Response to Grace's comment

PD reader Grace left the following comment the other day:

i had just commented on a previous post regarding soy lecithin.... this is before i read the rest of your posts regarding MSPI. wow. thanks for all of your information and for sharing your journey. the letter to the ombusman was particularly frustrating.

my son is 3 months and have had occasional blood in his diapers. my appointment with the specialist is not until april and i called to see if i could at least speak with her. basically, she said that if the blood is occasional and he's growing ok, then we can just ignore the problem. i've actually cut dairy, soy, and eggs and i have still seen traces of blood occasionally. when i told this to the specialist, she said don't worry about eliminating it because ultimately, its not that harmful. if i want to see the blood stopped, i can switch to the formulas that you had mentioned.

since it seems that you and your family had such extensive experience, i just wanted to ask for your thoughts on that before i go in for the appointment to see whether i need to pursue it further, etc. how often did the blood occur and did it affect her behavior and weight significantly?

my baby had weight issues in the beginning and that was largely due to a poor latch. right now i'm giving him breastmilk through a bottle and he's been gaining fine.

any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated. again, i commend you and your wife for all that you've done.

grace

Thanks for the great feedback Grace, it's wonderful to know that I've been able to help. We didn't see any weight issues with Zen Girl. We did notice some behaviour issues, but nothing serious (which caused some confusion considering how unhappy Curious Boy was). The blood was sporadic, and only in trace amounts.

My advice is as follows: if the specialist says not to worry, don't. Especially if your son is growing well and is happy. Going on a near-total elimination diet is very difficult, although it can be done - and we can help.

Have you also eliminated soya bean oil and soya lecithin? Those don't irritate kids as frequently, but can still be a concern. If you get pressure to switch to formula, try eliminating more stuff before changing tactics. Some MSPI kids react badly to the formula, and you can risk losing your milk supply.

You can always reach me privately to continue this talk at philosopherdad [at]gmail.com

Good luck.

MSPI: Comments and Updates

Philosopher Dad reader Grace just left a wonderful comment about her 3 month-old son who has MSPI. It reminded me that I haven't been keeping everyone up-to-date about how Zen Girl is doing.

Actually quite well, thanks.

Her diet now includes:
apples, peaches, pears, carrots, zucchini, squash, oranges, bananas, broccoli, chicken, cauliflower, turkey, lamb and prunes.

Yesterday we started barley. If you've been keeping score, you'll recall that we found blood in ZG's diaper after trying rice cereal in November. We haven't tried any carbs since.

Here's hoping.

2007 in Review

As 2007 rapidly draws to a close (WHOOSH!). Oh. Right. Missed that one. I have been deliciously unplugged since my last post, which means that I have managed to miss all of the stupid top ten lists and falling disco balls. It also means that I haven't been able to keep letting you know how we've been doing.

Actually quite well, thanks.

Zen Girl can now safely eat carrots, applesauce, squash and pear. Her iron levels have stabilized and she's sitting rather nicely.

Monday is a pivotal day. We are going to introduce lamb into her diet. She needs a source of protein, fat other than breast milk, but the iron in it is critical.

If she can tolerate lamb, than we are essentially out of the woods for the time being. As Zen Girl's palate broadens, so hopefully will Philosopher Mom's (who is carrying on as valiantly as ever).

The Continuing Story of Zen Girl's Food Intolerance.... the iFood Edition

We are declaring that carrots are a success. We saw two pinprick-sized spots of blood in Zen Girl's diaper this week, but there was no corresponding change in behaviour and the blood was not persistent and did not worsen.

This means that it's time for a new food, and I wanted to be sure that we could give it to her for a few days before the holidays (when speaking to/seeing an actual staff physician is impossible).

So tomorrow moeining, applesauce.. here's hoping.

Total elimination diet - CNN.com

CNN.com ran an article a few weeks back written by AP journalist Rebecca Boone, who had to go on a Total Elimination Diet (TED) to deal with her infant daughter's food intolerance.  The article is an eloquent account of the struggle and stress of being the parent of an MSPI (and more) child.  Rebecca eats only organic turkey, rice and squash.

On our end of things, the Philosopher Mom has been eating fish for a week.  So far, so good.  

Nursing an allergic baby, Mom goes on 'total elimination'

CNN.com

It's all French to me

Now that grad school and paternity leave are done, I'm back at work - and somehow I still can't find time to post.  

Quoi de neuf alors?

First, an update on Zen Girl's health:  Philosopher Mom remains on a  very restrictive diet, having eliminated dairy, beef, soy, nuts, fish eggs and legumes.   She tried introducing eggs a few weeks ago but there was blood in ZG's diaper almost immediately. Very frustrating.  ZG is such a good kid, and sleeps so so much that she was only feeding four times a day, and as a result started to lose weight.  She now eats about seven times a day, and is gaining nicely.

Autre chose:  I've decided to speak French exclusively to the kids.  We live in Quebec, and I want them to be as bilingual as possible.  The ZG is having no problems.  At 5 months old, she doesn't understant much anyway.  With Curious Boy though, it is a challenge.  The kid loves to talk with us, and all of a sudden, he doesn't understand a word I say.  Frustrating for both of us.  He's already starting to pick up some words.  I have a feeling that this will get easier very quickly.

ParentHacked Again!!!

Thanks to Asha over at ParentHacks.com for posting my hack about using Quik to get kids to drink hypoallergenic formula.



There are very few resources for families dealing with Bovine Protein Intolerance, and a lot of misconceptions. For example, it is NOT an allergy, and having it does not mean that your child has a greater chance of having allergies.



Although our son has grown out of his intolerance (as the vast majority of kids do), I am still busily compiling lists of things that breastfeeding moms and kids with BPI can eat.



Stay tuned.







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