Food allergies in BF infant -- elimination diet?

[bubbaray]

DD#2, 3m, was diagnosed yesterday with various food allergies via scratch tests. The testing was pretty limited as she is covered in eczema from head to toe, so it was hard for the pediatric allergist to find a "blank" part on her back to test.

She is allergic to oatmeal, beef, milk, milk casein, almonds, peanuts and eggs. Of the things he tested for, she is not allergic to wheat, rice, soy, chicken and potato.

He told me to eliminate these things from my diet as I'm EBFg. Said I need to read labels, etc.. Makes sense to me. DH, OTOH, says I don't need to read labels and completely eliminate these things from my diet. That could be a separate post in the Bitching Post.... :(

Does anyone have any good resources on elimination diets and BFg? Any other help would be most appreciated!

TIA

Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[Mamma2004]

Melissa, I'm sorry to say that I don't have any resources for you at the moment. (just hugs!) My DS was a preemie and was allergic to milk (and everything related, so casein, whey, etc.), seafood, peanuts, tree nuts, soy and eggs. The elimination diet was tough but once I found a "safe" bread or other food, I stuck with it. I could eat fresh fruits and veggies, beef, poultry, pasta, etc. so at least I was healthy!

You'll quickly get used to reading labels and you're right, that's the way to do it. I will post again if I can find any of my old notes; DS will be three at the end of May and I am happy to report that he has outgrown all of his food allergies. I have two close friends who are dealing with them now so I'll ask whether they have any good books or websites for you.

Best of luck to you!

Stephanie

[cstack]

I don't have any resources, either, sorry, but I did have to cut out all dairy and related products when DS was little (he seemed to outgrow it, because he can drink milk now and his eczyma has not been bad for the last 2 years). It's not as bad as you would think, I promise, and it's well worth it, because repeated exposure to allergens generally increases the severity of the reaction.

You're lucky that she can do soy and rice. OK, so soy cheese is not the greatest and it takes some getting used to, but it's not horrible. I'll try to find out which brand I bought, because it tasted almost exactly like American cheese. I found soy milk was not too bad in coffee or tea or for baking, but I liked rice milk much better for drinking and cereals (it's kind of on the sweet side, so it does take some getting used to).

Your DH is probably conflicted right now. He does not want DD to get sick, but he also doesn't want *his* world (read here diet and habits) to change so he is in denial about what is real and what is not. Selfish, I know, but he may very well not even realize it. If you have one of those MILs who says, "well, so and so such and such and he's fine...", well, good luck. When I had to cut stuff out, I never made my DH or older DCs stop eating any of the foods that I couldn't. It was hard for me, but I sucked it up for DS and figured it shouldn't affect the others in the house. My DH wound up really admiring me for it (not what I intended, but that's what he told me) because he knew it was hard for me - a confirmed dairy-holic.

Best of luck to you and congratulations for remaining committed to BFing, when some would just give up and feed the baby soy formula.

[LarsMal]

Did you check out the "Feeding Baby" forum. There was a lot on this recently and should be some good info there. I'm not good at the whole searching thing on this board or I'd link it for you!

Hope your DD grows out of it soon. It's egg/dairy free in our house for DS and egg/dairy/peanut free for me while I BF so I feel your pain!

A couple of "safe" foods we have around the house:

Dutch Country wheat bread

Smart Balance Organic buttery spread

Lots of fruits and veggies

Tyson chicken strips

Prego Marinara (not spaghetti) sauce

Pita bread and hummus

[megs4413]

i recently had to do an eliminatuin diet and i got great advice/resoucres....

here's the link:

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=86&topic_id=47732&mesg_id=47732&listing_type=search