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Hi, all! I have been devouring as much information from previous posts as I
can but my son is asleep so I figured I better post before he wakes up from his
nap. I’m not sure where to begin but it seems like a lot of you have similar
experiences and I need some advice! My poor husband is tired of hearing about
it. My son has not had specific reflux issues although all of this starting with him spitting up large amounts out of nowhere…About two months ago my 4 month old son started spitting up, became
incredibly fussy, congested and eventually had small amounts of blood in green
mucusy poop. Before all of this there had been no signs of difficulty (other
than forceful letdown) in our EBF relationship. I of course took him to pedi for
blood in his poop and she thought it might be a milk allergy. At that
appointment he also had a small bumpy rash starting on his cheeks and she
advised us to put aquafor on it and said that it was most likely from saliva.
Ok, great. I take dairy out of my diet for a week (because that’s the length of
time she said to) his poops turned back to normal the day after the bloody poop
so I started to reintroduce dairy after a week. Two days later more blood in his
poop and his rash is getting worse on his face. A couple of days after that he
had a horrible reaction to chili that I ate and I said ok, that’s it. I’m
eliminating all main allergens (dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and I
don’t eat much wheat) and we’ll go from there. We were continuing to put aquafor
on his face and it wasn’t really getting better. Fast forward ten or so days
into my elimination diet and I cheated with vanilla coated popcorn (I know, mom
fail) and the next day we woke up to a HORRIBLE eczema reaction, spit up, etc. I
decided we needed to try something different for his skin and went and bought
Aveeno eczema therapy. Well, this made his eczema ten times worse and it ended
up looking like this:
By this time he also had a similar rash forming on his chest. So, I took him
to the pedi and she diagnosed him with a MSPI and eczema and gave us a
corticosteroid because he was just SO inflamed. Steroid cleared him up
immediately. We have since started using cetaphil and CeraVe lotion. I obviously
only want to use the steroid when absolutely necessary. So, I am not eating
dairy, soy, including all hidden ingedients and peanuts because she said soy can be hidden
in some peanut butter, etc. I have never looked at so many labels and done so
much research in my life. All of this would be great if it was actually helping
his skin, but it’s not. We went to the pedi this past Monday and he has had
another flare up since Friday on his face legs, hands and stomach. So, we wake
up this morning and his back looks like this:
It turns out that my husband used the Dreft detergent that someone
gave us instead of our Ecos organic detergent that I use on our clothes and his
cloth diapers. Could this have caused this reaction? Does this look like
anything your babies have had? It is completely calmed down now and just looks
like little small bumps all over his back and belly.I am so lost, depressed, frustrated, committed, unsure, every feeling you
have all probably felt. I feel like a failure that is causing my son harm
because I won’t give up BF. It’s not making for a very pleasant household right
now.I guess I just need some direction for where to go from here. Should I do a
TED? Should I take him to an allergist? He’s still having mucous poops but no visible blood. He’s not overly fussy and is sleeping well for a BF baby. The LAST thing I want to do is give up
BF. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And I’m sorry if this is the wrong place for me to be posting but I’m really thinking that I need to a TED and need the support.Hello and welcome! No, this is not the wrong place to post your question!
And NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT… you are NOT a failure!!! You are an awesome mom!! The word “committed” stood out to me! That’s the kind of moms we need to be! I am totally impressed that you won’t give up breastfeeding and are willing to go without so many foods for your baby’s sake. Don’t kick yourself when you cause your son to be in pain from something you ate! I lived with this guilt for years with my children. Many nights when I paced the floor with my screaming baby, I would ask myself “Now what did I eat or feed them that I shouldn’t have?” I cried many desperate, guilty tears!!
My first son constantly had skin rashes and he got such bad diaper rash at times that his skin would be bleeding. We used cetaphil soap and I think we used Dreft soap. And I think that the stuff we used for his rash was the corticosteroid.
Your pictures didn’t show up so I can’t compare to what my children’s looked like.
PLEASE don’t give up breastfeeding unless you feel like you have to! There are several things that I would start with! Yes, I would start with TED!
Is your son on any kind of meds for reflux? I personally don’t recommend meds unless you have to use them. But for some babies they probably need meds.
Have you tried probiotics and/or digestive enzymes with your son?
Before a baby is born they have no probioitcs which are the good live bacteria (also known as gut flora) that coat and protect the entire digestive system. A baby picks up their first dose of probiotics while coming down the birth canal and the second largest dose they get is from colostrum. If a baby is born by c-section, doesn’t get any or much colostrum, or mom or baby has antibiotics (antibiotics kill probiotics), then these babies will tend to have more digestive problems. But for most babies it takes 3-6 months for their body to get their probiotics built up so this can be why a lot of babies have painful spit up. When the protective coating of probiotics is low or depleted then the reflux coming up the esophagus can be really painful.
Digestive enzymes are made in the pancreas and “sent over” to the stomach to aid in breaking down our food. All foods have natural enzymes in them to break them down but when a food is cooked or processed then the enzymes are killed. For some babies it can be hard for their pancreas to have to make so many enzymes right away if the mom’s milk is made up of a lot of foods that are enzymes deficient. So when their isn’t enough enzymes in a baby’s tummy to break down their food properly then the stomach will produce excess acid to try to break it down. This excess acid kills probiotics. So, the intestines can also be depleted of probiotics and become raw, inflamed, and even bleed.
At ages 1 and 3 my boys had both been on anti acid meds since a week old and we were able to stop the meds when they started drinking alkaline water.
At ages 2 and 4 they were avoiding many foods, drank only water, and rarely slept all night long with out tossing, turning, or waking up from pain. And this is when someone suggested I contact an internationally known nutritionist that focused on digestion. He is the one that taught me about probiotics and enzymes.
Within several days of my boys taking a probiotic/enzyme supplement they started consistently sleeping through the night pain free. Within several months I started adding dairy and other foods back into their diet.
Are my boys cured? No, but as long as they drink their alkaline water and take their pills they are 95% better and can eat anything. If they eat hot dogs, summer sausage, corn, or drink/eat straight dairy products I give them an extra pill or 2.
Many a nursing mom has found that if she will take probiotics and enzymes, (and some moms will give them directly to the baby too) her milk will be more broken down and easier for baby to digest and makes for a happier baby.
I am not saying that probioitcs and ezymes would cure your little one of his problems but I do believe that it could very likely help him at least some.
hi & welcome! You are doing THE BEST job, Mama!!!
One thing that you might want to do is the Total Elimination Diet (TED).It’s ‘just’ 2 weeks and after that time you introduce foods back in – but not the major foods! Not milk, soy, legumes, nuts, wheat, etc.please read:best EXPLANATION OF FOOD ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCES and their RELATION TO REFLUX that I have found, to date: 2nd post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=2
Misconceptions about how Neocate & Elecare work: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6013
Reasons a breastfeeding mother might think her baby is reacting to something in her milk:
*poop that is not ‘normal’ mustardy yellow, seedy breastfed baby poop
*mucous in poop; mucous can look like: snot, jelly, cottage cheese, stringy like the inside of a banana
*foul-smelling poop
*stinky, foul-smelling painful gas
*straining and grunting to poop and, when baby finally does poop, it’s soft
the TED takes two weeks and then you start adding foods in to see what you CAN eat.
Research all you can! You are your baby’s best advocate!
Look for all posts by Erinntx! (be SURE to read her ‘sticky‘ – the link is below)
More
here’s some more light reading for you
MSPI ‘Main’ page:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697
best EXPLANATION OF FOOD ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCES and their RELATION TO REFLUX that I have found, to date: 2nd post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=2
Misconceptions about how Neocate & Elecare work: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6013
THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT:
More
Great anne post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9242Exposure to foods & blood testing: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12993
Sheri’s allergy/intolerance explanation: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10223&PID=87638#87638
Another Sheri explanation- intolerance/allergy post:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11579&PID=97442#97442
Accuracy of allergy testing & great post by sherri explaining IgE and IgG (intolerance/allergies) https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10815
(sue again, replying to gina- breastfeeding info to (TED)https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11324&PN=1probiotics, brands used:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8970&PN=1
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12781&KW=enzyme
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12610&KW=enzymehttps://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12227&KW=enzyme
Post from me:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12200&KW=enzymebabywearing SAVED US!
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1044&PN=1http://www.thebabywearer.com/forum
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