How to do a dairy/soya challenge?

[extracrunchy]

Bear with me - this one's a bit long!

I'm ebf DD (7 weeks) and we've been dairy and soya free on GP's instruction for the last 3 weeks to see if an allergy is causing her reflux and eczema. GP said to do a trial with dairy or soya after 2 weeks to see if she reacts, then the other once she's stable again. So I have a number of questions...

1. Is 2 weeks long enough to have been sf/df for definite results? Her eczema is better but not completely gone and she still barfs (though less often). She also still has extreme gas that stops her sleeping and stretchy mucous poo. Should we exclude dairy and soya for longer or now assume they're not the issue?

1. When we do the challenge, is it sensible for me to have a very dairy or soy filled day and then see if she reacts, given it will stay in my system for a while afterwards and therefore I'll continue to make her poorly the following day? Should we challenge with a bottle of formula instead so it's only in her system?

1. If we challenge with formula, isn't it likely to make her uncomfortable and pukey anyway even if she's not actually allergic, as she's never had anything other than BM before?

Hope someone can help! GP can't seem to give us any useful info, we're still on the waiting list for a paeds appointment and google is just confusing me!

Aw crunchie it is so stressful but try not to get upset. It may even be that your daughter just has normal reflux, which is really common, not that that's any comfort... Is it her skin or her tummy that is upsetting her tonight?

I totally know how overwhelmed you can feel when it is all new to you and you don't know what may be wrong with your little one or what they might turn out to be allergic to. What really helped for us was talking to a very knowledgable and reassuring dietician who was able to put it all into perspective for us and made it seem manageable and straightforward.

Having someone say "this is what is going on, this is what you need to do, and here is my phone number" was revolutionary for us! Hopefully you will get to the bottom of what is bothering your wee girl v soon and then within a short time all this will seem like a distant memory. :-)

Thanks Auntierosemary :)
She's having an eczema flare up but nothing too extreme and doesn't seem to be bothering her - it's the reflux that's bothering her this evening. She literally can't stay still, she's squirming and writhing so much and gulping and choking - it's horrible! She mostly has the silent variety, so while her weight gain is good, she's in pain a lot of the time.

wasnt keen on coconut milk myself, but use coconut oil for loads of things (makes amazing roast potatoes) and coconut manna as butter

Poor thing.
Have you anything to give her for it in the meantime, like infant gaviscon/ranitidine etc.? If it goes on for any length of time, I know you can get hammock type things for babies to sleep that some people say work - don't know brands or anything cos I have never had one, but I know a lot of premmie babies use them.
My daughter had silent reflux when she was little, in retrospect I think it was her soya allergy. If it is any comfort, she is totally fine now (apart from a bit of eczema) and it didn't do her any long term harm.
We tried tilting her Moses basket etc and putting rolled up towel unr her mattress but never really worked as she just rolled down the hill! But sleeping up rightish on my chest seemed to be comfortable (for her...). That and ranitidine seemed to solve it. Once they hit a certain age (is it 3 months? Six months?) many babies apparently outgrow reflux naturally. I know my daughter's stopped before we twigged about her allergy.
Wish I could help more, or hit on an answer for you!

She's on Ranitidine at the moment but I think she needs her dose updating as she's gained quite a bit of weight since it was prescribed. We tried Gaviscon with only constipation as an outcome...

We actually had a hammock bed for DS when he was a baby and he loved it but we've since given it away, which we're now kicking ourselves about! He also had reflux but no allergies/eczema and it was manageable with drugs, though he didn't grow out of it till he was nearly 2.

Hoping it'll be different for DD! I think there's a good chance there's a dietary element for her because of the eczema, which has been pretty severe, but I guess it's not definite.

You know there's a chance your son could have had an allergy - most kids outgrow their allergies in the first two or three years, and there is a strong family link. Reflux is a common symptom of cows milk allergy. But what do I know, maybe you had him tested?
My first daughter is allergic to dairy and has a mild soya allergy, my second is quite severely allergic to soya, and dairy and eggs and possibly sesame. Neither I nor my husband have any allergies tho he has hayfever and I had eczema as a child - docs say this could explain our kids' allergies. Isn't it mad?

It is!
I never had DS tested but we had no skin issues at any point so I just assumed it wasn't an allergy. Interesting...
My nephew on DH's side has awful eczema (he has to wear a compression suit thing in bed) and my paternal aunt apparently had bad eczema as a child, so I guess we have that on both sides, but I'm not aware of anyone with an allergy (diagnosed anyway) and neither DH or I has eczema. Hope it's just a childhood thing for DD!

I'd blame your husbands side of the family, definitely.

One thing we found that worked a treat for eczema was special ointment number one - they don't make it any more but our chemist knew the recipe so cooked some up for us! Works like a dream, but I left our pot of it at my parents' house at Xmas (they live over the water) doh!

But eliminating the source is always preferable. One day we will get there! I better go to bed. Hope yr girl feels better in the morning. Night!

Cream sounds interesting! And yep, def blaming DH! Thanks for all your help

www.ouh.nhs.uk/patient-guide/leaflets/files%5C110720eggandmilk.pdf