My son is 4 months old.. he has acid reflux and is on Zantac for it and it SEEMS to be working. We also thought he might have a dairy sensitivity when he was a newborn so I gave up dairy and then re-introduced it and nothing really seemed to change about his behavior. He has super sensitive skin and can get very dry if I don't keep up with it w/ Aquaphor. I've noticed that after he takes a bath he would get really red and splotchy and have since discovered (atleast I think this was it) that the Aquaphor 2-1 Shampoo/Wash was what he was reacting to. Anyways, over the past month I've noticed he scratches his eyes and head, especially when he is sleeping (not distracted by other things). He also has red under his eyes which I have read is a sign of an allergy/sensitivity. He is a VERY active baby and sometimes can get hyperactive even though I pay very good attention to his sleep cues, so I don't think the hyperactivity is related to him not sleeping. (he goes to bed at 7 p.m. and last night slept until 5:45 a.m. w/o waking). I've started him on rice cereal and he is still breastfeeding. (I am solely pumping so he feeds from a bottle) My question is, what would you do? Would you do an elimination diet? Would you just pay attention to his reactions as you start to introduce solids? I also recently posted that I figured out that the nipples on my born free bottles smelled and tasted like soap from the dishwasher (Cascade) and I think he was reacting to those chemicals as well... when I tasted them, it made my mouth itch.
I've had my allergies tested in a non-invasive way and I'm tempted to get his done because I feel like why would I want him to react to something versus knowing what he's sensitive to beforehand.. but it's also super expensive.
Sorry I'm all over the place.. I just want to do what's best for him and feel like it could be so many things that I'm driving myself crazy. Any advice would be very helpful.
Thanks,
My son (2.5 months) and daughter (2 years) both have similar reactions to dairy. I know you said you gave it up, but were you careful to also give up butter? For some reason that seems to be the huge instigator for them, including cookies and other baked goods with butter in them. Soy can cause a similar reaction.
My kids had trouble with the rice cereal. Maybe you can wait a couple of months and try it again. You can try adjusting what you eat. My kids all had trouble when I ate dairy. You can get allergy tested and clearings with acupuncture for relatively cheap. Find a good chiropractor or homeopath/natural pathic doctor. Sometimes if they clear you, your child will do better. I had my dairy allergy cleared and my son stopped reacting to it. Good luck!
My son (now 10) has super sensitive skin. If he scratches himself he will get all red. I had to get past it or I would have driven myself crazy. That being said, he does have allergies (nuts, peanuts, soy, outgrew eggs) we have eliminated the nuts but have chosen to ignore the soy since it is in everything and his doctor has told us he never heard anyone dying from the soy. (Obviously we avoid tofu, soy milk, etc). We also went straight to oatmeal since we were told rice can cause allergies. Don't know if I was helpful but if I got worked up everytime he was splottchy I would be insane by now.
i would get rid of the rice cereal and see if it clears up and if so try oatmeal mixed with your breast milk. make sure his bottles are steralized if you have a dish washer run it with the bottles and nipples in it without soap. um for his dry skin try the j&j senstive skin along with there body wash and shampoo they work well for dry skin. and what dairy products is he eating? i wouldnt give him yogurt or cheese or milk or anything just yet
I totally understand your frustration, and it sounds like he definitely is allergic to something(s). I struggled with breastfeeding and allergies with my son. He had multiple food allergies- some serious- and I don't think I would have ever figured out the exact combination on my own. He had horrible colic- screaming in pain, spit up bad after breastfeeding, green frothy stools- it was terrible. What did I do? I gave up breastfeeding when he was 4 1/2 months. Seriously, I just couldn't take the screaming any more. As soon as I gave him formula, the colic subsided (he is NOT allergic to diary). I always said if I had of known that it would fix the colic and other digestive problems, I would have introduced formula a long time before! There are just some cases were breastfeeding is not best, and in my case was one of them. I subjected him to months of torture when I didn't have to- I felt guilty for forcing the breastfeeding on him after we finally had him tested. :( Before I get hate mail, I am not discouraging you from breastfeeding in any way. I am just giving you my personal experience.
When my son gets those red circles under his eyes, then he has been exposed to something he's allergic to. They are called allergic shiners. With his sensitive skin, I gave plain baths- no soaps except for California Baby super sensitive skin wash when I needed to wash his hair. Also, no perfumes in any of the detergents, including dryer sheets.
My pediatrician finally recommended an allergist when he was 11 mos old and had a very scary reaction to some egg. We found, among other things, he had a potentially life threatening allergy to eggs. I am not sure about your allergist, but mine doesn't typically take babies younger than 6 mos, so may have to wait. Just don't do any high allergy foods, and introduce one food at a time slowly over the course of a couple of days.
Also, I always hand wash my bottles. The dishwasher always leaves behind some residue. If you do wash in the dishwasher, make sure to rinse them again thoroughly before giving to baby. I also sanitize as an added precaution.
Hope this helps!
I would look at your diet and see if you are giving him any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It's very easy to pass it along in the breast milk as I did with my VERY active daughter. Now at 4 we finally know that she's allergic/intolerant of artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It looks/sounds as if he is sensitive to chemicals so I would highly recommend checking out www.feingold.org before your life gets a whole lot harder if he is sensitive to those things. Congrats on your baby!
H.
