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The Ultimate Baby Food Allergies Survival Guide

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What do you need to know if your baby is formula fed?

If you are a formula feeding Mom, you will need to be on the lookout for allergy provoking foods in formula, particularly dairy, soy and corn. Most infant formulas are milk protein based, but if you suspect a cow’s milk protein allergy/intolerance, it doesn’t mean you don’t have options. Your pediatrician will likely suggest a step-wise approach to changing formulas.

The first step is to try a hydrolyzed formula with partially broken down proteins for easier digestion. If this is not enough to resolve symptoms, you can move to elemental formulas. These are made of amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and contain no cow’s milk or soy protein.

They do, however, contain corn syrup, as do many formulas. All babies need sugar for development, but the sugar from breast milk is in the form of lactose. There are formulas that use lactose, formulas that use corn syrup, and some that use a combination of both. A few even use sucrose, cane sugar or brown rice syrup. So if you suspect your child has an issue with corn, you’ll need to choose a formula with an alternate form of sugar.
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A Word About Rice

If you are not familiar, in 2012, Consumer Reports and the Food and Drug Administration released reports showing high levels of inorganic arsenic in US rice. This included all kinds of rice including white, brown, basmati, jasmine, and baby cereal/food and baby formula. You should know that the makers of “Baby’s Only Organic” milk based formula did change their source of rice (they went outside the US) and submitted their product to re-testing and are considered safe as long as the expiration date is Jan 2014 (Dairy with DHA and ARA) or July 2015 (Dairy) or later. Kudos to them! For the full reports, see Arsenic in your food and FDA looks for Answers on Arsenic in Rice.
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Soy-based formula can be an option and is nutritionally sound but I would be remiss if I did not say that it is very controversial right now due to the plant estrogens. Many people believe that these estrogens negatively impact a baby’s development, especially in males. My pediatrician and nutritionist still recommend soy but some do not. In 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revised their stance on the use of soy. Although, the AAP report that no findings confirm soy formula to adversely affect reproduction or endocrine function, they limit their recommended use of soy formula to only term infants who have galactosemia, and hereditary lactase deficiency and those with a vegetarian lifestyle. The AAP does not consider it an alternate choice for dairy allergic infants; they suggest hydrolyzed or elemental formulas in this case. The AAP clinical study is comprehensive and explains why soy is not recommended for certain infants. Use of Soy-Protein Based Formulas in Infant Feeding

What are the milk alternatives for formula fed babies or weaning toddlers?

goat milk as a dairy alternative
If you have exhausted your list of formula alternatives, you can find good home-made formula recipes for goat’s milk. Goat’s milk alone is not recommended as a substitute until 1 year of age. Prior to one year, you would need to add appropriate fats, carbohydrates and vitamins. You also need to dilute whole goat’s milk prior to adding the other nutrients in order to decrease the protein level as it can be hard on a babies kidneys to process the amount in whole goat’s milk. I experimented with a recipe from www.mtcapra.com when experiencing pumping and supply issues and needed to supplement. This recipe includes all of the aforementioned additions/instructions. As always, ask your pediatrician before choosing a formula alternative, some will agree this is an acceptable choice and some will not.

So how can goat’s milk be ok, isn’t it a dairy product? Goat’s milk has a different type of casein protein than cow’s milk and may not impact those with a cow’s milk protein allergy. It depends on whether the allergy is to the casein or the whey protein. Typically, the CMPA is associated with whey protein while an intolerance is associated with the casein protein. But an allergy can occur with either. Whey protein is similar in both cow’s and goat’s milk so proceed with caution if you are not sure which protein your child is allergic to. Those who are intolerant (but not allergic to cow’s milk) will likely do well on goat’s milk because it is easier to digest. Casein is the harder protein to digest in the gut. This is why some babies do well on Gerber Good Start Formula even when cow’s milk protein allergy was suspected. This formula uses only whey protein and contains no casein. For a child who can tolerate this formula but not other cow’s milk based formula, the child would be considered intolerant to cow’s milk but not allergic.
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Did you know that 65% of the world drinks goat’s milk as opposed to cow’s milk?
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My Personal Journey with Milk Alternatives

My daughter is able to tolerate goat’s milk just fine. This is what we plan on weaning her to when we are done with nursing and since she has just turned one, she has already started practicing with straight goat’s milk as well as homemade coconut milk (which she prefers over goat’s milk). We are not actually weaning at one, due to possible celiac disease, but more on that later. Goat’s milk is lacking in folic acid and coconut milk is lacking in protein and calcium compared to cow’s milk, but since we are still nursing, I am not yet concerned about this. In addition, I am starting to add almond milk to the coconut milk to provide calcium. More importantly, now that she is one, I am feeding her lots of nutritious solid food. For a child over a year old, milk should be supplementary to solids and milk alternatives can be considered without fear that your child is missing out on what cow’s milk has to offer. As always, discuss your options with your child’s pediatrician to ensure you are providing any nutrients missing from your milk choice.

If you need a milk substitute for your toddler, and goat’s milk is not tolerated or desired, you can find a great article on all of your choices here: www.amazingandatopic.com. This is a mom whose daughter could not tolerate cow’s or goat’s milk and did some extensive research on her alternatives. Her daughter has several severe allergies and this blog is a great resource for allergies in general. Hint: hemp milk is her top choice and it was also suggested to us by my daughters feeding team, but she wouldn’t drink it.

What if Your Baby is Exclusively Breastfed?

Or even exclusively breastfed with formula or solids? Do you still need to be aware of potential food allergies? Yes! A nursing mother needs to eliminate offending foods from her diet AND give it time to clear her system AND the babies system before deciding whether it was truly the culprit of symptoms. To add to the challenge, your child can have one reaction to cow’s milk and another to soy or wheat, making it very difficult to determine what the offending food is. The fact that cow’s milk protein can remain in your body and be passed from mother to baby for up to 2 weeks post last intake makes it even more difficult to determine if it’s a problem. In addition, the symptoms seen in your infant when a food is passed through breast milk can be different than the symptoms when the food is given to the child directly once on solids.

When in this situation as a new mother myself, I was grateful that I had a pediatrician who “believed” in all of this. If you research the internet, you will find so many conflicting opinions on whether the mothers diet impacts baby at all, and if so, how much. In addition, people will say food allergies have nothing to do with colic while others claim they have everything to do with colic. I am firmly in the latter camp; colic symptoms disappeared for us completely once I went on the “elimination diet”.

So, how does the elimination diet work? Given that cow’s milk protein is the offending food in 50-65% of cases, this is typically the first thing to be eliminated. If your baby has eczema and GI symptoms beginning around 2-6 weeks of age (most common time for an allergy to begin appearing), cow’s milk protein allergy should certainly be considered. Lots of babies have eczema, but if yours is also having bloody stool and/or diarrhea, or any of the other noted symptoms, you may have a food allergy. Note that blood in the stool looks black, not bright red. This is because it is coming from inside the GI tract, which has been damaged by the offending antigen. Always tell your child’s doctor about significant changes in stool such as these. Severe and constant diarrhea can indicate a malabsorption problem and could lead to failure to thrive.

Bright Green stool/mucous in stool can be diarrhea from a foremilk/hind milk imbalance (which we also experienced) and this should be corrected before having you try an elimination diet as it could be the root issue.

Once you eliminate dairy, you should see improvement within 72 – 96 hours. Symptoms will not completely resolve for about a month as you need two weeks each for the protein to clear out fro both mom and baby. You also need time for the gut to heal and this could take up to 6 months.

Time for a Full Elimination Diet?

If you do not see enough improvement after 2-4 weeks upon eliminating dairy alone though, it may be time to go the full elimination diet route. This involves removing common allergens (gluten, cow products, foods that aren’t easily digested) and eating only things like:
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  • Lamb
  • Turkey
  • Pears
  • Squash
  • Rice

[/list]Slowly add other foods back in (usually the Big-8) one at a time and wait 2-4 weeks after each addition to see if any changes occur. I saw significant improvement in GI symptoms after 24 hours of eliminating dairy and body/face rashes cleared within a few days. However, we still had issues and I decided to go to the full diet after another couple of weeks. For us, colic ended within 2 weeks of beginning the full diet and I am convinced they were connected. Colic lasted 5 weeks for my baby and I was still eating dairy and/or wheat for 3 of those weeks. Many people experience colic for 3-6 months so I felt lucky!

NOTE: A nursing mother who eliminates dairy should take a calcium supplement for her own health as well as to maintain proper milk production.

While doing this trial diet, again, KEEP A FOOD/SYMPTOMS DAIRY for your child. Most foods pass into breast milk within 2-6 hours and usually no later than 24 hours. Record what you eat and when and then note the symptoms in your child and the time they occur. As stated earlier, symptoms can vary and you could have multiple food allergies/intolerances at work here.

For example, my child has severe diarrhea, cramps and gas when I eat wheat, but eczema and body rashes occur when I eat dairy. Similarly, a child’s reaction can be different when the offending food is ingested through breast milk versus directly. For instance, when my daughter eats wheat,her eczema worsens and she vomits upon increased exposure (as opposed to her other GI symptoms when I eat wheat). With eggs, she had severe bloating, gas and cramps (think screaming) when through breast milk but an all over body rash when consumed directly even after symptoms through breast milk resolved. I have seen many other mothers confirm that this is their experience as well. The reactions can also lessen over time and can change from a true allergy to an intolerance or sensitivity. This is due to the continuing maturation of an infants’ digestive system, which significantly improves at 6 months of age. Just be cautious when introducing solids because although the allergy may seem to have disappeared while nursing, your child may still react to the food when eating it directly for some time longer. It is quite common to see the degree of intolerance continue to decline as the child ages. An article posted by CalorieLab provides information on how each of the Big-8 allergies change with age as well as other very informative statistics. The Big-8 Food Allergies

Can wheat pass into breast milk? Can babies have celiac disease?

A wheat allergy can come from one or more of 4 proteins in wheat: gliadin, gluten, globulin and albumin. As with other allergies, it can manifest itself in the skin and the respiratory system. A child can outgrow a wheat allergy as they can any other allergy. However, Celiac Disease, although, also involving intolerance to gluten, is an autoimmune disorder where gluten damages the gut and can lead to anemia. Babies can have celiac disease and this is not something that a person can outgrow. I will discuss it a bit here but there are many clinical studies on celiac disease in babies and toddlers and these studies report on diagnosis, causes, associations, treatments, etc.

There has been debate about whether wheat actually passes into breast milk. A few studies show that Gliadin (a protein found in wheat) IS found in breast milk and can thus trigger reactions for infants/toddlers allergic to wheat or who have celiac disease. Regardless of the fact that there are not more documented studies proving this theory, many pediatricians see the impact in clinical practice and instruct nursing mothers to avoid wheat/gluten in their diet.

More on gliadin in breast milk:
Passage of gliadin into human breast milk
Presence of high levels of non-degraded gliadin in breast milk of healthy mothers

Although gliadin can pass into breast milk, nursing mothers with infants at risk for celiac disease should continue nursing! Multiple studies have been published that show that breastfeeding can actually prevent celiac disease and/or significantly lessen symptoms for a child, even into their adult life.

A researcher named Anneli Ivarsson in Sweden has been studying celiac disease in infants and children for well over a decade. In the most recent study published in May 2013, Ivarsson reports that not only is breastfeeding protective for infants with celiac disease, this latest study identified a window of opportunity to maximize on this protective benefit. Introducing gluten to a child 4 months of age and beyond while continuing breastfeeding is most protective. The longer breastfeeding continues while slowly introducing gluten, the better for the child. In addition, US researchers at Columbia University have proven that children with celiac disease who are breastfed are least likely to experience Failure to thrive, among other symptoms.

For more on breast-feeding and ciliac:
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Breast-feeding protects against celiac disease
Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Prevalence of Childhood Celiac Disease and Changes in Infant Feeding
Clinical Pediatrics, Presentation of Pediatric Celiac Disease in the United States: Prominent Effect of Breastfeeding

You should also know that there are associations between celiac disease and the intolerance to the cow’s milk protein, casein. There are quite a few sources on this so if you feel your child may exhibit signs of both (as does my daughter), you may want to research this topic or ask your pediatrician.

Should you have your child tested for allergies?

Lastly, I should talk a bit about allergy testing. Know that there are both blood and skin tests. There are IgE mediated and non mediated allergies. There are separate tests for celiac disease. You could very well go through testing and have negative results to the allergies you think your child has. You could also have positive results for foods you don’t feel your child reacts to. You could have positive results to blood but not skin and vice versa. Some people have testing anyway to find out whether there are hidden allergies that they have not yet fettered out on their own. Regardless of test results, your physician will likely tell you to keep avoiding foods that you know your child reacts to. For any newly identified triggers, it would be wise to test these on your own using your trusty food/symptoms diary and your new focus on the particular trigger.

For Celiac Disease blood tests to be positive, your child has to have been exposed to gluten to the point of flooding their system/getting sick. Even then, the tests could be negative. A biopsy of the intestine is the more definitive test for CD but who wants to do that on your infant?? Again, your own food/symptoms diary is more important than any test result. Based on my daughters symptoms when I eat wheat (diarrhea 10 times a day every day, even in the middle of the night!), our pediatrician has told us to assume she has celiac disease and has suggested I remain on the gluten free diet.

You notice that I use wheat and gluten interchangeably in the paragraphs above. They aren’t the same thing really, but they do crossover and I don’t consume much barley or rye anyway. I basically stay away from grains in general. I mean, I can’t trust rice, so that leaves me with quinoa, salba, amaranth and millet. I do make quinoa cookies from time to time but otherwise, I just don’t have time to mess with all of that.

Speaking of salba, amaranth, and millet…..organic baby food pouches from happy baby/happy tot®, Plum Organics®, and Sprout Organics® offer quite a few gluten free baby food made with these grains. These were a lifesaver for me before solids (now I cook gluten free/dairy free food all day and cut it in tiny aggravating pieces). Sprout Organics® even makes incredible level 3 foods inspired by Chef Tyler Florence. Seriously, I have finished off packets my daughter doesn’t eat.

How do you make the best decisions for your baby?

In the end, whether you need to make decisions about your diet choices, formula choice, baby food, milk alternatives for a toddler, allergy testing, etc., decide for YOURSELF. Your pediatrician, nutritionist, GI specialist, or allergist may not be aware of/disagree with the latest research or may have strong opinions that YOU don’t agree with. And although the internet is a wonderful place (Google is my friend), do lots of research before making decisions. I can’t tell you how many articles I read that were written by physicians where the content completely conflicted with each other. Articles, parent comments, blog posts can also be outdated so always pay attention to dates and look for recent research to confirm or deny what you read. Be cautious of people who are emphatic about their beliefs and condemn yours. Who are they anyway? Similarly, who am I to you? I am no expert, I am still at the beginning of this food allergy/intolerance journey, it is but one of the many feeding issues we face. There are many great blogs and parent forums on food allergies, you should check them out, and the resources are endless. To gain the knowledge reported here, I read hundreds of posts by other moms in multiple forums/groups, read every article and blog I could, researched clinical studies, met with my daughters feeding team, etc. I don’t take anyone else’s word for anything when it comes to my child and since I am the Mom, I get final say.

You should too.

Additional Resources:

Trends in Allergic Conditions Among Children: United States, 1997–2011, CDC/NCHS Data Brief May 2013

Allergic Proctocolitis in the Exclusively Breastfed Infant, The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine 2011

Clinical Presentation of Celiac Disease in the Pediatric Population, Gastroenterology 2005

Childrens Physician Network, Wheat Allergy

The Prevalence of Food Allergy: A Meta Analysis

Diagnosis and Management of Cow’s Milk Allergy in Infants

Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Food Allergies in the United States

Milk and Soy Allergy

Huge thanks to Lori DeMauro who put enormous time, research, and love into compiling this fantastic resource to share with other families. With deepest regards, Alexis Dubief.

If you want to download the full article as a PDF use the link below:
[button type=”download” link=”https://www.preciouslittlesleep.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/FoodIssuesandBabies.pdf”]DOWNLOAD Full Infant Food Allergies Article[/button]

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • She’s a really remarkable parent and researcher. I felt challenged by our relatively garden variety reflux issues. But when your child is allergic to everything and you’re reduced to eating “rabbit food”, and introducing solid foods is a bit of a dietary crapshoot, it’s a whole different level!

      Reply

      • Hi Alexis,
        I just found my way back to your site and wanted to say thank you for posting this informative article on baby allergies. It was the ONLY helpful thing google led me to when I was in the deep dark with my younger daughter. She survived and thrived due to my very restrictive elimination diet for over a year. She was allergic to all but 8 foods through breast milk. I wound up sharing about it here for other moms in similar situations…
        http://therapistmama.com/blog/2015/8/9/starving-for-two-1

        Reply

  2. Great post! Thankfully my (and my 16 month old son’s) journey with allergies was a little more simple and easy to figure out. He was exclusively breastfed for 6+ months until introducing some solids, and on 3 occasions between 6 and 12 months I happened to give him a mainly soy product (I am lactose intolerant so thought I was being a good mommy avoiding dairy thinking it may upset his stomach too). He threw up multiple times after each time he had soy so it became clear there was a problem with soy. The doctor did a blood test last month and confirmed, also finding a mild reaction to wheat, eggs, and peanuts (all of which he has had and never reacted to). She said this is a good sign that these allergies will fade as he gets older. So anyway I would recommend a blood test if anyone is concerned about allergies with their child! 🙂

    Reply

    • Hey Caitlin,

      Such great news to hear your child isn’t going to have wheat, eggs, and peanut stuff forever because that’s a LOT of food to avoid 😛

      But I’m not sure about blood test. The upside is that it’s not a huge deal to do it. But my understanding (note: not an expert by any means) is that they’re prone to false positives/negatives which can lead people astray?

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      • Interesting! Our doctor didn’t mention that, but perhaps because his allergies are not very serious. She just mentioned that the scratch test thing (yes that is the technical term…haha) was nearly impossible to do on a baby. Hopefully there are other more reliable measures that doctors can recommend! 🙂

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  3. Thanks for posting this! I have Celiac disease and have kept my 18 month old gluten free so far, mainly because I have no idea when is appropriate to introduce something that could make her sick. :/ I’d love to bring it up to her pediatrician, but my experience with doctors and Celiac disease has so far been that I really have to do my own research. I will check out these links, but is there anywhere else I can go to get information on when and how to introduce gluten to her?

    Reply

  4. Julie,
    In one of those articles, the researcher talks about slowly introducing gluten. His research mentions a prime window at around 6 months old. and that breastfeeding while doing this is most protective (with the mother still gluten free). However, if you are past this point, I think any slow introduction would be acceptable. We are actually doing this now (while still nursing). A few months have passed since I wrote the initial draft of this article and a few things have changed for us. my daughter will be 14 months on Friday and we have been allowing her to have a small piece of regular bread or a tiny bit of pasta 1-2 a day. it is going so much better than when she was younger. Her ezcema is still flaring some but no major GI upset, so yay! For us, GI said to start with just a few wheat puffs or pieces of pasta at a time and very slowly work up. (We tested negative to wheat allergy last month so we determined it was an intolerance and hence started the gluten trial). I still worry about celiacs based on some of her earlier symptoms but we are taking it slow and only time will tell.
    We tried the same trial with dairy recently and it didn’t go as well as the wheat so we backed off again. GI said it would take longer to grow out of dairy intolerance vs gluten.

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    • Good luck with your gluten trial!

      Of course if they keep putting out books that talk about how gluten is making us fat, stupid, and giving us cancer I may have to give gluten up too.

      But damn you crusty french bread, why do you have to be so tasty?

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  5. Thanks for posting this article! One thing that the author undoubtedly knows is that once you confirm an allergen (either RAST/skin/diet tests), avoidance is one of the keys if there is any chance to outgrow the allergy. The more times the child is sensitized to the allergen, the more likely it is to stress the body to the point of being permanent. It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.

    Our 21 month old was allergic to all of the top 8, plus some, but with meticulous (obsessive) avoidance in my diet, we have slowly been able to reintroduce foods, with only dairy, egg, chicken, shellfish, peanuts, nuts and soy remaining. It seems like a big list, but it’s a huge improvement. Unfortunately for me, our 3 month old is allergic to everything on his brother’s list, so back to avoidance for me. It’s just MUCH easier in the US than it was in India! Good luck to all you mama’s out there living with this!

    Reply

    • I think I remember you. Are you living on steamed carrots and rice?!?

      That is a rough list of foods. But I’m really glad to hear that you’re having success slowly reintroducing things.

      I can’t imagine how hard it is to take a toddler to ta playdate without having to worry about that every food item the other kids are eating is going to cause problems for yours. I mean it’s easy(ish) when there babies and relatively immobile. But then they turn into toddlers and preschoolers and now you have to convince your 2 YO not to eat the cheese goldfish that her buddy hands her at the park. Wow. Good luck to you!

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  6. Thank you so much for this post! My 5-month old has FPIES to dairy and soy. I couldn’t believe Lori even mentioned it because most pediatricians haven’t encountered it, let alone laypeople. While so many parents will joyously give their little ones solids for the first time, we will only introduce a new food on a weekend after she has napped and mommy and daddy have showered in case we have to make an immediate dash to the ER. (We learned this the hard way.) Thanks for sharing this, Alexis!

    Reply

    • Yeah I had never heard of FPIES before either but Lori doesn’t mess around when it comes to research 🙂

      But OUCH – I can’t imagine how stressful this must be for you. Good luck with everything – we all hope you have no more ER trips in your future!

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  7. Thank you for this! I’m on day 8 of a dairy/soy free diet because my 12 week old has been pooping the slimiest, stinky-est poo for a month now. He’s moderately gassy & spits up quite a bit, but overall happy & healthy. Doc isn’t concerned, but I feel like something is wrong. Either that or I being an overly cautious 1st time mom 🙂 anyways, it’s nice to have these kinds of resources.

    Reply

    • Hey Amber,

      Have you seen any difference in with the stinky poo? I’m guessing it’s unrelated and you could go back on diary/soy (do you really want to be chocolate-free at Halloween!?!?). I only say that because usually kids with a food allergy will have a stronger response than stinky poo. If he’s happy, eczema-free, etc. maybe you can gleefully go back to enjoying a nice dairy latte?

      Anyway glad this article has been helpful to you!
      Alexis

      Reply

  8. Thank you for your reply! Well…the only difference has been that instead of 3 huge poops a day, he’s down to one gigantic one every 2 days. It’s still slimy though, basically the consistency of thick gravy.
    I would LOVE chocolate and a grilled cheese sandwich. I just kept hearing/reading that the poo should not look like that.

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  9. My daughter, 5.5 months now, was a mess wen she was born! About 2 weeks after her birth, she stopped eating, started vomiting, and had severe acid reflux. Turned out she had a milk intolerance as well as laryngomalasia, floppy larynx, and a urinary tract infection due to a condition that made urine reflux into her kidneys! This is totally not food related but just added fuel to the puking fire! Utis are notorious for causing feeding issues and vomiting! She was a crabby, colicky, sick baby and I was besides myself! We went through five different formulas and would up on alimentum which I practically had to rob a bank to pay for as one ready to feed bottle lasts one day and is $10- a bottle! Fast forward to almost 5 months of her sleeping on my chest on her belly since she was 3 weeks old due to choking and acid reflux,and she was running our house! Needless to say my older son was not happy! We had to walk for hours at night to get her to sleep! She was up five times a night and everyone was miserable! I couldn’t sleep or move because the slightest move would make her gag and choke and usually vomit! Plus I was petrified I would roll over on her! I spent her first five months in a perpetual half sleep while my hubbie slept on the couch! Finally one day she was up from 7am – 7pm and I was done! We never thought she would ever be ok on her own but after there nights of placing her down mostly awake, she cried for 15 min and passed out! She has done this ever since in her own crib in her own room. We know we owe it all to the formula switch and of course she outgrew the acid reflux and floppy larynx. My point is, if I hadn’t followed my gut and switched her formula on my own hunch since the pedi kept saying she was fine, I fear we never would be where we are now! All of us are happy, rested and my son does not feel neglected anymore! Now she is back on regular formula, as she also outgrew the milk intolerance and the floppy larynx and eats everything! Solids have really helped absorb everything and made her so much better! Anyway, just wanted to share as food issues can be a MAJOR reason your child is not sleeping!

    Reply

    • Yep – food issues are rare but when you have them BOOM things are so hard (sleep, soothing, etc.). Good for you for listening to your instincts and getting things sorted out. And thanks for sharing your story!

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      • Hi my 5 month old has silent reflux and suspected cmpi he is on nutramigen aa a formula which contains no dairy soy or lactose, carobel which is a thickener and is on losec for his reflux yet he still has crying wind spasms at night wakes crying during the day gulping after 30 min naps wakes constantly during the night has issues with constipation diarrhoea conjestion and eczema despite all the interventions.

        Reply

        • Hey Debbie,
          Wow that is rough. For starters it might be worth experimenting with a different PPI – sometimes a different medication can help different kids. Possibly consider prevacid? Or at least chat with the pediatrician?

          It sounds like food allergies but you’re doing all you can. What other likely allergens remain in his diet? I’m thinking corn would be the only thing left but honestly I’m no expert.

          And lastly given what you describe I would STRONGLY encourage you to consider having him sleep in a swing. Won’t hurt, very likely may help?

          Good luck!

          Reply

          • Thanks for the reply 🙂 yes corn could be the issue as he reacted to the baby rice 🙁 we had a swing when he was younger but it is quite arched and he didn’t like it. Can you jeep him ib that over night? What about sleep associations im worried hes getting vad habits as we’re resorting to co sleeping. He used to sleep great then at 4mths the wakening started I thought it was sleep regression plus hes teething and it would pass but it hasn’t plus his reflux seems worse on solids. Hes quite fidgety going to sleep then aftera half an hr of solid sleep he wakes up screaming in pain this could last for an hour and happens every night. Hes also a very big baby probably about 21lbs at present and hes 22weeks but im only giving him 6oz 4 times a day due to his reflux so worried about high volume but could ge be hungry? He was getting spoon feeds with this but ive stopped as theres no improvement. Also I dont want to increase the milk if theres corn in it as itll make him worse if that’s what the problem is 🙁

            Reply

            • My daughter uses Nutramigen as well, and Zantac. Plus gas drops at every feeding. She has slept in her swing since two months old. It helps tremendously. Even with a wedge under her crib mattress she would wake screaming with milk coming out of her nose. I think your baby may be hungry. My baby is much smaller than yours, and she is eating more Than 24 ounces. She will be 4 months next week. She is very petite. Your pediatrician obviously knows better than I do, but please ask. Small feeds more often are helpful with reflux. Good luck.

      • I’m disappointed to hear you suggest food allergies are rare. They are actually quite common these days. Gluten and dairy being the biggest offenders. Gluten intolerance is the cause of many autoimmune disorders! My hashimotos husband and rheumatoid arthritis cousin have CURED themselves of their disorders on a gluten free diet.

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  11. What a great post. I wish I had read this 6 months ago! We had an awful time with my son and a milk allergy. I’ve had to cut out everything that has milk protein from my diet. Most people assumed that his fussiness was normal, but once we cut out the milk proteins we had a completely different baby on our hands! It’s been tough, but worth it!

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    • No milk = no fun in my book. But fussy miserable baby is the absolute WORST and well giving up cheese to avoid. Congratulations on figuring it out – understanding that there IS an issue is 90% of the issue. Cutting out dairy blows but it’s temporary 🙂

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  12. Lisa maletzky, I feel your pain. We had colic, food intolerances, reflux, motility disorder and hyperalgesia all at the same time. Reading your post reminded me of our first few months!

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    • Thanks Lori! Helps so much to know we were not te only ones! Things are so much better now I shudder when I think about when she was first born!

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  14. I have had to eliminate dairy and soy for my 15 week old, and there is a huge upside – it’s made it wayyyy easier to lose the baby weight! I would love some cheese though…

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  15. I had to eliminate fish food for my son, he had a terrible allergy after using fish. Now everything seems to be much better.

    Reply

  16. Have you ever heard of babies developing a food sensitivity at 12 weeks? My daughter is breastfed and has been screaming through her feeds for the last two weeks. Very gassy too. Her Dr suggested I cut out dairy. I’ve had the same diet since she was born and I can’t think of what else it could be.

    Reply

    • Absolutely. It’s also entirely possible that the sensitivity has been there all along but it builds up over time with exposure. 10% of babies have issues with milk protein (which hides in EVERYTHING – you’ll need to read labels) so it’s definitely worth cutting out for a few weeks to see how things go. Good luck!

      Reply

  17. Is that statistic about goat’s milk really true? I must say I find it hard to believe that 65% of the world’s population drinks goat’s milk. India is one of the most populous countries, and i know they do have a lot of goats there, but also plenty of cows. But some other crowded countries I’m not sure about. Do they even consume much dairy products in China, for example? I have to say I don’t really know.

    Reply

  18. Hi,
    Thanks for the article. Still looking for answers though. My grandson is very allergic/intolerant to many foods. It started very young where he was only the second child that our specialist treated in 25 yrs with a homemade formula. I help my daughter make a formula daily for him. Made from complete amino acids, oils, sugar, salts etc. Since then she has started foods for the last few months, he will be 1 yr in less than a month. He can only eat sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Allergic/intolerant to carrots, string beans, peas, apples, peaches, and now turkey. Trying to figure out what sweet potatoes and butternut squash have in common that will allow his body to accept them. I’m thinking intolerance from articles I’ve read because causes belly pain. Wakes up screaming, fidgety while sleeping and fussy all day. Keep him on for about 2 days until he seems miserable then take food out of diet and 48hrs later a completely different child, completely happy. Hoping for any info that can help us and dr solve this problem. Find it hard to believe he’s allergic to basically everything. Don’t know if over looking digestive problem or not. Anyone that reads this, please feel free to make suggestions if you have read about something like this. Thank you and good luck to all of you dealing w your own baby issues.

    Reply

    • Look into leaky gut syndrome. If anyone is in antibiotics, it can disrupt the natural flora of the gut. The gut would need to be healed first, then you might be able to reintroduce foods. Also, I have read about eating small amounts of foods that are problematic every four days. I would stay away from the major offenders for a while. (eggs, gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, corn, and shellfish. Need to find some good proboitics to help heal the gut. I have a leaky gut with gluten and dairy sensitivities. Unfortunately, I have passed food sensitivities down to my own children. Have read that bone broth is great at healing the gut and giving your body important minerals and vitamins. Must be from an organic source though so you don’t consume unwanted pesticides. Good luck!

      Reply

  19. Our daughter is almost five months, and has both milk and soy allergies. Most people look at me like I am crazy when i tell them of her allergy! If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it! she drink Elecare- still has mucousy stools, with occasional blood. I am tired of going to clinics and specialists on a regular basis…..

    Reply

    • Gluten and dairy are what I hang my hat I n plus it helps to go non gmo and don’t eat fish unless it’s wild caught. The living conditions and antibiotic use of farmed fish is disgusting! Wheat has changed since the 50’s. Dairy is best consumed raw as its easiest to digest that way, if you can’t consume raw you shouldn’t consume it. Dairy also causes a calcium imbalance causing magnesium supplementation to be necessary. Calcium is very overrated. Magnesium is under appreciated.

      Reply

  21. Great tips! as early as it is, we should build up a good immune system for our baby. I’m a little histerical whenever our a little Timmy get rashes or diarrhea especially I’m a working mom I can’t be there 24/7. I often leave my baby at my sister’s home and call her for a time to time update. Little buddy is so sensitive with seafoods and nuts. Thanks for sharing this post Alexis.

    Reply

  22. As a fellow food allergy parent, I actually don’t agree that allergy testing should wait until after 1 year of age. My son also started with food allergy symptoms around two weeks of age. But he had his first round of allergy skin testing at 4 months old, which accurately identified several of his food allergies. He had another round of skin testing that identified additional allergies around 6 months old. All of the allergens he tested positive for with those skin tests have held true for him as he has gotten older. He is now almost 5 and is still allergic to dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, peas and gluten. A food diary was unsuccessful in identifying the allergies he was reacting to because there were so many of them. We see a top pediatric allergist in Denver and he believes that allergy testing can absolutely be accurate before age 1, and in some cases is extremely needed and insightful. My son went from severe reflux, terrible eczema, in pain, unable to sleep, redness and swelling of his face after feedings and low weight gain to a healthy happy baby after we were able to remove all his allergens from my diet (as I was nursing him.)

    Reply

  23. I was super excited to find this article! My 3.5 month daughter was diagnosed last month with fpies by GI. We were lucky that although she does vomit and has reflux, her symptoms came more in the form of painful crying and mucous blood streaked stools and her growth is good. She is currently ebf but I am also dairy, soy, peanut, gluten and egg free. I didn’t notice much difference with eliminating the first three, but her crying/colic stopped within 24 hrs of eliminating wheat and her exzema cleared within two weeks. Cutting out eggs finally stopped the bloody stools for good.

    It’s just nice to know that I am not alone in all of this! I am dreading the start of solid foods(GI was recommending starting at four months by trailing rice cereal, but our next appointment is next week so I guess we will see how that goes first)

    Reply

    • hi Megan

      don’t worry about solids, i’ve been at it for 9 months now – though we left most things till about 7 months as my son wasn’t interested and we were worried too. My son is allergic to dairy, eggs, nuts & peanuts and then a whole load more in the “other things” list, but we just tried one thing at a time and keep a food diary – and to be sure i eat something myself first to see if he reacts through the breastmilk, and then if that’s ok try him on a small bit himself. He’s been pretty much eczema free and bloody stool free for 8 months, except a day here or there when we first tried foods he didn’t agree with. we’ve still got a long list waiting to be introduced (teething, colds etc keep getting in the way) but it’s getting better, we can eat corn again now, and custard (which i love) and i’ve found some great gluten-free vegan recipes for puddings, so it’s do-able, it’s just hard work!

      Reply

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