ive never been someone who checks the food labels on products before buying
them, never been interested in the calorie content, how much sugar or fat is in
a product. if i looked good i bought it and ate it.
now i find myself walking round morrisons with my head in a daze wondering where to even start. when finley was diagnosd with cows milk protein allergy at 7/8 months and then wthin 24 hours a soya allergy also, meal times as i knew them completely changed.
until that point, weaning had been fun; trying hin with different fruit and vegetables, eating a whole slice of toast and then asking for more, wolfing down his yoghurts like they were going out of fashion. but the more foods we introduced the more his symptoms became apparent. it started with blood in a runny poo one day, the gp wasnt concerned and said he'd probably just had an uset tummy. although the blood didnt make many more appearances, over the fokloiwng 3 weeks the poos became more filled with mucous and then runnier by the day. it would explode out of him, all over his clothes, up his back, down his legs.. it was everywhere. he would be sick frequentlty throughout the day, just looked like watered down milk, didnt bother him when he brought it up but it soiled even more clothes. then to top that off was his little cough, wheezy chest, runny nose and of course his eczema. even after a 1lb loss in a week the gp kept saying it was just a bug and he was probably almost clear of it.
The final straw came the friday when we travelled to birmigham to meet some of our lovely friends. we took 4 outfits with us that day and by the time we walked through the front door he was just in a nappy. i decided that night to stop all dairy. it was the only thing i could think of. so off the formula, we went back to breastfeeding and over the next 24 hours we had nothing that contained dairy. he was sick a few times, but 36 hours later we had a poo that was on the way to being solid.
we moved gps and saw a new one first thing monday morning who prescribed him soya milk. after protesting over him having this due to associations with infertility, we were advised to give him back the dairy for 2-3 days then take in a poo sample for lactose intolerance testing. apparently he was unable to prescribe anything else due to it being too expensive. 1 bottle and he threw the lot up all over me and then screamed for an hour. i called my hv and broke down. we saw her that day and she advised us to give him the soya milk until she coud get another milk sorted, agreeing with me that he shouldnt be on it long term, not just because of the infertility risks but also as it is not recomended for under 1s.
within 24 hours of introducing soya his little body was covered in the worst eczema break out he has had. it was so red and he was just so unhappy with himself. again i called the hv and said i just couldnt do this to him. we were referred that day to a dietician for an urgent assessment and the gp prescribed us the 'expensive' hypoallergenic formula.
it took almost 2 weeks for his symptoms to clear, not fully but almost and by this point my head was buzzing with what foods he couldnt have. it quickly became clear that anything tomoatoe based was what had been causing the screaming episodes and tummy ache so that was also swiftly executed from his diet.
so here we are, 2 months on and i feel completely and utterly ovrwhelmed by meal times. i can spend 30 minutes in a shop reading labels before i have had enough and have to leave, usually emprty handed. the symptoms come and go as we try new foods and it seems no 'bread' product is agreeing with his little sensitive body. we have so far ruled out bread (due to soya content), bagels, crumpets and pitta bread due to sickness following them and then this weekend dairy and soya free bread has left him with another eczema breakout and swelling around his eyes.
i feel useless as a mother. i cant even prepare a meal without it sending my head into a spin. of course he never goes without and we are managing to maintain his weight now but i want to go back to the days were we just picked foods up and gave it to him, not spy him out the window about to eat his cousins dairylea dunker and have to dive out the door to take it from him because no on else seems to take it seriously. "he'll grow out of it"
so plan of action, focus on what he CAN eat.
gone are the days where we can eat freely, but hopefully we can get some fun back into meal times and make them feel like less of a chore.
xx
now i find myself walking round morrisons with my head in a daze wondering where to even start. when finley was diagnosd with cows milk protein allergy at 7/8 months and then wthin 24 hours a soya allergy also, meal times as i knew them completely changed.
until that point, weaning had been fun; trying hin with different fruit and vegetables, eating a whole slice of toast and then asking for more, wolfing down his yoghurts like they were going out of fashion. but the more foods we introduced the more his symptoms became apparent. it started with blood in a runny poo one day, the gp wasnt concerned and said he'd probably just had an uset tummy. although the blood didnt make many more appearances, over the fokloiwng 3 weeks the poos became more filled with mucous and then runnier by the day. it would explode out of him, all over his clothes, up his back, down his legs.. it was everywhere. he would be sick frequentlty throughout the day, just looked like watered down milk, didnt bother him when he brought it up but it soiled even more clothes. then to top that off was his little cough, wheezy chest, runny nose and of course his eczema. even after a 1lb loss in a week the gp kept saying it was just a bug and he was probably almost clear of it.
The final straw came the friday when we travelled to birmigham to meet some of our lovely friends. we took 4 outfits with us that day and by the time we walked through the front door he was just in a nappy. i decided that night to stop all dairy. it was the only thing i could think of. so off the formula, we went back to breastfeeding and over the next 24 hours we had nothing that contained dairy. he was sick a few times, but 36 hours later we had a poo that was on the way to being solid.
we moved gps and saw a new one first thing monday morning who prescribed him soya milk. after protesting over him having this due to associations with infertility, we were advised to give him back the dairy for 2-3 days then take in a poo sample for lactose intolerance testing. apparently he was unable to prescribe anything else due to it being too expensive. 1 bottle and he threw the lot up all over me and then screamed for an hour. i called my hv and broke down. we saw her that day and she advised us to give him the soya milk until she coud get another milk sorted, agreeing with me that he shouldnt be on it long term, not just because of the infertility risks but also as it is not recomended for under 1s.
within 24 hours of introducing soya his little body was covered in the worst eczema break out he has had. it was so red and he was just so unhappy with himself. again i called the hv and said i just couldnt do this to him. we were referred that day to a dietician for an urgent assessment and the gp prescribed us the 'expensive' hypoallergenic formula.
it took almost 2 weeks for his symptoms to clear, not fully but almost and by this point my head was buzzing with what foods he couldnt have. it quickly became clear that anything tomoatoe based was what had been causing the screaming episodes and tummy ache so that was also swiftly executed from his diet.
so here we are, 2 months on and i feel completely and utterly ovrwhelmed by meal times. i can spend 30 minutes in a shop reading labels before i have had enough and have to leave, usually emprty handed. the symptoms come and go as we try new foods and it seems no 'bread' product is agreeing with his little sensitive body. we have so far ruled out bread (due to soya content), bagels, crumpets and pitta bread due to sickness following them and then this weekend dairy and soya free bread has left him with another eczema breakout and swelling around his eyes.
i feel useless as a mother. i cant even prepare a meal without it sending my head into a spin. of course he never goes without and we are managing to maintain his weight now but i want to go back to the days were we just picked foods up and gave it to him, not spy him out the window about to eat his cousins dairylea dunker and have to dive out the door to take it from him because no on else seems to take it seriously. "he'll grow out of it"
so plan of action, focus on what he CAN eat.
- he inhales fruit so no problems there.
- vegetables he enjoys too.
- chicken
- sausages
- jelly
- pasta
- rice
- potatoes
- fishfingers
gone are the days where we can eat freely, but hopefully we can get some fun back into meal times and make them feel like less of a chore.
xx
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