It’s been two weeks and two days of nursing…how is it going?
Really well, I think.
I *think*.
The last 4 days Mr. Happy has been showing some slight eczema on his cheeks. (Which could just be some heat irritation or something he rubbed his cheeks on that is bothering him.)
He’s had a few diapers that had a little bit of mucous in them. (But the weather has been weird and the whole family is sort of mucousy right now.)
The last 5 nights he’s woken up much more frequently to nurse. (Instead of his 8:00 p.m. bedtime feed, followed by midnight, then 4:30 a.m., then 6:30 a.m. and up for the day, it’s been more like every 2.5-3.5 hours all night long. Not a big change, but noticeable, though it could just be a growth spurt.)
He’s had a tad bit of spit up, but it hasn’t concerned me very much at all; most babies spit up a little bit, and this is just a little bit. (The first time I was nursing him after he was born, he spit up CRAZY amounts. Like, saturate one or more burp cloths daily and change his clothes a few times every day. Now? I don’t even remember where the burp cloths are.)
But other than those four slightly concerning symptoms, he’s a fantastically happy baby!
So, I think he’s doing well on the elimination diet.
The ‘back of my mind’ concern hinges on the eczema and loose stools. That’s exactly what Mr. Charm was like after I eliminated dairy, soy and egg from my diet. SO much improved that I accepted the supposed ‘fix’ without question, and now find myself questioning whether that was truly the ‘fix’ I thought it was. (As you may recall, Mr. Charm was put on this elimination diet, too, so we could perhaps discover what other foods are troublesome for him.)
So I don’t think, at this point, that Mr. Happy is having any sort of FPIES reaction to my diet. But I am wondering if he’s having what his brother has/had: some sort of other irritation to…something.
It’s a good thing I like the color grey, because I’m living in a grey area right now!
We will keep watching him. I won’t feel comfortable adding any new foods to my diet until he has been at least 4 weeks nursing again, and preferably if these slight symptoms disappear.
I really hope his cheeks clear up and his diapers start looking good soon. It’s taken 6+ weeks to get there, but I’m starting to have some food cravings. Adding to my diet would be glorious right now! (Spaghetti sounds SO. GOOD. I can hardly stand myself.)
I don’t think you need to eliminate anything from your diet. A little mucous in the stool of a breastfeeding baby is normal. If the poop was bloody or black regularly there might be reason for concern but otherwise not an issue. Ask your doctor if you’re worried. And eczema in infants is also normal most likely due skin sensitivity not food.. Do you use lotions on baby or use a pacifier or wash the baby more than once or twice a week? Try rinsing baby’s cheeks with warm water only no soap and put a dab of a+d diaper ointment(the clearish gold colored kind) or lanolin nipple ointment on the irritated patches and they should clear up. Basically though if your baby is nursing well and gaining weight and happy I would say you are doing everything right if there were some kind of reaction to your breast milk your baby would not be so happy. So don’t worry so much about an occasional mucousy stool or the very common red cheeks that babies get your just stressing yourself out when you don’t need to.
Thank you so much for your encouragement! It seems like stressing out over little things has become the norm around here. We don’t use any lotions on him at the moment, and only bathe him every 3-4 days – infants don’t get that dirty, after all! He refuses a pacifier, so no worries there. Bath time is also a water only deal.
We’re just watching and waiting…tonight he had a BIG spit-up, sort of reflux-y, but again, too soon to tell. He’s teething and possibly coming down with a cold, so that could explain everything.
It’s nice to get some feedback, though! Thanks for stopping in!
My son has had eczema problems and the doc told me to put a thin layer of hydrocortisone on the spot twice a day for 10 days. After about 3 days I was frustrated because there had been no change and it was spreading from his cheek to his chin. In an attempt to keep it from spreading further I started putting vasiline or A&D on top of the hydrocortisone, and also on the rest of his chin and other cheek where drool was contacting regularly. This has made such a tremendous difference. All the spots on his chin are cleared up and the one on his cheek only shows in really good light and can’t be felt at all. I will continue with the hydrocortisone for the full 10 days (3 more) but I think I will continue the protective barrier until the teething drool is over.
Hi, Heather! Teething drool is amazing, isn’t it? It’s like…science fiction drool. Hydrocortisone never worked for us, either. A&D works great! But now I need to investigate the ingredients in it before I’m comfortable giving it to Mr. Happy. If he wiped some off and swallowed it (teething, after all), well, that could be bad if the ingredients aren’t safe. Thanks for the reminder, though! I keep forgetting to do that. Glad to hear your son’s eczema is clearing up. It’s so much nicer when they have that nice, smooth baby skin, isn’t it?
Mama