Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

So I just received a phone call from the ped. and she gave me the prelimiary list of food allegies that DD has which so far are the following:
severe to eggs, milk, soy, oat, wheat and severe to dog (that's a whole other post ). I have to make appointment with an allergist to do further testing to see what else she is allergic too. Now the ped. said that if I were to put her on formula she would go straight to Neocate. If I still want to BF then I need to elimate all these catagories at the minimum. Now the thing is she refuses the bottle, she did take it once and that was it. If I do decide to continue to BF then once I get the final blood work back then I would see a nutritist.

So what would you do? Do you think it is possible for me follow a diet that is nutritionaly and still BF.

I am so upset over this.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

I'm sure it is possible for you to still BF her, but it would take A LOT of work, research, preparation, etc. It's up to you to determine how much time you can devote to that and IF you want to completely alter your lifestyle, eating etc. for it. It's a completely personal decision, but you have to remember to do what's best in the end for your baby AND for you.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

If your really want to BF then i would see what the nutrionist says and then give it a wirl.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

I did without soy and dairy for the year of Bfing.

wheat is going to be tough, but if you buy gluten free, is that also wheat free? many of the soy free things I bought we also gluten free.

I lived at the healthfood store. I also cooked from scratch a lot.

rice milk
bananas as an egg replacment
I made my own bread

I would take it day by day.

how old is your baby?

the thing is, if she is allegic to all that, she is still going to be allergic to it when she starts eating, so you would have to train and teach yourself ways to eat around those foods.

tons of meat, veggies, and fruit. we are big brown rice and peas eaters. also beans.

my baby eats pretty healthy, mainly because we were force to.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

no advice but

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

Posted by nbc188



I'm sure it is possible for you to still BF her, but it would take A LOT of work, research, preparation, etc. It's up to you to determine how much time you can devote to that and IF you want to completely alter your lifestyle, eating etc. for it. It's a completely personal decision, but you have to remember to do what's best in the end for your baby AND for you.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

Posted by Janice

I did without soy and dairy for the year of Bfing.

wheat is going to be tough, but if you buy gluten free, is that also wheat free? many of the soy free things I bought we also gluten free.

I lived at the healthfood store. I also cooked from scratch a lot.

rice milk
bananas as an egg replacment
I made my own bread

I would take it day by day.

how old is your baby?

the thing is, if she is allegic to all that, she is still going to be allergic to it when she starts eating, so you would have to train and teach yourself ways to eat around those foods.

tons of meat, veggies, and fruit. we are big brown rice and peas eaters. also beans.

my baby eats pretty healthy, mainly because we were force to.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

I ate a ton of salads...grilled chicken, beans, lettuce, veggies...

cheeseless pizza with tons of veggies

chili

turkey burgers

lentil soup is a staple

Is flour the same as wheat? I have no idea...but I make waffles and pancakes without dairy or eggs.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

First, . You will manage this. I know how overwhelmed you must feel...I've BTDT.

First, you should get the blood test results verified with a skin prick test done by an allergist - preferably one that specializes in pediatric allergies. FM me if you need a recommendation.

My son was initially diagnosed by the ped with milk, egg, wheat but the allergist narrowed it down to milk/egg only. So, I would recommend additional testing.

In the meantime, if you are BF'ing, you will need to eliminate those foods from your diet. Here are some resources for help

Parents of Food Allergic Kids is invaluable - there's even a message board for support for BFing mothers. POFAK

Also the Food Allergy Network - FAAN

You can do this - i know how upsetting it is, but you will figure it out! Please FM me if you need anything - my son was diagnosed at 8 months and he is 4 1/2 now and we are still dealing with it, although it is so easy now that sometimes I can't believe it. Emotionally, I'm not sure it ever gets 100% better, but like I said, you will be fine!!!

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

Try not to get too upset until you talk to the allergist. Our allergist said that blood tests can sometimes give false positives, especially when kids have multiple allergies. When Brendan was tested it showed severe allergies to milk and eggs. It also showed that pork and beef were a 4 on a scale of 1-6. It turns out he can eat pork and beef with no problems and he can have eggs if they're in something cooked (even though the blood test showed a severe allergy). He just can't have things like scrambled eggs or hard boiled eggs. Out of all 4 things, milk is the only one we have to be really careful with. So it might not be as bad as it seems.

Only you can decide if you want to continue to BF or not. It's definitely hard to eliminate so many things from your diet, but it can be done. I think I told you that once I stopped BFing and switched Brendan completely to formula his eczema completely disappeared. I hadn't had him tested at that point so I didn't know for sure what he was allergic to, but looking back I might have stopped BFing earlier if I had known that my diet was causing the problems. It's hard not to feel guilty either way. It's like you either feel guilty for giving up BFing or you feel guilty that you're causing their problems. Whatever you decide to do, 6 months of BFing is a great accomplishment that you should be proud of!

I hope when you see the allergist you get better results. I was happy with the doctor we saw if you need a recommendation.


eta: if she won't take the bottle, have you tried a straw cup or a sippy cup? a friend of mine was just having the same problem and her DD took the straw cup. are you the one that's always trying to give the bottle? if she knows you're around she'll probably be more likely to refuse the bottle. maybe if you try introducing the bottle with just your DH?

Message edited 1/3/2008 6:40:25 PM.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

Posted by NJmom


Try not to get too upset until you talk to the allergist. Our allergist said that blood tests can sometimes give false positives, especially when kids have multiple allergies. When Brendan was tested it showed severe allergies to milk and eggs. It also showed that pork and beef were a 4 on a scale of 1-6. It turns out he can eat pork and beef with no problems and he can have eggs if they're in something cooked (even though the blood test showed a severe allergy). He just can't have things like scrambled eggs or hard boiled eggs. Out of all 4 things, milk is the only one we have to be really careful with. So it might not be as bad as it seems.

Only you can decide if you want to continue to BF or not. It's definitely hard to eliminate so many things from your diet, but it can be done. I think I told you that once I stopped BFing and switched Brendan completely to formula his eczema completely disappeared. I hadn't had him tested at that point so I didn't know for sure what he was allergic to, but looking back I might have stopped BFing earlier if I had known that my diet was causing the problems. It's hard not to feel guilty either way. It's like you either feel guilty for giving up BFing or you feel guilty that you're causing their problems. Whatever you decide to do, 6 months of BFing is a great accomplishment that you should be proud of!

I hope when you see the allergist you get better results. I was happy with the doctor we saw if you need a recommendation.


eta: if she won't take the bottle, have you tried a straw cup or a sippy cup? a friend of mine was just having the same problem and her DD took the straw cup. are you the one that's always trying to give the bottle? if she knows you're around she'll probably be more likely to refuse the bottle. maybe if you try introducing the bottle with just your DH?

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

There is no way to determine how "bad" a food allergy is. Some kids test off the charts - like my son - and their reaction is only hives and vomiting. Other kids test numbers are low but they have an anaphylactic reaction if they eat the food. Allergy tests are notoriously unreliable and you need to go based on reaction, not test results. E.g. if you feed your DC wheat, and he reacts, he's allergic no matter what the tests say. An allergist can interpret the numbers better for you.

Also, sometimes in children so young, the test results come up positive and they have never even eaten the food, so it's possible that they are false positives. Again, the allergist can help out.

I know how heartbreaking it is, but if you want to contnue BF'ing you can do it, but it will be difficult in the beginning. I would also have DH try to give the bottle at first if that's the route you take.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

no advice - just

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

Posted by Diana1215

no advice - just

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

I've been here... 's
I understand your being upset. I can't tell you how many times I have cried for my DD's because of food allergies.

I found it virtually impossible to elminate all of the foods that my DD's are allergic to. At the advice of our allergist and doctor it was decided that I would stop BF'ing. It wasn't nutrionally sound for me to eliminate, and my DD's were suffering. One went to Nutramigen, the other started Elecare.

The allergies included: severe egg, dairy, wheat, peanut and tree nut, fish and shellfish. Moderate to rice, peas, corn, soybean, barley, beans, and sunflower seeds.
She has outgrown the corn, soybean and wheat.
We test about every 6 months so some things go away and other's appear. It is so fustrating!
DD1 also has environmental allergies - cat/dog hair. And Oral Allergy Syndrome. Meaning she can't eat certain fresh fruits and veggies because of a birchtree pollen allergy and ragtree pollen allergy.

In the end you have to do what is best for your health and that of your DC.

Hopefully when you get the blood test results back things will look a little better in terms of the severity of the allergies.
Also - The RAST skin test and IMMUNOCAP blood work can't be read alone. Our allergist takes into consideration the reaction, the skin test result, and the severity of the blood work.

More 's - Please FM if you have any questions.

Re: Need some advice and hugs with BF and allergies

I have no experience with this and can't imagine how frustrated you must be but just wanted to offer