Nursing an allergic baby on a diet of rice, turkey

Only rice, turkey and squash
Our decision was made, and I picked my new menu: organic turkey, rice and squash, seasoned only with canola oil, sea salt and black pepper.

The first few days were kind of fun, as I sought new and interesting ways to combine my few ingredients.

At the end of the first week, however, I'd lost close to 10 pounds and realized I needed to eat more. I bought a rice steamer for work and a deep fryer for home, frying either the turkey or the squash in canola oil at least once a day for a calorie-rich meal.

I worried that Nina wouldn't get enough nutrition from my breast milk on such a restricted diet, but a call to a lactation consultant assured me that I would have to be on the TED far longer than the few months I had planned for my milk supply to suffer.

The goal was to get Nina symptom-free and then add foods back into my diet slowly, watching her for any adverse effects. I daydreamed about pears, envisioning them baking for dessert, sweetening my rice cereal in the morning, serving as a compote for baked turkey. After the pears I planned broccoli, more for its nutritional super-food status than anything.

For support, recipes and firsthand experience, I turned to Web sites run by organizations like Kids with Food Allergies. Lots of moms were nursing on nothing but turkey, rice and squash, or other TEDs, I realized.

Resources for nursing allergic babies National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Kids with Food Allergies American Academy of Pediatrics Dr. Bill Sears

Jen Maidenberg, a mother of two in West Orange, N.J., dropped to only four foods plus olive oil and sea salt for four weeks because her son, 9-month-old Oliver, suffers from severe food intolerances.

"The most challenging thing was not being able to get something quick to eat when I was out. When you're nursing, you get hungry a lot so you have to be prepared," she said.

Surprise benefits
Maidenberg eventually had to switch Oliver to formula. But she said the TED improved her own health as well as his.

"I'd been diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), but I discovered it's clearly some sort of food because it cleared up on the diet," she said. "This is the best I've ever felt in my adult life."

Maidenberg discovered that milk, wheat and gluten make her IBS act up.

Ultimately, although Nina improved, she was still bleeding occasionally after two months on my total elimination diet. We then learned that a mild bleeding disorder was complicating her reactions, and she was on the extreme end of the food intolerance spectrum.

Doherty and I agreed to switch to the prescription formula.

I battered myself with questions: Had I weighed the risks and benefits of breast-feeding correctly? Would it have worked if I'd tried quinoa, blueberries and zucchini, or some other magic combination? I was proud I'd been able to stick to the diet, but I was heartbroken that it hadn't "fixed" my baby's illness.

Gradually, however, I've come to realize: Despite all the baby books and expert advice, each child responds differently. Nina healed slowly on the formula, but she healed.

At the very least, the TED saved us the roughly $1,600 expense of a two-month supply of prescription formula. At best, I gave Nina some benefits of breast-feeding until she was 4 months old. And when we try solid foods (a landmark I hope is just around the corner), I'll have a better idea what we can try right away and what will have to wait a year or two.

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