Today marks the end of World Breastfeeding Week and I thought to use this opportunity to shed some light on the topic of breastfeeding and food allergies. Breastfeeding and nursing are beautiful, intimate experiences that one can have with one’s child and, in some cases, it is a natural, easy experience. For many moms, however, nursing is met with many challenges, from poor latching, inadequate milk production to societal pressure, anxiety and everything in between. My experiences have shown me that information and support are important in a mother’s breastfeeding journey and so today I hope to add to the conversation by sharing a breastfeeding challenge that seems to be affecting so many moms today.
Both my daughters have food allergies. Scout, my three year old, is allergic to cow’s milk protein, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. Noa, my three month old daughter, has shown signs of a cow’s milk protein and egg allergy at this stage, which we will further investigate at her four month paediatric visit.
We learnt that Scout has food allergies when she was around 6 months old. We introduced the egg and within minutes she broke out in hives and her face began to swell. You can read more about our experience here. Following the trip to the emergency room, Scout’s paediatrician ran blood tests to check for the top six allergens and that’s when we found out that she was also allergic to the cow’s milk protein and peanuts. I had been breastfeeding exclusively the entire time and her food allergies were an explanation for the constant rash on her face and red ring around her eyes; she had been reacting to the allergens that were present in my breast milk. To ease her symptoms I cut out eggs and peanuts, as she seemed to react to them most. The rash improved but did not clear, which was when we decided to see a paediatric allergist. At the visit we tested for a number of allergens by doing the skin prick test and that’s when we learnt that she was also allergic to tree nuts, sesame seeds, the berry family and avocado. I was determined to ease Scout’s discomfort so I made the sacrifice and cut all the known allergens out of my diet. I loved nursing her and felt really privileged that I produced more than enough milk to feed her so the sacrifice was easily made. But in time it began to affect my health.
I am gluten intolerant. When I consume too much gluten I suffer from chronic inflammation that causes stomach pain and stiff joints. In the past I have had cortisone injections to alleviate some of the symptoms. Many gluten-free packaged foods (bread and baked goods in particular) contain egg as it is a binding agent. When I cut out eggs, it meant that I was consuming gluten on a regular basis. Also, many vegan and plant-based foods contain nuts, which means that my list of substitute foods were limited as we had to keep nuts out of our home environment; my nutrition suffered as I was cutting out major food groups to ease Scout’s exposure to these allergens. Despite all my efforts she still showed signs of allergen exposure so I kept a journal of the foods she ate and noted when I’d see a reaction. We had another appointment at the allergist where we did more skin prick tests; she showed sensitivities to 15 plus foods and it was at that point that I decided to stop breastfeeding. Weaning was easier because I had already returned to work and we were only doing evening and night time feeds so my milk dried up quickly and Scout adjusted easily to having formula for all of her feeds. She was 11 months old at the time.
Scout was on Pepticate, a hypoallergenic formula that hydrolyses the cow’s milk protein and we met with a dietitian a few times to help ensure that she was getting adequate nutrition from the food that she was eating. Her allergic responses have lessened and she has outgrown many of her allergies to a number of foods, which I am so thankful for.
But the journey was challenging. At the time I knew very little about alternatives and didn’t have a community of moms to help me along the way. I was cooking separate meals for her daily and she could not eat at restaurants. Family and friend gatherings are still preempted by our requests to not have eggs and nuts in the environment. The school that she attends has been amazing at getting the parents on board with packed lunches and we have a separate box of treats for her to enjoy at class celebrations.
I have learnt so much along the way which made it easy for me to spot Noa’s food allergies. Noa has a tongue and lip tie, which resulted in a poor latch and inadequate milk production at the beginning of our breastfeeding journey. I saw a lactation consultant and a physio who specialises in tongue and lip ties and, following those sessions, we were able to establish a good latch and supply. During this time I had been supplementing with formula (NAN) and started noticing that she would bring up the majority of her formula feeds and be in a great deal of discomfort. I also noticed that when I consumed eggs, that her body would break out in hives. We visited the paediatric allergist and she confirmed that those were definite signs that food allergies were at play. I then realised that the constant crying and hysteria after each breast milk feed was because of her reaction to the cow’s milk protein and eggs via my breast milk. I began cutting the allergens out of my diet. It was recommended that I stop nursing her for up to two weeks and express milk in that time to rid my body of the allergens (something that became really challenging this time around); we also chose to have her on the same formula that we had used for Scout and were thankful that she responded well to it. It was clear that Noa’s sensitivity to the allergens was worse than Scout’s as it was affecting her tummy.
I had a really tough choice to make. I could continue breastfeeding and exclude food groups (again) or I could choose to formula feed her. But it was a different decision to make this time around because I did not only have to think of Noa and myself, I had to consider my husband and my toddler too. One has less time when caring for more than one child. I just could not see myself cooking separate meals, not having packaged foods or eating out and having to read every food label all over again. It affected me mentally and emotionally and so my husband and I decided that it was time to end our breastfeeding journey. I cried bitter tears as I mourned the journey we did not get to have. I had ticked all the boxes to establish a good supply, only to learn that my milk was affecting my baby. I struggled with the fact that to nurse her, I’d have to compromise my own nutrition. And I struggled with the many opinions of those who did not understand what we were going through. But we made the best decision for our family, one that freed me of a lot of the guilt I felt each time she would react badly to a feed.
It has been 10 weeks since we stopped nursing. I am at peace with the decision and can see the big difference in my child, who is thriving and no longer crying hysterically throughout the day. I am thankful that, having been through it before, I was able to spot the cause of her discomfort and make informed decisions around it.
This journey has taught me that:
- Information is important.
- Every child responds differently/ uniquely to food allergies.
- Managing food allergies is ongoing, requiring daily vigilance and care.
- There are great substitutes and alternatives on the market these days.
- There are financial implications to managing an allergen-free life.
- Moms can really rise to any challenge they face when raising their children.
- It gets easier.
This was a long post. I hope that it has been informative and that our experience can help other parents to find answers. I will share a list of resources of the health professionals mentioned in this post below. Please let me know your experiences/ if you found this article helpful.
Until my next post,
Bronny
Resources (Cape Town, South Africa):
Lactation consultant: Emma at https://breastfeedingmatters.co.za/
Physiotherapist: Angela Buck at happymomhappybaby@gmail.com
Kids Allergy Centre: https://kidsallergy.co.za/ Dietitian: https://dietitians.capetown/