> ( i am posting with prior listmother approval and stand to gain  
> nothing financially in so doing)
>
>>>> In working to help breastfeeding mothers, a new hurdle is  
>>>> becoming increasingly more frequent for many lactivists: food  
>>>> allergies. I can't even count how many mothers have found their  
>>>> way to me via word of mouth because their babies have been  
>>>> diagnosed with food allergies and mom is at a loss about how to  
>>>> find and prepare safe foods. Many mothers have felt it simply  
>>>> isn't worth the hassle and have put the baby on formula so they  
>>>> didn't have to restrict their diets. Every time one of these  
>>>> mothers tells me how overwhelmed she is at trying to figure out  
>>>> how to find food without dairy, soy, egg, wheat (gluten),  tree  
>>>> nuts, peanuts, shellfish and fish, I can relate.
>>>>
>>>> Two yrs ago, my own baby was born w/ severe food allergies,  
>>>> including most of the main ones as well as corn. His corn allergy  
>>>> is so severe he can't have even a trace of it and it's in  
>>>> everything. All children's medications, almost all mass-produced  
>>>> foods, hygiene products, it's everywhere. I remember when all the  
>>>> tests for cancers and metabolic disorders and all the other  
>>>> terrifying things the pediatricians feared were the cause of his  
>>>> weight loss and failure to thrive came back negative and the food  
>>>> allergies came back positive, I wanted to be relieved. But all I  
>>>> could think was, "How can I eat and breastfeed him safely?"
>>>
>>>> "What will i feed him eventually, when he starts solids?"  
>>>> Everyone advised me to put him on elemental formula and stop  
>>>> breastfeeding. This being my 5th exclusively breastfed baby, I  
>>>> refused to even consider it. It's very fortunate I didn't,  
>>>> because as he grew, his corn allergy became so severe, he would  
>>>> be allergic to all of the elemental formulas (corn based) as well  
>>>> as the soy and dairy ones!
>>>>
>>>> It took me over two years of eating the same safe things made at  
>>>> home over and over to finally get him to full health. It took two  
>>>> yrs to realize all the hidden terms for corn, all the ways I was  
>>>> still exposing him when I'd thought I had eliminated it all.  
>>>> Every step of the way, every nutritionist, dietitian, doctor,  
>>>> diagnostician we consulted, I asked the same thing: "Can you just  
>>>> give me a sample menu that actually shows meals w/ all the  
>>>> allergens and corn eliminated? Do you have a list of safe  
>>>> products I can refer to?" Nobody could help me. It was way too  
>>>> time-consuming, way too complicated.
>>>>
>>>> Now I hear the same thing every time I meet another mom in the  
>>>> same boat. "If I could just get some actual meal ideas - if I  
>>>> just knew what exactly to look for ... where to find it..." This  
>>>> is such an incredibly overwhelming issue to deal with when you  
>>>> have a miserable, reactive baby and other children to deal with !  
>>>> I put the entire family on the elimination diet as it was just  
>>>> easier than cooking different things for so many people and  
>>>> risking cross-contamination for the baby.
>>>>
>>>> In the last two years, my baby has been healthy and happy for  
>>>> exactly 2 months. Okay, they call it 'terrible two' for a reason:  
>>>> if demanding, spoiled and completely entitled = happy, then he  
>>>> is :-) ! For the last two yrs, he hasn't slept at night, he  
>>>> hasn't stopped clawing himself bloody, he's looked like a baby  
>>>> vampire and he's hardly eaten. He's been so sickly and miserable,  
>>>> I told one Dr. if he was a cat I would have put him to sleep by  
>>>> now.  Finally eliminating all the allergens by finding realistic  
>>>> meals I could make and sticking to them with little variance is  
>>>> what made him healthy again.
>>>>
>>>> By sticking as closely as possible to the same safe foods and  
>>>> making them in different ways, any new reactions were immediately  
>>>> traceable to accidental exposure or substitutions in ingredients.  
>>>> It took me this long, but I finally sat down and completed a  
>>>> seven day list of recipes for breakfast, lunch & dinner in a blog  
>>>> that a dear friend encouraged me to start with her to discuss  
>>>> food and environmental issues parents today are dealing with. I  
>>>> did it every night after the kids went to sleep, staying up until  
>>>> 3 am. It's not perfect, it's not in the most convenient online  
>>>> layout, we haven't figured out how to make a printable version  
>>>> yet, but we're working on it! I wanted to get it done as fast as  
>>>> possible while I have the chance with my own healthy baby for all  
>>>> the moms I know who are mired in frustration and overwhelmed at  
>>>> the lack of direction for food choices. I would have paid dearly  
>>>> for this menu of recipes when I was starting down this road. It  
>>>> would have saved me so much time and trouble and my baby so much  
>>>> pain and suffering to just know what to make that was really safe.
>>>>
>>>> The site is not professional - it's just two moms sharing what  
>>>> they learn. It's not very polished, we're just getting started in  
>>>> the blogging world. Until my baby got healthy, I hardly had time  
>>>> to check my emails. But I include links to sites like  
>>>> cornallergens.com and hidden dairy terminology sites, which list  
>>>> all the dozens of terms corn & dairy can hide under. I also try  
>>>> to list brand names that are safe and where to find them. I  
>>>> realize this may not be applicable out of the U.S., but it will  
>>>> still show moms what types of foods you can make w/ safe  
>>>> ingredients and give a week long plan that might help give a  
>>>> sense of structure to the chaos of realizing you can't eat  
>>>> 'normally' anymore. These aren't foods you grow yourself, they  
>>>> aren't foods you sprout and ferment and dehydrate. I have five  
>>>> young children to feed  - on one parental income. These are foods  
>>>> kids will actually like and eat. These are foods that will give  
>>>> them lots of energy and nourish their brains with healthy fats  
>>>> and oils and help them gain weight, even on an almost complete  
>>>> allergy elimination diet. These are foods that will still be  
>>>> familiar to them, even if mom knows everything about the way she  
>>>> cooks, shops, eats and feeds her family just got turned upside  
>>>> down!
>>>>
>>>> The site is www.greenandbitchy.blogspot.com. my friend aptly  
>>>> describes the name as "How you feel when you start out trying to  
>>>> be greener and healthier (or go allergen-free) and realize how  
>>>> much work it's going to be!"
>>>>
>>>> We welcome any feedback, constructive criticism or even  
>>>> additional substitutions/recipes. All of the meals listed are  
>>>> free of: dairy, egg, corn, wheat, soy, gluten, peanuts, tree  
>>>> nuts. there are some with shellfish or fish, but in most cases,  
>>>> this can be substituted w/ chicken or omitted. Please feel free  
>>>> to forward this email to any parents, people, groups or forums  
>>>> you think would be interested.
>>>
>>>> Jacqui Gruttadauria, BSW - who loves it when something so small  
>>>> can help in such a big way!
>> near detroit, michigan
>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>


             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome