Overwhelmed trying to figure out what's wrong with my baby

[jzx]

I’m getting so worn out by the guessing game and just not knowing what’s going on with my baby. He was a bit early and he had a rocky start and was in high dependency for a week, but we came home and he was in good health. He stayed in the newborn stage for about 10 weeks, he did nothing but sleep and feed and was barely awake. When he was awake he was inconsolable and would cry a lot. He had reflux symptoms, eczema and loose stools so I cut out cows milk and soya on health visitors request. I thought I saw an improvement in his crying, but his skin was still sore and he was still having very loose (sometimes explosive) stools upwards of 10 times a day. I cut out eggs too, after a flare up almost immediately after eating them, and for a few days his skin looked a little bit better. This didn’t last, he became really unsettled again, his skin is still sore, he’s still having very runny brown/dark yellow stools. He has days where he is so unsettled and days where he seems happy. I’m now eating vegan, plus no soya. I’m starting to question everything. Is it wheat? If I cut that out too there’s barely anything left to eat. I’ve kept a food diary and it all seems so random, I can’t see any patterns apart from I probably do have wheat daily. I’m not convinced his symptoms have improved enough since cutting out dairy/soya that he is CMPA. He feeds relentlessly and I’m at the point I’d like him to have one or two formula feeds a day to give me a bit of a break but I’m too scared to introduce formula with all these potential and unconfirmed allergens. I’ve been referred to paediatrics and a dietitian but haven’t heard anything yet. I’m just feeling down with it all now and like I’m not getting anywhere. My GP disagreed with my health visitor and has told me I’ve cut out too much too quickly so now I don’t have a clue where I stand with it all. He’s now 3 months old. This is his skin, it’s all on his back, legs, arms and face too. I’m questioning everything. Does he have allergies? Which ones? Is it just eczema? Can he have formula? Which one do I trial him with? This is so stressful

When did you cut things out of your diet? It took 5-6 weeks for things to improve with my first baby. I also had to cut dairy, eggs and soya and be extremely strict with that. I assume you’ve done the same so absolutely no may contains, no lacto-free things (they still contain cows milk protein) etc.

How long have you been dairy free for @jzx?

I would start the omeprazole immediately. It takes a few days to kick in but it will help the reflux. It won't interfere with allergies or intolerances, you will still be able to have tests for those.
Eczema is likely to be related to allergy /intolerance.
Have you been given anything topical to soothe it while waiting for the paeds appt?
I am so sorry you and your DS are going through this.
I am sure you are doing all the usual things around washing powder, other products etc.

No it takes about 2-8 hours according to recent research. It can take a few weeks for symptoms of allergy to die down.

Also non-ige allergies won't show up on allergy tests but it's worth pursuing if you suspect it might be an ige allergy.

Could you have an oversupply of milk? Very full breasts, maybe also a fast letdown?

I ask because my eldest had similar symptoms – not the skin symptoms, but that could well be a separate issue. She was very hard to settle, windy, frequent loose explosive dark stools with no "seedy" bits of fat, feeding constantly (yes, this can be normal), gaining weight but not very fast for the amount of time she was spending at the breast.

It turned out that I had quite a severe oversupply and a fast letdown, and this was being exacerbated by switching sides frequently during feeds as I'd been advised but also to try and get a better latch.

Breastmilk naturally becomes more fat-rich over the course of a feeding session and she was basically getting vast quantities of the more watery milk from the start of a feed but never getting down to that really fat-rich stuff as my breasts were never properly drained. And her feeding so frequently on each side was prompting my body to make yet more milk.

My HV recommended "block feeding" – trying to feed on one side only for a set period, say 4 hours or so, and then switching to the other side for the next 4 hours, etc. Obviously keeping a close eye out for any blockages. This really helped us within a few days. My breasts stopped feeling so painfully full all the time (after the initial discomfort), she went from explosive dark greenish poos to yellow and seedy, and was much less windy.

I gradually reduced the "block" time once things improved but never went back to switching sides during a feed as I still made a lot of milk. One side per feed turned out to be a good balance for us.

It is most likely reflux that is beginning to improve with age, which is completely normal. I’m unsure why they advised that as omeprazole wouldn’t make any difference to allergies. If you feel he still has reflux (which it sounds like he does) I would commence omeprazole. Be sure to check dosage as this is based on babies weight and needs to be titrated with weight.

when breastfeeding some goods can aggravate babies but not be an allergy. This may be the case that cutting some things out may have made a slight difference, but not enough to have been an allergy, does that make sense?

overall it sounds like you’re trying desperately hard to do your best and I suspect much of the issue has been that he is a baby. It’s so stressful when babies cry a lot and are hard to settle and we search for answers. I also agree with above posters who say to not give formula. Giving expensive hydrolysed formulas to babies who do not have diagnosed allergy is a terrible idea. They taste dreadful and will tank your supply.

I would speak to a breastfeeding adviser about latch/tongue tie/supply in order to ensure everything is going to plan in that regard. Simple things like getting latch deep enough can make a huge difference to feeding and baby being satisfied.

the truth is babies can be so hard and often things right themselves with time

I'd say this is a perfectly normal poo of an exclusively breastfed baby (I have 3 DC all breastfed and their poos looked like it until I introduced solids)
My youngest was also a relentless feeder she'd eat every 20-40 minutes day and night for the first 6 months. Also normal.
I'd focus on the skin problems your baby has as this is most likely the source of his discomfort. Good luck 🤞

My dd had a rash that looked alot like that when she was a baby.
My dd never seemed to be full and was having feeds about every 2 hours and just sleeping alot more than usual, she then developed the rash it was all over, we thought it to be eczema but with being so sleepy, In my gut It felt something wasn't right. I spoke to the health visitor and she checked for tongue tie, my dd did have a tongue tie and the HV said because she was struggling to get the milk even though she was taking a full bottle she was exhausting herself because of the tongue tie and with the stress my dd flared up. Once the tongue tie was sorted and a cream we were given which, was called double base it helped but took a while to work.
However not long after my DD wasn't keeping any milk down, lots of reflux and was having loose stools, the GP switched us to lactose free milk which did help massively,but dd still had bad reflux so we were given infant gaviscon to add to her bottles which did help until she was ready to be weaned.
I hope you get to the bottom of it as it's horrible when our babies are not well and no one knows why.

Could be a nutritional deficiency, especially if you're eating vegan. My baby had a similar rash (as did I) and it turned out we were deficient in iron, zinc, and niacin.

Niacin deficiency in particular can cause pellagra.

Consider having your vitamin levels checked and supplementing as necessary. Best of luck and hope your little feels better soon!