This ain’t my first rodeo…so to speak.
I’ve had 3 children so far. I’ve breastfeed 3 children. Breastfeeding was difficult with my first two because I would always crack and bleed. Hey, don’t forget I”m a redhead. But with this baby, breastfeeding was very easy. Him and I were an effortless team from the very beginning. My past experiences with breastfeeding were not pleasant, but I got through them because it was better for my kids. As do most mothers. This baby was different or I just got really good at it. Who knows.
The horror story started just after Christmas when the baby had the worst case of eczema my pediatrician has seen in a long time. It happened because allergens were passing through MY breastmilk. He was miserable, bloody, seeping liquid, itchy, and all the skin he had burned and peeled. Originally, they thought it was a really bad viral rash and he had to just get through it. But it didn’t stop. I changed my diet. I stopped eating dairy, wheat, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts and finally seafood. We slathered him with medicated ointments. Some days he would find relief, but then eventually he would break out again and it would start all over. He was in agony and I finally decided to give him formula to let his body heal. My own breastmilk was hurting him.
Now I really hate formula. I have to be honest here. Breastmilk is best. I’m in that crowd. I’m not judging you for giving your child formula obviously because I just did. But I always recommend people find an organic brand. This is my bias. I’m in the natural crowd. But when you have a child that needs a specialized formula, there is no organic brand. This is pharmaceutical grade formula. So what is a mother to do? Well, I found an amino acid formula that is NON-GMO. And at the end of the day, that is really what I wanted to protect my child from. This is what I found and it’s from England, which is why it’s GMO free. They don’t like GMOs there either. *sigh of relief*
Now on to the next part…bottles.
Before I decided to give the baby formula, I was contacted by Playtex Baby. They wanted to give me some supplies to help out as I was dealing with all this craziness. They sent me their Nursers w/ the drop-ins, a breast pump, Diaper Genie and dishwasher thingie to clean the bottles. At times like this, I really appreciate the brands that are listening to their potential customers in social media and reading about us. I really felt like they cared sending me all these supplies. It came just when I needed them. People work behind the scenes in these type of companies. Good people.
But before I would give my precious baby a bottle, I had LOADS of questions. What about BPA? BPA is something that is very damaging to babies and the exposure can happen before they are even born. And what about Phthalates? That chemical doesn’t get enough attention, but you want to avoid it as well. We couldn’t go the glass route because I’ve already broken two glass bottles before I could even give to the baby. That’s not safe for my other kids. So plastic it is, BUT it has to be a safe plastic. And when it comes to your baby you NEED to find things that are free from BpA and Phthalates. Well, I was rest assured when I was told that none of the Playtex Baby products have either of those nasty chemicals inside them. *another sigh of relief*
Then I was talking to a girlfriend the other day and she told me that those were the only bottles she could give her son who had major reflex issues. I’m lucky my little guy has never had reflux, but it does run in the family. Mostly with adults though. The nursers from Playtex were created special for reflux and colic. But the other reason why I really like them, is they don’t spill. There’s nothing nastier than having to clean up old formula leakage.
So remember this, when looking into bottles you want to avoid the following:
Bisphenol A (BPA)
AND
Phthalates
Then when it comes to finding a formula, please consider:
Going with an organic brand. (Organic brands ARE already GMO free.)
OR
Something GMO free (free from genetically modified organisms because of health risks)
And I’m supporting Playtex Baby because they were so wonderful to me in my time of need so I’m also hosting a giveaway here. Playtex would like to give away one set of their Nursing bottles and a SmartSpace Dishwasher basket. Let’s make it simple, you only need to help me promote this post to enter and you can do that by tweeting about this post for me. If you are tweeting please use #babybookieboo and @Playtexbaby in your tweet so I can track it. No need to comment about your entry. You only need to comment if you want me to know you were here reading my story.
So to answer the question of to breastfeed or formula feed when your baby has allergies….do whatever the hell you need to do. It’s your life. Period.
Disclosure: Playtex Baby sent me a grip of product and I did this post. And I would just like to state for the record that before I received any product I put them through the ringer with about 10 emails going back and forth about the safety of their products. I’m not messing around with my baby. And neither should you.
great review and info. thank you!
I have been following your trials with this on Facebook and I truly feel for you and little man! I’m glad that you were able to find a GMO free formula overseas and I hope that one day we can start to see these same kinds of products for our babies hit our shelves here in America. Best wishes to you and yours! Also shared your post:
https://twitter.com/textbookmommy/status/307194087465963520
Good article. I am well past the baby years, but I love to make recommendations to others.
Also, mothers should consider avoiding the use of skin lotions, make-up and perfumes while pregnant and nursing. I recommend getting rid of fragrances period as they are full of toxic chemicals and some neuro-toxic. Anything you put on the skin is absorbed into the body. The body works hard to get these substances out of the body and channels them elsewhere. When you are pregnant, the body channels all “extra’s” into the baby, thus bring risk to your child. Funny, I am highly allergic to all the products/foods my mother repeatedly exposed herself too. I also have multi-chemical sensitivity.
BTW Bookieboo, did you also consider your laundry products, carpet cleaners etc as maybe playing a role in baby bookiboo’s breakouts ? I pray little bookieboo is better and will continue to be. Precious !
Yes, actually I did. We got organic cotton for the bedding and use the Trader Joes brand laundry detergent. It’s free from everything. We also had to avoid using any polyester on his body because it would cause skin rashes as well. We don’t use carpet cleaners on my carpet because I’m already paranoid about toxin exposure. And only natural products for me (save my deodorant) while I was pregnant and breastfeeding. In fact, it even goes down to my facial cleanser. It was created by a breast cancer survivor who created a toxin free line…and my body wash is from Dr. Bronners. This is the reason why I’m twitching so much. ….
I tweeted.
https://twitter.com/matthewsmommy/status/307258173914501121
My son had a milk allergy. So I cut out ALL dairy products for 11 months. It was well worth it. He weaned himself at 11 months old.
mysticbutterfly37@yahoo.com
How is the formula working for you? I am in a very similar boat with my almost six month old and it’s killing me, I’ve been on a hard-core elimination diet for the last few weeks and it’s definitely made a huge change, but we’re having an impossible time adding foods back, and I’m about to climb the walls! I have said many times that I am just going to quit nursing and switch to formula, but haven’t gotten far enough to shell out the $$$ for amino acid formula. So, I am interested to hear how the formula is working for you.
The amino acid formula is so expensive. It’s about $33 for a little can. I have rice milk too that I give him. And he really didn’t like it when I first gave it to him. That stuff tastes nasty. So I had to introduce it slowly and put a little bit of cane sugar (or you could use stevia) in it and then gave him less and less later. Now he’s fine with it.
my daughter has been going through this ever since we went from breast to whole milk.some days shes ok some its horrific .i don’t have the best doctors in our small town .i have to careful what detergents use as well and lotions its hard to deal with but i try to make her comfortable
You should do an almond/soy mix with her. Make sure to get an organic soy and than swap it with almond milk. The almond milk doesn’t have to be organic. Do you have a Walmart close by? She might like them. My oldest was allergic to milk and grew out of it at two. But I gave him organic soy…later found out that it’s better to switch it up. You can get all this stuff in bulk online too. I love the internet. We keep Amazon in business here.
I also have three children- I was so on the breastfeeding is the best route and would not be swayed until I LOST my milk at 6 months with my first child!!! I was horrified, I cried, I threw a fit and was completely upset. My second child I knew we would make it but again at 8 months my milk dried up… I am on my third and we will see how far we get- it is so hard to want what is best for your baby and sometimes you have to compromise! I commend you for giving your baby the best he needs- it shows you are a great mother!! thanks for this article!!
Thank you dear. That sucks about your supply. My first two breastfeeding experiences were rough too.
I used those too with my son. I pumped 8+ times a day. Just so he could have breastmilk. I feel for u though. All babies have different issues and it’s nice when u get help getting thru them.
Deborah, I totally thought about you the other day. I made my son make his own appointment at the Genius Bar at the Apple store to fix the iPad. How freaking cool is that? He did the entire thing by himself AND THEN the following day finally taught himself to swing. He’s kinda physically delayed a bit from the Aspergers. Anyways, he totally got very confident about things. Thanks for the book!
Such great info! I have always had eczema I am 36 weeks pregnant nd I was scared that my daughter might have it as well… thanks to the great info and advice that you have given all women around the world, my fear has gone away because if my daughter has eczema I will know exactly what to do so once again thank u Soooo much nd I shared your story on facebook…. I appreciate the great info nd advice….
My husband has eczema Cindy.
Poor Baby Bookieboo!
I really hope the formula is helping him and things are clearing up for him.
Nothing yet, but I just realized I spot treated his clothes with regular stuff. So we used EcoNuts in the laundry instead. If you haven’t heard of it google it. They actually cleaned the clothes. Not spotless, but manageable.
Really great post Leah! Very informative! I am glad you and Baby Bookieboo can start feeling better
He is simply precious!!!
Thank you dear!
great story. great company i really want to read more from you. time for some research
I’m so glad that you and him are happy and healthy and that you found products that work for you.
Wow..I was playing around and happened on to Playtex’s Facebook page and saw ur story…I hope the little guy gets better..I have 2 older boys, 1 was breast fed for a short time an ten became ill from a viral infection, that’s when I switched to the Playtex’s nurser system. I used the same system w my 2nd child who was formula fed. I just had a baby girl this December and I am trying hard to continue nursing til she is 6months (for now it’s my goal) & when I pump, I use the nurser system, it’s the only bottle my girl will take.
Thanks for sharing this king of information.
Wow. Poor baby! I’m dealing with a similar terrible rash on my 24 month old right now. Cutting out gluten to see if that helps. Next stop is an allergist. I feel for ya girl, no one wants to see their precious bookieboobaby in pain!