also silent reflux symptoms (was initially treated for this by gp).

My ds has never directly had these foods either, as was diagnosed pre-weaning. Not sure what would happen if he did. I have instructions on how to start to 'challenge' him when he reaches 12 months.

IgE symptoms are more acute but I won't talk about them as have no experience. Likewise intolerances; not sure how these differ either.