Need Help With Other Allergies!

[ptkds]

Hey everyone!

My youngest dd was recently taken off the bottle. She is 13 months old. When she was about 1 month old, she developed bloody diarrhea and was put on Alimentum formula and diagnosed with a milk protein allergy. Then she was having a reaction (though not as severe) to the formula because it had corn in it (we are pretty sure of this at least).

Fast forward a year, and we were given the ok to feed her whatever we want. She again had diarrhea, but not bloody. We gave her whole kernal corn the other night, and she had bad diarrhea the next day. Now she has a bad, bleeding diaper rash. And she has been so grumpy.

So my question is, what can I feed her? I went out and got more Alimentum, and I gave her some bananas for breakfast. I just don't know what to give her. She is always so hungry. She hasn't been diagnosed with Celiac, but we don't have any gluten in the house. So I am already so limited in what to give her. I am so lost right now. Someone please help me! I don't know what I can feed my child, and I just want her to get better.

Thanks,

ptkds

[sarahelizabeth]

Hey everyone!

My youngest dd was recently taken off the bottle. She is 13 months old. When she was about 1 month old, she developed bloody diarrhea and was put on Alimentum formula and diagnosed with a milk protein allergy. Then she was having a reaction (though not as severe) to the formula because it had corn in it (we are pretty sure of this at least).

Fast forward a year, and we were given the ok to feed her whatever we want. She again had diarrhea, but not bloody. We gave her whole kernal corn the other night, and she had bad diarrhea the next day. Now she has a bad, bleeding diaper rash. And she has been so grumpy.

So my question is, what can I feed her? I went out and got more Alimentum, and I gave her some bananas for breakfast. I just don't know what to give her. She is always so hungry. She hasn't been diagnosed with Celiac, but we don't have any gluten in the house. So I am already so limited in what to give her. I am so lost right now. Someone please help me! I don't know what I can feed my child, and I just want her to get better.

Thanks,

ptkds

We have lots of food allergies here

Alimentum still has milk proteins in it... they are broken down significantly but they are still there. Something like 10-20% of children with milk allergies will NOT be able to tolerate Alimentum. So that might have been part of her problem... she didn't react as badly becuase it was broken down but her body still recognized tht it was there. So it might have been milk all along and not corn at all. A good number of milk protein allergies are outgrown by a year. Have you tried her on milk again??

Corn is very difficult for anyone to digest let a lone babies and whole kernal so diarrhea doesn't surprise me. Did she have any other syptoms... rashes (besides diaper), respitory issues, etc?? I wouldn't necessarily think allergy right away unless she had other symptoms. Maybe try a smaller dose of corn... something other than whole kernal and see if she reacts again??

Have you had allergy testing done on her?? Might not be a bad idea to see whta you are dealing with.

Will she eat rice... my kids loved making a mess with rice at that age. Gerber wagon wheels?? Little Einsteins or Dora cereals? Both my kids loved diced fresh fruits and veggies at that age... especially melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, etc), pears, bananas, apples, peas, carrots, green beans, and sweet potatos. You can do hambuger, chicken, ham, turkey, etc... all cut up small for her to pick up and feed herself. Scrambled eggs is another good protein option. HTHs some!!

[mamaloca2]

Hey everyone!

My youngest dd was recently taken off the bottle. She is 13 months old. When she was about 1 month old, she developed bloody diarrhea and was put on Alimentum formula and diagnosed with a milk protein allergy. Then she was having a reaction (though not as severe) to the formula because it had corn in it (we are pretty sure of this at least).

Fast forward a year, and we were given the ok to feed her whatever we want. She again had diarrhea, but not bloody. We gave her whole kernal corn the other night, and she had bad diarrhea the next day. Now she has a bad, bleeding diaper rash. And she has been so grumpy.

So my question is, what can I feed her? I went out and got more Alimentum, and I gave her some bananas for breakfast. I just don't know what to give her. She is always so hungry. She hasn't been diagnosed with Celiac, but we don't have any gluten in the house. So I am already so limited in what to give her. I am so lost right now. Someone please help me! I don't know what I can feed my child, and I just want her to get better.

Thanks,

ptkds

Poor baby! And poor you! I am still new to the who gluten-free thing and don't know a lot about food allergies. We don't really care for the whole brown rice bread but it is good for toast with peanut butter for a filling snack, or jelly or almond butter if she has a problem with peanuts. My daughter loves sweet potatoes for a snack or dessert. They look like yams but lighter skinned. I bake them in the oven at 400 for about 1 hour to 1-1/2 hours and put butter, brown sugar, and cinnamin. Try baking some gluten free (and milk free, presumably) muffins with fruit in them for snacks or even breakfast. Does she like soy milk? My daughter has been drinking that mostly since she was about a year old. She likes it and it is a good sub for milk. Since my daughter and I have been gluten free I have been baking a lot more in order to give us the variety we need and have snacks for on the go. I hate to bake, so I make big batches and freeze things individually for when I need something quick. Best of luck!

[VydorScope]

First you need to get a handle on what your fighting.

Step one. Strip her diet of all foods containing the top 8 allergens :

* Milk

* Eggs

* Peanuts

* Tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts)

* Fish (such as bass, cod, flounder)

* Shellfish (such as crab, lobster, shrimp)

* Soy

* Wheat (I would call this gluten instead of just wheat, but they did not ask me )

Step two, stick with that for at least a couple WEEKS. See if all her symptoms clear up. If they do then proceed to step three...

Step Three, pick ONE of the allergens and add it back in her diet. ONLY ONE. Do this for two weeks, or until she gets symptoms again. If symptoms return then you found a food to avoid for her. STOP feeding that food right away.

Step four: If she reacted to a food in step three, then give her a couple weeks to recover, then return to step three until you have tested all 8 allergens.

That is the most basic and reliable food allergy/intolerance test you can do. Keep a DETAILED food journal as you go.

That will work if she is reacting to one of the top 8. If its not in the top 8, the procedure is the same, you just have to keep stripping food from her diet until all symptoms gone, then add back in new foods at the rate of one every two weeks or so.

You could do allergy testing with a doc, but most ppl here will tell you those test are NOT very accurate in real life usage. Many posters report back incorrect results from them.

HTH

[gfgypsyqueen]

Hi, Sorry to hear your little one is having such troubles.

Mine is also unable to tolerate milk from birth. We spent the last year or so battling blistered diaper rashes, lack of growth, constantly hungry, and being told every imaginable line from doctors (like she is just petite, you can't get Celiacs under age 3!!! and others). Finally she has been tested for Celiacs, and allergy testing will be in a few weeks. I know she has a milk allergy due to the reaction (diaper rash). The diaper rash is her primary sign of an allergic reaction. I literally thought is was just the obvious milk and cheese problem, but recently we found out dairy/casein in all forms is her biggest problem. She never tolerated that allergy formula you mentioned. She used to drink Soy formula and did very well on that. Your child is over a year so you can give her soy milk and rice milk. (Some of them are not gluten-free so check the labels.)I found my child did not like the non-formula milk at first so we started by giving her 1/2 formula and 1/2 soy milk or rice milk. Now she loves soy milk best. Original flavor.

I am not sure what you know about the milk proteins, but I found it an eye opening allergy. Basically, look for VEGAN products to use as substitues for dairy. Somehow the casein does not have to be labeled as a dairy product, but your child will react to it. I bought more non-dairy or lactose free fake cheeses and had to toss them because it contained casein or some other hidden ingredient. Huge waste of money.

If you haven't already, check out the FAAN website. They have info about milk allergies and other allergies. They even have shooping cards that you can purchase ($2) its like a credit card with all the key words for that allergy listed on it. I bought 4 for all the allergies in our house and I would recommend them.

My child loves:

grilled chicken

hamburgers

sometimes steak

Fish is a huge hit.

deli meat and bacon

sabrettes hot dogs (Not sure about gluten-free status)

Soy yogurt (Soy&Co. brand) and smoothies

raisins

rice

veggies

apples and apple sauce

gluten-free pancakes and maple syrup are a favorite for breakfast.

pop tarts

Cherry brooke kitchen makes gluten-free, dairy free, nut free chocolate cake mix that is great. I didn't like the cookies so much and the kids will not eat them.

Oreos (not gluten-free)

Potato chips

graham crackers

cherrios

gorilla munch cereal

Also, talk to your gastro or maybe your pediatrician. My child was finally prescribed a calorie booster supplement by the gastro's dietician. If you need the name, write back. Basically, it is a powered substance that you add to juice or milk and it just gives extra calories to help with the starvation factor while you are getting a diagnosis.

Due to the fact that you are already dealing with some unknown allergens, do not give the baby peanut butter or straight eggs very often if at all. Both can be pretty hard on babies like ours who are already struggling to deal with a hypersensitive system.

Let me know if you need more food ideas or exact brands of dairy free/casein free foods.

[ArtGirl]

I truly understand the difficulty you're facing in trying to avoid corn. I must avoid it also. I have found a lot of help through the Delphi formum, Open Original Shared Link

I would recommend that you check this forum out and ask questions. There are many on that board who are in the same boat you are - children with corn allergies.

Open Original Shared Link has a lots of info and a list of foods, additives and preservatives that are or can be derived from corn. I'll try to locate some of the other sites I've found information on and PM them to you.

Your best option (until you learn more about hidden sources of corn) is to give her fresh fruits and vegetables and make everything from scratch. That way you can be sure of what's in it. And, as with gluten, fresh foods are naturally gluten and corn free.

Good luck. And, if you have any corn related questions, please feel free to PM me.

[Juliebove]

Corn is a super tough one to avoid. It's everywhere in all kinds of foods. So you'll probably have to make a lot from scratch.

As for the formula, I'd stop it. Daughter has allergies to both dairy and soy. There wasn't a single formula she could tolerate. At 13 months you could give her rice milk. Just don't buy the Rice Dream. It contains gluten.

As the other poster said, I would take her to an allergist if I were you. They can do a single blood draw and see what foods she is allergic to. That's better than trying to guess.

[sarahelizabeth]

I forgot to add before... Alimentum is made from corn so if she tolerated that she is unlikely to have a corn allergy.

[ptkds]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I took her to the dr yesterday, and the dr put her back on Alimentum and said to keep her off of all milk protein. I have another ??; Does goats milk have milk protein? It seems like the allergist told me it did, but the pedi said I could use it. I am trying to find something to cook with, and it looks like the only options are goats milk or potato milk.

Also, we have been giving her the Dora stars for a while without a problem. And when we started giving her milk she developed diarrhea, and corn seemed to make it worse. Why would that be? And does that mean it may be safe to give her some corn and just keep her off dairy? I think that is what I will try next cuz eliminating corn is gonna be SO hard.

I forgot to add before... Alimentum is made from corn so if she tolerated that she is unlikely to have a corn allergy.

Actually, only the powder Alimentum has corn. The ready-to-feed does not. When she was younger, we couldn't give her the powder, but the ready-to-feed was fine because it was corn free.

Thanks!

ptkds

[janelyb]

My friend has gone through this with her baby too, just an FYI about Alimentum, the Alimentum liquid ready to feed does NOT have corn...the Alimentum powder DOES have corn in it.

I'm not sure about the milk, I'll ask my friend.

[VydorScope]

When I tried DF for a while, I read some where ( I think on FAAN) that ppl with dairy problems ofter also react to goats milk, so you should avoid that to to be safe.