Diet changes... Stick with what works

Stick with what you know, this keeps your child safe and pain free! I have moms asking me regularly "How do you do it?" "isn't it so hard?" "What do you eat?" and myriad other questions... One that I get asked regularly from allergy moms is "What works for you? We can't seem to get our little one under control, and we're getting frustrated/hopeless!"  What I tell each of them is that each of our journeys, though similar, are very different.  We each have things that work, or do not... Don't look at other moms and think "I wish I could have kids like theirs... no allergies... no regular doctors office visit, etc". But, to answer the question in a light that I dream gives you hope this is what we do...

We are crazy about keeping the stuff our kids cannot have out. There are NO "well, maybe just a little" moments in our life. If you do more than one of those, than you will never know how much of what your child can handle. IF, and this is a BIG IF, we are attempting to add something new to our kids diets, it starts with either a visit or a call over to our ped-GI specialist. She does a weight check or has us go to our local pediatrics office to do one, so that we have a base line. Sometimes reactions are easier to follow when you know where you started... Once we get the ok from her, we have 3 to 4 days of absolutely NO illness, contamination, reactions. This allows for the new food to be isolated, so that we know if there is a reaction, what it has been caused by.  We go 3-6 days on, see how the foods is going (sometimes we don't even make it to three days before knowing it is just not going to work), we then go off for 1 week and see if there is a change in either direction. If it gets to this point without issues, we go for another 7 days with that food. Its also important to note that when we start the food we give them only the smallest amount. Though we have an epi-pen, and do not have any foods thus far that cause an IgE response (anaphylaxis or severe hives), we still have one because of how reactive our children can be. Some doctors prefer to have the child introduce a new food at their office so that if there is a severe reaction there are health professionals immediately there to help.

So, outside of this very controlled introduction to new foods we do not put random things into our kids diets. We have, through trial, error, and removal, found what works for us... If you find something that works for your sensitive little one, look for other foods in the same family (ex: our kids do really well with black beans, so naturally we tried black, pinto, kidney and white beans to mix up the flavors a bit for them while staying in the same family which is normally a great way to stay safe).

Find what works, and stick with it... You know your kiddo best, so be your child's best advocate and give them the best foods while doing everything you can to keep them safe!
Good Luck, and remember, you're an amazing parent that is doing your best, and there will always be good and bad days (inevitably).  Don't be hard on yourself, just keep your head up and give yourself credit for doing the things that you have, to keep your child healthy and happy! :)
Hugs and Love,
The Allergy Mommy!