Is this an allergy nappy?

[5month]

Hi all. sorry for the nappy picture but wondering if this looks normal for an EBF nappy? Baby has constant nappies like this and has issues with reflux and is still very unsettled at 5 months. HV said unlikely to be allergy as baby weighs a lot for his age and only has small patches of dry skin and a few baby spots on face. I am not convinced that vinegary smelling loose nappies are normal.

Nappy

Yes possibly! My second was ebf and has a dairy allergy so took me until 4/5 months to realise she had an allergy. Really awful sleep, awful reflux. Her nappies often looked like that.

All my 3 ebf babies had nappies that looked like a mustard colour and no issues. If ita a change or doesn't seem right ask your midwife/health visitor

My daughter has allergies and good weight gain. Her nappies looked like that that I didn't realise were problematic until I removed allergens and they improved. Also diagnosed at nearly 5 months very unhappy with allergies and reflux. Within 2 weeks of high dose reflux treatment and dairy and soya free she was a different baby. We eventually identified 20 allergies. She's 3.5 and showing no signs of outgrowing either her allergies or reflux

Thank you all. Time for another discussion with the HV I think!

Is there any mucous in the nappy?

Quite hard to tell from the picture but looks like a normal EBF nappy to me.

It's quite hard to see from the photo but there certainly could be some mucous there. My DD had similar nappies with some blood in and got diagnosed CMPA at just under 3 weeks old. At 2.5 she still has nappies made purely of snotty mucous with that awful vinegar smell if she has so much as a sniff of milk!
I'd probably approach the GP at this point rather than the HV as they can't necessarily do much. The GP may decide to try DF formula to test out the theory or if you're BFing then may suggest going DF to see if symptoms improve.

Good luck!

sorry OP i think it looks like an allergy nappy too. The most likely culprits are eggs and dairy. I would cut them both out immediately and then after a few weeks reintro eggs, then after a while longer reintro dairy.

Thanks again! As a first time Mum I am not sure if there is a lot of mucus. Some but not a lot and we have had teething, vaccinations and a winter cold too so it hard to know what is what. No blood for sure thankfully. His skin may have dry patches and some spots because it is normal for a baby but it may also be allergy based. The CMPA symptoms could be for many reasons. He is breastfed and I naturally consume very little dairy but I am really looking for answers for an unhappy baby at 5 months. He takes omeprazole for reflux but he is still so unsettled and cries a lot and still seems colicky. I'll try the GP for suggestions.

@muggart i have no problems limiting my diet but if I restrict food groups now could I cause an intolerance? Do I need to ask for a dietician or just try it out myself at home? I am concerned about what happens at 6 months with weaning because any possible allergens he eats won't be diluted in my milk

I think your best port of call here would be the GP. They will be able to advise and refer to a dietician if required. If you do cut out something and the nappies improve then unfortunately to "confirm diagnosis" you have to reintroduce it anyway to see if symptoms start again. It could be that little one has got CMPA and your small dairy intake is what's keeping things at bay. It could be that the snot and teeth are causing the mucous. It's so so hard to tell which is why they often like to retrial milk even if symptoms resolved on a dairy free diet.
In terms of weaning, I can't say it didn't give me a headache at first. But it's just trial and error. Starting with single veg and working up a list of safe food.
I found out through mine that milk in all forms and pure soy milk were both not tolerated, but any other step of the soy ladder was fine and all other foods were fine.

It felt like the biggest scariest thing at the beginning and I can't say I wasn't hugely overwhelmed. But I promise it becomes easier if that does end up being the cause.

I'd have a chat to GP, explain concerns, reflux symptoms and the presence of mucous in stools and see what they suggest from there.

I was always told that reflux is a symptom, not a condition in itself. So while we did do our time on omperazole, it was to treat symptoms of the CMPA in the earlier stages rather than just treat and ignore.

I hope all goes well.

Also to note... unfortunately most CMPA symptoms can be explained as other things too. We quite often have issues and I'm never entirely sure whether it's because she's had accidental milk exposure via nursery or if something else is at play.
Though for my DD the results of milk are quite severe and every time we try the milk ladder I'm reminded exactly what the very subtle differences are.
I can now smell an allergy poo from a mile away!
But when she was first diagnosed and throughout her whole first year of weaning I felt constantly unsure of what could be what!

Join the cmpa Facebook group, you'll find loads of advice there from seasoned allergy mums. I'd say it is an allergy nappy. Yes you can remove foods for 4-6 weeks and if won't cause an intolerance (or non-ige allergy).