InfantReflux.Org Forums: Here we go again..

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Kate's Mommy
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Topic: Here we go again..
Posted: 12 June 2009 at 5:59am

Well, I can't say I'm thrilled to back to be on this site despite the hope and immense comfort I found here almost 2 years ago with my first baby who thank goodness outgrew her reflux at a year.

Unfortunately, I'm here again so shocker of all shockers, things aren't going well and I've found myself at a loss again. I've since had a baby boy born in April. The first three weeks were bliss untill he started waking up and reflux hell soon followed. Screaming while nursing,at night, the whole shebang. Thankfully we knew what we had been through with my first so we were very proactive. He was put on an aggressive dose of Zegerid(marcikids reccommended)for weeks with no change. We changed to a smaller dose of Zegerid and I embarked on TED, yay! The change in him was immediate. He's been a new happy baby for almost a month untill two days ago where I started a trial of green beans and he and his sister got a bad cough and cold. Here's my question. He's started to have terrible gas and last night his poopy diaper smelled like his sisters. Not very

breastmilk-poop like. (soory,TMI?) He started fussing during a couple feeds too. Do you think this could just be the combo of bad virus and unsuccessful food trial? Would the green beans still be bugging him two days later?

I'm mentally and emotionally so drained. My hope tank is becoming depleted. I feel like I'm doing everything I can giving up every yummy food I can imagine to keep nursing(like I said TED for a month now)and I don't know where to turn next. Help,help,help

Any and all advice or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Edited by hellbennt - 06 June 2012 at 6:35pm

Claire
Kate(3/4/07): Zegerid,breastfed untill 20 mo.
Kyle(4/5/09): Zegerid,MFPI,breastfed

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hellbennt
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Posted: 12 June 2009 at 8:07am

hi claire! congratulations on your new baby!

there's a mom here named erin- & she has created a sticky post regarding all of this kind of information (mspi, TED, stinky gas, etc)

it's a work-in-progress & I am copying & pasting it for you! also if you go to the upper right-hand corner of this page and click on 'search' and then choose 'all forums' and put erinntx in the 'search by member name' field and then choose 'search 6 months and OLDER' from the drop-down menu, then you can read her posts- they really will help you!

as for the green beans, they are a legume, so anything's possible...I would think that a week would be the most you'd see the reactions from you eating green beans. maybe try avocado next? it's a good fat...

ok here is the 'copy & paste' from erin:

BABY'S SYMPTOMS:

In general, an exclusively breastfed baby (no solids either) should not have consistent stinky gas, consistent mucousy stools, or consistent green-colored stool (an occasional green stool is normal!).

Also, exclusively breastfed babies do not get constipated most times. If it seems like your baby is straining, pushing, squirming, turning red, etc look @ the poop. If it's still soft/loose then it is not constipation, but rather probably an intolerance to something in your diet. Furthermore, length of time between poops isn't a good indicator either - it's still the consistency of the stool (loose vs. hard).

In my experience: if your baby is breastfed & has stinky gas then he is reacting to something in your diet.

When the stinky gas is gone completely the offender is out of his & your system... even if the diapers are still a mess (it takes longer- sometimes MUCH longer - for the colon/intestine to heal after the offender is out of his system). Honestly, this is SO important to know/realize as it's the indication that you're getting somewhere.

Once your start solids it's somewhat harder to tell if baby is reacting to something in YOUR diet, as there isn't usually stinky gas anymore & oftentimes the stool is harder or stinkier due to the solids. This is where a sleep log is crucial (there is more about this further on; see below re: starting solids).

[more from erin, added by hellbennt]

The key to your diet & exclusively breastfed babies is that if she is having stinky gas, then she is reacting so something in your diet. If she isn't having stinky gas, then she isn't.
Where it gets tricky is that it's very possible to not have stinky gas (so you're on the right diet) but to continue having mucous &/or blood in the stool. It takes a while for the LOs colons to heal (fwiw, it took my 2nd ds 6 wks of TED & no stinky gas before the blood & mucous stopped).

So... I would track the stinky gas. I would also go back on TED. While tracking stinky gas, I would wait until 4-5 days of no stinky gas, then call that your 'baseline'. Then, continue that diet until the blood & mucous goes away. Then, your db has baselined. Then, you can consider adding something to your diet. If after you start TED again after 4-5 days she's still having stinky gas then she's reacting to something in the TED & you'll need to adjust (my dss reacted to 3-4 things in TED)... but don't worry about that yet- we'll deal w/ that if we need to.

Hang in there- you're doing great!

1) EVAN'S STORY:

Our journey started w/ Evan @ 2 weeks old when he was in the ER w/ reflux & extreme mucous (had to be suctioned out) from allergies/intolerances.

I started TED when he was 5 weeks old. I did traditional TED http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041200.asp

for 3 wks before tweaking (the tweaking is given in detail, below, see #__). There was great improvement initially, but then the mucous seemed to be getting worse & the only thing I could think was that I was eating SO much rice & turkey that perhaps they were the cause.

Anyway, initially I just cut out rice for 3-4 days. There was some improvement but not enough that I was convinced. That's when it occurred to me that perhaps turkey was the culprit. At that point I cut out turkey but added back in rice. Again, there was some improvement but not complete yet.

At this point our Ped GI scheduled Evan for a colonoscopy b/c I had been on TED for 4+ wks & he still had green, mucousy & bloody stools every.single.time (based on our home hemoccult testing).

In the meantime, I was getting fed up w/ the diapers. A few days before the colonoscopy (5 wks into the TED) I decided to cut out sweet potatoes, rice & turkey all at once. So I was only eating white potatoes, pears, squash/zucchini, sea salt & pepper. FINALLY, his diapers were "normal" & stinky gas went away. They were yellow, no mucous, no blood & sweet smelling!!!

Colonoscopy + biopsies showed allergic colitis (as expected) & endoscopy showed no irritation.

I stayed w/ that "baseline" of potatoes, pears, squash/zucchini, sea salt & pepper for about 2-3 wks - it was HARD. I tried to add turkey back in - failed. Pork? failed. Finally, I tried beef & it passed -so thank goodness I finally was able to add in a protein.

I stayed on this baseline of potatoes, pears, squash/zucchini, beef, olive oil, sea salt & pepper VERY strictly until Evan was 7 mths old.

Around 8 mths old I was able to add in most fruits, veggies & chicken.
Around 9 mths old I was able to eat everything but milk & soy (including hidden of both).

He is currently 11 mths old & I'm still milk & soy free. His diet is still very limited but we are working on adding in more things (his body doesn't tolerate too many things directly).

The thing that used to help me through was setting goals, plans, etc. Example: keep eating x, y, z for 1 week (all the while charting all the symptoms, diapers, gas, etc) then if no change, adding/taking away XX. I'm a writer/documenter so that works/worked for me.

8) HEMOCCULTS:

My husband is in medical supply sales so he just ordered the hemoccults for us & we developed @ home. Both our ped & ped GI knew we did this & supported it. It's super easy. The brand we use is the namebrand that most office's use.

I did some searching & found a site that has the same brand we use (Hemoccult Sensa by Beckman Coulter) & you can buy them direct from them for around $82 for a pack of 100.

http://www.medexsupply.com/diagnostic-tests-blood-fecal-occult-tests-hemoccult-sensa-singles-x_pid-706.html

We did the hemoccult tests @ home w/ every single diaper while waiting to get a baseline. We don't do them very much anymore b/c now that we have a baseline (yellow, no mucous, smell sweet) even when I trial a failed food they DO turn mucousy, but I stop eating it & they don't ever get to the point of green anymore... I don't want there to be any intestinal bleeding again (obviously).

Most drs.will test a diaper in the office + send home w/ only 3 tests to use over 3 days. The problem w/ only using hemoccult tests sporadically like this is that the bleeding in the colon is intermittent (until it's completely healed that is)... SO, there might be blood in all the diapers one day, then none the next day, then blood in every other diaper the 3rd day, etc. This happened with us - only ONE of our hemoccults that both drs. tested were positive... but then 9 out of 10 of them @ home were positive. I always think if you're unsure, ordering the strips yourself is a good idea (if you're able to)- that way you can test all the diapers, develop them & keep a detailed log (ofhemoccult results, mucous, coloring of stool, stinky gas, etc).

7) PEDS (AND PED GI) & TED:

My ped GI (I like him overall) said that I only needed to avoid milk, soy & gluten. If I had listened only to him (& not found infantreflux.org + TED) I would have driven myself CRAZY & honestly probably wouldn't have known what to do & went to formula. This is why I say (about oh, so many things) you have to have to do your own research, be your child's advocate, question doctors, etc. Thankfully, my general ped (LOVE him) supports this same way of thinking.

In general, many peds & ped GIs are not super familiar with TED & most think it's too drastic, not necessary, etc. Just an FYI.

13) MEDS:

Evan was on meds early on (marci-kids dose of Prevacid), then was able to be completely off all meds when my milk was 'clean'.

Then, when we started solids with him we went back on the marci-kids dose of Prevacid b/c his night wakings increased but his diapers were normal. Once started back on a PPI his night sleep regulated.

He is currently 11 mths old & still on the Prevacid.

number here? Further below, you will find: WHAT I ate, as well as information about ENZYMES & PROBIOTICS, STARTING SOLIDS and SLEEP. Right now I will tell you about what also helped me, that you can start NOW:

14) BABYWEARING:

When Evan was literally screaming all day long I started wearing him in the moby wrap.

http://www.mobywrap.com/

It was a savior for us. I wore him for 8-10 hrs/day until his stools started regulating (b/c he was not happy otherwise & it was so challenging w/ the toddler too). I just wanted to mention that b/c you can get so much done while wearing baby & also it will keep baby calm even when he doesn't feel well @ all. Also, don't stress about sleeping w/ your baby (or wherever baby is sleeping) - if he likes it & it works, go w/ it -it will not become a bad habit. add in Laura's link to babywearing? the 'babywearing condensed' link?

3) TED CONVENIENCE FOODS:

I can give lots of ideas of what I ate/eat. If you're just starting to look into TED then be sure to check out Dianne's stickied post on TED as well as Dr. Sear's website http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041200.asp.

General info (from Dianne):

http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7497 >

Food ideas (from Dianne):

http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7498 >

I do a lot of convenience type stuff. At 1st I was doing everything by hand & fresh but it was so time consuming. You still have to cook some of this but it's just put it on the stove to simmer (covered) for 10min, flip & cook for 6min more -done!

For the potatoes I ate lots of the Lays Kettle Cooked chips. Also, the Ore Ida hash browns/diced potatoes (frozen) are easy & have TED friendly ingredients. SOOOOO much easier than dicing potatoes up like I did for the 1st 2 mths. Also, Simply Potatoes have hash browns, potato slices & red potato wedges that are super easy & TED friendly. These are in the fridge section by the eggs usually. Also, fwiw - Wendy's french fries are TED friendly & the only fries that Evan can tolerate - I eat a LOT of them. I also made my own fries but again, so time consuming.

(Just wanted to add that the Wendy's fries work for US <probably not everyone though>... they do have soy oil in them, but soy oil doesn't contain soy protein. Even soy allergic ppl can tolerate soy oil in most cases. At his most sensitive Evan was tolerating these.)

For pears I ate lots of Del Monte canned slices. Again, it's the convenience since I have a toddler as well. I do fresh as well, but takes more time. I drink a lot of Gerber pear juice. Also the Looza pear nectar... but it has a lot of sugar in it & is a bit too sweet to drink as a "juice". Sometimes I'll have pear cups or pureed baby food pears.

For squash & zucchini I usually just have fresh but I've started buying frozen to use when I'm in a hurry & want to have it for lunch.

So, that's the things I ate (besides beef). I'll share what I usually ate before I cut out the sweet potatoes, rice & turkey.

For sweet potatoes I usually ate a fresh one but I microwaved it in the Ziploc brand steam bags. SOOOOO easy!!! Just put it in the bag & microwave for 10min. I've made sweet pot fries, chips & wedges... all yummy but very time consuming. I've also bought Ore Ida Steam 'N Mash... you just heat & then mash them up for mashed sweet potatoes - again, TED friendly.

For rice I ate a lot of the Ewehorn rice cereal w/ rice milk. Brown rice too. I had some rice pasta but wasn't a super fan of it. I made rice pudding a couple times & it was a good change... same w/ the rice grits. I made TED sugar cookies (w/ rice flour) & TED rice krispy treats (w/ brown rice syrup) but both were not super appealing ;).

For turkey I usually ate ground turkey, turkey burgers, turkey cutlets or a cooked turkey breast.

What I usually did was make a dinner of either ground turkey, rice & veggies OR diced potatoes, turkey cutlets & veggies then make enough for 2 dinners & 3 lunches.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you re: feeling starving & like you can't eat anything is to have 'snacks' on hand & also to plan your meals as much as possible - that way you don't ever starve yourself (b/c your supply will suffer if you're not careful) & you're not tempted to cheat b/c you're so hungry.

4) ADDING FOODS BACK IN:

When we did/do food challenges the stinky gas + stool changes come together basically. The stinky gas is gone within a day or 2, but the mucous stays a bit longer (3-4 days).

I knew it was a "no" almost immediately based on fussiness & comfort. Then, a bit later (4-5 hours) the stinky gas began. Then, the diapers turned to mucous. Then, to green sometimes. Usually w/ the challenges the instant I smelled stinky gas I stopped eating the food. Once he was completely healed (& we had reached a 'baseline') the failed challenge wouldn't cause any blood. Of course, if I continued eating the offender it would have but I never ate TOO much of the challenge in the beginning.

5) TED-SAFE MULTIVITAMIN & CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT:

Here's the vitamins & calcium I take:

The multivitamin is this:

http://wholesalesupplementstore.com/daily-total-oneaday.html

They are vegetarian capsules & free of the 'biggies' (milk, soy, gluten, etc). I haven't had any issues w/ them.

The calcium I take is just the generic "calciumcitrate+" from my grocery store (or Target). The only thing about these is that one of the inactive ingredients is starch. SO, I didn't start these until recently when Evan started tolerating more foods (although I'm sure many babies could tolerate them fine).

Here's a suggestion for TED safe calcium supplement that a good friend suggested to me (& I think Dianne also took this):

http://www.country-life.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=25&Product_ID=393&CFID=1794275&CFTOKEN=43446469

6) MILK SUPPLY & TED:

To MAINTAIN QUANTITY of milk supply:

Do no lose more than 1/2-1 lb/wk

Eat at LEAST 1500 calories/day (1800-2200 is best- 1500 is the minimum)

Drink at least 64 oz of fluid/day & add 8 oz of extra fluid for every caffeine drink you have (coffee, soda, etc)

To INCREASE QUANTITY of milk supply:

-Of course, letting baby nurse more often is the best (but I know, not always possible)

-Pumping 5-10 min. after every nursing session is 2nd best (again, not always possible)

-Fenugreek 3-4 pills 3x/day (this will make you smell like maple syrup but that's normal...well, normal for someone taking Fenugreek)

-Blessed Thistle 3 pills 3x/day

-Oatmeal (the traditional kind or oatmeal bars, cookies, etc)

-Beer...the darker the better - Guinness is the best

-Mother's Milk Tea

To MAINTAIN &/OR INCREASE QUALITY of milk supply (ie: make it higher in fat, etc):

-Eat at least 30 g of fat/day (easy sources: avocado & olive oil... I use olive oil for EVERYTHING)

-->The fat in your diet is a huge indicator of the good fat in your breastmilk

-Eat at least 30 g of protein/day

9) DIGESTIVE ENZYMES:

Here are the digestive enzymes. I take 2-3 with each meal & snack (to try & break down the proteins that I eat so they enter my breastmilk broken down). I also mix 1/2 capsule w/ each pureed "meal" Evan gets (2x/day). http://wholesalesupplementstore.com/complete-gest.htm

l

I can't say for sure if they do anything when I take them, but they DEFINITELY help Evan w/ solids.

Anyway, I give Evan 1/2 a capsule mixed in w/ pureed foods w/ each meal. The key is to mix it w/ a small amount so you KNOW he eats the food that the enzyme is mixed in (if that makes sense). Also, if you heat you have to mix enzyme after heating. The key is to give the enzyme @ the beginning of the meal (really, you're supposed to give 20-30min before eating to be most effective but since it tastes AWFUL by itself this doesn't ever happen... I take it pre-meal though for myself).

Now that Evan is eating more & more finger foods (very limited diet of 6 or so foods but have been able to find quite a few finger food options) I usually just put a bit of pureed apples in a little cup & mix the enzyme in that to make sure he's getting it.

Here is a link that has other options as well... mixing w/ applejuice, etc. I don't do that since apple juice can flare reflux but it's something to keep in mind for the future.

http://www.enzymestuff.com/discussionmixing.htm

I have read that giving the enzyme before a bottle is beneficial as well (but not IN the bottle). Again, the problem w/ this is getting it in him. I tried to just mix it w/ water once & syringe it in (like I do the probiotic) but OMG- I got a bit on my finger & tasted it & it's awful. You could give him a few spoonfuls of the enzyme on purees though, THEN the bottle.

10) PROBIOTIC:

Here is the hypoallergenic probiotic I give Evan. It's called "Klaire Labs Ther-biotic Infant Formula". I buy from www.theapexstore.com

or I call Klaire labs directly. You have to have a physician authorization now for some reason (which is silly in my opinion) but you can also phone Klaire labs directly. There is a physician who has written a couple books by the name of Dr. Jacqueline McCandless who was actually the doctor that worked together with Klaire labs to develop their probiotics. She has said in her books that people can use her as their reference physician to acquire Klaire products without having seen her directly as a doctor. This is what I do, and then Klaire also gives a discount to anyone using Dr. McCandless's name. You can call them toll-free at 1-888-488-2488.

So basically, just call the phone # & mention the dr's name as your reference. If you're not comfortable doing this then either have your ped or ped GI authorize it OR there is another brand of hypoallergenic probiotic that is popular.

The other brand is: http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/ViewProductDetails@Product_ID@186@Product_Group_ID@1.aspx

11) STARTING SOLIDS:

Once we decided to start solids I used Dr. Sears' least allergenic foods list to help decide our order of introduction:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T041800.asp#T041805

We started w/ pears. Then, went to squash, apples, carrots, then chicken (b/c he was 9 mths old w/o a protein & borderline anemic). Then, prunes, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, peas & white potatoes. Obviously at least 5 days between each. Not all of those were successes though.

Also, we use digestive enzyme (see my info above re: enzymes).

Finally, I keep a detailed log (more detailed than usual) for the intro days. I intro the new food @ lunch of Day 1, then also for dinner. I log his night sleep, nap lengths, diaper consistency & skin reactions for 4-5 days (while giving the new food for lunch & dinner each day). If everything remained consistent/fine for those days then it's deemed a 'success'!

12) ECZEMA:

On the flipside, if it was/is a failed trial then usually full-body eczema breaks out. I never would have known to do this but my good friend's dd suffered from eczema severely. I was using all the usual suspects: Cetaphil, Eucerin, Aveeno, etc & they were just drying out Evan's skin. He'd be scaly an hour after moisturizing him. Many of them have alcohol as an ingredient-ick!

Anyway...

We use an olive oil soap for bath. It's made by Kiss my Face. I ordered it from Amazon but then saw it @ both my regular grocery store & Whole Foods.

Kiss my Face Olive Oil soap

http://www.amazon.com/Kiss-My-Face-Olive-8-Ounce/dp/B001E6O8WU

Then, after bath we just barely pat him dry... then lube him up w/ regular olive oil (like the kind you cook with).

Then, on top of the olive oil we put VaniCream - this is truly the product that's saved us! You have to order it but it's so worth it. It's the base of most dermatologic products.

VaniCream http://www.amazon.com/Vanicream-Moisturizing-Skin-Cream-Dispenser/dp/B000BXHDUG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1228428518&sr=1-1

Finally, just put diaper & pjs on immediately after to "lock" the moisture in.

15) SLEEP:

With regards to sleep - it never really got better until he was completely cleared out. Then, it didn't really get better until almost 5 mths old.

When his diapers are great & regulated his sleep is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

I can honestly say that Evan didn't get sleeping more than 2-3 hr stretches until

a) he got a bit older & outgrew many of his intolerances (not ALL, but a lot)

b) we started back on 30mg Prevacid/day

c) his diapers were regulated

d) he was taking in some purees/solids... I'm definitely NOT suggesting anyone start solids early or before you're ready, I'm just explaining our progression.

Even now (Evan is 11 mths old), when I try milk (I did last week) Evan is back up many times/night so it's so clear that the tummy/intestinal issues bother his sleep immensely.

put link to post 'night wakings/lovemysophia'? - this is where past member posts about milk allergy found later on and sleep was huge indicator...

Milk allergy/night wakings/lLoveMySophia:
http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10017&KW=

TED Blog post by Rachel_Neocate:

http://www.neocate.com/blog/a-moms-journey-with-ted-total-elimination-diet/

Edited by hellbennt - 11 June 2011 at 1:29pm

~laura~
Jonah 7/03:GERDfree@12mos! Silent Reflux@birth(apnea episodes/NICU);Past Sandifer Symptoms, breastfed->15mos
Ari 7/06 REFLUX FREE, so miracles do happen!

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Posted: 12 June 2009 at 9:16pm

Oh Claire. I shouldn't say welcome back, but well welcome back, I often wondered how Kate was doing! Sorry you hear about your little guy! I do think that it could be a combination of the cold and the green beans. Some babies are really sensitive. I know that the above mentioned Erin had to eat pretty much just TED foods with the addition of beef for a LONG time before her little guy could handle things. Laura has given you a ton of great information. Glad you are back but sorry for the reason. I hope things get better soon.

Beth
Cooper 2/07 (former refluxer and MSPI. out grew egg allergy at 3.5yrs old)
Caroline 1/10 Reflux FREE!!!

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Kate's Mommy
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Posted: 12 June 2009 at 10:53pm

Thanks for the info Laura and nice to hear from you Beth! I know, it was very bittersweet being back on the board but I knew I would get some answers. Kyle today is already TONS better so I really think it was the beans. Bummer. I was getting really excited about adding things back in. Heck I'd give anything for a salad at this point and I'm not a salad eater normally by any stretch! Ah, the sacrifices we make for our babies. How are you?

Claire
Kate(3/4/07): Zegerid,breastfed untill 20 mo.
Kyle(4/5/09): Zegerid,MFPI,breastfed

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trigrl
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Posted: 14 June 2009 at 8:41pm

claire--so sorry you are on this journey...i have a lot to say, but i have to scoot right now. i will return later and type it up. i've been on a RIDICULOUSLY restricted diet (if i do say so, myself) for the past year. it is possible, as you learned from erin's post. not that i haven't shaken my fist to the heavens sometimes

you are a strong, wonderful mama and know we are here for you! take care! i'll post more later.

Gina
Riley 3.18.04 previous refluxer
Madelyn 5.26.08 allergies to dairy, soy, wheat, corn and many other sensitivities; breastfed

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Kate's Mommy
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Posted: 14 June 2009 at 10:18pm

Thanks for the encouragement

I sure need it right now. My son and I are both such a mess

Actually, he's a happy,sleeping baby who loves to be held which is a complete turn-around from where he was pre-TED. Thank goodness for that. It's just the poop now that's the issue. Ever since I became a Mom it's funny how with that came the title of "poop-inspector"

It's actually not that bad. I mean considering the HELL we were in before my diet where he screamed non-stop during feeds and at night and during the day, eating turkey and rice is small potatoes given the trade-off of having a happy babe. Don't get me wrong, I DROOL when my 2 year old is just eating goldfish, but I guess you just have to keep it in perspective. I want to keep bf and gosh-darnit if this is what I have to do, I'll do it! Can't wait to read what else you have to say

One of these days I'll get time to read Erin's posts.

Claire
Kate(3/4/07): Zegerid,breastfed untill 20 mo.
Kyle(4/5/09): Zegerid,MFPI,breastfed

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hellbennt
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Posted: 15 June 2009 at 8:10am

Originally posted by erintx

3) TED CONVENIENCE FOODS:

I can give lots of ideas of what I ate/eat. If you're just starting to look into TED then be sure to check out Dianne's stickied post on TED as well as Dr. Sear's website http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041200.asp.

General info (from Dianne):

http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7497 >

So, that's the things I ate (besides beef). I'll share what I usually ate before I cut out the sweet potatoes, rice & turkey.

For turkey I usually ate ground turkey, turkey burgers, turkey cutlets or a cooked turkey breast.

~laura~
Jonah 7/03:GERDfree@12mos! Silent Reflux@birth(apnea episodes/NICU);Past Sandifer Symptoms, breastfed->15mos
Ari 7/06 REFLUX FREE, so miracles do happen!

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Kate's Mommy
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Posted: 16 June 2009 at 5:02am

Thanks Laura

Claire
Kate(3/4/07): Zegerid,breastfed untill 20 mo.
Kyle(4/5/09): Zegerid,MFPI,breastfed

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hellbennt
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Posted: 16 June 2009 at 8:44am

there's more where that came from, LOL

Erin’s sticky-in-progress: http://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12948&PID=105126#105126

I mean actual stinky gas (usually the actual stool is stinky too but I'm talking the gas). Yes, usually when db is reacting to something the gas is more frequent, can seem painful, etc. But most dbs pass gas fairly frequently until 9 mths or so - usually (if db isn't reacting to something) then it's odorless.

Yes, diapers shouldn't be all liquid, but they might be. I wouldn't worry so much about the consistency for now. More that there's no stinky gas, no mucous, no visible blood. They should have a sweet smell (similar to butter popcorn). But, just so you know, w/ dbs w/ intolerances it's fairly hard to get to the sweet smelling diapers consistently (at least in my experience).

I think it's totally reasonable to ask daycare to track the diapers. I would make a chart though for them -something that has a place to note: color, smell, consistency (liquid vs. more seedy/pasty), mucous, & visible blood.

As far as doctors, I've learned a lot & got a lot of great info from all of them (ped GI, allergist, general ped., dietician) but honestly, not many of them were worth much (not trying to be rude, just honest) until after ds was 12mths old. I got a lot of guidance here, but learned a lot (a LOT) on my own through trial & error. Most ped aren't that educated re: breastfeeding in general, add in dietary restrictions & most are clueless. My ped GI was a bit more help but again, not a ton (though they both- ped & Ped GI totally supported bf'ing, didn't want me to stop, etc). In most cases, taking db to the allergist isn't reliable before 15-18 mths old. We went for 1st time @ 16 mths old & got a lot of great confirmations. Our allergist offered to do some preliminary testing w/ Tate (my 3rd ds) @ 10 mths old but cautioned the accuracy... we decided to just wait till 15-16 mths old like we did w/ Evan. The dietician has probably been the most helpful overall but a) we only see him b/c Evan was labeled 'failure to thrive' & b) it's helpful info for food directly to Evan, not w/ bf'ing.

Re: Baseline, I'm talking about waiting for visible blood & mucous to stop. Yes, when all stinky gas, mucous & visible blood is gone for 4-5 days you can declare 'baseline'. Then, you can start trialing food one by one. Usually, I would eat it 2-3x/day for 4 days in a row to be sure before I declared it a success.

I had lots of stinky gas myself w/ the turkey as well. Consequently, my ds was intolerant to turkey (took me a while on TED to figure this out). BUT, even now when I eat ground turkey (ie: I made turkey meatloaf last week) I have stinky gas after so maybe it's just a difficult protein for some ppl (you & me lol).

Multivitamin:
The multivitamin is this: http://wholesalesupplementstore.com/daily-total-oneaday.html
They are vegetarian capsules & free of the 'biggies' (milk, soy, gluten, etc). I haven't had any issues w/ them.

Calcium supplement:
The calcium I used to take is just the generic "calciumcitrate+" from my grocery store (or Target). The only thing about these is that one of the inactive ingredients is starch. SO, I didn't start these until Evan started tolerating more foods (although I’m sure many babies could tolerate them fine).

Here's what I take now:
http://www.country-life.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=25&Product_ID=393&CFID=1794275&CFTOKEN=43446469

Hope that helps! Hang in there!

Edited by hellbennt - 23 January 2011 at 3:25pm

~laura~
Jonah 7/03:GERDfree@12mos! Silent Reflux@birth(apnea episodes/NICU);Past Sandifer Symptoms, breastfed->15mos
Ari 7/06 REFLUX FREE, so miracles do happen!

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trigrl
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Posted: 18 June 2009 at 4:41pm

hi claire!

sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you; life is full right now for us!

our problems started at five weeks. when all was said and done with my diet, i found i was able to eat chicken (free of everything, i would recommend going organic with meats if possible. if this is prohibitive, don't worry about it), romaine lettuce, potatoes, quinoa and a simple salad drsg. fruits were terrible on madelyn, but so i would not go out of my mind, i was able to eat organic dried mangoes a couple times/wk. i also found that organic dried apricots were okay too, both in small quantities. i use safflower oil, salt, pepper, and parsely. i've seen that other mother's have been able to use other herbs/spices, but we were not able.

my biggest issue was not only the time it took to constantly prepare my food, but also weight loss. i'm not a big person, and tend to lose weight rapidly after giving birth so this was a huge challenge. i fried my chicken in TONS of oil; seriously, my dh thought it was so gross. whenever i made potatoes (i never found anything frozen madelyn could tolerate, so i alternated b/t mashed and baked potatoes, fried pots, etc), i used a bunch of oil and seasoned it. don't get me wrong, the food didn't taste gross, however, if i was serving it to the general populice, they would be chunky in no time. i also found lay's natural potatoe chips, sea salt. i ate more chips than i care to even admit. if i needed the calories and needed to be able to eat something on the go, these were my companion.

i would recommend cooking a whole mess of food at once, whenever you have your spouse/partner/anyone at home with you. if God forbid i ran out of food, it was terrible. i NEEDED to eat and preparation was not quick. i would make 3 lbs of chicken, 5 lbs of mashed potatoes, and 2 boxes of quinoa at once. also, having lettuce cleaned and even chopped/ready to eat is great. i can not stress enough how CALORIES ARE KEY, plus tons of water! i'm not kidding when i say i drank liters of water a day. way beyond anything i'd every though possible. whenever i lacked in calories or water, i could tell in my milk supply.

sadly, eating became a total assignment to me. i certainly didn't love having the same things all day, but i got to a place of acceptance. i would still have my times typically once a month where i would think 'i'm so done with this diet!!!' and i'd get all my frustrations out to some sympathetic person, then i'd be go to go again. come here when you need support! we are all here for you!

as for milk supply--i have issues whenever i lose weight. some do not. quinoa is great for milk supply. it looks like couscous, but is a non-wheat based whole grain. it is absolutely fabulous for you, a complete protein by itself. you can use it like you would use rice in any dish. i believe most people have found their littles can tolerate this. very easy to digest. i used ancient harvest brand; it is already rinsed so you just have to dump it in water and cook. otherwise, check to see if you need to rinse it.

whenever using herbs for any reason, BE CAUTIOUS. i've learned that the filler for most herbal capsules is either wheat, rice, even papaya leaves. madelyn would go NUTS whenever i took fenugreek or any other herb, even if it was liquid. when i discovered the wheat link, that was an easy fix.

probiotics have helped a whole bunch. we use megaflora, found it at whole foods. with madelyn, we had to really titrate to find out how much/little she needed. turns out she only needs a small sprinkle in some mylanta a couple times a day. when we started this she really did well with her sleep. now that she's 13 mos and we started really introducing solids (at 9 mos), she's waxed and waned with how well she sleeps. i've expected this with new food introduction. she's getting better and better, but i wish i would've started these much earlier. that an possibly enzymes would've helped prepare her intestines for bigger and better things. we have some success with enzymes but am not sure how much to give her yet. we're still working on that.

now i'm able to eat rice, rice pasta (found a wonderful brand that has a great texture/doesn't get mushy...i'll get you the brand later), carrots, squash, sweet potatoe and a few other things i can't remember, lol! i'm going to try her on soy soon, so say a prayer for us

gotta get going--madelyn's up! i will type more later as i can!! you're doing awesome...keep us posted.

ps--this is something i NEVER thought i would be able to do, but also felt very committed to doing. i felt 'cheated' with my first b/c he stopped nursing so soon, and i was determined to nurse madelyn for at least the first year. didn't know i would be doing this, but i have never regretted it.

Gina
Riley 3.18.04 previous refluxer
Madelyn 5.26.08 allergies to dairy, soy, wheat, corn and many other sensitivities; breastfed

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