Before worrying about adding foods to the mother's diet, I would want to know why the baby if failing to thrive.  Have the allergies gone undiagnosed for some time and caused malabsorption issues?  Has the mother had supply issues all along?  Why does the mother want to add foods back to her diet, other than convenience for her?  (She'll have to control their use as the baby gets older, anyway, so sometimes it's easier to just "clean house" for everyone.)  *The FTT needs to be addressed first and the mother liberalizing her diet would be something to worry about down the road, IMHO.*

Food allergies in a baby this age are tricky to diagnose and, my understanding is, if he was diagnosed by IgE, that sometimes when the body is in a hyper-responsive state, many IgE values will be high.  She may be reassured that sometimes some of the foods in a multi-allergen list like this become more tolerable as the child grows.  For a mother looking at this restrictive list as a lifelong situation, it can be overwhelming and I have even seen parents who resent the child at some level because it can be hard work to determine workable meal plans in the beginning.  I'm grasping for answers to the FTT problem and the emotional response to the allergies may/not be part of the issue.

Nursing 10 times a day really doesn't tell me anything.  I would go back to the basics like you would with a newborn.  Is the baby transferring milk???  What are the diaper counts like?  Stage 1 fruits and veggies are not exactly the best choice of nutrient-dense foods.  Next to assuring an ample milk supply that is actually transferring to the baby in adequate amounts, the mother might see if the baby will tolerate lean ground beef or chicken (assuming it's an egg-only allergy and not poultry).

Even with this list of (possible) allergens, the mother has many food choices left.  Wheat is not the same as gluten, so that leaves a variety of grains available.  Meat is not on the list.  There are good alternatives for "milk"...some folks are a bit hesitant to use tree nut products if a peanut allergy exists, even though the peanut is a legume.  Hemp milk comes to mind as an option (sorry, no active compounds <g>), or oat milk, even coconut milk.  There are the almond and cashew milks as well.  Is she allergic to cow's milk only?  A particular protein therein?  Intolerant of all dairy or only fluid cow's milk?  Is there a good RD in the area who is breastfeeding-friendly to help with the allergy issues?

I guess there are more questions than answers, but the burning one is how to resolve the FTT after determining the cause.

Rebecca DeYoung-Daniels, MBA, RD, LD, IBCLC in KS and mom to a kiddo with more food allergies than you'd want to know!

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