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.
Can I send you a picture of my son’s bm as a second opinion? I’m teetering on normal or some mucous??
Sure–my email is thehappyhealthymama {at) gmail {dot} com
Thanks for sharing your story and update. My first child ended up being diagnosed at 4 months old with a dairy and soy intolerance. I was exclusively breast feeding and devastated when the gi dr insisted which start him on a hypoallergenic formula and stop breast feeding. I chose to eliminate those two foods from my diet. The dr said it would take 2 weeks to leave my system and another 2 weeks to leave my child’s system. So the next month his diaper was tested again (the first time there was blood that I didn’t even see) and he was free and clear. So I continued with no dairy or soy until he was a year old and slowly introduced dairy with organic yogurt. He tolerated that. So we introduced organic milk and he’s been drinking it no problems ever since. The dr had mentioned that if my first had this issue, any future children probably would. So when I found out we were expecting, the plan was to eliminate dairy first 2 weeks before my due date. My second child decided he wanted to enter the world 3 weeks early so I took the dairy out the very day he was born. He seemed to be doing well poop – wise. Then, at about 6 weeks old, I had to go on an antibiotic for an ear infection. Roughly 5 days later, he began to have a lot of gas and wasn’t tolerating it well. I switched to a different antibiotic and I saw improvement with his gas, but a few days later it returned along with no poop. He had gone 6 days without pooping. His belly was rumbling. My 2-3 hour napper was up after 30-45 minutes crying trying to get gas out. His poopd never became mucousy or green like my first so I figured it was the antibiotic. I verified that my last dose should have only stayed in my system for 12 hours. So I chose to go soy free now. It’s only been a week. He’s still gassy and not pooping every day. He also has silent reflux when he bears down so he’s on Zantac now. I’m hopeful that eliminating the soy will help. I want to have his diaper checked for blood just in case. This poor child needs to sleep. He always looks exhausted.
I’m so sorry to hear about all the trouble you are having with your little one. It’s so hard to see them in pain! I hope eliminating soy helps!
Hi,
Just read your great blog!
We are dealing with our baby girls eczema since she has been 5 weeks old she is now
Almost 8 month old and we still don’t have the eczema under control 🙁 she also had little specks of blood,
and has some allergy tested food allergies, eggs, walnuts, milk, soy, peanuts.
Even before we tested her allergies, I state away from dairy, etc. it made a difference in her stool no blood
Anymore, but still watery, mucusy Also it didn’t improve her eczema. We saw already sooooo many Dr. (Allergist, dermatologist, GP) they all
Don’t seem to have an answer other then steroids topical cream and she will outgrow it. Steroids by the way don’t improve her eczema much, we properly tried over 30 creams
Now it’s been a few years how is your little men doing? When did he outgrew his allergies?
Many thanks!
Yes, he did! By 2 1/2 years (he’s 3 1/2 now) he outgrew all of his food intolerances. There is hope!! He’s doing great–healthy, growing, and eating most everything. 🙂
Hi again, Maryea–
I thought I’d send a quick update on my situation since you so graciously update us! And, of course, I have a question, too;-). After eliminating dairy, soy, wheat, eggs and nuts for a solid 5-6 weeks, my little guy finally started feeling better and having normal stools this past fall…hooray! I’ve never been so happy to see poop in my life:-). Fast forward to now, and we’re still going strong without dairy, soy and wheat, but I’ve been able to add back nuts and eggs to my diet. The little guy definitely has some issues with dairy and soy still, and I think also wheat through a few test cases with solids.
He is about to turn 1, and while I’m still breastfeeding him, I am looking to wean for his day-time feeds (I work full-time, so the pump is getting tiresome!). I have an old-fashioned ped, so she hasn’t been very helpful in talking about alternatives to cow or soy milk. Do you have any experience or resources to point toward about weaning a dairy-soy sensitive baby? I’ve heard coconut milk is in option…
Thanks,
Stacy
My first son who is now 21 months old had all of these issues, too. I ended up cutting out dairy, soy, wheat, and eggs. Looking back, I probably should have looked into other things to cut out, but he made such a huge improvement with these things.
Well it seems I’m on round two with my second son who is 7 weeks old. Slowly his stools transitioned from the beautiful orange breastfed (perfect) baby poop to the awful mucusy bright green! He was spitting up a all the time and having bouts of uncomfortable gas, especially in the evening. Two weeks ago tomorrow he had awful explosive poop that smelled terrible, and in the morning I found obvious blood in 3 of his diapers. Took him to the pediatrician, although I knew what she was going to say, and I was told to eliminate dairy and soy. Since I was so familiar with everything I decided to cut out dairy, soy, wheat, and eggs again. I have noticed over the last two days his poop was orange again, not really mucusy just a little runnier than the curdled breastfed poop. I was hopeful!! He was spitting up hardly ever. Last night I ate questionable salad dressing that probably had hidden soy in it, and today he is fussy, spitting up A LOT, and the good ole’ green mucus poop is back. 🙁 I could cry!! I feel like I’m starting all over again, and I’m causing him to feel terrible. I feel so guilty!! Do you think it will clear out fairly quickly or am I going be waiting two weeks again?
Now my main concern is that he has this eczema looking rash all over his scalp and most of his face. I know eczema is also a symptom of these food intolerances. Although he has gotten better as far as digestion, the rash has never gone away. Do you think I need to consider eliminating other things? Have you had any experience with the rash? I’m starting to feel hopeless!
Oh I am so sorry! I know that feeling of guilt and it’s terrible. With such a small amount of soy, I would think it would clear quickly, but I’m not sure. 🙁 I have no experience with rashes, but from my reading I do know it can be a sign of food intolerances, like you said. I would probably be proactive and cut out nuts just to see if it makes a difference. Don’t feel hopeless–this won’t last forever!! Good luck. 🙂
Hi,
I have been dealing with this same thing it sounds like. My son is 3 months old now and up until he was 2 months old I just figured he had reflux. We talked to his doctor about reflux a week after his 2 month check up because he was spitting up A LOT and losing some weight and he always had green mucousy stools. After having blood in his stool for the second time, I took him back to the doctor and he just diagnosed it as reflux. So he prescribed him the medicine and I told his doctor that I wanted to try cutting dairy out of my diet before putting him on medication. He proceeded to tell me that I could try but it usually doesn’t help. Oh how wrong was he!! He’s been doing so much better and I noticed when I had soy butter that it started up again. So cut out soy. My husband bought Almonds for us to snack on since they are really good for you…and I noticed that this was a problem as well. I had been doing great on doing no dairy and this morning I ate a buttermilk pancake and what a mistake that was! He’s been spitting up like crazy. I feel Terrible that I slipped up and now he’s being effected by my mistake. Breastfeeding is my favorite thing to do with my infant. I love the bonding and I feel like superwoman 🙂 my first son BF until 25 months and we had none of these issues. This is definitely a lifestyle change. Hope he grows out of it eventually! Our poor babies! I’m so glad I came across your story. I think I’ll switch doctors and find one that is familiar with MSPI.
Hi Amber! I just wanted to let you know that I’m still breastfeeding Luke (he will be 3 next month–eeek!)and he outgrew all of his intolerances by 2 1/2. I was able to eat everything much sooner than that though! Hang in there and I hope it gets better for you sooner rather than later!
Hi Maryea–
I cannot tell you how glad I am to have found this! I have been struggling with these exact same issues with my third child. The red cheeks, mucousy and discolored stool, etc. He’s been tested for “allergies” and all was negative, so now we’re assuming it’s the protein sensitivity.
I am on week 3 of no dairy/soy and just starting my second week of no wheat, eggs and nuts. My son is currently 5 months old, and his issues really only started about a month ago. My pediatrician keeps pushing me to try the hypoallergenic formula, but since he was a preemie (6 weeks early), I’m reluctant to take away the benefits of breastmilk. It seems like everyone thinks I’m crazy — or that I’m hurting him — by not just making the switch.
He has had two awful nights of sleeping — his worst since his newborn days — over the past two nights, even though I’ve now eliminated everything. In your experience, did things get worse before they got better? I wish I could see some improvements at this stage! Any advice??
Thanks,
Stacy
Yes, there were definitely worse days on the road to getting better. I think if you want to breastfeed, you should keep going! Especially since you are only on week 3. It can take at least 4 weeks before you see any improvement, so it may just be that he needs more time. Also, I’ve heard of babies who struggle just as much or more with hypoallergenic formula, so it’s not a sure-fire answer. My pediatrician had the opposite stance and thought that protein sensitive babies do better on breast milk, so even when I was ready to throw in the towel, she encouraged me to keep breastfeeding. My advice is to just keep going with the limited diet and give it a little more time before you decide if it’s working or not. I know how hard it is when the results are immediate! I’m sorry you are dealing with this. 🙁
Thank you so much for sharing these posts! I have been searching for good pictures to compare diapers to because I feel like I am going crazy…This was the first place that I have been able to find what I am looking for. My little one is 6 weeks old and we have been dealing with mucus in her stools for about 3 weeks now. I am 2 weeks into having eliminated all delicious food from my life: dairy, peanuts, eggs, gluten, corn, fish. I don’t typically eat much soy but I did have a soy latte this week out of desperation and her diapers went back to slimy for the next 2 days along with an increase in fussiness and gas and her sleep got awful. Soy lesson learned. The pediatrician doesn’t seem to feel that the mucus is a big deal because there is no blood. I however know it’s an issue because of how fussy she is and her fussiness after the soy was very different than her typical fussiness. So once we have the soy out of her system we are going to test some of the other allergens so we can add in what we can. Like you said, the snacking on this restrictive of a diet is difficult! Thanks so much for sharing your experience!
You’re welcome, Rebecca! Good luck!
Hey! I cam across your post when googling blood/mucous in stools. I am currently trying to identify food triggers in my 13 w/o son. I am exclusively pumping. We had several issues with breastfeeding and so now I just give him expressed milk in a bottle. He has silent reflux and since around 6 weeks he has had slimy poops. I am not sure what is causing them. I have been dairy free for about 7 or 8 weeks and have just eliminated gluten this week. He had a cold around 8 weeks so the thought was that the mucous was from his cold. However, his cold is gone and we still have slimy stools. He does drool a lot, though. My question is…is the picture at the bottom of your first MSPI post a picture of normal breastfed baby stool? He is my third child, but the first one who has had breast milk for this long. I am not even sure what a normal stool would look like. He had the yellow, seedy stool until we switched reflux meds and then he has had runny/slimy/mucousy stool with no seeds since then. We have weaned him off of his meds and the stools never changed back (we thought they would). His stool was tested for blood and it was negative. I am wondering if there isn’t any blood if his stools are really something in which I should be concerned. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Hi there! Yes, the bottom pic is the normal one. I have heard that if a baby just has mucous and no blood it can be considered normal if no other symptoms are present (gas, excess fussiness, sleep troubles, etc.) It’s best to discuss with your baby’s doctor, of course. I’m sorry there are no black and white answers! I wish you good luck. 🙂
I read your first post in December 2013 when my LO was 6 weeks old, and it really helped me to know that someone has done this long term. I started with dairy elimination, then soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts/tree nuts, corn, and she still had bloody stools. A GI doctor tried to intimidate me into formula, but I refused and got a second opinion. Now, in addition to those allergens, I eliminated strawberries, tomatoes, chocolate, and sesame seeds.
Now my LO is 8 months old and I have successfully added corn back in! I want to try out wheat, but much like you, I don’t really know how to tell if her stools are bloody or mucousy now that she’s on solids. Are you still breastfeeding? If not, were you able to make it to two years? Doing this very restricted diet (and I work full time, so very little time to cook or meal plan) has left me eating not much. I’m convinced that breast milk is the best thing I can do to give her a chance to outgrow these allergies… I’m just hoping I can add some foods in!! I might also try almond milk within the next month to see how it goes and then get a diaper tested. It is so nice to relate to someone with all of these crazy allergies!! Thank you for your posts!
Yes, I am still breastfeeding. Luke will be 2 1/2 next month! 🙂 I’m not totally sure he’s outgrown everything as his stools are not formed most of the time, but only rarely do we see mucous and no blood. 🙂
So is Luke completely unrestricted for dairy and soy now?
Yes and no. He gets both in small doses. We don’t have that much dairy as a family (no cow’s milk, some cheese, but that’s about it) so he gets a little bit here and there. I haven’t been brave enough to give him large doses of soy yet (like edamame), but he has gotten some through some bread with soy. (A “grains of the Earth” bread I buy has “soy grits” in it) Because it’s such a grey area, I really can’t tell how he reacts when he does have soy and dairy. Is he extra fussy, for example, because he’s 2, or because he had some cheese? Is that overflowing diaper from the soy, or is that normal? His 2 1/2 year old well check is coming up next month and I’m going to discuss these things with his pediatrician. I wish there was a clear way to diagnose food intolerances!
hi
well its really difficult to deal with this, my daughter now 4 and 1/2 am breast feed and give her formula special for allergy too, i wanna start with solid food what should i start with ?
all kind of cereal in the market contain milk
so should i make her rice or oat and start with it ,Or start with vegetable??
plz advice me 🙁
I would start with a vegetable. I skipped rice or cereals all together with Luke. Little tummies are not ready to digest grains at such a young age. I also waited until 6 months. Your little one may need that extra time to let her digestive system mature more as well. I’d hold off on the solids until 6 months.
Your journey is all too familiar! I appreciate you posting yours to help guide me along the way. I have found that our pediatricians have not been helpful. They keep saying as long as he’s happy and gaining weight, they aren’t concerned with his green, mucous, poop and sometimes have blood! I can’t tell if the dark spots in the mucous are blood too or not but nobody has ever mentioned getting it tested. Our little man is 6 months old and I just started introducing him to solids. First, avacado, second, sweet potatoes. I’m off soy, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts (except almonds although I’m sure I should but I need the almond milk for calcium), and eggs. His poops have been doing pretty well the past month or so since I’ve been off soy, however every now and then I’ll get a bad one and wonder what on earth I’ve eaten! It’s gotten really bad again since I started those two solids, but I never thought it was the solids until I just read your post. I had no idea they could have reactions to such non-allergen foods. I also realized that I needed to change all our meds! His vit drops, my prenatal and dha, etc all had allergens in them! I’m curious, how your got all your calcium needs met without dairy or almond milk? Also, were you able to take DHA? I’m afraid he reacts to that. Did you do the oatmeal to begin eating his solids for iron? I’m afraid of the oatmeal for him but his doctor says he needs it for iron. I just feel so confused and don’t know what is best!
I took the Baby and Me MegaFood multi-vitamin. For calcium I rely on plant-based foods that are high in calcium: greens, beans, broccoli, oranges, tahini, etc. I don’t drink cow’s milk regularly (even before Luke’s MSPI), so it’s normal for me to get my calcium from non-dairy sources. I did not do any kind of grains for Luke right away as they are very hard to digest for babies, especially babies with sensitive stomachs like ours. I didn’t give him any iron supplement and his iron levels were fine at one year. They were on the low side of normal, I’m sure because of the intestinal bleeding, but still in the normal range. I would recommend doing a lot of your own research (it sounds like you already do! :)) and not rely solely on his pediatrician for nutritional information–this is one area regular doctors can really be lacking and it sounds like your pedi isn’t very savvy in this area. Although breast milk is lower in iron, the iron is much more readily absorbed by the body. So your little guy may not need any iron-fortified food or supplements, depending on how much intestinal bleeding he’s had. Good luck to you–I know how overwhelming it can feel to be in your position!
How long were you off of wheat before his diapers were finally normal? I’ve been off of dairy and soy 10 weeks, eggs and nuts 4 weeks, corn and wheat 2 weeks. And we still have blood and mucous. Our little guy is also super fussy and sometimes in obvious pain. He’s 16 weeks and my pediatrician thinks it might be time to try formula. I want to exhaust all other options before I do. I’m just wondering if I should give it a few more weeks without wheat…
It was 4 weeks off of wheat before they were normal. It might be worth it to wait a couple more weeks, but if he’s having blood often and is in obvious pain a lot, then I don’t know if I’d want to wait! Have you tried probiotics? My friend was going through the same thing with her son and a pediatrician told her probiotics should be the first thing a mom gives when there are abnormal stools. It might be worth looking into to. (Luke’s pedi never mentioned probiotics to us, but I wish she would have!) Good luck figuring it all out and I hope your little guy gets some relief soon!
thank you for the wonderful blog you put up. My little bub had an operation at three months and was put on a large dose of antibiotics and also a form of morphine. 3 days after coming off antibiotics, she started getting bits of blood in her stool which progressively got worse. We were then sent to the GI specialist who told us she has a cow’s milk allergy. I trialled off the diary for about 10 days and her stools got worse (very bloody) and then better. I then accidentally ate some organic chocolate which had milk and butter in it and we had the most terrible few days of very bloody diarrhoea – confirming it was a milk allergy. It has been about two weeks off the diary and i have also gone off soy too. We are far from a mustardy diaper and now they have gone to a slimy green mucous.
I read through your posts and now know that we should really give this 8 weeks without the two. I am on a strict diet and reading all labels and keeping a diary so hopefully, we will see some changes in the future. it’s good to know that others are going through this too. I am keeping up the breast-feeding and not going to use formula until we have really given this trial a real go.
Good luck to you! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
THANK YOU so much for these posts, I have read the first one and now the update. I have a 8 week old son who spent two days in hospital at 3 weeks old with blood in his stools, I am exclusively breastfeeding also and now have to cut out dairy and after a few weeks of no dairy and no improvement I have cut out soy. I trailed dairy just to see if it really made any difference (As still had green mucousy poos anyways) and it gave him a horrible skin reaction and his eye lids swelled up 🙁 I am now back off the dairy and soy but we still have the mucousy green poos, so wondering now if I should try eliminating other things like you did from my diet. Im in New Zealand and access to specialists in this area is difficult, I plan to see my GP next week and will ask for a paediatrician referral and will have to drive 2.5 hours to the city which I know has one to see him, I hope they have some answers for me!
thanks again for the post!
Hannah
You’re welcome, Hannah–I hope you get some answers and your sweet boy gets some relief!
We are finally off to see the paediatrician today – more blood in his poos last week dispite 9 weeks now of being dairy and 7 weeks of dairy and soy free. I hope they have some answers for us. We did try (out of desperation) to give him a bottle of formula (Petpi Junior) and he refused it, so I don’t have any alternative really than to feed him and I do want to feed him, I actually wish I could just survive on formula so I didn’t have to worry about everything I ate!
Good luck, mama! I know how hard what you’re experiencing is. 🙁
Well the new diagnosis is Colitis aggravated by dairy/soy, but not an allergy.
I am going to try following a Low FODMAP diet to see if that helps my 12 week old. His father and many close relatives have Chrons so I think its a given he has a sensitive bowel.
I hope your new diet helps! Good luck. 🙂
Thank you so much for writing this. My son was diagnosed with mspi at 3 months old when he broke out in horrible excema and had blood in his stools. I was able to add soy back into my diet at about 9 months and he did fine. He is 11 1/2 months old and we just started trialing yogurt with him last week. He did five days of yogurt with no problem, no change in behavior, sleeping through the night, no change in stools. In fact, he was a bit constipated. Day 6, a change in his stools, definitely runny, but not green. Still no change in behavior, or any gassiniess. A stomach bug hit our household at the same time, so very unsure how much the change in stools is from the bug or yogurt. So not sure whether to call this a pass or not. Did you always see a reaction right away?
I’m actually in a similar situation as yours now with Luke. He’s 22 months now and we’ve been giving him dairy for about a month now. I can’t tell for sure if he’s tolerating it or not. He seems fine, and then he’ll have a slimy diaper and I don’t know what to think. But it’s not every diaper. And he mostly sleeps well but occasionally will wake in the night since we’ve been giving him dairy and I always wonder if it’s from the dairy or not. So yes, I do think the reaction can be delayed, but it’s not clear cut at all. I wish I had more concrete answers for you!
Sounds like this is exactly what I am dealing with. I was wondering if there were any books or websites you found helpful in regaurds to what types of foods you can eat or meal ideas that eliminate everything ( wheat, soy, milk, nuts….ect)???
Hi there,
I have a four month old who developed the milk protein intolerance (presenting with bloody, mucousy, green stools – and fussiness, eczema, swollen eyelids, congestion) around 1 month of age, and quickly afterward developed an intolerance to fish, wheat, chocolate, raspberries, strawberries, corn, grapes, coconut, nuts, eggs, tomatoes, rosehips, citrus, soy, the list goes on….) The only things I can eat that she does okay – not great, but okay – on are white and sweet potatoes, millet, rice, turkey, bison, pears, squash, blueberries and cranberries. A super limited diet, needless to say. She also didn’t do well with Neocate formula; very green smelly stools, fussiness, lots of spit up. No one seems to know how to help – we’ve been to a pediatric allergist too – and I don’t know how to go about feeding her in the future. How old was your son when he could finally tolerate any solid food at all? I’m not sure how much longer I can stand this…. I should also add that she’s often ill, which seems strange to me in a breastfed infant. (My first only got a cold the entire first year of her life; my newest has been significantly sick four times since this started, including an ear infection.) Anyone else have a kid like this, or an older child who truly did outgrow these problems? Any hope at this point would mean the world!
Sarah–I am so sorry. Your situation sounds very severe and so difficult! Luke tolerated solids when he was about 6 1/2 months. We went very slowly to give his system time to adjust to solid foods. It sounds like your daughter has a much more sensitive system, though. Have you tried giving her probiotics at all? I have heard that they can help a lot in little ones like ours. It’s worth looking into! Good luck.
My son has similar situation, he is 5 months old. How did u manage it. How is he now
Thanks
He outgrew all of his intolerances by 2 1/2! It was tough at the time, but looking back it seems so long ago. You will get through, too!
Thank you so much for sharing your story! I’ve been scouring the web for answers and your pose is the MOST HELPFUL!!! Big hugs to you!
I’m so glad to hear that Katie!
What ever happened with your child? I know this is years later but Your situation sounds exactly like mine with a very limited number of foods the baby can tolerate. She doesn’t tolerate the EleCare well either
Hi Jackie! Luke outgrew all of his intolerances by 2 1/2. Sometimes ice cream will give him a stomach ache, but we don’t eat it often. 🙂
Has anyone had a baby whose food intolerances made them NOT poop? Mine was on a streak of no pooping for over 2 weeks!! I finally gave him a glycerin suppository and all this poop shot out like a cork from a bottle. Poor guy. 🙁 I just found out he has a soy and egg (but not milk) sensitivity, and I’m wondering if that could have kept him from pooping?
Also, I’m curious if his egg sensitivity could be related to soy? I’ve seen eggs at the grocery store labeled as “soy free”, which never made sense to me. But now I’m wondering if they keep the hens on a soy-free diet because it impacts the eggs?
I think that’s totally possible! I can see how soy would be in the eggs if the hens were fed soy. (Same with chicken breasts, etc.?)
Any recommendations for mspi baby that is having issues gaining weight? My 7 mo old has stalled out at 13 lbs. She refuses the bottle at times but my milk supply is low so have been trying to supplement. Dr. said stop BF and give her solids…squash was a huge failure…she went back to mucus diapers and beyond irritable. I disagreed with the stop BF advice, so I have not. Anyone else with failure to gain?
I’m so sorry I can’t help in this area. I hope someone else with experience sees this and can comment!
You’re right to go with your instincts and keep breastfeeding! It’s the most easily digested and nutrient-rich food you can give your baby! The more you breastfeed, the more milk you produce, so even if it feels like you’re not producing anything, nurse, nurse, nurse! There are ways to enhance your supply through diet. Some of the most common foods are quinoa, oats, brewers yeast and flax. And remember to drink tons of water. That makes a big difference on supply. If you search for “lactation cookies” you’ll come up with recipes for delicious cookies that incorporate supply-boosting ingredients. Though you may have to tweak the recipe to eliminate items that your little girl is sensitive to. Some people also take herbal supplements to boost supply. Fenugreek is common, but make sure you talk to someone who knows about dosing to figure out what’s best for you. 🙂
You can do it, mama! Keep it up!