Allergic baby? Where to start?

amother

OP ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 4:19 pm

We have food allergies in the family but none of my kids have, except seasonal/environmental allergies.

My baby is 5 months old and has always been sensitive. Eczema that's gotten worse recently, gas, diarrhea, weird foamy or jelly-like stool (sorry TMI), fussiness. The gastro symptoms improved somewhat when I went off dairy.

She's nursing but gets a few ounces a day of sensitive (but milk-based) formula, she won't touch the soy or any other kind. She improved a little more when I stopped eating tree nuts. When I tried eating small amounts of either one (milk or nuts) she got diarrhea again.

Should I skip the formula for a bit and pump for her?

I'm running out of things to eat! Do I need to cut out peanuts? Eggs? Is it worth making myself crazy experimenting? How do I do this? I switched to unscented detergent and soap and use a lot of eczema lotion (OTC) which helps, but not great.

She has an appointment scheduled at an allergist but not for a couple more months, that's the earliest I was able to get her in. I'm afraid to start her on food even though I think she'd enjoy it and sleep better... she eats a lot!

Allergy moms, please help. What else can I do to help her?

amother

Viola ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 4:25 pm

Did you try Hypoallergenic formula like neocate or elecare? It's very hard to figure out food restrictions once just going off milk doesn't help. The only other I would try is removing soy. That often goes with milk in babies.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 6:52 pm

amother Orange wrote:

Oy, poor baby. Honestly I would try to find an allergist who could get you in sooner. Or have your pediatrician order the blood work and do it at any lab this week, and just follow up with the allergist afterwards.

Do they not do skin testing at this age?
Believe it or not I tried a few good allergists and this one can see her soonest…

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 6:53 pm

amother NeonPurple wrote:

If you're vaccinating her, consider holding off.

Ooc, how do you know she has diarrhea? Breastfed babies have liquid poop.

It’s so watery it literally sloshes around in her diaper. When I went off milk it normalized.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 6:54 pm

amother Viola wrote:

Allergy testing in babies is extremely unreliable. Youre better off waiting for your appointment then trying to get one earlier. Once they reach one the testing becomes much more accurate

I know, but I feel like I have to do something at this point!

amother

↑ Orange ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 7:32 pm

amother OP wrote:

Do they not do skin testing at this age?
Believe it or not I tried a few good allergists and this one can see her soonest…

They can do either or both. Allergy testing has been very reliable for all of my infants (a handful of them!).

Eta from my experience with allergic babies, it's far better to do testing sooner, even if is less accurate (which it may or may not be), and repeat testing as needed, than to make baby suffer needlessly. The testing itself is really a tiny discomfort compared to the torture of eczema and other allergy symptoms.

amother

Zinnia

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 7:39 pm

Go to a GI. My baby was allergic to eggs, dairy, citrus, and I had to cut back on soy. Her poop looked like split pea soup and was foamy with streaks of blood. Inconsistent weight gain. Very fussy. Exclusively nursed so I couldn’t eat much of anything. If you need formula, go on hypoallergenic. Soy allergies and milk allergies can go together. But go to a pediatric GI.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 7:52 pm

amother Zinnia wrote:

Why a GI rather than an allergist? BH she is gaining weight very nicely and not as fussy as she used to be, so between her eczema and her response to my cutting out foods I’m pretty sure it’s allergies.
Split pea soup is a great description! When I have milk and nuts (and sometimes randomly) hers looks like that too, but no blood bH.

amother

Opal ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 8:12 pm

Have you had her stool tested for blood? It's an easy test the pediatrician can do. If there's blood, it's more likely allergies but GI allergies, not allergist allergies. The most likely ones are dairy, soy and eggs.
It's also possible that cutting out milk and nuts cut your calories and slowed your milk production. Just frothy and no blood sounds to me like it's possibly just too much milk at once. You could try leaning back when you nurse and only feeding from one side at a time (so you make sure she's getting the fatty end milk that might still be there if you switched too soon with an oversupply) and see if it helps over the course of a couple of days. Notably, this can also cause blood if it's severe.
I've had a couple of pretty bad allergy babies. The most important rule of thumb I think is, is baby comfortable and gaining well. If yes, it's not worth worrying too much about.

amother

↑ Orange ↓

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 8:14 pm

amother Opal wrote:

Eczema is never ok to ignore.

bs00

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 8:17 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thanks! Which hypoallergenic formula is a good starting point?

Alimentum or nutramigen worked for me
Alimentum seems to be the best.
Ask your rav, doesn’t have a hechsher but it technically kosher for babies who need it.
Walmart knockoff version has a hechsher but my baby is more sensitive to it.

amother

↑ Opal

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 8:18 pm

amother Orange wrote:

Eczema is never ok to ignore.

Sure, but you can treat the eczema with cream and not make yourself crazy taking 700 foods out of your diet to see if it helps. I promise, I've been there, all my kids had eczema as babies. I assume also that her pediatrician is aware.

amother

Salmon

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 8:32 pm

amother OP wrote:

My daughter suffered from allergies for many months. She was would have crazy eczema. We did a few sessions of biomegnetic therapy and bh she can eat everything now