Getting to the Bottom of Your Child’s Food Sensitivities
SweetPea is almost 10 weeks old, and we’re finally getting to the bottom of her food sensitivities. I wrote about my elimination diet a few weeks back here {Elimination Diet: SweetPea Protests Something in My Breastmilk}, and have written on our son’s eczema here {Dry Winter Skin} and here {Infant Eczem: The Scourge of Winter} and about his allergies here {What Do You Do When You Find Out Your Toddler Has a Peanut Allergy}. SuperBoy is also allergic to eggs, but I’ll write about that separately.
After following a strict elimination diet that meant I ate chicken, fruit, veggies, Udi’s gluten-free granola, and a variety of rice products, and then carefully and watchfully reintroducing foods one at a time, we know the culprit.
Not to draw it out, but to clarify, she had a terrible rash and open, oozy sores on her face, neck, and chest. This was not a question of whether or not her nighttime fussies were food related. This was watching my daughter’s face transform from what was beyond painful to clear in a matter of two weeks, with notable improvements in the first week.
Corn.
That’s what brought back the rash. Corn. And I had been eating lots of organic blue corn chips (my fav) with sharp cheddar melted on top. Lunch, anyone? Add avocado and it’s practically a health nut salad 🙂
So, moral of the story: do a clean diet if you want to learn with accuracy. I would have guessed traces of dairy, but only by reintroducing one food at a time, and then removing it again for two days, and then proceeding, did I figure it out!
Personally, I don’t think elimination diets are a good thing. As long
as the ailment isn’t life threatening, why not let the little one
struggle to adapt or adjust to any food that might be causing a reaction? True,
the acne is probably a reaction to corn, but perhaps she would
naturally get accustomed to the corn and her blemishes would disappear? I know a
baby who had terrible acne. The mother did not go on an elimination
diet and the baby’s complexion cleared up naturally on its own in 3-4
weeks. It isn’t natural to eliminate food from one’s diet, and up until the 19th century few people could afford to do an elimination diet because food was so scarce.
Think about it. Perhaps her stomach just has to get used to corn?
True, she may not be making the cover of baby magazine for a bit, but
in the end she will become accustomed to corn, and perhaps even
greatly enjoy it. I say let nature take its course and allow the child
to develop the proper response to corn, even if she has a temporary acne problem.
Hi Gravy,
Thanks for your comment & insights. I agree that the elimination diet I went on (which was very tough) would be a bit extreme for “mere” baby acne, no matter how painful it is for a parent’s heart to see. As my daughter had severe open oozing sores, it was evident to me and our doctor that this was beyond baby acne. And with a son with ezcema, and allergies, it makes medical sense that our daughter would be a genetic candidate for sensitivities and allergies as well. I hope & trust she’ll grow out of this sensitivity–perhaps her GI tract just needs to develop further. I also saw a huge difference in the swelling of her face, and crustiness of her sores within a few days of cutting out everything.
Thanks for your input!
[…] and benedryl, I guess it’s time. She had food sensitivities to something I was eating back wayyyyy long ago. Since then she eats like a horse–though all 19 pounds of her wouldn’t say it–and […]