It’s been a full 10 months since I last posted on my journey breastfeeding Luke and his diagnosis of milk-soy protein intolerance (MSPI). That post has become one of my most popular and I still get comments and emails weekly from women sharing their stories and looking for answers. Since Luke was 5 months when I wrote that post, it is definitely time for an update.
My last post contained graphic photos of Luke’s stools. This post will not because I find it much more difficult to distinguish between a normal and abnormal stool at this age. How about some cute Luke pictures instead?
First, breastfeeding is still going strong. He doesn’t show any signs of slowing down or wanting to stop, so I’m hopeful we’ll make it to my goal of breastfeeding until he’s 2. Now, let me back up a bit.
Luke was diagnosed with MSPI when he was an infant and I cut out all dairy and soy from my diet. It wasn’t until I also cut out wheat, nuts, and peanuts that his stools became normal (no mucus or blood–see my other post for pictures) so he likely had multiple food protein intolerances.
His doctor was confident, however, that he would outgrow all of his intolerances. She advised me to start trying to add foods back into my diet when Luke was 8-10 months. Anxious to resume to a normal diet, I did a soy trial at 8 months.
It was an obvious fail. Luke’s first dirty diaper after me having one soy latte was explosive. He hadn’t had a blow out in months and this one was massive. Poop everywhere. The mucus returned, he had horrible smelly gas, and the worst night of sleeping of his life. It took an entire month for the mucus to stop showing up in his stools.
So I continued with my diet of no dairy, soy, wheat, nuts, or peanuts for another 3 months. At this point I was really nervous to add foods into my diet, but I knew I had to find out if he was outgrowing his intolerances.
At 10 1/2 months I tried adding nuts. With trepidation, I waited. No issues. His stools (different now since we was on solid food) stayed the same. Sleep stayed the same. I had hope! (And peanut butter back in my life–yay!)
I waited a couple weeks and Thanksgiving was upon us. The perfect time to trial wheat! I happily enjoyed my stuffing, but was still nervous. The last thing I wanted was to cause pain or discomfort to my baby. It went well! Again, his stools, sleep, and mood stayed the same.
It was time to move on to dairy. After a long 10 months without eating any cheese, I celebrated the trial with a cheese pizza. It was the best-tasting pizza of my life. I wish I didn’t like cheese so much.
So what was the result of the cheese trial? Success! At least it seemed that way. I didn’t notice any differences in Luke’s stools or behavior.
At that point I decided to wait to trial soy again. The memories of the trial at 8 months was still fresh and I wanted to enjoy the success we’d had so far.
It was time to let Luke eat some of these foods to see how he’d do eating them directly. Up to this point his solid food diet didn’t contain any wheat, nuts, dairy, or soy, just like my diet had been. When introducing the new foods to Luke, I did the same method as when I added them to my diet, trying one food and then waiting a few weeks before trying the next.
He did fine with wheat and nuts (I gave him some almond milk and a meal with peanut sauce in case you are wondering how I trialed nuts. I obviously didn’t give him whole nuts to eat) so we were off to a good start.
When I gave him some dairy, the waters started getting a little murky. There was a change in his stools, but I couldn’t tell if they were normal or not. There was not obvious mucus, but their consistency changed and they were definitely gooey. I had no idea if this was normal or if it indicated a problem.
Evaluating a baby’s behavior can be tough. Babies get fussy sometimes. I never knew if I should attribute his fussy moods to what he’d eaten or just regular baby stuff like teething or being overtired. Nothing was a clear indicator that he’d failed, yet I wasn’t sure if he was tolerating the dairy or not.
This was around 12 months. I decided to back off on the dairy for a while and try it again in a few months. Around 14 months, we tried it again. This time I gave him cheese three days in a row. His diapers were definitely gooey-er again, but it still wasn’t a clear cut fail.
Another symptom that showed up after the third day of cheese was a runny nose and red cheeks (See the picture below this paragraph). Dairy is very mucus-producing, so I knew that a runny nose could be attributed to eating dairy. I’d also read the red cheeks can be a sign of an intolerance. This was not the first time he’d had the red cheeks, but it was the first time I was sure he’d eaten something that could have caused it. Even though I was still unsure, I decided to back off of the dairy again.
A few weeks later his fifteen month well check was here. I talked with his doctor about it, and she felt confident we should continue trying to see if he tolerated dairy. She said the runny nose (that lasted about a week) could have been a cold or related to teething. She said to continue with the dairy and if there was a questionable stool, to bring his diaper in to be tested for blood.
That day I gave Luke grilled cheese for lunch. The next day, once again, I found myself staring at his dirty diaper trying to figure out if it was normal or not. Isn’t motherhood a glamorous job?
I brought it in to be tested. A few hours later, I got a call from his pediatrician’s office, and his stool tested positive for blood. Boo.
It will be a while before I give him dairy again. The blood showed up after him eating very small amounts, so I feel like his system is still fairly sensitive. His doctor assured me that I can continue eating the foods I’d been eating, and I’m of course hoping she’s right.
You would think this would be the end of the update, but there’s a little bit more. A few days after his stool tested positive for blood, I was out with Meghan and Tim was home with Luke. Tim accidentally fed Luke some bread that had soy flour in it. So we had an unplanned soy trial!
Unfortunately, Luke and soy do not get along at all. This was a clear fail. His diapers had obvious mucus and his mood and sleep were affected for a solid week. He’s just now getting back to my happy little man.
So it looks like I will be living with an MSPI toddler for a longer time. I’m still hopeful he’ll outgrow these intolerances, but only time will tell.
How’s your kid doing today? Even if it’s been a while, I’ll still say something. My two-month-old baby gets little blood and mucusy feces as well, but we’re still heading to the pediatrician to get the cause of it confirmed. my baby is experiencing the same situation relieves me.
Luke is now 12 years old (!!!) and doing great! He tolerates all foods now, thankfully. He’s healthy and growing. 🙂
Hi, thank you so much for giving such a thorough description of your experiences with breastfeeding and food intolerances. I have a 15 week old baby who has been having mucusy poops for a few weeks now. I have already cut out dairy and soy but haven’t seen any change in her diapers. I was consuming a lot of dairy early on but the mucus has only been recent. Her poops have never been green and she doesn’t have any other signs of food intolerances such as rashes, spitting up, unsettled behavior, smelly flatulence, bloating etc. She’s a great sleeper and generally very happy. I’ve never seen any blood in her diapers. Her weight gain has been good. My pediatrician is not concerned and doesn’t think I should be avoiding dairy. Do you think it’s possible that a baby might just have mucusy poops as their norm and there not be any irritation? I’m at a loss as to whether I should just resume a normal diet or start eliminating other possible problem foods such as nuts, gluten etc and see if there’s a change. I understand that could take weeks to months though and I’m beginning to think maybe this is just her norm.
I’ve cut out dairy and soy after a cranky 1 month old and little blood in his stool. His diapers have still been mucusy. Now I’m thinking I should cut out gluten (wheat), and try peanuts with your experience but what about eggs? Thoughts?
Eggs are definitely a common culprit!
Even my son has protein intolerance. There was blood in his stool till he was 5 months. Since then he is doing good with solid but less weight gain. Few days back I tried giving boiled egg and today his diaper had blood in his stool. I guess it’s the egg . His poop looked like it had some egg
Hi Maryea,
My son is 10.5 months old and he had was accidentally given milk. Since then he has been having mucus in his poop. It’s been a week now and still I could see visible mucus. How long will take for the mucus to completely go away?
It really depends, but can take a few weeks.
My 5 week old was exceptionally gassy/fussy beginning at 2.5-3 weeks. I cut out most but not all hidden dairy and his gas and discomfort definitely let up, but beginning at 5.5 weeks I started noticing blood streaks in his stool. Now I don’t know what to do. I am hoping it is just that I need to be more strict with the dairy cut out and not eliminate everything else but we shall see. I just messaged his pediatrician today when we noticed the blood the first time (it happened in 3 consecutive stools). Thanks for your very informative post!
Did he ever have a hard time gaining weight fast enough while you were doing your trials? I started to see blood and mucus at around 2 months. Everything was right on track at that appointment and his mood was still get so they just told me to watch for more.
It would occasionally still happen. For some reason there was no 3 month well child visit. Probably because of COVID and no vaccinations scheduled.
Anyways… I had continued contact. Continued sending pictures and then worried about green and mucus! Some smelling gross. He was congested and sleeping terribly. Terrible gas. We go in for his 4 month and he had dropped to the 10th percentile in weight. I immediately cut dairy after that appointment. We were then waiting to get in with the GI.
We just got in with the GI (I was 19 days dairy free at that moment). His attitude was now great. No congestion. But, he still continues to occasionally have a spec of blood here and there or some mucus.
The GI immediately told me I need to be cutting soy too. I had already cut eggs when I cut dairy. While there my son had grown in length again but was now in the 6th percentile for weight. My GI told me I need to immediately cut breastfeeding for 2 weeks while soy gets out of my system.
We tried this. One day 3 now. First… The 2 formulas he prescribed still contained dairy and soy. I mentioned that and he said they are so broken down it won’t affect him. My son wouldn’t take more than 1/2 an ounce. Within an hour or two he was so gassy. Wouldn’t sleep. And then pooped blood and mucus! Which he hadn’t had for 8 days prior!
I found a formula that is completely dairy and soy free. However he will no longer even take a bottle. Not even with my milk! Complete refusal now.
I have just continued to nurse and will meet with his pediatrician on Monday. I’m just at a loss of words. I feel defeated and like I’m failing. All he wants is my breastmilk.
Just wondering if you ever experienced the weight struggle as well? My first son I nursed until 2. I never imagined this is how the second round of nursing would pan out.
Hi there! I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I know how stressful it is. We were fortunate that my son never had problem gaining weight. I personally would continue breastfeeding while cutting the soy and waiting for it to get out of your system. I also had to cut wheat, peanuts, and tree nuts. It was hard but once those were out of my system along with dairy and soy he slept so much better and his diapers were back to normal. I hope it gets better for you too.
Hi Whitney,
How is your journey with breastfeeding going right now. i was in a kind of similar boat, my daughter was diagnosed with MSPI, i tried everything struggled for almost 3 months but somehow could not get rid of blood in the diapers, then finally after lot of struggle i put her on Elecare, which she very badly refused, but finally she started taking it, it has been a week she is off breastmilk, things are looking better, we are yet to get a stool test, thinking to get a trial of breastmilk again by mixing little bit with formula, but so nervous don’t want to see that blood again. Please let me know how are you handling the situation?
So sorry to hear your story Whitney. How is your son now. Even I have a very bad weight gain for my son.he is 8months and still 14.6lb. doctor said he some how has to gain weight he is at 0%.. I feel the way you are. But don’t give up. I continued breastfeeding since he doesn’t take bottle just like your baby. I’m trying this nutramigen formula.i wish he starts taking bottle. You can just leave an email to me if you want to discuss anything. [email protected]
What foods did you eat ?
I went through this with my older daughter dairy egg – turned out she had 6 food allergies – one being anaphylactic.
But now my 2 month old is the same – is cutting out dairy egg wheat nuts .. what did you eat? I’m starving !
I was also starving on that diet! I figured out you can make almost anything by substituting ripple milk for regular milk and earths best soy free “butter” for regular butter. I can’t notice any taste difference when they are in recipes either! I made regular dinners using those as substitutes.
Ripple milk wasn’t around when I was on this diet (or at least I didn’t know about it) but I’ve since discovered it and agree it’s a great dairy-free milk!
My LO has had blood and mucus in her diapers. But it hasn’t been consistent. I will be cutting things out of my diet I guess. It’s horrible because I use dairy in most of my meals. How did you get your calcium??? She’s had two episodes of screaming agony from gas pain. They lasted 8-10 minutes and that was enough to make me want to quit eating everything. Thank you for posting I feel like there’s hope now. I was at a loss for what to do. I think I will start with cutting soy and dairy out.
There’s a ton of plant-based calcium sources. It’s a myth that you have to get it from dairy. Beans, peas, leafy greens, oranges, and berries all have calcium.
I’m currently going through something but I am unsure if it is similar or not. I’m hoping for advice. My baby boy (just over 9 weeks) started with baby acne at around a week old then green slimey poos around 4/5 weeks old. They lost all the typical seed & yellow. They started to vary from shades of greenish yellow to dark green & had no actual poop in, just mucus & slime. Within a few days I started seeing specs of blood. I took him to outpatients & they said possible cmpa but would run blood tests incase. His neutrophils were below normal (0.9, should be 1.5-10.) it was then suggested infection with multiple drs telling me cmpa rarely exists in ebf babies. I cut dairy & soy anyway & the last 2 weeks his poops have returned to a mustard yellow & are thicker & now have tiny bits of yellow seed back in them, however the blood has gone from tiny red specs to dark maroon/brown streaks of mucusy blood scattered throughout the poop. He has had poo tests go check for infection, all have been negative apart from one which suggested e.coli, however they then informed me they were unable to “grow” it on a culture so weren’t sure if he ever even had it. His neutrophils have come upto normal ranges this past week. The hospital have also done a meckels scan to rule out pockets in his intestines that shouldn’t be there. I am now being told they want him on an amino acid formula for 2 weeks to rule out allergies before they want to do more tests. I suppose I’m just hoping someone can shed some light, as formula is a last resort for me, but I’ve not been able to find any stories similar to the darker brown mucusy blood which has been happening these past two weeks. It might also be worth noting, baby is an on/off sleeper & feeder, the last month he’s been very gassy & his little belly feels bubbly/grumbly quite often. He has only had nappy rash once, doesn’t fuss or cry with pain & now only sometimes gets abit if a pub pricky rash in his face, chest & arms. I have seen a lactation consultant who said she doesn’t think it’s cmpa, but she also said it’s incredibky rare for babies to suffer allergies when they’re breastfed. Just looking for advice.
Hi mam,
Any updates? Did your baby outgrow the allergy now?
Yes, he sure did. He’s 9 years old now and eats all foods with no reaction!
Thank you so much for posting this as I am literally going to the same thing with my daughter and felt hopeless about it. I am going to start eliminating all of the above for my diet as of today. My question is how did you find food to make, did you work with a dietitian at all? Or nutritionist?
Did you ever consider having him allergy tested against these foods or was it just easier to remove everything from your diet and his? I appreciate any feedback!
Yes , I’m in the same boat I need food but don’t know what to eat
HI, I know this post is old. but i want to know if your son outgrew the sensitives and when. Please post the update on this is possible. I have a 1 month old kid with similar poop. My first son had the same issue and he is 4 years and still sensitive to diary.
Hi there. I think it can vary so much from child to child. My son outgrew his sensitivities by 2 1/2 years.
Hi Gayathri,
How are kids doing now? Have they outgrew it?
Maryea, thank you so very much for your posts and responses about MSPI. Unfortunately, I am also dealing with the same thing with my 6 mo old. I know it has been a while since you dealt with this…but I noticed you said when you initially introduced solids to Luke he had some trouble digesting the solids. Would that just present as red blood in his stools again or more of the mucusy/green stools? We just introduced solids and I have been off of dairy/soy/eggs/gluten/nuts/corn for a while now so we are trying to decipher if it’s actually the food that’s the allergen or just her body getting used to digesting solids for the first time (or residual allergens that haven’t yet left my body/milk). So happy to hear Luke outgrew all of his sensitivities. And huge thank you for creating such a helpful and supportive community – it’s extremely hard to deal with all of this especially when pediatricians and allergists are not concerned or much help (as so many other moms have commented). Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!!
Hi Maryea. Thank you so much for posting about MSPI! I noticed you said you ate oatmeal. What kind did you use as I noticed the quick oats I buy have a warning “may contain milk, wheat, soy, and tree nuts”… all things I am trying to avoid! I wonder if this could be a problem as I still haven’t totally elimimated her green mucusy poops. Mind you, it may still be making it’s way out of her system as it’s been only a month since eliminating dairy and soy, and more recently some other suspect allergens. Thanks!
I use old fashioned oats. I always got the certified GF kind from Bob’s Red Mill when I was breastfeeding Luke.
Thank you so much for making these posts as they reinforced my suspicions and greatly helped me to truly understand what was going on with my 2 month old boy.
Since very early on he has been extremely colicky, sleeping never more than an hour at a time with obvious difficulty and pain surrounding bowel movements and more recently his stools became watery, green, full of mucus and now with streaks and flecks of blood.
I panicked and took him to the doctor but he was very unconcerned, wouldn’t send me to a pediatrician and instead insisted the blood was just from a broken blood vessel caused by the baby pushing farts out too forcefully… granted by baby does make some quite comical barbarian war cries as he proudly passes large volumes of gas but my mommy instincts knew there was much more going on than that.
Having a few allergies myself I already don’t eat dairy or tree nuts but I do eat everything else. Especially peanut butter, and to be quite honest, I was always concerned for some reason that the peanuts might be a problem but carried on with my daily PB lathered lunches assuming that this nagging feeling was just paranoia. I feel awful now. The shame cuts deep…
It’s only been just under a week since I cut all the main culprits (wheat, soy, peanuts, etc.) from my diet and while eating has become a bit of a challenge I don’t mind it at all. I’m just so eager for it to clear mine and his systems so that my little one can finally be the happy, healthy baby he deserves to be.
Thank you again tremendously for sharing your story. With how clueless some doctors unfortunately are, other mothers are such an invaluable treasure trove of personal experience.
Hi. Not sure if this feed is still live but I wanted to ask whether you ever considered doing an allergy blood test? I’ve been suggested by ped to do a blood and stool test for my son’s eczema outbreak and his very mucousy, watery green and sometimes yellow stools. The ped never seems too concerned by the stools, but I am. I’ve cut out dairy now wondering about the other culprits. Thanks.
I actually asked about it, but at the time our doctor said they are highly inaccurate in babies, so I didn’t pursue it. It turned out he didn’t have any true allergies, but sensitivities. He did outgrow them by 2 1/2. I would worry about the mucous in the stools; it’s definitely a sign of food sensitivities.
I’m a first time mum going through this currently no dairy, soy, egg or wheat but still having mucousy poos never thought about nuts! I have eaten soy and well she reacted badly, nappy rash, green mucous poo, eczema, tummy pain and sleepless days and nights. So good to hear that I’m not alone in this. My daughter is only 5mths but its good to read and see there is light at the end of the tunnel and I can contine to breast feed. Thank you for sharing your story
You are definitely not alone! I was shocked at how many moms reached out to me after posting about it that they had gone through or were going through the same thing. It’s really tough! Good luck as you continue your journey.