Breastfeeding, EG and Food Allergies

Breastfeeding a child with an eosinophilic condition or plain 'ol food allergies is not the "breast is the best" campaign the nursing relationship normally is. It's complicated, frustrating and down-right scary.

I nursed L until he was 2 1/2 and I truly believe it is why he did so well with his eosinophilia. But here's my deep dark secret. When you breastfeed a child with eosinophilia or food allergies as a good, responsible mother--you are supposed to go on the same diet they are on. I have heard stories of mothers' who drank elemental formula so they could continue breastfeeding their babies.

I ain't that mama.

I have smelled and tasted elemental formula. Care to guess what it smells liked? Vomit. It smells like vomit. Mainly because it's partially digested formula. And what does partially digested food smell like? Vomit.

So after not sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time for over a solid year, I was faced with a decision. Do I keep breastfeeding L and eat only his safe foods and drink his formula? Quit breastfeeding all together and put him on elemental formula?

As I mentioned above I was not going to drink that formula. There is a reason most children with eos conditions end up with feeding tubes. It's because they start refusing to drink this vile stuff. Since a feeding tube wasn't an option for good 'ol mom, I would have to actually drink it. I knew I was not that super mom.

Option B was to only eat his safe foods. This would have looked something like this:
Breakfast: Beef
Lunch: Beef with Broccoli
Dinner: Beef with a side of beef

Turns out I wasn't that mom either. I was already miserable enough trying to cope with a sick toddler, and keep up with his brother(only 20 months older) all while being chronically and seriously sleep-deprived. I couldn't live on 3 foods and try to function as a mother. Not without taking some major medications and I figured those probably weren't going to be good for him either.

The final option was to quit breastfeeding. But that wasn't really an option for L. We tried supplementing with the elemental formula. He had the worst reactions I have ever seen him have. He was writhing in pain. His doctors swore up and down that it was impossible to react to elemental formula. But it is possible. I watched it happen and threw away the rest of that expensive can. Elemental formula isn't a magic bullet. It's loaded with ingredients that L is allergic too. The theory is that because they've "digested" the proteins(allergy causing) it doesn't matter if you are allergic to any of the ingredients, you won't have an allergic reaction. This was not true in L's case. He had horrible reactions to it.

Turns out there was a Plan C. I adjusted my diet a bit but for the most part kept eating like I normally did. I figured that if L's doctors were willing to let him consume foods he was allergic to in his formula then it was better for him to have traces of allergens in my breastmilk than in that nasty formula. I still believe breastfeeding is what stood between him and being a truly sick little boy. It's not a magic bullet either, but in his case my instincts told me that it was the better alternative.

Oh, and the doctors? They don't agree with me at all. So don't go all rogue based on my account. But don't forget to listen to your own inner mom voice either. Oh, and give those sweet kiddo's an extra squeeze from me