Q&A: Baby food sensitivities

Sarah has a question that's beyond me, so I hope there's someone out there who can unravel it for her:

"I just wanted to ask you about my son's sleep problems. He's now nearly 11 months old, and he's suffered from gas pains since he was born. I hoped when he was first born that he would start to grow out of it at 6 weeks, as everyone told me he would, but he didn't. If anything, it intensified. He exhibited the classic signs of colic - drawing his knees up and crying. This would happen exactly two hours after he ate (he is formula fed - I tried breastfeeding but after three bouts of mastitis, flat nipples and chronic thrush I gave it up for a bad job), then he would sleep until his next feed. He would then be happy for two hours, then the colicky symptoms then sleep etc etc. As he grew older, at around 6-8 months, he started crying in his sleep at night then waking up screaming and impossible to console. I did think that perhaps he was having nightmares, but my mother in law assured me that he was too young for nightmares, and on the nights he stayed with her he would do this and then burp or pass wind then go back to sleep, so she assumed it was a gas pain problem. Over time, I see now that she is correct in this - when he does it now, I pick him up and generally he burps and then is calm for a couple of hours.

We discovered over the course of time that elevating his legs seems to alleviate the pain. As a result of his frequent wakings and the need to elevate his legs, we've ended up co-sleeping rather than pogoing out of bed every couple of hours to sort him out. I did think that he would grow out of this at 8 months when his digestive system matured, but it still persists. Even eating solids hasn't solved the problem. I suspect the problem may be yeast related - he had problems with this from the breastfeeding days, and he had the last white patches in his mouth at about 7 months. He also has a persistent diaper rash that doesn't clear up with zinc oxide. I haven't tried thrush creams on it yet, but that will be my next port of call. He's eating half a pot of probiotic yogurt a day to try to combat this, but it doesn't seem to be having any effect. As yet, the health professionals seem unconcerned (however, we do live in the UK where extensive testing for digestive abnormalities doesn't happen due to the constraints on the national health system), but since it seems to have not abated at all, I'm starting to get quite concerned about him. He also has a slight wheeze which intensifies when he eats a new food. In case you were thinking it may be milk related, I've tried him on hydrolised protein formulas and lactase drops and these had no effect either. I recently switched him to iron fortified follow on milk and the wind seemed to get a bit worse.

Do you have any ideas on this? I'm at my wits end, having not slept for more than three hours at a stretch for nearly a year...

My gut reaction is that it's definitely dairy related and that she needs to take him off dairy completely, make sure there's no wheat in his diet, and be aggressive about treating the yeast. But I don't really know where to start on that if he's taking probiotics already.

Is there anyone with more experience with food sensitivities, dairy intolerance, celiac, or yeast issues who could offer some thoughts?

Comments

[Shelby]

I, too, have taken all dairy, wheat, and soy out of my 1 year old's diet. Her excema has eased up a bit, but really started easing up after putting a HEPA air filter in her room. So, it's probably an airborn allergy in her case. Which, of course, kills me because we rent, and there's no way our cheap landlord is going to invest in mold treatments and whatnot without a huge fight that I don't have the energy or the time for.

Anyway, we had a yeast problem and HORRIBLE diaper rash with Zoe when she was only 2 months old. The only thing that worked was Motherlove Diaper Rash & Thrush Cream, and butt-in-the-sun-through-the-window time. I swear by the Motherlove stuff. Zinc oxide never worked. She hasn't had a diaper rash since I started using that stuff. Also, cut out fruit as much as you can. Any sugars are going to continue to feed the yeast, including those from fruit.

Too many probiotics can also cause gastro-intestinal discomfort. Maybe cut back a little?

For excema, if you want to avoid steroid creams, I found that California Baby Calendula Cream worked wonderfully.

As far as cutting out milk is concerned, I just went through a whole decision-making process about weaning Zoe from some b-feeding onto a bottle. She was getting milk-based formula at the sitter's house, but it wasn't settling well. I weighed raw milk, goat milk, soy formula...and came to the conclusion that she is a fabulous solid food eater, and doesn't need the bottle. It has worked for us. She doesn't seem to miss it, and if she needs a bottle, I give her warm water with some organic chamomile tea. That also might help with the gastro-intestinal discomfort for Sarah's little one.

This is all so difficult to figure out. I can totally relate. Food sensitivities are so difficult to figure out. And with a yeast issue on top of that? You're a trooper, Sarah. Sorry you're having to deal with all that. It's hard being a mommy sometimes!!

[Katie]

I'm sorry I don't have time to read the comments, so this may have been mentioned already:

If dairy is an issue, then feeding the probiotic yogurt (dairy) is probably harming more than helping. In addition, the amount of probiotics in yogurt (even the yogurts that advertise them) is not high enough to have a good effect. You can buy powdered probiotics at lots of places, including www.kirkmanlabs.com, which supplies casein (dairy)- and gluten(wheat)-free products.

[Kelly]

My youngest was very sensitive to what types of dairy he ate for a long time and had colic for at least 6m (I didn't keep track, sorry). He was a great grower, though, and since he was topping the charts we figured it'd be ok to switch him from formula to milk a bit early. (not at 6m, closer to 10)

Wow what a difference that made! The very night he started on milk he slept hours longer and had almost zero gas. It was bizarre. I wish I could give more advice and less "story", but I hope you find out what your little guy's special food need is and that you also get the instant relief that we got. Good luck!

[FA Mom]

One more thing about probiotics - many moms (including me) use the Kirkman capsules (dairy, soy, wheat free -- cultured on chicory root). You just pull the capsule apart and put it in a sippy of juice (or you can put it in a medicine cup and syringe it for little ones. If you can't eat yogurt -- it can make a big difference! We've seen a huge improvement since we started -- not cheap, but a great product for food allergic kids.

[chaosgirl]

@caramama -- me too. I have psoriasis and when I have dairy, it gets worse. Years ago I abandoned hydrocortisone and other nasty topical treatments and decided to use diet and supplements to control it. By eliminating dairy and taking high doses of omega fatty acids I've been able to abolish all but one small patch of psoriasis from my body. I used to have it everywhere and the daily use of topical ointments with hydrocortisone thinned my skin, caused extensive scarring and, I suspect, was a factor in precipitating my first bout of major depression. (High doses of cortisol can mess up hormones that regulate mood and circadian rhythm -- the HPA axis).

Our 6 month old son has a dairy allergy (tried him on cow's milk formula and he broke out in a rash) and has excema-like skin dryness. Our pediatrician offered some hydro. for the patches but I refused because treating the dryness would be purely cosmetic and possibly have negative side effects. Using an organic colloidal oatmeal lotion has taken care of his dry skin problems, and mine too!

@paola - My son has "cradle cap" that extends down the sides of his face and in to his ears. The colloidal oatmeal takes care of the dryness but the odor suggests to me that something else is going on. Does the cream you're using have hydrocortisone in it?

Back to the cow's milk allergy. My son ditched the breast at 4.5 months (still a sad and painful thing...I tried to keep up my supply by pumping but it was a no-go). Given that my husband and I are both lactose intolerant, we started him on soy formula, which he tolerates well. But it's not organic and soy is one of the most artificially cultivated crops out there, so we're trying to find a source for an organic formula and can't seem to find one in Toronto. Does anyone know of a good source?

Then there's the phytoestrogen issue which, from my reading of the literature, is likely more on a problem for girls than boys. And probably more likely to be an issue if boys consume the formula during their post-natal testosterone surge.

So, we'd like him to get back on a cow's milk formula and hope that his sensitivity will abate with time.

Any advice on organic soy formulas and other solutions to dairy-allergy would be very welcome!

[Stephanie]

Organic soy formula:

http://www.babyorganic.com/cart.php?target=category&category_id=249&gclid=CI249ZfzxpICFRPLiQodLzJZmQ

[andrea]

My vote goes with MSPI and/or reflux as well. Lactose intolerance or an actual allergy would be MUCH less likely. Hedra pretty much covered it all, so not much to add other than my agreement... and the note that MSPI presents in all sorts of different ways, from diarrhea/cramps, to constipate/gas and can certainly go undetected by doctors for a looooong time. My son is 11months - has had all sorts of issues with severe reflux etc... we got that under control and things seemed amazing but still not QUITE right. We tried milk (he's been on a milk based formula since birth, and had been eating yogurt/cheese without any real problems) and all hell broke loose - and it was only then that we discovered the problem.
With that said, at the age of 11months, it will likely be extremely difficult to get your child to drink a hypoallergenic formula - in our case we are, for now, sticking with milk based and instead treating the symptoms (in his case, constipation and gas -- Miralax is a lifesaver) because at this time there's nothing else we can do (he's a crappy eater because of the reflux who quickly turns into a non-eater if we offer him anything but his favorite things... one of those kids (that supposedly dont exist) who would happily starve himself to death and is borderline FTT already). For months and months both his Ped GI specialist and his pediatrician swore up and down that there was NO way he was MSPI because he was not presenting with bloody stool. Well, they both admitted they must have been wrong when we did the milk trial.

Anyway, good luck!

[Nancy]

I would consider reflux as a possible issue (waking up crying, arching back, some gas).

The diagnosis is relatively easy to make by getting the throat scoped but if that's an issue, you could ask your pediatrician to give you a month's worth of reflux medicine and see if that eases the pain.

There is a documented link between reflux and wheezing and I know my little guy stopped wheezing once we started treating his silent reflux and he stopped waking up crying in pain.

[Chrissy]

I know i'm late to the discussion, you remind me of us dealing with our son. He was diagnosed with reflux at 6 weeks, was fine with the minimum of treatment until 7 months then it hit the fan, he would only sleep for 2 hours at a time, would wake up screaming and then only fall asleep upright, we tried hypoallergenic formula, but not for long enough after reading the comments, he went onto zantac, which helped for a little while and then onto losec which made him really ill.
We took him off the losec, off the zantac and started giving him a bottle with gaviscon in it. It helped but wasnt a cure all.
We used to give him pain relief as well, not recommended but it did help.
I have no idea what changed but at 1 year 1 month it all went away, he slept 12 hours every night, no more screaming, no more terrible tummy pain, it was amazing.
He was also very happy during the day you would never know that he was in so much pain at night.
He also wheeze's when his reflux is playing up as it still does occasionally.
He has issues with dairy, mainly milk in that it gives him diarrhea and it makes his eczema flare up, so he is still on standard formula.
So not much help but it does get better.

[Donna]

I feel so bad for you.

I might be a bit late in posting; but some of these situations sound a lot like where we were with our daughter and we discovered (way late) that she had issues with constipation. I believe there were reactions to foods and such, and we tried everything, but the only thing that worked for us was to give her water enemas. We were getting 3-5 total hours of sleep per night because of her waking up screaming and it was a struggle to get her to sleep initally and every time she woke-- something just wasn't right. It was an awful time for everyone. Luckily, my memory of the time is sort of blasted.

We started giving the enemas and she would fall asleep faster and sleep longer stretches 3-4hours. It was heaven to get 3 straight hours! Eventually, she started pooping on her own at 18 months and shortly thereafter slept through the night for the first time.

We gave them with the nasal sucker that came from the hospital--fill it all the way with warm water (make sure there's no air to add to the gas), put it in (use olive oil on the tip) about 3/4 inch and squeeze it out. Then either put on the diaper or put them on a potty. Don't use the nasal sucker for the nose anymore!

Something to check with your doctor first I'm sure.

My daughter obviously didn't like it at first, but eventually she learned it brought relief and didn't fuss about it.

Maybe this will help someone out there...for more detail about the situation we were in, I posted on here a while back and if you do a search on "water enema" through the blog it'll come up.

[beth]

I have a Almost month old and my sister in law told me to put him on baby ceral at 2 weeks old so i waited a week then did and he's on soy milk and gave him soy free ceral and now he's throwing up and has diarria and i dont know if he's haveing a allergic reaction or a food tolerance to the ceral and i know i gave the ceral to soon thats what i get for listening to her thank you to anyone that can help
beth

[Alex]

Private;
T
his is not about children. I am starting a

PRIVATE;

This post is not about children.
I am starting a new line of organic dairy product and i am looking for a food scietist.I understand from the link websit that your husband is a food scientist and i wondered if he may be able to help me find someone in the UK. Hope you can help.Thanks

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