Food Allergies

Reef hasn't "officially" been diagnosed with a milk and soy allergy by a medical professional, but the evidence is pretty clear. If I had waited for the medical professionals to suggest food allergies as one of the potential causes for the irritability, whining, screaming in the middle of the night, runny noses red eyes, and mushy to runny stools, we all would have been out of our minds in misery and frustration. I paid close to a hundred bucks (I like many others in this country don't have insurance.) to be told that his green, horribly foul smelling, unformed stools were nothing to worry about and it could be anything. By all means investigate lactose intolerance, but it could be months before you can tell, they said. I had already taken lactose out of Reef's diet for 3 days with no results. If I had listened to the medical professional rather than my own intuition, I would still be pouring the evil allergens down my sweet baby boy's throat only to see him become sicker and sicker.

Luckily, I wasn't convinced and I happened to mention it to a friend. She said the symptoms sounded similar to what her son experienced when he was close to a year old. Their pediatrician said milk allergy was a possibility. As soon as they eliminated milk from his diet, they saw positive changes. Since the symptoms weren't completely eradicated, they also removed soy. Milk and soy allergies tend to go hand in hand. Wallah. Just from eliminating certain ingredients from his diet, they had a happy healthy boy. I decided to give it a try. Why not? It would be cheaper than taking him back to the doctor and handing over our hard earned dollars for nothing.

Within 6 hours of milk elimination, Reef was a happier kid. His pink eye went away in 24 hours and he was a 2-year-old dynamo again. Why should it take months to figure out if a kid has a food allergy? It shouldn't and it doesn't. Doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other medical professionals food allergies are real. Keep your eyes open for them. The intensity of the reaction and types of symptoms vary.

  It's been about a month, and we're still figuring out what he can and cannot eat, and he is pretty good at getting into what he can't have if we're not watching closely; but, he has gained back some of the weight he lost, he's full of energy, and he's not waking up in the middle of the night screaming in pain as often.  Most of his poops are normal solid stools. Hooray!

Feeding a kid with food allergies is easiest when you keep it simple. Feed them what they are not allergic to and stay away from processed, packaged foods and restaurant foods as much as possible. Personally, I think the fake cheese tastes awful and Reef didn't react well to it. The fake so-called healthy butters all have some variant of soy and many of the margarines have either soy, milk proteins, or hydrogenated oils. Why can't they make dairy-free stuff that is also soy-free, especially since most kids with milk allergies are also allergic to soy?! Read labels carefully. I bought almond cheese thinking it was all almonds. I bought the expensive stuff that tasted like chewy cardboard and then realized that the last ingredient casein was a milk protein. Why did they even bother!

When you are at a restaurant be sure to ask what kinds of oils they are cooking with and what do they add to what you are ordering. I ordered my son an egg and hashbrowns, thinking they would be cooked in oil like I use at home. Nope. They stir butter into the hashbrowns for added flavor and all kinds of milk proteins have been cooked into that griddle top. An hour later, Reef had diarrhea and that night he woke up crying. What's the lesson here? Ask the right questions, and, even better, don't trust anyone but yourself. Take the time to plan ahead and prepare some yummy allergen-free snacks for your kiddo. You'll save money and have a happier kid which equals happier parents.