Vivi Eats: Life With Food Allergies 4

This is the last "Vivi Eats" for awhile.  After four weeks of these updates, you're probably getting the idea.  Avoid dairy, eggs, and peanuts...yada, yada, yada...and she loves blueberries!

If you want a recap, see here, here, and here.  

Otherwise, this is what Vivi ate on Monday:

Pre-Breakfast:

Dry Cheerios

Juice/ Water mix

Breakfast:

Thomas' Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

Blueberries

Juice/ Water (leftover from pre-breakfast) 

We tried these bagels out for the first time this week, and she loves them!  She likes them plain, but I'm trying to convince her that they're better covered in jam.  

Nap:

8 oz Nutramigen formula

Lunch:

Sunbutter and jelly roll up (using Joseph's lavish bread) 

Watermelon

Frozen peas (she did not eat)

Almond Milk 

Snack:

Wheat Thins

Clementine (which she saw me eating and stole) 

Almond Milk

Dinner:

Baked lemon chicken

Rice Pilaf

Broccoli

Almond Milk

I chopped the chicken and broccoli into super tiny pieces and mixed them with the rice.  Vivi LOVES rice, so she didn't notice the additions while she was busy shoveling fistfuls of food in her mouth.  

Bedtime:  

8 oz Nutramigen Formula  

Vivi doesn't like almond milk that much, and she likes coconut and soy milk even less.  Even though I offer her almond milk throughout the day, she rarely takes more than a few sips.  We ran out of formula the other morning, so we tried giving her almond milk in her bottle instead.  She drank for about three minutes before she realized that something was different.  Then she was mad.  Really mad.  Mad enough to yell right through her nap.  Boo.  She might be drinking Nutramigen till she's sixteen, and insurance is no longer covering it...so awesome...

Vivi Eats: Life With Food Allergies 3

Man, my child is becoming a very picky eater!  A month ago she loved butternut squash! But tonight?  My kitchen floor is plastered with the stuff.  Plus, I don't think she's ever eaten a piece of meat without spitting it out.  Madeline doesn't like meat much either unless it's in a taco.  My girls are fruit and carb girls all the way.    

As I mentioned here and here, Vivi is allergic to eggs, dairy, and peanuts.  I'm sharing samples of what she eats, but this is in no way a complete picture of her diet.  Some days she eats nothing but blueberries, and some days she surprises me by scarfing down an entire bowl of chicken soup.  Babies...You feel me?    

Pre-Breakfast:
As always...
Dry Cheerios
Juice/Water mix

Breakfast:

Apple Raisin-Bran Bread
Blueberries
Banana
Juice/Water mix (left over from pre-breakfast)

I used the recipe on a box of Raisin-Bran to make the bread, but with dairy/egg free substitutions.  (original recipe here) I replaced the milk with almond milk, and I replaced the eggs with mashed banana.  I left out the walnuts, and added shredded carrots and extra raisins instead.  Yum!  

Nap:
8 oz. Nutramigen Formula

Lunch:

Avocado Quesadilla (using  Joseph's Lavish Bread and Daiya "Cheese")
Sliced Strawberries
Almond Milk

Afternoon Snack:

Frozen Peas
Back to Nature Honey Graham Sticks
Almond Milk

My mother picked up some of those graham crackers for us last week.  They are dairy, egg, peanut free. The girls share a bag for snack, and they are gone in about ten seconds.  Madeline tried stealing Vivi's when she was done with hers today.  Not cool, Maddie Bear.  

Dinner:

Roast pork loin and veggies (which she did not eat and angrily threw to the floor)

Applesauce
Almond Milk

Strawberries for dessert

Bedtime:

8 oz. Nutramigen formula

Vivi Eats: Life with Food Allergies 2

When it rains, it pours.  Or in our case, when it snows, it blizzards.  It's been a hell of a week with even higher snow banks, sub-zero temperatures, a stomach bug, and a frozen dishwasher.  Thankfully, Eric is on winter break this week just in time to save me from running through the streets stark raving mad.  Mad, I tell you.  Maaad.

But crazy Mumma or no, baby's gotta eat!  Just like last week, I'm sharing what we feed Vivi on a typical day.  I plan on doing this once a week for a month to provide an overview of what it's like feeding a toddler with food allergies.  

Again, Vivi is allergic to eggs, dairy, and peanuts.  Also, in the effort of keeping things real, I'm purposely not gussying up her meals.  If you want pictures of gourmet, perfectly-plated baby food, then I suggest browsing Pinterest.  The place is dirty with them.  There's a shocking lack of protein in Vivi's diet again this week, so feel free to silently judge me from behind the glow of your electronic devices. I'm working on it, I swear.  

Pre-Breakfast:

Dry Cheerios

Juice/ Water 

Breakfast:

Blueberry pancakes

Sliced banana

Almond milk (Almond Breeze) 

I use Bisquick (which is vegan) to make pancakes for the girls.  Instead of cow's milk, I substitute almond milk, and I use two mashed bananas in place of the eggs.  They turn out slightly more banana-y in taste and are much thicker than the original recipe.  The girls don't mind.  Maddie, a pancake connoisseur, doesn't even notice.  We're usually left with enough pancakes for two days of leftovers, which makes breakfast easy a few times a week.   

Nap: 

 8 oz Nutramigen formula 

Lunch:

Avocado

SunButter and jelly roll-up (using Joseph's Lavish Bread) 

Coconut yogurt (So Delicious) 

Almond milk

I forgot to take a picture, but I think we all know what an avocado looks like, right? Although I once bought what I thought was a mango only to find out it was a giant avocado, so be careful in that produce aisle, folks.  Things can get weird.  Luckily, Vivi LOVES avocado, so giant ones wouldn't go to waste in our house.  

Snack:

Frozen Blueberries

Crackers (Westminster Bakers Co. Multigrain Snack Crackers) 

Juice/ Water

Dinner:

Frozen peas

Bagel pizza (with vegan Daiya "cheese" on a Thomas' plain bagel) 

Clementines for dessert
Almond milk 

We were supposed to eat Shepherd's Pie for dinner, in which case I would have set aside some beef, corn, and potatoes for Vivi before adding any dairy products for the rest of us.  But, as I mentioned above, we're living in a frozen hell scape, and our dishwasher froze.  I was worried about bursting pipes and floods and dirty dishes I would have to wash by hand, so dinner was kept fast and easy instead.  

My mom sent me a link to an article from Babyccino Kids last week with tips on getting kids to eat.  One suggestion was to serve kids frozen peas instead of cooking them.  I dished some up for Vivi as a snack that afternoon and watched her scarf them down like I go at a bag of potato chips.  Then Madeline dove in, and before I knew what was happening, they had eaten two bowls full. 

Frozen peas are the answer, friends.  First they soothe your swollen, postpartum lady bits, then they nourish your children.  

Bedtime: 

8 oz Nutramigen formula 

And that's that!  Have any suggestions? I'd love to hear from you!  

Vivi Eats: Life with Food Allergies

At a year old, Vivi is beginning to eat more like a real human being and less like a kooky celebrity on a faux-milk cleanse. 

She's taking a bottle much less frequently. (Twice a day.) The purees have been replaced with solids. She can even feed herself.  Only about half of the food on her tray makes it to her mouth, and half of that gets spit back out.  Still, I call that good odds.  

But since Vivi is allergic to peanuts, eggs, and dairy, we're still figuring out what to feed her.  As a typical toddler,  she also has strong opinions about what she will and won't eat. She loves fruit and carbs, but not much else.  

I will say that avoiding her allergens has been easier than I anticipated.  It's surprising how many common foods contain these ingredients (especially eggs and dairy), but it's been just as surprising to discover how many other options we have.

Below, I'm sharing what a typical day's worth of meals looks like for Vivienne. 

Note: I did not go out of my way to feed her anything special or out of the ordinary to make it look like we're culinary wizards.  Nor did I style the food to make it look pretty.  Some of it looks kinda gross, actually, for which I apologize.  The meals I'm showing aren't perfectly nutritionally balanced either.  I struggle to get protein in this girl for example. Tomorrow she may have more vegetables or grains or meat, and I like to think that her needs are met over the course of a week. This is just a sample of one single day, and I wanted it to be a realistic depiction of what she eats.    

Pre-Breakfast:

Cheerios (dry)

Apple Juice/ Water mix

The girls wake up slowly as Maddie watches cartoons.  They snack on Cheerios every morning until we sit down for a real breakfast around 8 am.  

Breakfast:

Whole wheat toast with blueberry preserves.

I use this recipe from King Arthur Flour in my bread machine.  It's dairy free.  The loaf lasts about three hours before my family eats it up.  Most of the bread I find in the grocery store has milk and/or eggs in it.  I find it easier just to make our own.  Although Thomas' Plain Mini Bagels are vegan, and Vivi loves them.  

Pre-Nap:

8 oz bottle of Nutramigen formula

Lunch:

Sliced banana topped with SunButter 

Raisins

Blueberries 

Almond Milk (Which she didn't drink.)

SunButter is amazing stuff.  It looks and tastes a lot like peanut butter, but it's made from sunflower seeds.  

Snack:

Whole Grain Wheat Thins (vegan) 

Almond Milk (Which she barely drank.) 

Dinner:

Pasta with tomato sauce

Peas (which she didn't eat)

Almond Milk (which she didn't drink)

I've found that most brands of pasta are egg free but will include warnings that they share equpiment that processes eggs. (Those darn egg noodles.)  I buy Market Basket brand pasta.  There is no warning stating that they share equipment, but manufactors are not required to include that information on their labels at this time, so I'm not 100% sure that they don't.  We've had success with this brand, but if you're dealing with severe, life-threatening allergies, obviously don't take my word for it.  Just sayin'.  Same goes for the tomato sauce.  Even traditional, plain tomato sauce often contains milk.  Market Basket's does not, but I always read the labels.  Always.  

Bedtime:

8 oz bottle of Nutramigen formula

Managing Vivi's Baby Eczema

Vivi had appointments with all three of her doctors over the past month, and all three were amazed at how good her skin looks.  We finally have a good skin care routine going, and as a result, her eczema is under control.  

I've found that her eczema never truly goes away.  It's a lot like weeding a garden bed.  You can pull out all the unwanted plants, but three days later, those damn dandelions are back.  It's the same with laundry, and shaving my face, and all the other never-ending tasks that fill up our lives.

If I follow her skin-care regimen every day, we're able to keep her rashes to a minimum.  If I let things slide, it comes creeping right back, and she's an itchy, rash-y baby mess all over again.  Nobody wants that.  So here's what's been working for us:  

Frequent bathing

Frequent moisturizing

Avoiding irritants

It's pretty basic.  In fact, this is pretty much the same routine one would follow for any baby, eczema or no.  There are just a few extra considerations and tricks we use to keep her skin hydrated and clear.  

1. Frequent Bathing

Vivi needs a bath every day.

There are cold days, busy days, and cranky days when I think, "Meh, she's not that dirty...I'll wash her tomorrow."  When she was a tiny baby, she'd scream every time she saw the water, which also made me want to avoid washing her whenever possible.  But her skin really, really needs a daily soak.  I always notice a difference if we skip a day.    

I keep the water warm, but not hot.  We also keep her time in the tub short.  Baths that are too hot or too long irritate her skin.    

We don't use any bubbles, soaps, or shampoos because they also irritate her skin.

Twice a week we use Eucerin Baby Cleansing Relief to wash her body and hair.  It's the last thing I do before we take her out of the water so that she's not sitting in the suds for a long time.  

Sometimes she shares a bath with her sister, which means some of Maddie's shampoo is in the water.  Those baths are extra quick, and we haven't had any problems.

2) Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize

It took a long time to find a moisturizer that works for Vivi.  Every over-the-counter moisturizer we tried, even those recommended by the National Eczema Foundation, caused a horrible red rash all over her body.  For a long time, we used Vaseline, which worked okay but was horribly sticky.  

Then our doctor recommended Hydrolatum to us.  It's now our best friend.

It's odorless, hypoallergenic, fragrance free, yada, yada, yada.  It's thick, but not uncomfortable like the Vaseline was.   Best of all....it works!  Her skin has improved so much since we started using it.

You don't need a prescription for Hydrolatum, but the pharmacy keeps it behind the counter.  You might not see it browsing the shelves.  It comes in a gigantic tub that lasts us about two months.

I apply the Hydrolatum twice a day including directly after her bath while her skin is still damp to lock the moisture in.  And I mean liberally.  It's like rubbing a turkey with butter.  A lot of butter.  If her skin is looking dry, I apply the moisturizer more frequently.

(It's probably also wise to not let your child chew on the container, but I'm a horrible parent, so...)

We also have a prescription for topical hydrocortisone to use when needed.  The hydrocortisone is used only on the problem areas before we apply her moisturizer.

For a long time we were using the hydrocortisone every other week.  After five days the rash would clear, but as soon as I stopped using the cream, it would quickly return.  As she gets older, we're using it a lot less frequently.

Constant moisturizing has been the biggest help in keeping her skin healthy.  Plus, my hands are pretty soft too...

3. Avoid Possible Irritants

There has been a lot of trial and error in identifying what triggers Vivi's rashes.

Eczema and allergies are separate conditions.  Allergies do not cause eczema.  However, people with eczema are more likely to develop allergies.  There seems to be a lot of debate linking food allergies with eczema, and from what I've learned, most people with eczema can eat whatever they want.  

That being said, Vivi's skin has improved greatly since she stopped nursing.  It sucks.  Breast milk is THE BEST.  But in our case, switching to Nutramigen, and thereby eliminating all traces of of dairy, eggs, and peanuts from her system, has been a good thing.  If you need to switch to Nutramigen due to a cow's milk allergy, check with your insurance company.  Ours covered 100% of the cost.

And of course, now that she's eating more and more solids, we keep the foods she's allergic to away from her.

We've also noticed that Vivi is sensitive to certain fabrics.  Micro fleece seems to be the biggest problem, which is a bummer because A LOT of cozy baby clothes are made out of that material.  She wore a fleece hoodie yesterday, for example, and by the end of the day, the area where the hoodie meets her cheeks was all red and irritated.  

Once the garment is washed a few times, it's no longer a problem.  It's only when it's still new, soft, and fuzzy that it makes her itchy.  Back into the wash with that hoodie!  

We also use hypoallergenic detergent for all our laundry.

As already mentioned, lotions do not jive well with her.  If I'm freshly lotioned after a shower, I make sure she doesn't come in contact with my skin as we cuddle.

The weather also seems to make a huge difference in her skin.  While there's not much we can do about that, we make sure we take extra precautions for extreme cold and heat.  During the winter, we lotion more because the air is so dry.

During the summer, her skin was horrible.  The sweaty creases of her body were rubbed raw and bloody.  I had to make sure her nails were kept extra short to keep her from scratching.  Even though it was hot out, I'd pull leg warmers on her at night to keep her away from the back of her knees.  We don't want her skin getting infected.  Poor baby.  



The doctor tells us that her skin condition should improve as she gets older.  In the meantime, we just keep moisturizing and bathing and moisturizing and bathing....and more moisturizing.