No Nap Wednesday!

I'm beginning to think I have nothing positive to say anymore. I'm feeling overwhelmed more today than ever. My little man woke up on the wrong side of the crib. He's been cranky all day and fighting naps. Even if I finally get him to nap, he's been sleeping light. Any noise I make causes him to stir and start crying. He wants nothing to do with me but isn't happy when I move around the house. I just wish I knew what he wanted. Because he's tired, he's falling into things including my diamond ring. He's got two big scratches on his forehead. As the holidays start hitting and the days get shorter, I fear it's only going to get worse.

Utterly Confused with Food Allergies

Rash on back

My 11 month old son has issues digesting some form of food. I figure posting about it here might help me organize my thoughts better.

Symptoms:

• Lots of gas
• Screaming in pain until gas drops are given
• Writhing in pain
• Gas issues usually occur in evening or overnight
• Red Dots on skin (back and chest/abdomen)

Possible Causes Issues:

• Gluten
• Dairy
• Amoxicillin (Newly considered)

Elimination Diet & Notes


At the end of October, we decided to cut all gluten out of his diet. Since he barely eats solids/finger foods on his own, he's been relying mostly on formula to sustain himself. The formula he drank, Similac Advance, had dairy in it but no gluten. We gave him cheese as snacks as well as fruits/veggies and other table scraps not consisting of bread. The gas pains went away, and we did not have to give him any gas drops throughout the day. Gluten appeared to be the primary factor.

Four days into his elimination diet, he woke up screaming with pain around 3am. His stomach sounded like a thunderstorm, and within 10 minutes, the gas drops had helped him release some pressure. We tried to evaluate what he ate and figured he'd been given too much Chocolate Chiffon pie. The dairy and chocolate were probably just too much for his system. I was then told by a friend that gluten intolerance can really upset the sensitivity of a digestive tract. With that, even after my son was free from gluten, his stomach could be damaged and sensitive to other strong foods like dairy. So, his gas pains after being gluten free could technically still be associated with the gluten damage from days prior.

Two weeks into November, we decided to cut dairy out altogether. We didn't think he was allergic or sensitive to it, but we wanted his system to have a chance to heal. We switched him to Soy formula and stopped giving him milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. He had also developed a cold and ear infection. He began taking amoxicillan orally.

After a week of no diary combined with no gluten, we decided to reintroduce dairy. On Friday night, I gave him some shredded cheddar cheese in a bowl as a snack. Several hours later, I was changing him for bed and noticed red dots all over his chest. I figured they were related to the massive amounts of drool he had in his shirt. I rolled him over and looked at his back only to find more dots everywhere. The rash didn't appear to bother him at all nor did it feel raised on his skin. To be sure, I gave him some Benadryl and stopped the dairy intake.

I assumed he'd have gas pains on Friday night but surprisingly slept solidly until morning. Before lunch, he had a really smelly diaper. The color was dark green, which is consistent with dairy sensitivities, but it was not frothy or mucousy like a dairy sensitivity. Other than that, the rash was still there but gas was not.

Fast forward to tonight, Sunday, and the rash is still there. My son finished his amoxicillan this morning, so that won't be in his system after tonight. We've noticed his diapers have been really heavy and smelly. I've attributed the heaviness to how much formula my son drinks to supplement his lack of solids eating. The smell is really pungent. I was assuming the smell was caused by the antibiotics he's on. If the smell doesn't clear up after today, I will start getting worried.

So far, I can't tell if he's truly allergic to the dairy or not. Apparently, when someone is allergic to amoxicillan, the reaction can take 5-10 days to appear. So, the reintroduction of dairy couldn't have happened at a worse time.

Plan of Action

My husband and I are going to again visit our pediatrician. We asked her months ago whether or not our son had a reaction to gluten, and her only recommendation was to stop giving it to him. She didn't recommend testing or give us instructions for elimination and reintroduction. I've basically been doing all this "testing" on my own with the help of online friends and the internet. I am very upset that my son is the guinea pig because he deserves to be treated by a real doctor. I'm told there are blood tests that help rule out gluten and dairy sensitivities. I'd like a professional to figure this out rather than me. 

My Son Doesn't Want Me

The past two weeks, my hubby and I decided to go on a road trip to the east coast. We wanted to visit family and scope out our hopeful next move location as a family. Many things happened during the trip, but only 1 thing stuck out in my mind and cut me to the core.  My son didn't want me at all.

The entire 10 days, B wanted nothing but Daddy. He wanted to be in his arms. When he was passed around family (who are like strangers to him), he would arch his back, squirm and cry. It's a natural reaction for people to hand a baby like that off to Mommy. Unfortunately, when he got into my arms, he did the same exact thing. If Daddy got into his sight, he would squeal and cry. Everyone kept commenting that he must be a "Daddy's boy." After carrying him for 9 months, and being the parent most often home with him for the last 11 months, I can honestly say this hurt far worse than any mommy blues I had after birth.

I know each parent dreads the day their child says, "I HATE YOU!" However, I realize that in those situations, the child is just angry about something and really doesn't understand how to voice their opinions properly. In the case of my 11 month old son, he truly didn't want to touch me or be near me. He's not at an age where he is pretending to feel a certain way. During the trip, he proceeded to fall asleep in my mother-in-laws arms and my father-in-laws arms. He has NEVER done this with me. I must release a pheromone that says, NOT MATERNAL!!!

Friends on my mom board have gone through similar things with their children and said it was only a phase. I'm pregnant and hormonal, and it really hurt my feelings. While I'm sitting like a lazy, fat cow on the couch, my husband was on the floor playing with our son. Family members looking at us probably thought my son's feelings were justified. Given my back issues and this pregnancy, I am spending a lot less time sitting on the floor. Things lock up and then I can't stand up. When someone says, "Where's Daddy?" my son immediately looks at my husband. When someone says, "Where's Mommy?" He just looks confused.

When we got home from our trip, my son slightly fell over and bumped his head on the coffee table. While crying, he began crawling to my husband. I said, "See, he's hurt and only wants you." My husband replied with, "Maybe if you picked him up after he hurt himself more, he'd want you too." This set me off emotionally. I got up, went to the bathroom, and curled up into the fetal position on our bed. I couldn't turn the tears off. I just felt like a complete failure. My husband realized after a while that I was gone and decided to bring our son in to see me. This made matters worse because my son didn't want to see me. He didn't want to let go of his clutch on my husband's shirt. Seeing him cry as my husband tried to bring him closer only tore me up more.  It was our wedding anniversary too, so I totally felt like dying.

I just got the impression that I was the evil step-mom to my son somehow. And I also thought about the fact that my daughter will come out and probably treat my husband the same way. In that regard, I just feel like a host carrying these babies to term until they can latch on to their dad. I don't care if it's just a phase. If I weren't pregnant and not the female anyway, this would still be hurtful. I know there are many babies who have issues bonding with their dads. I didn't think the same was true for their moms. Being rejected by my innocent little baby has probably been the hardest issue I've ever had to face in my life.