Milk allergy baby - Mother wasting away!

backy wrote:

without dairy my wife's milk is very watery

Momma milk doesn't work that way. It is hard to gain / maintain
weight when you cut out a whole food group, though. Due to my DD's
allergies, I can't have dairy, wheat, oats, or nuts, so I feel your
pain. All I can say is eat more volume, and more calorie-dense healthy
food (dried fruit is a good one). Eggs, veggies roasted in olive oil,
flaxseed stirred into oatmeal, etc. Some days, I feel like I do nothing
but eat.

Baby is putting on about an
ounce a week and is being slowly weaned on veg and rice.

If you're concerned about the baby's weight gain, breastfeed more. Rice
and vegetables aren't very calorie-dense.

how we can safely test baby with Soya (for mother's diet)

Mom eats soy and watched baby closely for reaction. If none, mom can
eat soy to her heart's content.

(worries about 'neurotoxins' in hypoformula aside)?

Baby's got to eat something, so I wouldn't go worrying about toxins in
what may be an unavoidable food supply.

Phoebe

I'm seconding Phoebe. I'm a bf'ing mom to a 2 year old, milk (and
other) allergic son, so I'm off all that too. I have lost a ton of
weight (this is only in the last 6 months), but still healthy.

Take multivitamins. Get some Alpro Soya milk into the house, or if
you're worried, go for Rice Dream. Tesco carries both. Get some Pure
spread...the organic one, in the blue tub. It's dairy free, and deelish
on everything. We use it for cooking as well.

And load up on olive oil. Good for mom and babe. Avocados. Healthy
fats. And make sure she's drinking lots of water. That might help
some. If you're worried about milk production, have her eat a bowl of
porridge every morning (make with soya/rice milk)...it's known to help
increase production.

And take a deep breath. It's all okay. :-)
--
It's Tis Herself!

"backy" wrote in message
om...
Hi, I'd really appreciate some help! (UK)
Baby girl, nearly six months, BF up to now apart from occasional
formula (in hindsight caused problems) is apparently allergic to milk
formula (nasty reaction 3 weeks ago, lips/face swell, ambulance etc!)
GP told my wife to stop all dairy and sent letter to hospital to get
an appointment with paediatrician. They say it could be SEVENTEEN
WEEKS before we see anyone. However, wife is distraught as she needs
to make a decision about nursery place/return to work etc but more
importantly that the BF is exhausting her and she feels desperate for
some proper advice as she can no longer cope. I know on here the
advice would probably be to carry on BF but without dairy my wife's
milk is very watery and she is, in my opinion, becoming malnourished.
She is 5 foot 7 and now weighs less than eight stone. She is avoiding
nuts etc and I'm at a loss as to what she can eat to gain weight (she
wont eat 'junk' despite my efforts!). Baby is putting on about an
ounce a week and is being slowly weaned on veg and rice. Has anyone
gone private with an allergist/dietician or have any experience of how
we can safely test baby with Soya (for mother's diet) or hypo formula
(worries about 'neurotoxins' in hypoformula aside)?
Thank you very much
worried dad/husband

I agree with what Phoebe and Elana have already said. My daughter is
allergic and we don't quite know what she is reacting to, so I am off nearly
everything! (including, but not limited to: dairy, soy, wheat, corn, pork,
chicken, most fish, shellfish, tomatoes, citrus...) :-) I find the key is
to try to plan ahead a bit, even for snacks. In addition to some of the
ideas offered in the other posts, here are a couple of snack ideas:

- hummus - make it up using olive oil, rather than yogurt. Tasty and an
easy snack with some crackers.
- smoothies: blend 1 cup of fortified milk replacer (soy or rice) with a
banana, some berries, other fruits. Easy, quick and gets in those extra
fruit servings. I add a tsp of flax seed oil for the Omega 3's (on the
advice of an allergy dietitian).
- a fried egg is a quick snack with lots of protein
- if your wife can't eat nuts, seed butters are good: sunflower seed
butter, pumpkin seed butter, sesame seed paste. Top with your favourite
jam. Contains good fats and protein.
- tortilla chips and salsa is tasty and easy

These are just a few ideas to help you get going. I know that when you are
told you can't eat a certain food, it is easy to just focus on what you
can't eat instead of what you *can* eat. In comparison to me, your wife can
eat just about anything! :-) It is just a matter of changing how you think
and digging yourself out of your dietary rut - experiment with new foods.
At first, my husband and I had a tough time. But now it is getting easier
as we get a new set of recipes.

A couple of websites that you might find helpful a

www.mealsforyou.com : the advanced search feature allows you to filter out
recipes that contain ingredients you are allergic to
www.foodyoucaneat.com : set up a profile with the foods you can't eat, then
when you log in, all the recipes will be filtered for that.

I have found some good recioes here, as well as just some inspiration.

Good luck.
Stacey

HI -

Another suggestion is to get on the no-milk email listserv. Ask ANY
questions you've got about being milk-free, dealing with baby's allergy,
mom's diet ... People on the listserv are from all over the place and,
as a group, VERY knowledgeable. (And it won't cause a flood of email,
especially if you get it in digest form.)

I know that there's a good milk-free website based in England, but can't
recall the URL. However, I think that Don Wiss' no-milk website links
to it.

Both the no-milk listserv and Don Wiss' website are linked from my own
web page, listed at the bottom of this message. There's also other
useful information, much of which will be valuable to you even though
it's US-based.

If your wife is worried about losing weight while nursing, she should:

--take a milk-free multivitamin supplement.
--make her own healthy muffins, then freeze them for eating when she
wants them.
--Eat plenty of meat, poultry and fish WITH the fat or even add oil.
--Eat frequently, plenty of small meals.
--Drink TONS of fluids.

I hope this helps,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.