living with kids with allergies group

[Khloeee]

I've been thinking about weaning a lot recently. Any tips for BLW when they want something you are eating that they can't have? I know the whole point of BLW is that they eat what you eat, but because I'm determined to get to the bottom of Arlo's food allergies, I am going to be really anal about introducing new foods slowly, and obviously he won't be having any dairy, soya and probably wheat for a long while yet.

But what happens when he wants something he can't have? This shouldn't be much of a problem at home because we have aready adapted our diets to fit in with him. But thinking about the holidays we have planned with family over summer, they will all be eating bread and cheese etc and I feel bad that he won't be able to join in and worried that he will feel he's missing out. Or is he too young to care yet?

Also starting to realise that I am going to turn into a complete control freak over his food. Currently he is fully BF so I can control everything. I absolutely hate the thought of other people being able to pass him food and that I might not know about it. I feel that with weaning will come a loss of control and it's scary as we've not yet sussed out all his food allergies and I am sure there are more.

Sorry for the rant! Think MIL has set me off. Been feeling terrified about this since OH told me that she said to him 'well, I'm going to feed him an ice cream on holiday'. This was just after OH had explained that I don't want him to have any sweets or added sugar until after 1 (or longer!) and I would like to be the one to give him his first icecream/lolly....let alone the fact that he is allergic to dairy. Pffft.

Can I just wrap him up in cotton wool and have him never leave my side??

 

[Arcanegirl]

Mils are annoying! mine has been slow to get on the bandwagon with Alexs food but were getting there with her.

Alex has never eaten dinner with us (we eat alot later) so hes got used to his food is his and not ours. He tries to offer us his food and i jsut say no thankyou, Alex eat it

If he wants something were eating that he cant have, I just say no and offer him an alternative. Hes so far been happy with that.

 

[sun]

Khloeee - Bun was BLW and he weaned quite late (7.5 months) due to his allergies which were just getting sorted out from 5-7 months. But I found at first they are too young to care about food that they can't have and can be easily distracted if they do. I also didn't introduce wheat until he was over a year and bought some pretty good brown rice bread for toast (looks like regular bread) - he actually prefers it over regular bread now as it was what he was used to for so long! I would use quinoa pasta instead of regular too, so he really didn't know there was a different kind of pasta/bread/option out there. Since I was also BF, I was still eating no dairy so he could pick at my plate without me having to worry.

I also have treats in the house - we have cashew butter cookies and larabars (fruit and nut bars) which he loves and I can keep if we go out as a treat or if someone else has cookies. I find it is much harder now as he is aware that other people are eating something he isn't and he wants that. Even if he and I are eating the same thing, he wants both! But I can still distract him with a rice cake or something else he can snack on usually.

BLW is great! Once we got over the initial hurdle, we loved it! xx

ps: I was a maniac about what food he was eating - salt content, sugar, etc. But I have loosened up so much - and it's been really good for both of us! I make all his food except for the treats I mentioned above and the occasional pre-packaged food from the health food store. But I did the same before he was here, so it isn't weird to me! That said, Bun is almost 17 months and your LO is much younger. When I was first introducing food, I stuck with rice (rice alone, rice bread, pasta, congee) and made sure that was ok before going onto other GF grains (like quinoa), then non-GF (barley), then ancient wheats (kamut, spelt), then wheat itself. He doesn't eat wheat as our house eats spelt, but I wanted to know that he could!

 

[Jemma_x]

Connor had a mix of blw and traditional weaning. Were the same as Ag we eat alot later but if were out and he wants something were having i tell him no and give him something else

 

[Khloeee]

Thanks sun, that's really helpful. Is it best to wait until 1 year to introduce wheat and other common allergens or was that personal choice? I really wanted to talk to a
dietician about introducing food as I have no clue and HVs just gave vague advice of 'start with carrots and broccoli and introduce foods slowly'. I just really don't want to cause him any damage and feel like I'm out of my depth here. Have asked hospital for referral to allergys department but not sure they are going to give us a referral.

 

[Arcanegirl]

Random...but i just had a sudden worry about Alex not getting enough vitamins, and forgot how much added vits and minerals were in his formula

 

[sun]

I waited to introduce gluten as there is celiac in OH's family. The docs haven't been very helpful with Bun other than telling me "to continue doing what I'm doing". But I'm pretty sure he's ok with most other foods now - it's just the dairy. When you're first weaning it's hard though as most food doesn't go through the BM so I was paranoid that he would have problems with everything. Also when they are first eating, their systems are just getting used to digesting food rather than milk so it's hard sometimes to know whether it's just their body learning about food or whether there's actually a problem.

I waited until around 9-10 months before introducing gluten (but I'm sure he had it before then as I don't buy GF everything and gluten is one of those things that is in so much) I introduced nuts/peanuts really early actually. I wanted to wait a year before peanuts, but I didn't even think about the fact that I use peanut oil and so he had peanuts almost from day 1!! Other allergens I kept a close eye on initially were soy, eggs, and strawberries. I also introduced beans slowly (he loves them) as they aren't the easiest to digest generally. xx

 

[sun]

Random...but i just had a sudden worry about Alex not getting enough vitamins, and forgot how much added vits and minerals were in his formula

I give Bun Kindervital (by Floradix) because I worry about this!! He only BF 1x/day now and doesn't get any formula! xx
I mostly worry about calcium though.

 

[Arcanegirl]

I saw that one, but it says from 3 years upwards on the instructions.
Im a bit calmer now, ill just panic when they decide to stop prescribing his milk

 

[billy2mm]

finally got a hold of the dietician and she is going to speak to a colleague and see about getting him back in for another app in the "next couple of months"

she was asking about his diet and thought his nappies could have been caused by too much fibre but surely too much fibre would constipate him not make it more runny?!

i asked about getting him testes but she didnt seem to want to say yay or nae on that one so we will see.

ive spent the last 2 days researching breads and flours again and i want to cry. i really need to make my own bread for him as im struggling with money but a)i cant find a fairly priced bread mix and b)i cant find all the flours i need to make my own coz i give up with the doves flour mix - no one seems to rate it and tbh its cheaper to buy to them separately and make your own.

 

[Khloeee]

I waited to introduce gluten as there is celiac in OH's family. The docs haven't been very helpful with Bun other than telling me "to continue doing what I'm doing". But I'm pretty sure he's ok with most other foods now - it's just the dairy. When you're first weaning it's hard though as most food doesn't go through the BM so I was paranoid that he would have problems with everything. Also when they are first eating, their systems are just getting used to digesting food rather than milk so it's hard sometimes to know whether it's just their body learning about food or whether there's actually a problem.

I waited until around 9-10 months before introducing gluten (but I'm sure he had it before then as I don't buy GF everything and gluten is one of those things that is in so much) I introduced nuts/peanuts really early actually. I wanted to wait a year before peanuts, but I didn't even think about the fact that I use peanut oil and so he had peanuts almost from day 1!! Other allergens I kept a close eye on initially were soy, eggs, and strawberries. I also introduced beans slowly (he loves them) as they aren't the easiest to digest generally. xx

OH's cousin is celiac so it is a worry for me too. Think I'll follow a simliar route to you and introduce all the low allergenic foods first.

 

[sun]

AG - That's strange! The one I get you can even give under a year! He really likes it mixed with his smoothie in the morning!

This is the one I use and it has a dosage from 6 months to 2 years:

https://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cg...ital_For_Children__from_Salus_Haus_500ml.html

 

[billy2mm]

oh and i saw in morrisons this morning alpro are now going a milk for 1+years for kids with dairy allergies.

dont know what the difference is between that and normal soya milk and i didnt have the time to peruse the box as i was in desperate need of a coffee and bacon sarnie lol but thought some of you might find it useful

 

[Khloeee]

I saw that one, but it says from 3 years upwards on the instructions.
Im a bit calmer now, ill just panic when they decide to stop prescribing his milk

Which formula is he on? Not getting enough vitamins and calcium into him is another worry of mine. I'm worried about everything at the moment!

 

[Arcanegirl]

Hes on neocate

 

[buttonnose82]

Little Man has neocate also, he is breast fed so we just use the neocate for food (making his ready brek or custard etc)

 

[Mumof42009]

Been to see dietician today and still none the wiser plus the list of things go on, I've now got to keep Adi off the following eggs, nuts (which would have never gave him anyway), Tomato based things and don't try soya again. Also been told to avoid things with Salicylates in them I was also told that his formula should never have been changed because he is possibly reacting to that. The Dietician needs to discuss things with Adi's consultant and then get back to me because he wants him to have an Epi-pen.
Hope eveybody is ok xx

 

[Jemma_x]

Connors on neocate but also has abidec vitamins and a calcuim supplement. Were waiting on blood results to see what his iron levels are like. Weve got the diatician tomorrow and then back to see his consultant next thursday. Hoping to get more advice on the wheat allergy and whether we can get wheat free foods on perscription

 

[Arcanegirl]

I think you can Jemma...my mil keeps pushing for us to get prescription food but were fine with the items weve found atm

 

[Jemma_x]

Yes we can get perscription food, usually its only perscribed to patients with cealiac disease but because his diets limited there going to do it us on perscription thankfully