BFing a baby with multiple allergies, what can I eat?

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

I'm currently BFing DD2 (4 months) who has been diagnosed with CMP, soya, egg and wheat allergies.

I'm really struggling with what to eat, so far all I've had today are oatcakes with dairy free spread bad marmite.

Dinners are fine as I cook from scratch but struggling with breakfast and lunch.

Any advice would be great, tia.

[TiredFeet]

Going through the same (and did with ds1 too!). Its tough, hang on in there, the allergy clinic said breastfeeding will probably lessen the severity of allergies

A few tips

• free from pasta and you could use oatly cream as the base for a white type sauce
  
• orgran egg replacer and doves farm flour with pure sunflower spread make fine subsitutes in cake recipes
  
• oat milk/rice milk/coconut milk on cereals (healthy or non healthy - cocopops are dairy and soya free )
  
• some mrs crimbles cakes are fine (eg dutch apple cake)
  
• Bessant and Drury's (coconut based) ice cream is dairy and soya free and yummy
  
• do you have/could you get a bread machine? My dad makes me fairly good bread using sunflower spread/oil and free from flour when we visit...
  

Will try and think of more

[TiredFeet]

Oops most of those suggestions are unhealthy

What about porridge with an oat milk or similar?

Lunches, how about - potato salad, jacket potatoes, sweet potato

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

Thanks, there are some really great suggestions, and much healthier than I'm eating at the moment (only managed crisps for lunch yesterday).

I guess forward planning is the key - easier said than done with a baby and a toddler though

Really hoping that breastfeeding does lessen the severity, DD1 had CMP which she grew out of when she was 1, so hoping for a similar outcome with DD2 - although her reactions do seem worse.

[TiredFeet]

It is really hard, and you do have to be so organised. I gave up when I went back to work last time as if I forgot lunch the only safe food I could buy was ready salted crisps and sweets!

Ds is still cows milk and egg allergic (among other things) at 3 but he has outgrown wheat and soya which is a massive help. Dd (8 months) is allergic to all four you listed and its a massive pain!

Goodness direct is a good website if you are happy to buy things in bulk (delivery costs are highish for small amounts)

[nickelbabe]

you're okay with nuts ?

then you csn yse hazelnut milk and almond milk as substitutes in rice krispies or cornflakes.

you can also have bird's custard powder (use almond milk for that) with free from cakey things.

and if it's just wheat and you can still have gluten, then oatibix and porridge are fine. too

[nickelbabe]

and yes yes to the bread machine :)

[Knackeredmum13]

Is it really necessary for you to cut everything out of your own diet? I was told there was no need for me to do so by the allergy specialist George Du Toit.

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

Tiredfeet glad your ds has outgrown some of his allergies, hopefully that's an indication he'll grow out of the others? I'll check out Goodness Direct, buying in bulk is fine - DD2 is a bottle refuser, so I'm in for the long run! But yes, eating out is really hard - ime it's best to stick to chainy-type restaurants that have allergy information to hand and stick to a stricter process when preparing food.

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

nicklebabe yes nuts are fine, I love the idea of custard and cake, I've been craving stodgy comfort food I've never really eaten cereal (preferred a savoury breakfast) and assumed it would contain dairy and soya, but pleasantly surprised to see I can have lots of Kelloggs - off to buy some crunchy nut this morning, and will definitely look into getting a bread maker.

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

knackeredmum13 it's really interesting he told you that, was it recently? As I thought it was accepted 'across the board' that the allergens do pass through to breastmilk. I have been told by a couple of GP's it doesn't - but that opinion was always met with eye rolling by allergy specialist, who claimed it was very important to cut out all allergens so the breastfed baby/toddler had zero exposure.

[TiredFeet]

Our allergy clinic's advice was to cut out allergens if they caused a reaction through the breastmilk, but it was fine to eat if they didn't

So dd reacted (eczema) to milk and soya through breastmilk, but seems fine with me eating the other things she is allergic to

If they don't react then the advice seems to be that it is a good idea to still eat the allergens as it may help the child build up a tolerance

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

Tiredfeet did you get allergy testing done? The hospital DD2 is under (NHS) refuse to test as the reaction itself forms the basis of their diagnosis, which is frustrating as I would ideally like something more 'concrete'.

[TiredFeet]

DS had an anaphylactic reaction at 6 months (first week of weaning!) So he had blood tests while we were still in hospital and then skin prick tests at 7 months. He had lots of positive skin prick results and also non-Ige reactions (eczema) to wheat and soya

Because of ds's history and because she developed eczema as a baby dd was referred for pre weaning allergy tests (skin prick) at 4 months. None of dd's allergies showed up in skin prick tests, hers are all non-IGE (and cause eczema).

I'm surprised they're not going to do pre weaning skin prick tests for other allergens (eg nuts, fish etc) and also to give you a clearer idea what's going on

(We are nhs hospital too but they are a leading teaching and research hospital for paediatric allergies)

[Knackeredmum13]

We saw our allergist this year so yeah the advice was recent.

[ShineSmile]

OP, out of interest, could you kindly tell me on what basis they did the diagnosis? I'm not doubting it, I'm just curious.

We are also dairy, soya, egg and wheat free. We save dr marsh at the evelina, and he said we should both be avoiding it. I don't think I have the courage to introduce it into my diet, incase she reacts to it.

I find breakfast and lunch the most difficult too. I tend to cook extra for dinner and have the left over for lunch.

For breakfast, koko (coconut milk) milkshake, with either banana and dates, or avocado, or any other fruit.

I also have BFree bagels and wraps from Asda. I'm not too keen on the bagels but they are ok. There is a hazelnut and chocolate spread free from gluten (natures store brand) and that is yummy. You can probably get from health stores.

Warburtons Newhouse do a seeded wrap which is all major allergen free too, and it is nice. I keep some in the freezer, and then defrost it, put some humous and waitrose have got some Israeli falafels (in their kosher section), I put those too and some mango chutney, and it is pretty yummy. I've also made some homemade burgers and I just take them out of the freezer and fry them.

Tesco also sell some DS rolls (freezer section) and that's the best bread I've found so far.

For chocolate and biscuits, tesco do free from digestives, made from oats. They've also currently got this new range of biscuits and chocolates from America, I can't remember the name, something life. There's also moo chocolate drops which are nice. But by far, the spread I mentioned above is the tastiest.

We also have nakd bars.

If you can have egg in baked goods than that would make your life a lot easier, because a lot of the gluten free products have egg and nuts in them. Apparently 80% of babies can tolerate egg in baked goods. I gave cake with egg to my DD and she seemed ok, but them started waking up at night a lot, and I don't know if it was that or something else (it's so hard to know), so I've stopped it for a while. But if you can have egg in baked goods, then:

Newhouse (warburtons) lemon poppy seed muffins are yummy!
Sainsburys free from range has muffins, cake, lemon slices etc
A whole range of gluten free breads

---
For main meals, we have alot of rice based dishes, and gluten free pasta and lasagne.
For cheese, there is cheezly soya free, from Hollands and Barrets
In place of cheese sauce, I place Oatly cream.


Once your LO is weaned, you might be able to get a few gluten free stuff off prescription, ask your dietician. All the best

[ShineSmile]

Also gluten free oats from tesco and coconut milk, with a dollop of honey is quite nice too for breakfast

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

Shinesmile thank you - there's loads of really great suggestions there - I'm going to write them down and head to the supermarket!

I like your idea of freezing things too, as it would be great to know there's always something 'quick' for me to eat in the house.

DD2's diagnosis was just through my account of how she reacted after doing illumination tests. If I suspected she was reacting to something I cut it out for a week, then reintroduced it and waited to see how she'd be. When I saw the consultant I told him the symptoms (congestion, facial rash, stringy offensive smelling poos, colicky-behaviour and vomiting) and how soon after exposure to the allergen they occurred and this is how he diagnosed her.

I'll try baked egg, as iirc DD2 seemed fine when I ate free from cakes which contained eggs.

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

Knackeredmum13 do you mind me asking how/when your DC was diagnosed? Was it when they were weaned? It would be interesting to know how the specialist you saw could explain the reactions DD2 had when I eat one of the allergens I mentioned in my OP and how her symptoms seem to disappear when not exposed to one of the aforementioned allergens.

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

*when I ATE

[ShineSmile]

Also forgot to mention you need to have calcium supplement too and should get your vitamin D checked too and give LO multivitamin drops too

[ShineSmile]

And it also seems a good idea to give LO probiotics - evidence is slowly emerging that it is good for babies with allergies.

[ItWasMyOwnSilence]

Thanks, I take a calcium & vitamin D supplement, I'll speak to HV about giving vitamins and probiotics to DD.

[nickelbabe]

you really donmt need a calcium supplement c

[nickelbabe]

sorry, tablet posted while still loading psge.

there are loads of calcium-rich foods (including pulses, herbs and green veg), and the fake milk also has calcium in it.

[Knackeredmum13]

My DS was referred because he had horrific eczema from about four months old. He had skin prick and blood tests and has multiple allergies.

We see George Du Toit who is one of the leading allergists, certainly in the UK, if not the world. He may give you different advice if you see a definite reaction in your baby to things that you have eaten. I can only go by what his advice was for me.