I've mentioned a few times in passing about Ava's tendency to poo through outfit upon outfit, but I don't think I've let on the seriousness of how bad it really is. Last Thursday, we went through four outfits. FOUR. I've had to toss plenty of good outfits in the trash, and many more have been saved only by the magic of Shout! At first I thought we were just dealing with a laundry issue, but after last Thursday's record-setting outfit-changing, I started to think it was more than that. While breastfed newborns are notorious for frequent, loose stools, three-month-olds are not. In fact, all the literature I've read keeps telling me that she should be going less frequently without it being cause for concern, and I keep thinking to myself, Any day now...
Anyhow, back to last week. While it wasn't necessarily planned (more due to my mastitis, lack of appetite, and sheer coincidence), I ended up abstaining from dairy for the better part of the weekend, and shockingly enough, no poo. Not just no watery, gross, spilling-out-the-sides poo, but none at all. In fact, she didn't poo again until Sunday! That night, though, I ate a bowl of cereal, and sure thing - Ava had loose, watery poo again the next morning. That's when I started to take notice. Again, I abstained from dairy briefly, and again, the accidents stopped. Last night I had two bowls of cereal (I just can't live without that Special K Chocolatey Delight!), and this morning, we had a poo crisis! Not only did it spill out of her diaper, but it shot out the bottom of her pants legs, and ALL OVER our carpet. Holy crap (parden the pun!).
On top of that, Ava is small. Not unusually, abnormally small, but compared to other babies her age and other babies we know who were born around the same time, she's pounds lighter, weighing in at just slightly over 13 pounds. Definitely not statistically significant, but it does lead me to wonder if her slower weight gain has been due to her frequent poo diapers?
Moral of this long, drawn-out story centering on poo (ick!)? I have to give up dairy, at least until I can narrow it down and pinpoint what exactly it is that's making her sick.
This leads me now to a desperate plea for help. I am, above all, a picky eater. Soy milk makes me gag, as do the other milk alternatives. I eat meat, though in small quantities and not red meat. I like a wide array of fruits and veggies, thankfully, but am having a really difficult time coming up with things I can eat that a.)don't contain dairy, and b.)don't totally gross me out.
Help! Any and all suggestions, recipes, ideas you want to send my way - I will welcome with open arms! I am trying to use this opportunity to broaden my horizons (and taste buds), but have no clue where to start!
I'll be back tomorrow with some updates I've been meaning to post - apparently when I convinced myself that taking on a second job (my new writing gig) wouldn't be much of an additional burden since I'd be working from home, I was crazy. It's day two, and I've been feeling way overwhelmed. I'm hoping that once I no longer have to work late everyday it'll be more manageable!
Wow. I'm glad you figured this out. It sounds like a milk issue. You might not have to cut out all dairy completely, just milk. Try eating cheese or yogurt and see what happens. But definitely stay away from that milk! Good luck! Sorry I can't be of more help.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting....Asher has been having a lot of poo blowouts recently, but I was blaming the diapers (we switched the other day and now I'm going back to our originals). I'll try skipping milk for awhile and see what happens. He is EBF and usually has 2-3 loose BM every day, but hasn't ever had trouble gaining weight.
ReplyDeleteHmm, my son's reaction to milk isn't this bad (or I'm sure I'd have noticed by now), but maybe you could try lactose-free milk or the lactaid drops before drinking milk and see if it helps? I mean, maybe if she's reacting so strongly, she's allergic and not lactose intolerant (?), but it's worth a shot. My son can't tell the difference between the lactose-free milk and the regular kind.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I'd say whip out some marshmellows and make cereal bars out of your chocolate Special K, and just monitor how she does after you eat yogurt and cheese. How about just avoiding meals that involve milk? Do you like stir-fry (with or without meat)? Or salads with some chicken chopped in? Red beans and rice? How about oatmeal for breakfast? The whole oats (slow-cooking, not instant) also help increase your milk supply! And since you don't like soy milk (I think it's gross, too), maybe soy yogurt and/or ice cream would be good.