The Beginning

Hearing my one year old son’s weak cry was all it took to bring me to my wit’s end. I was afraid to feed him and afraid not to feed him. Whatever I gave him seemed to come up or run through wreaking havoc as it passed.

He had developed eczema so severe his skin was cracking and bleeding and a rash that began on his stomach was now creeping up his face.

I had tried goat milk, regular formula, soy milk and juice. Initially thinking it had to be a virus, I had even given him Pediasure® and other vitamin and protein enhanced drinks hoping that would help him recover.

Every night he grew weaker, every night his cry became more silent. He was beginning to look thin and frail, a stark contrast to the chubby baby he had always been.

Our pediatrician and my pediatrician husband were reluctant to jump to conclusions and confused at the reaction he seemed to have to everything. Words like malabsorption, colitis and Crohn’s disease danced around in my head.

I prayed desperately for help, an idea, a miracle. I received hope and determination and made a decision one night that I would learn what I needed to learn to make my son healthy again. I determined I would take him to the best doctor possible and in the mean time eliminate any problems from his diet.

I searched the library and internet looking for information on food allergies and learned as much as I possibly could. I decided milk was a likely culprit and soy was probably right up there with it, but I also decided to eliminate other common allergens as well.

I scoured the formula aisle, certain there had to be something to feed a food allergic baby. I found Alimentum® formula and almost squealed in the aisle. I removed all solid food from his diet and went back to organic baby food and even started processing some vegetables myself. Everything I gave him was certified organic and free of common allergens or made from scratch myself to ensure no undeclared allergens were entering his body.

There was a period of transition, but he was almost instantly better.

After speaking with a pediatric gastroenterologist and being reassured I was taking the proper action, I began a food challenge system. I began keeping a detailed food diary and reintroduced a different food/allergen every week making sure to document any reactions to that food/allergen. If he did react, I gave him a buffer of a few days before trying another substance. I continued this process until I felt that I had narrowed down the problem foods and made steps to eradicate these foods from his diet and even from my home.

I went through the entire pantry and refrigerator throwing away anything containing the known allergens. This was a very cleansing and therapeutic exercise. I felt confident in my treatment of his illness, and was overjoyed to see him acting like the sweet, silly little toddler he was before the onset of his allergies.

By the time my son was two years old, he was chubby and active beyond expectations, and we were able to declare some of the initial allergens safe again.

Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for us, I began to wonder about other families going through this painful discovery process. I decided to keep up with everything I had done to share with other parents struggling with the same issues. Thus the idea for this blog was born.