December=Hell. Noah's changed from a funny, out-going, and giggly little guy, to an irritable, p.o.ed at the world, sleepless, screaming little guy. He's at an all time high as far as his PPI dosage goes, and we're back on thickened bottles which I now know are a necessity for him.

I'm starting to wonder if Noah needs all milk removed from his diet. This terrible change occured pretty closely with the intro of milk products again, and then has seemed to worsen as we added more milk. For example, he was on a milk and soy-free diet up until I gave him YoBaby. Since it didn't bloat him, I called it good and kept giving it to him. Then, the GI said we could go back to milk-based formula, and I started that. Then, he had us add 2% milk to the bottles, and we are still doing that. It seems like things are getting worse and worse with each addition.

His reflux does not SEEM like its awful at the moment, but its obviously still there and its not like I can see in his little esophagus to check things out. But, the irritability is the big one. I hate that he seems so upset all the time. I mean all the time. I've had him at the ped so many times this months praying for an infection, but he's always checked out just fine. Sleeping is a nightmare as well...and this didn't start until roughly 5-6 weeks ago.

(He does have a fever today, though, so NOW there might be an explanation, but not for all of December.)

Anyways, I'm thinking of going milk-free again. He tolerated soy great for a while, so I'm thinking of trying it again. If I do it, I'm going to completely eliminate all dairy so that I can be sure about the results. Is this a crazy idea, or do you think that its worth a try? I hate to change his diet since he's doing fairly well with his new smoothies, but he's miserable over something. He has no other symtoms that I can pinpoint...

Also, IF I try the soy and need to change the flavor like I do now with the 2% milk, can I use soy milk? Or, is this a question for the GI? Or, should I just stick with the formula and flavor it with puree only? (I do both now, depending on how he's feeling about the bottles that day...)

Maiya also had awful holidays, and it was the milk products i consumed inadvertently. I also wonder, could they be teething???

Maggie,

That sounds JUST like Catherine. She is sooo much better after several weeks of being dairy free. The shrieking is lessened, only 23 hours a day now, lol. Sad when a level of behavior that would make anyone else suicidal is seen as such an improvement. She still wakes 4-5 times a night and is so sleep deprived that she looks sick all the time. Black circles and bags under her baby blues all the time. She's also constipated ... pooping dry rabbit pellets several times a day every day ... and has been since within 12 hours of starting on soy. I remember the same thing happening when she was just two weeks old and we went from BF to soy to Alimentum. We're going to stick with soy unless her GI says differently on Thursday.

Lesley

I'm so sick of hearing, "look at that tired baby. did he miss his nap today?" due to the circles and puffiness. Yes, he's missed a hundred naps!!!! He is forever exhausted. I hope the soy helps Catherine. What's up with the constipation, though? Noah's all stopped up with milk, so I doubt it would be any worse, but rabbit pellets sounds pretty crappy (ha! litteraly...).

Milk constipates her, too, but it's worse with soy.

Maggie, Have you tried goat milk or goat milk formula? I tried soy but that totally constipated Parker. It may be worth a try, it's easier for them to digest. I have used it (and still do) with both my boys.

I noticed the same thing with Sarah. I had eaten alot of christmas cookies- thus alot of milk products and I noticed Sarah was screaming alot more. I have now cut out all milk products from my diet and I think she is doing much better. It is definitely worth a try. I don't know about the formula stuff since I give her expresssed breast milk. Sarah seems ok with soy since I haven't taken that out of my diet. I know that 30-40% of kids that are intolerant to milk are also intolerant to soy. I hope the change works well with Noah.
karie

Definitely take him off milk. Watch EVERYTHING that goes in his mouth. I have a good dairy free list if you want it. Watch out for soy though since he obviously had a reason to be on the hypo.

I'm breastfeeding and had to cut out all dairy and Owen was doing so much better. Now I can have it again and it doesn't bother him but if I give him the german cereal(which has milk in it) or baby yogurt he throws up big time.
It is worth giving it a shot, I hope he will do better and that is your answer to why he has been so miserable.

Lesley-

We've got the rabbit pellet thing going on now, too. Last time he was on soy, he had NO problems with constipation. Why now? He's not even taking any solids right now!!!!

I agree that eliminating dairy may make a huge difference for Noah, but as mentioned be careful with the soy too, just in case it bothers him.

We are doing soy and milk free here for two weeks. We allowed too much dairy into Curran's diet this week and he is right ballistic. We have done milk free before (remember it includes milk, milk ingredients, casein and whey) and this is the first trial of soy at the same time. I am researching what all is soy right now.

We have had the same yucky poops out of Curran for over two years. He has a low RAST to milk and our ped wants us to treat him like he is lactose intolerant rather than allergic. Apparently, you can have both an allergy and an intolerance at the same time. Just found that out tonight. Really, I had no idea. Anyway, DH is scanning our old recipes for milk free again and checking to rid ourselves of soy. Our ped had said she wanted a trial for milk free or treat him as lactose intolerant. We will do milk free and take out the soy as well so we are at a cleaner slate for him for re-introduction. The next two weeks are going to be ROUGH.

Afterwards, we will do gluten free. I do not look forward to that one. No matter how much I bluster about this milk and soy free trial I will cry when it is gluten.

If you can Maggie, get the Out of Sync Child by Doris Rapp. Interesting read.

Leigh-I have a soy free list as well and a soy ingredient list if you need it.

Leigh,

It's actually very easy to be milk and soy free. It become difficult when you get to gluten. Spelt bread isn't good no matter what you do to it, lol!

Leigh-I have a soy free list as well and a soy ingredient list if you need it.

Oh, yes please! We are stuggling here as we are trying to identify everything. It has been suggested that we end up doing the multiple elimination diet. I will post about this separately. We are going through it tonight and basically are crying, but it has to be done. Soy is going to be tough for us as I have not done soy before. We are going through all the packages again even though we basically know where the milk is from doing it before, but surprisingly it has cropped up in some stuff we did not think it was in. Grr.:confused:

Leigh, I don't know how to do that quote thing, but just wanted to correct you.

Out of Sync Child (Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Integration Dysfunction) is by Carol Stock Kranowitz

Is this Your Child? (Discovering and Treating Unrecognized Allergies) is by Dr. Doris Rapp (she wrote the foreword to our book and is one awesome lady, we spoke several times on the phone).

Both of these books are listed in our recommended reading list at the back of our book.

I think you meant for Maggie to read the Dr Rapp book?

Also, I don't want to mention any names and embarrass anyone, BUT as a newborn and infant they had horrible constipation, I mean horrible and the doctor put her on soy formula and it was all that was tolerated for a long time.

Hope that helps.
Best wishes, I know how horrible it must be Maggie to watch little Noah be miserable and not be able to help him....so sorry.
Jean

Omigosh! Yes, Jean! Thanks for correcting that. I have both books and bought yet another one for allergies today. I have quite the library now.:oops: We are actually using the Is This Your Child book to help us do the multiple elimination diet here and that is the book I meant to have Maggie look for indeed.

I have been known to be wrong once or twice before.... (per thread that is...:shock: )

Jean, all you do is click on the "quote" symbol at the bottom of the post you wish to quote and that is it.:-D

LoL Jean...I had to giggle that you're " I don't know how to do that quote thing." *snicker* ok now that I got that out of my system <sigh>

I'm really starting to think that Noah just needs to go back to Alimentum. We thought he was tolerating milk, and I THINK he is tolerating soy, but because he has no physical symtoms besides constant irritability (and I mean constant), its a tough call. I'm terrified that I'm feeding him something that he's intolerant to, although he hasn't given me any clear signs. I just don't know!

I think I need to give the soy a few more days to see what I think. He might be getting sick again. He's spiked two high fevers on different days within the last week, and I'm almost certain it is not his teeth. He puked all day with one, and had diarrhea with the other. Tonight, he was very upset and felt clammy, so I gave him Tylenol before bed. Hopefully he isn't getting sick again, because this doesn't help me make the decision.

BTW, next week, I am going to a NEW, new pediatrician. A friend of my mothers really wants to check Noah out after hearing about all of his problems. They weren't accepting new patients when I tried, but she spoke with him and we got in. I'm really excited, because I've heard he is very compassionate and resourceful, which doesn't describe any of the medical attention Noah has received so far.

Poor Noah. :( I would definitely go back to the Alimentum.

Emma is totally dairy and soy free, (as of three weeks ago when I found out she was MSPI), and she actually slept through the night last night, (8:30-7:15), with no nightwakings. That hasn't happened in 7 months. Hah! It's probably just a fluke. ***crossing fingers***

She has been sick with her kidney infection/UTI the last two weeks and her top two teeth are coming through as well, (the right top is visible...the left is black and blue), so you think she'd be waking from that.....I truly think that eliminating all dairy and soy is helping her tremendously. It's hard because it seems like there is diary and soy in everything, but it's worth it.

I hope that new doctor helps him out.

With my 8 y/o, Jordan, I have noticed that "solid" dairy, such as cheese or pudding or yogurt is tolerated. With dairy cooked in (like cookies/muffins), heating degrades the milk protein, so if it is a milk protein sensitivity, it should be tolerated. I definitely notice a "baby spit-up" smell on her breath with milk and ice cream. My GI said maybe it's the high fats in the dairy, which might explain why she seems to tolerate the cheese, etc. We originally went completely dairy-free, but since we watched things closely we primarily just avoid the milk and ice cream. I don't know about YoBaby - if it is low fat - but that may be something to look at in trying to figure out why Noah seems to tolerate YoBaby but not other dairy. Hope this helps - I know there's a big age difference, but we've been doing this a while, and I remember those days when we were first trying to figure out the diet stuff. And it may be that Noah does need the full-on casein-free diet, but I thought it was worth mentioning what we've been through.