for mums of fussy eaters

[hermykne]

just like to let some of you, who may have seen my contributions to threads re my fussy fussy dd about how things have inproved.
a friend recommended a nutrionist/homeopath/naturalist with a paediatrican backgrd.
so i took her last week. first thing she noticed was her palour, then she did some allergy tests on a really sophisticated machine, and i had given her all the details on dds diet,energy,sleep etc on a form which we then chatted through.
after my hours consultation i got 3 rescue remedies and flax seed oil for my dd (dry skin). she has an allergy to milk (cow), cheese, o/j and choc, and msg which i think everyone is allergic too so no harm there.
i had copped the milk thing as when i switched over from formula pre christmas, a terrible rash flared up, which was my main reason for taking her as it had never really cleared up.

her theory is she will not be allergic forever, her digestion is just a bit clogged up with milk and her appetite low because of the milk - milk is both formula and cow. she explained to me milk is a food not a drink and thats how the body receives it, as food thus it takes time to break down etc.
so i had to reduce the milk intake (dd loves her milk)and starve her to hunger.
well 24hrs into the process on friday and she ate lunch (inc fruit which is a no no) she then ate a full small cereal bowl of dinner and then a piece of banana another no no, i was in shock.
since then she has eaten dinner ever day, as well as lunch.
but breakfast is small. the nutrionist was a big advocate of porridge for babies/toddlers so we are trying that but getting a bad reaction!!!

she also advised me to take her off weetabix (which was a staple in the morn) as its a bulk provider and was clogging her intestines thus "creating" hard stools rather than soft all because there was nothing else to digest in the system.

made alot of sense to me, very practical and logical.
dd appetite is improving (she actually asked to go in to her high chair this evening for something to eat!)

i would recommend it to any of you struggling, losing your patience and getting upset over it, as i have done to maybe try this approach.
as i certainly see a child you will come to enjoy her food now rather than spit before i even get the spoon to her mouth.

Just want to make a point about the allergy test you had as it sounds like the same I did with ds when he was about one. As I was breastfeeding they did us both at the same time, the one where they if I remember they put something on your finger which is connected to the machine and then put different allergens in it.
It turned out both ds and I were allergic to a whole load of things that I eat all the time. i had never experienced any symptoms, the only allergies I have are dust and animal.
At a later date we were seem by a consultant for allergy testing who explained that this test is not very accurate at all. iT is also rather pointless as it doesnt point out which of these things is causing the allergy symptoms. I was allergic to a whole load of things but had no need to cut them out of my diet as they showed no symptoms in me.
The consultant advised against this sort of testing and I have read elsewhere it is not accurate not helpful as the results dont tell you much.
If I was to cut out the long list they gave me out of ds and mine diet it would have meant a real struggle to find suitablefood so I threw the list away.
SOrry to be negative and I hope it works for you but just wanted to put the point across that it can be a waste of money. we certainly felt that way.

ds has porridge almost every morning...i add a spoonful of honey to it, or make it slightly too thick and water it down with orange juice.

I think that as you say hermykne milk is a big problem in fussy eaters. It fills up little tummies quickly and parents get into bad habits of giving them milk to drink if they won't eat, but then it's a vicious circle as they are not hungry as they are drinking too much milk. And I don't agree with giving babies Weetabix. So many mums do and it is just a massive wheat overdose. Oats are easier for the body and there are plenty of rice based baby cereals you can give instead. Dairy and wheat can be 2 of the biggest problems with digestion.

But well done in finding an answer to your dds eating problems!

Sounds great hermykne. But what do you do if your fussy eater is so fussy they also drink hardly any milk? Dd has 8-10oz a day and eats like a little bird, it drives me nuts. She had a dairy allergy and was under the hospital for it and she seemed to get over it by the time she was 1 so I started giving her dairy which didn't change either way how little she eats.

Just curious too hermykne as I think your dd is the same age as mine (18 months), what does she weigh right now? I don't have any similar age, similar fussiness babies to compare dd with.

evita
i think the remedies she gave my dd have helped the appetite too as well as decreasing/watering the milk. a detox, a skin booster and an immune booster so i thinks its a combination.
i would guess dd is around 24lb, last time i weighed her she was 21lb pre christmas.

my friend who recommended this woman in the first place, has a niece similar to my dd, not as big a milk drinker but poor appetite and siobhan says it has helped the little one enormously.

i really feel the whole alternative thing is a combination of everything going on in the body and out of kilter things affect other things. now i am not a "nut fanatic" on it, but i feel it makes a lot of sense. and i can see a dramatic improvement.

p.s evita
they are the same age mine is 18mths plus 2 wks!

and is your dd on full fat milk now? did you see where i commented that its a food not drink, in the nutrionists point of view, thus my dd had a lined digestive system which was not "clear" of milk thus no appetite.and she couldnt digest it.

i'll be able to put dd back on full fat sometime, but when shes better coped as she is tiny! and needs to build the appetite first.

Are you sure it is not 'intolerance' to milk etc, if she was 'allergic' then this creates more severe reactions???

Thanks hermykne, dd's still on formula at the moment. I had such a job to get her to drink that after breast feeding for a long time that I can't quite face the transition to cow's milk which she doesn't like at all so far.

So when was your dd's birthday? Mine was October 10.

evita
sorry for delay in replying i cant near the computer when dd is about as she wants up to press some keys - a little secretary in the making. her b/day is the th october. there is another girl i have made direct contact with who's dd is the same age and a fussy eater.
must email her tonight to see how things are...

Sorry hermykne, am I hallucinating or did you not write in the number of your dd's birthday?

Are things still going well with your new regime?