Game Plan

I figured I should update with our new plan for food trials and whatnot.

I have decided that maybe (hopefully) rutabagas and spinach are like how pears and corn were for us--- it took forever for us to build up to full servings of each per day. So here is the plan: pseudo rotation diet. Day 1: tiny amount of rutabaga (less than 1 oz); Day 2: no veggies; Day 3: tiny amount of spinach (less than 1 oz); Day 4: no veggies; and so on. If this goes off without too big of a hitch after a couple of weeks, we will get rid of the veggie-free days and simply rotate back and forth between rutabagas and spinach, hopefully eventually working up to full age appropriate serving sizes. We are not really setting a timeline for reaching a full serving however-- just following B's lead.

The next part of our plan: going raw! No, no-- not totally, but the docs did recommend exposing B to a little bit of raw fruit each day, just to the point that she can tolerate. Going well so far with just a few pieces of pear and banana each day. Hopefully this will continue to go well and maybe we can increase the amount of raw foods she can tolerate over time!

Part three-- fats and proteins!! This month, we will be orally trialling white fish (haddock, most likely) and hopefully later on move on to salmon. Since B pretty much bombed beef, pork and egg (patch fail for egg), we are still on the look out for sources of protein that are also good sources of good fats. Fish seems to fit the bill so we will be embarking on exploring those new waters. We have also been given the green light to trial peanut butter, so we will trial that in January. I think I have found a good brand that does not seem to have any potential soy contamination, so hopefully that will go off without a hitch. Even if the only foods we pass in the next two months are peanut butter and fish, what an improvement to her diet that will be! We will also do a "homemade" skin test of peanut butter this month, just to be on the safe side before going ahead with the oral trial. If it is contaminated with soy, we will most definitely see it (she has had skin reactions to tiny tiny amounts of soy and soy derivatives in things). Also, the docs and dietitian want me to add a little canola to B's food-- the pasta mainly-- for an extra boost of omegas.

Part four! Textures! Again, docs and dietitian want B to incorporate more textures into her diet. So you guessed it-- I will be back in the kitchen trying to work on some new recipes for textured fun! I think the little bits of raw fruits each day will help, but the biggest thing for us to work on (IMHO) will be "creamy" tasting things, as B is super strongly opposed to these items. So hopefully I can concoct something good!

Other foods on the docket to try: papaya, millet, berries (either strawberry or raspberry or blackberry), beet root (golden and red), turnips, buckwheat. If she does well with peanuts, I may be tempted to test our luck with almond milk (I know, peanuts are not a tree nut, but if we passed peanuts, I would feel like our chances were better. . .) We also will be trying a multivitamin (NanoVM) and a new form of coconut milk--- So Delicious now makes a "yogurt" milk (think Kefir) that is free of dairy, soy, etc. but has prebiotics and probiotics. The only catch is that we can only get it in vanilla or strawberry flavor (no unflavored) and although B does beautifully with vanilla extract, she had some serious issues with the unsweetened vanilla hemp milk. Much less issue with the unsweetened original. So hopefully this will not carry over to the "yogurt" chicka chicka boom boom milk.

If we have not made enough progress by B's second bday, a scope will be strongly considered to rule out any possible issues and just to see what really is going on in there. We are free of going to see the docs until she turns two, so we have a little time to work on things.

And on a note of mixed emotion, my previously formula-free home now has Neocate Junior and Eo28 Splash sitting in B's cupboard. It was a very very VERY difficult conclusion for me to come to, but I felt like we needed to trial it and add it as a supplement in case the composition of my milk changes, in case I got pregnant or in case I suddenly could not nurse anymore for whatever reasons. We still haven't trialled it, but we will be within the next month. I have been dealing with a lot of doubt over this-- feeling like I somehow have let her down-- but I am really trying to look at this formula as a bridge, maybe something that will just serve to get us through a few months until she can have a substantial enough diet in order to wean. I am still all for self-weaning and will probably night nurse even after she has a better diet (unless she weans herself), but I think this will be a good back up and a good bridge for the time being.

And to end on a positive note. . . I will be trying the candy cane (corn free) recipe this week as well as experimenting with play doh recipes using alternative flours other than corn. I will be attempting it with quinoa, millet, sorghum and coconut flours. I may also attempt making arrowroot and/or potato starch finger paint. . . And of course, you can find the original play doh recipe under the page "FPIES safe kids craft recipes." A holiday tip--- use the play doh to make tree ornaments or gift tags! Simply make the play doh, cut out shapes (be sure to add a small hole for ribbon), and bake at 325 for 10-20 minutes (until shapes puff up). Thread ribbon through once shapes are cool, or paint with acrylic paint (add a sealant when done) before threading the ribbon.