Hi Mama's. I'm hoping someone can shed some light for me. Quick story. My baby girl will be 7 months next week. I started her on rice cereal when she turned 6 months, until then she has been exclusively breastfed. she went the whole first week getting used to it and eating it twice a day, almost every day. Then the following week I added green beans to the menu. So she had rice cereal and green beans about a table spoon of both but didn't eat it all About the third day of cereal and green beans, she went down for a nap, woke up and vomited all over the place, poor thing. Big brother was sick with something that made him vomit and she had a little bit of a cold so I just chalked it up to that. She threw up twice within a 10 minute period and acted completely normal after that and continued just breast feeding and did just fine. I waited a few days and tried again this time with sweet potatoes and cereal. Again two hours or so went by and she threw up again until it was all out, twice in a ten minute span and was fine again. The kids have been sick so I've seen the Dr. a lot. She told me to bag solids right now and try again later with the cereal when she was feeling better. So today, I fed her again because she is feeling better now and barely has a runny nose. I just gave her cereal this time, however, she was fighting me on eating it so she didn't have much. When she woke up from her nap today she had thrown up. only once and it wasn't a lot but it was enough to notice. I called the Dr. and they said just forget the cereal and start give her fruits and vegetables, one at a time slowly and then I could either try oatmeal or wait a few months and try rice cereal again. So of course, I have searched the internet and found that this seems to be a common occurrence, its been years since anyone has answered about this though and I'm wondering how it all has panned out. Some just never fed their child rice cereal again, and they did okay with oatmeal. Some switched brands, as it seems to be really common with Gerber (which I am feeding her). Some parents waited until their children were older and they outgrew the rice intolerance. Then I found another, different group of parents who's children had FPIES. In researching that, it sounds like it could be what she is going through as well. Being that rice cereal, green beans and sweet potatoes are common food triggers and that is all she's eaten. The only thing that makes me feel better about it not being that is that she is only throwing up once or twice and once its all out, shes fine. Some of these children throw up forcefully for hours and end up in the ER from shock and dehydration. I am grateful that nothing like that has happened. It sounds like most of these children outgrow FPIES by the age of 3 so its not too big of a deal but I want to get all the info on it that I can. I just think its strange that she tolerated just the rice cereal for the first two weeks along with the green beans the first couple of times she ate it. I am most definitely not going to give her rice cereal again. I think I'm going to let her tummy settle over the weekend and then I will start her on just fruits and vegetables and then maybe in a month or so try the oatmeal cereals by a different brand and see how she tolerates that. I just wanted to see if any of you Mama's could help. Thanks for sticking with me, I know I said it would be a "quick story". :) Thanks in advance, I always appreciate all of the advice I am given on here.
What are you mixing the cereal with? If it's formula or milk - could have a milk protein allergy.
Also, no need for cereal - you can just jump straight to fruits/veggies.
I basically went through the same thing with my son. I very occasionally gave him rice cereal at 5 months and he was ok...by 6 months he would vomit after eating a small amount. It wasn't just rice cereal but oatmeal and granola as well. He'd vomit several times until there was nothing left in him and he'd turn very pale. After figuring out what caused this, I just STOPPED giving him cereal. At 10 months, my mom gave him a gerber strawberry granola mix...it made him sick again.
I too got on the internet and read about FPIES, which worried me. By 12 months, he just outgrew the cereal intolerance and now at almost 2 is perfectly fine with no known food allergies. I'd recommend just holding off on the cereal for now and sticking to fruits/vegetables...mention it to your pediatrician as well. Hopefully it's just something she'll outgrow soon!
There is no reason to give them cereal. In fact, I never gave it to my daughter. Give him some yummy banana or avocado. It's pear and apple season. Yum, yum. Yes, I know veggies first, but I never had any problem starting with yummy fruits, then going to squash ---its squash season!--and then introducing green beans, broccoli, etc. They just need to try it 10-15 times, and then they will eat it.
Also, intolerance and allergies build up over time. So, they may be fine with something and then have problems, or they may have problems and outgrow them in exchange for new problems (my son had a horrible dairy allergy. he outgrew it and replaced it with a peanut allergy!)
When my daughter was 7 months I gave her rice cereal. A couple of hours later she threw up for four hours. I took her to ER and they couldn't find anything wrong. One week later, I gave her rice cereal again, same thing happened. I called my pediatrician and his wife happened to a a pediatric allergist and suggested FPIES. He told me when I took her to ER to have them measure her white blood cells because with FPIES, the body reacts to the new food as an invader and white cells spike, which was the case. They also checked for infection and none was found. The ER wasn't terribly familiar with FPIES so I was relieved my Dr. had info. He recommended to keep her exclusively on breastmilk until 12 months which I did (she had no problems gaining weight and was a happily chubby baby). At 12 months I took her to the pediatric allergist and she showed signs of several allergies in addition to the previous episodes of FPIES. I slowly started introducing safe solids and she was just fine, no more vomiting. I stared with food from the safe list and slowly increased. No more FPIES and when I took her back one year later, no sign of any allergies. She grew out of everything. Good luck to you. I'm glad the vomiting wasn't as severe as my daughters, I'd say skip the rice cereal.
Best Wishes,
M.
According to Ruth Yaron's "Super Baby Food," the best two solid foods to start babies on are avocados and ripe bananas. Just buy some from the produce section of your local grocery store and mash up with a fork. According to the La Leche League, introduce meats or other foods naturally rich in iron instead of foods with added iron, like commercially bought cereals. Here is a good article: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/first-foods.html
C. M., CBE, CLD
Westside Birth Connection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_intolerance
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/foods-allergy-intolerance
I am not of the opinion that people "outgrow" allergies. I am allergic to chocolate. I thought that I had "outgrown" the allergy because I no longer broke out in hives when I ate it. I started eating it almost every work day. I ended up with breast cysts, ovarian cysts, and abnormal Pap smears. I stopped eating it and all those conditions cleared up. I believe the immune system doesn't "outgrow" its detest of certain things, it just changes its response.
I also have problems with grains (rice is a grain), beans (legumes), and starchy food like your daughter. I also have problems with dairy, sugar, dates, pecans, walnuts, and other foods. Below is a link to what I am currently using for my diet. http://paleodietlifestyle.com/
If that doesn't work, there are other diets that are a bit farther from the usual American diet that have helped people:
http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/Raw_...
I'm trying to incorporate the above into my diet since I still have some problems.
Good luck!
Hi--
My kids both have lots of allergies/sensitivities and when western medicine wasn't helping we went an alternative route. Some of the things I have learned from the process may help you now.
1. There are lots of opinions on when to feed solids. The one that makes the most sense to me is what my midwife (who is also a naturopath) told me: start giving solids when the child gets teeth. Teeth coming in is the bodies way of saying that the child is ready to start solids. Their saliva changes to better digest food at that time. Sooo...if your daughter doesn't have teeth yet then just keep her on breast milk for now.
2. There is an enzyme in our body called amylase that digests the kinds of starches we find in cereal. Babies bodies do not begin to make this enzyme before around the age of one. That is why so many children get constipated when they start cereal---because the body simply isn't ready for it. Think about it this way-- before we had ways of processing grains there was no way a child could be fed grains as an infant. However, it is simple enough to mash fruits like bananas and avocados without processing equipment. Feed her things that she could eat even if there was no such thing as processing.
3. I'm guessing someone already told you that she does not need solids until the age of one---all her nutrients come from breast milk until that time and solids are just "practice". Her body is clearly telling you something, and she is even refusing to eat the solids. Trust her to know her own body and follow her lead. My youngest didn't eat solids until he was 13 months (we offered, he refused). Now he's 3 1/2 and he eats just fine. It's okay to let her stay on her own schedule.
4. As for FPIES I'm think it's more likely that she's just not developed enough yet for solids. If she does have the above then she would have other symptoms like puffy/dark circles under her eyes, rashes (including eczema), constipation/diarrhea, etc. Since you are breast feeding she is eating whatever you are eating. If it's food allergies it would have shown up through the breast milk as well (both my boys did).
So, to sum up :-) I think it's highly probably that her digestive system is simply not there yet. If she does have other symptoms like the ones I mentioned above I am happy to discuss with you further some options on helping her as I have been through food intolerance with both my children.
Good luck!
J.
first thing, your doctor is a idiot for even suggesting that you give veggies to a 6 month old. baby ceral is one thing, but veggies.. please. he should be the one to pay the emergency room bill, what was he thinking !! oh, thats right, he was probably thinking of his golf game, or his upcoming "date" with his favorite nurse. heaven forbid that he should actually be thinking of an infants SAFETY ! dont try the child on veggies again for at least three months. i dont think the rice ceral was the problem, but just in case, go back to just breastmilk or formula, then give it at least a month, then try baby ceral oatmeal. gee, can you tell that i have no patience with baby doctors that purposely give parents bad or misleading advice based on some foreign "study".whatever happened to waiting until a child was at least 6 months before trying them on anything other then breastmilk ?
K. h.
