DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE A BABY WITH MULTIPLE FOOD REACTIONS?

[Stevie]

My little boy is now 10 weeks old and he seems to get severe gas pains from practically everything I eat. So far he has been unable to tolerate wheat, soy, dairy, quinoa, corn. spinach, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, artichokes, onions, green and red peppers, garlic, anything spicy, and practically every bean I have tried except for string beans. Strawberries and citrus fruits also seem to give him a reaction. I have been a vegetarian for 17 years so I don't eat meat, fish, or poultry and at this point I feel like I am starving myself and him from all the necessary nutrients for us to be healthy. Does anyone have any recipe suggestions?        

[fbsurvivor]

You know your baby best, but my guess is that it is not related at all to what you are eating, but is just colic.  Bad gas pains are a big component of colic.  My daughter had bad gas pains for quite awhile until her stomach matured.  The one thing that helped was a baby yoga DVD.  Apparently some parents have had good luck with probiotics.  I tried infant massage and bicycling her legs but that didn't work that well for us.  You might try reading "The Happiest Baby on the Block", the bible of colic books.

[Stevie]

It doesn't seem to be colic. From my understanding colicky babies will cry uncontrollably for hours on end. My little boy only seems to have his reactions while he is feeding and they last for about 15 to 30 minutes or so. He cries and screams and is very miserable but seems to feel best when I walk with him on my shoulder while patting and rubbing his back. When I avoid these foods he is a very happy little baby every time I feed him. Though he does seem to have a lot more gas than the average baby.

[Hollyadmin]

Does he have any physical symptoms besides gas? Loose, bloody, green or mucousy poops? (sorry, TMI!). Does he get a rash at all? Those would be the key indicators of a food allergy or reaction. I also wonder about reflux...does he spit up a lot?  If not, it's possible he may have silent reflux - where he spits up, but then swallows it instead of throwing it up.  Does he make gulping sounds after eating? Does he fuss a lot while eating and/or shortly after?  I'm not doubting that he has multiple food sensitivities, just wondering if there's more to it than that.

I feel for you!! I was off all dairy with Sammy, and I found that hard enough. I lost a ton of weight, which I couldn't really afford to do, and felt quite weak a lot of the time. Have you tried a full out elimination diet? I wonder if that might be helpful so you can determine exactly which foods you can eat and which you can't.  I wouldn't want you to starve yourself unnecessarily!

[fbsurvivor]

Hmm, that doesn't sound like colic, you're right.

Garlic was the one thing my daughter reacted to that I could find and she went off the deep end, but it wasn't while she was feeding.  The other thing to consider is overactive letdown or whether he is gulping air when feeding.

Are there any foods that are worse than others?  That's a lot of foods to eliminate.  I agree with Holly that you don't want to starve yourself unnecessarily.

[Stevie]

His poop looks like normal breastfed baby poop from what my midwives told me. There are no rashes. He's never even had diaper rash. He definitely spits up a lot. He spits up practically every time I feed him, but he is gaining weight at a healthy rate and my mother-in-law said his daddy was the same way even though he was formula fed so that doesn't worry me. He is also VERY gassy normally (everyone gets amused by how loud his stinkers are) but when he has a reaction it seems that the gas has a hard time coming out either end and he cries and screams until it does.

I have tried the elimination diet with milk, soy, and dairy because in the beginning he was miserable every single time I fed him. It always occurs as I am feeding him or immediately after. The rest of the time he is a very pleasant baby which is why I realized it had to be something I was eating. Once I eliminated those 3 things he became much better but still would occasionally have that reaction. One by one I started eliminating things I had read were common culprits and sure enough he would react every time I reintroduced them.

He has become such a pleasant little boy and regardless of his reactions I know my milk is much healthier for him than anything else and refuse to quit nursing. I just need some ideas on what else to make. All of those things were such a major part of my diet my whole life that I'm not sure what else to cook. Brown rice, thankfully does not bother him so I have been eating that and things made with it such as cereal and pasta. I know there is brown rice flour, but I am not sure what I can make with it.

There is one more issue to throw into loop. I have severe reactions to MSG and petrochemicals and can only eat whole unprocessed organic foods because of this. For example, I am unable to substitute butter for any of the processed substitutes. I have been cooking everything including eggs with olive oil. If anyone has any input I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for your time.

[fbsurvivor]

A lot of spit up is usually reflux.  There are medications for that and it also helps to keep your baby upright as much as possible.  Some go so far as to nurse upright.  My daughter had mild reflux, spitting up a lot like you said.  My cousin's baby had extreme reflux, projectile vomiting 6 times in ten minutes.  I found with the mild reflux that I had more luck with just keeping my daughter upright.   She slept in her carseat a lot partly to keep her upright.  Burping a lot also helped.

As far as what to cook, I would think food allergy sites might have some good advice.  I'm no expert, but you might try baking with almond flour or trying gluten free products.  You can also try goat's milk or yogurt for dairy as sometimes those foods are not as difficult to digest.  But cutting out soy and dairy and meat doesn't leave you with much.  Have you tried La Leche League's site?

Also keep in mind that your son will probably be able to handle more as his stomach matures.