Yesterday, I accidentally fed E dairy.
Today, I can report with certainty that she has not yet outgrown her dairy allergy.*
I feel SO badly for her. She has had three terrible poopy diapers today already, and her little bum is bright red and covered in weeping blisters. We are treating it but she just keeps pooping, and every time she does, the diaper rash gets worse. :'-(
So, what was the culprit, you ask?
Carrots. Yes, CARROTS.
E loves carrots, and I found some frozen "honey-glazed" carrots at the store that I thought would be perfect for her. I was in a rush and just quickly threw them in the cart without examining the ingredients. I mean, they were just frozen carrots, right?
Well, I cooked some for her yesterday, and as she was eating them, I noticed they had a bit of a sauce on them. I tasted it and noticed it looked a little creamy... uh oh. I immediately looked the product up on the manufacturer's website, and sure enough: "CONTAINS MILK AND WHEAT INGREDIENTS."
WTF?! Since when do vegetables have dairy in them? (Or wheat, for that matter?)
Of course, I immediately took them away from E, but she had already eaten several of them and the damage had apparently already been done.
I feel like such an idiot! I am usually SO good at reading nutrition information and ingredient lists and keeping dairy out of her diet, but this one completely slipped through the cracks. I didn't even think to read the ingredients on my bag of VEGETABLES. I am apparently going to have to be even more vigilant in the future.
[*On a related note, S believes that E likely has a dairy allergy vs. lactose intolerance. I thought people just used the two terms interchangeably to mean the same thing, however, S explained that people with a dairy allergy have an allergic reaction to one or more of the proteins in dairy, whereas an individual who is lactose-intolerant is unable to digest the sugar (lactose) in dairy. Interesting distinction, no? But since E can tolerate dairy in my diet, S suspects that she is able to digest lactose (and is thus not lactose-intolerant) and is instead allergic to one of the milk proteins. Anyway, not a crucial point for this post, but I thought I should clarify and make sure I'm using the proper terminology!]
Oh no! Poor thing! I have heard that this stuff called Bag Balm works really well on horrible diaper rash. Ugh, I just feel for her.
ReplyDeleteIt is insane how much we have to read labels nowadays. I am hyper aware of what Sully eats too. I made all his baby food and he doesnt eat processed stuff. Apparently I am going to have to read my frozen veggie bags too!
Thanks! Right now we are treating her with something S bought for her that they use at the hospital, can't remember what it is called off the top of my head. Its good too though, her little butt just can't get a break long enough for it to work!
DeleteI am the same way with E's food. I make 99% of what she eats and have always been careful about what we feed her. Which is why I feel so bad I messed it up this time!
Oh no! Poor E! I know how she feels :( I can't have dairy either. It just stinks! I hope she is feeling better! Hopefully she does outgrow it in a few years and she is able to eat it.
ReplyDeleteI just need to ask...since I know you use cloth diapers, what type of cream are you using? We've had to use liners when Max has had bad rashes and have to use Butt Paste or a prescribed cream, but when they are not too bad we don't use a liner and just put on CJ's bottom cream (which is supposed to be ok for cloth diapers). Although I was recently told to use a liner no matter if the cream was cloth diaper friendly because it still had oils in it. These leaky diapers are giving me headaches!
We have been using Udder Cream Udderly Smooth (http://uddercream.com/). I believe you can get it at drugstores, but like I said Steve brought ours home. It is really good and does clear up rashes much quicker than other things we've tried (like Desitin), just make sure if you use it that you put a thin layer of the cream, then a thick layer of baby powder over it, because otherwise their little bums won't stay dry and can get more irritated -- we learned that the hard way!
DeleteI don't believe it is CD safe, however, since E started solids we have been using liners anyway so we don't have to scrape poop. ;-) We just use pieces of cut up fleece or old tshirts to line her diaper, wash them with her diapers as usual unless she poops on them, and then just throw them away if she has a poop. Its been working really well for us!
Do you think it's yeast instead of a diaper rash? I have heard that's more common with girls with CD's. you can google how to strip your diapers to get rid of the yeast. Also we have used coconut oil on A. If he does get a red bottom I have used Burt's bees and welda on him. But they are not cd diaper safe!
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read about yeast rashes in the past, I don't believe what she has is yeast. I am 99% sure it was just really, really bad diaper rash from irritation from all of those nasty poopy diapers she had. It actually does look much much better now, but she has her 15 month appointment tomorrow so we are going to have her doctor take a look just in case. :-)
Delete