My DD seems to have a problem with soy and dairy - and now rice cereal. It's driving me mad! She's up at night with gas pains. I'm afraid to give her new food. When does their digestion start maturing, to where I can try these things again?

P.S. How can my little 1/4 CHINESE baby possibly be allergic to rice and soy?! That's insane! ;)

By Ginny~moderator on Sunday, November 7, 2004 - 02:47 pm:

I would talk to the pediatrician. Definitely she could have problems with dairy - a large percentage of the Chinese population does have problems with digesting dairy (I am guessing it is genetic). As for soy and rice cereal - no idea. But, two of my sons had digestive problems and had colic. With the first, I was nursing, and was so frustrated at his constant pain and crying that at times I cried myself. With the second I had a different pediatrican, was again nursing, and the pediatrician said he had an immature digestive system and to give him one drop of a prescription of phenobarb on his tongue before nursing. Voila - no more colic and by the time he was six months old he had no more digestive problems (and the first outgrew the colic by about 5 or 6 months). The third was allergic to breast milk and all mammal milk and was on a soy formula.

By Trina~moderator on Sunday, November 7, 2004 - 04:12 pm:

My youngest couldn't tolerate cow milk protein as an infant. She was breastfed, so I had to cut dairy out of MY diet. Once we got her GERD (reflux) under control and cut out dairy she was a MUCH happier baby. She did OK with soy and baby cereal. She did OK with whole milk at about 15 mos.. She's currently 6 and still does fine with milk.

Both my kids have severe nut allergies. I suggest taking your DD to an Allergy specialist. A good resource is FoodAllergy.org

By Daniellesmom on Monday, November 8, 2004 - 01:19 am:

The funny thing is, she didn't use to have any problem with anything I ate. It just started at about 3 months when I ate ice cream and that night was crying in pain. Before that, she never cried unless she needed a diaper change or was hungry!

By Trina~moderator on Monday, November 8, 2004 - 06:51 am:

Food allergies are very strange that way. They can turn up at any time for no apparent reason. On the flip side, it's possible to outgrow them, too. An allergist will be very helpful.

By Kim on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 12:06 am:

Great advice above..........Kayla had these symptoms also. When we realized she had GERD and got it treated she also got much better! She also has allergies. She colicked for....a year?

UUUGH. I don't miss THAT. Definitely discuss with dr.