My breastfed baby is allergic to everything

Well, a LOT of things anyway  :)

Hello and thank you for reading.  My name is Marjorie and I am here to get some advice and help on eating with food allergies.  My almost 4 month old son seems to have a lot of food allergies.  After numerous doctor visits including an allergist and a pediatrician, my little guy has been diagnosed with reflux and allergies.  He gets liquid Zantac twice a day and I have to watch everything I eat.

So far Baby reacts to raw and cooked dairy, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts.  I'm not a big fish eater and honestly, I'm afraid to try it since it's a known big allergy.  Baby also reacts to tomatoes and all tomato products, cooked and raw carrots, bananas, black pepper and other 'hot' spices, Chicken McNuggets, citrus fruits and juices and some brands of hot dogs.

If I eat these foods, Baby screams and screams, throws up, refuses to nurse, has diarrhea, has a runny, stuffy nose and gets wheezy.  He never sleeps more than 30-40 minutes at a time.  He has a bad 'diaper' rash that improves but never goes away, and dry patches on his knees.

If I manage to avoid all those foods he is a different baby, sleeps 2-3 hours, never throws up, never cries, smiles and interacts with us.

I tried soy formula but by the third day he was screaming again and not pooping so we gave that up.

Baby seems to be doing well on the Zantac but eating is very stressful.  The other day I had some 'seed' bread at my in-laws and he was screaming within 20 minutes of nursing so there may be a sunflower or sesame seed allergy as well.  I've been eating raspberry jam with no problems but I bought a different brand and this morning he woke up screaming and howled for 40 minutes.

I know the Baby is going to react to something because I get terrible, terrible gas.  Isn't that strange?  Why is my body reacting now, to things that I have eaten all my life and throughout my pregnancy?

My husband might have Oral Allergy Syndrome - when he eats certain raw fruits and veggies, his lips, mouth, tongue and throat swell and get itchy.  All the things that trigger him have also hurt the baby.  He is okay with cooked veggies so right now I am testing out cooked veggies on Baby.  Carrots and tomatoes are a no but so far all other veggies are okay.  My husband has an appt with an allergist on July 26th.  I'm going to use the results of his allergy test as a guideline for what I can eat. 
In the meantime, I need meal help.  Eating is an incredibly stressful event now.  I have to really meal plan and think ahead as all my quick, go-to meals are all forbidden.  Some days I literally only eat toast and cereal. 
If you have any information to share, know anyone with similar allergies, know any good websites I should check out, please please share with me.  And thank you so much for reading all of that.

Marjorie

Hi, I had very similar problems with my baby years ago. I ate baked chicken, potatoes, rice, canned carrots and green beans, applesauce, canned peaches. Everything that I could think of that was plain, simple, and not gassy, spicy, acidy, or processed. The diet helped a lot. Also, holding her upright for 30 minutes after nursing. My mom showed me how to carry her face down in my arms without anything touching her tummy, and she would stop crying. She did not like any kind of an infant seat or car seat. The position would put pressure on her tummy and make her scream! She would sleep on her side, after she had quieted down and fallen asleep on my shoulder, but I would push her legs up a little so not to put pressure on her tummy while I was holding her. Someone had told me to drink a cup of chamomile tea before I went to bed, and she would sleep better. Boy, she slept through the whole night and that kind of scared me! A friend of mine used an over the counter infant gas relief drops and that worked really well for her. I think with some of the foods you mentioned that she is "allergic" to, are the usual foods to be avoided while nursing. It takes awhile for the babys digestive system to work. Whatever you are eating, so is your baby. Think about simple bland foods that a baby would start to eat. Then give her tummy time to digest it, and hold her without putting pressure on her tummy.

He may grow out of the allergies over time, I hope that is the case. Most doctors recommend avoiding things that children tend to be allergic too over time like peanut butter or chocolate. Dairy is a strange one though, the poor thing. You can always try and substitute some of the food with pedialyte, that way he can at least keep up his electrolytes. Have you consulted the doctor about getting a scratch test done? I know he's still very young but having so many allergies already, it will probably be better then just testing out new foods.

Take care!

Perhapys you are having a a slight interolence yourself? For example, I am lactose interoleant and I ate lasagna tonight and now I am tooting away a mountain as the monkeys say.

Did you know there is hypoallerganic, soy free, diary free, nut free baby formala othat is organci? ellacare amino acid based formula. Its soy and dairy free and my insurance covere mine. Walgreens option care. Pharmacy delivered it monthly. It is also sold on E bay, amazon etc. The dr's often have you try allimentum or a hydrolisate formula first

Sory i know a lot on babies, my nephews (2 of 3) had such a hard time with allergies and I took care of them most of the time. One of my sisters is ah how do you say not a good mom and dumps kids on people?

Hi. My little man is allergic to dairy, gluten and soy and is intolerant to salicylates. As I am still breastfeeding if I have any salicylates he is 'wired' and can't sleep, is in pain and a very different little man. He also has silent reflux. Salicylates are in everything! We can only eat one fruit, pealled pears, and minimal vegetables. Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato are all reactive food. I have a very supportive lactation dietitian and paediatrician. I definitely recommend having a look at a salicylate intollerance as I have seem a huge change in my 9 month old baby since I have eliminated these from our diet.

If you are still breastfeeding, try a gluten free diet, with milder vegetables... If he is gluten sensitive, he may be re-acting to that in your milk...and most gluten sensitives are dairy intolerant also..so cut that out of your diet as well for a day or two..it stinks, but worth a shot.. I know my brother in law was gluten intolerant from the get-go and his parents never put him on a gluten free diet and it led to a whole other world of health issues for him his entire life.

good question... I would call a dietician and check with them.... good luck

It's several months later than when you posted initially- how is it going? My daughter is also allergic to 'everything' she's 3 now, and happy and healthy. But, she has only 23 foods she can eat. As an infant, alimentum was our saving grace. When she was 18 months we tried nutramigen toddler- no go. She now gets about 1/2 her calories from Neocate Jr. It's amazing, life saving stuff. Neocate also has an infant formula, if Alimentum or Nutramigen don't work. Hope it's going we'll. Oh, and we have to try very food for up to two weeks, then off for five days, then test again. Some foods react way before that, but some can take that long.