Kelsey is our second child. She was born at 40 1/2 weeks with a head full of dark hair and chubby cheeks. Nothing was really out of the ordinary during her first few months as a baby. She had beautiful pale blue eyes, a chubby belly, and we called her "Kelsey-Bear."
When Kelsey was 3 months old, well-meaning family gave her a taste of home made ice cream from their finger. By the evening, she was so fussy I worried that she was getting sick. We decided to go home early instead of spending the night.
The next day at the pediatrician's, it was confirmed that Kelsey had an ear infection. She was given a script for amoxicillin and a follow up appointment in 2 weeks. At the 2 week follow up, she had a double ear infection. A stronger antibiotic was given. On and on the cycle went.
Kelsey became fussier and fussier. It became difficult to nurse her because she would scream and unlatch. She rarely slept longer than 45 minutes, even at night, and woke up crying. The nurse practitioner witnessed her being fussy while she nursed and explained that she had silent acid reflux. Instead of spitting up, she reswallowed her stomach contents. The acid burned going up and burned again going back down. An upper GI confirmed her silent reflux.
The ear infections continued, and her reflux got worse. She started on Zantac for her reflux, then moved on to Prevacid with very little pain relief. By the time she was 9 months old, Mike and I took turns sleeping sitting upright with her. Even though we were holding her completely upright, Kelsey would regurgitate every 30 minutes and scream out in pain. Every night (and day) was the same, over and over and over.
By the time Kelsey was 9 months, I was a walking zombie. The nurse at my pediatrician's office said I needed to let her cry it out at night so she could learn healthy sleep habits. My pediatrician took one look at her big blue eyes and chubby cheeks and pronounced her completely healthy. This was despite her needing a series of 3 Rocephin antibiotic shots in her leg for her latest ear infection---all the available oral antibiotics hadn't worked. We were out of options and made an appointment with an ENT.
This was when I tried letting Kelsey cry herself to sleep for a nap. It felt completely wrong, but I was so exhausted! I thought I should see if it worked. She cried anyway going to sleep. And during her sleep. And when she woke up.
I sat in my room, sobbing while Kelsey cried hysterically in her crib. I prayed desperately, asking Mary, Jesus' mother, to please pray that we would find out how to help Kelsey. I could only imagine what Mary felt seeing Jesus suffer. I knew Mary would pray for me to help Kelsey's suffering stop. I took a deep breath and picked Kelsey up, promising her I would never leave her to cry again.
That week, I started looking online for answers. I discovered many moms in the same situation had discovered that ear infections and reflux were triggered by food allergies. My instincts told me this was my answer! I immediately started an elimination diet to see if removing allergens from my diet (that went into my breastmilk) could help.
First, I started with eliminating dairy, nuts, and peanuts for 2 weeks. We seemed to have a lot of improvement at first, so I continued. At some point, my friend made dairy free banana muffins for a playgroup meeting. Kelsey gobbled down a couple.
The next day, Kelsey had a follow up appointment to check her ears. We had to make sure the 3 Rocephin shots cleared up the infections. That day, we saw the nurse practitioner, who had experience working at an allergist's office. Interestingly, less than 24 hours after Kelsey ate the banana muffins---I knew because I kept track of everything we both ate---she had a red almost hive-like rash all over her forehead and had fluid in her ears! The fluid wasn't infected yet, but was there!
Both the nurse practitioner and I felt that Kelsey reacted to eggs. I had never eliminated eggs from my diet! I immediately eliminated all eggs, and she didn't have another ear infection. In another month, we had our appointment with the ENT. He pushed for us to get tubes in her ears, but I insisted we wait and see how keeping eggs out of her diet helped. She had been ear infection free for 2 months, the longest ever since the chain of infections started! Will continue....
When Kelsey was 3 months old, well-meaning family gave her a taste of home made ice cream from their finger. By the evening, she was so fussy I worried that she was getting sick. We decided to go home early instead of spending the night.
The next day at the pediatrician's, it was confirmed that Kelsey had an ear infection. She was given a script for amoxicillin and a follow up appointment in 2 weeks. At the 2 week follow up, she had a double ear infection. A stronger antibiotic was given. On and on the cycle went.
Kelsey became fussier and fussier. It became difficult to nurse her because she would scream and unlatch. She rarely slept longer than 45 minutes, even at night, and woke up crying. The nurse practitioner witnessed her being fussy while she nursed and explained that she had silent acid reflux. Instead of spitting up, she reswallowed her stomach contents. The acid burned going up and burned again going back down. An upper GI confirmed her silent reflux.
The ear infections continued, and her reflux got worse. She started on Zantac for her reflux, then moved on to Prevacid with very little pain relief. By the time she was 9 months old, Mike and I took turns sleeping sitting upright with her. Even though we were holding her completely upright, Kelsey would regurgitate every 30 minutes and scream out in pain. Every night (and day) was the same, over and over and over.
By the time Kelsey was 9 months, I was a walking zombie. The nurse at my pediatrician's office said I needed to let her cry it out at night so she could learn healthy sleep habits. My pediatrician took one look at her big blue eyes and chubby cheeks and pronounced her completely healthy. This was despite her needing a series of 3 Rocephin antibiotic shots in her leg for her latest ear infection---all the available oral antibiotics hadn't worked. We were out of options and made an appointment with an ENT.
This was when I tried letting Kelsey cry herself to sleep for a nap. It felt completely wrong, but I was so exhausted! I thought I should see if it worked. She cried anyway going to sleep. And during her sleep. And when she woke up.
I sat in my room, sobbing while Kelsey cried hysterically in her crib. I prayed desperately, asking Mary, Jesus' mother, to please pray that we would find out how to help Kelsey. I could only imagine what Mary felt seeing Jesus suffer. I knew Mary would pray for me to help Kelsey's suffering stop. I took a deep breath and picked Kelsey up, promising her I would never leave her to cry again.
That week, I started looking online for answers. I discovered many moms in the same situation had discovered that ear infections and reflux were triggered by food allergies. My instincts told me this was my answer! I immediately started an elimination diet to see if removing allergens from my diet (that went into my breastmilk) could help.
First, I started with eliminating dairy, nuts, and peanuts for 2 weeks. We seemed to have a lot of improvement at first, so I continued. At some point, my friend made dairy free banana muffins for a playgroup meeting. Kelsey gobbled down a couple.
The next day, Kelsey had a follow up appointment to check her ears. We had to make sure the 3 Rocephin shots cleared up the infections. That day, we saw the nurse practitioner, who had experience working at an allergist's office. Interestingly, less than 24 hours after Kelsey ate the banana muffins---I knew because I kept track of everything we both ate---she had a red almost hive-like rash all over her forehead and had fluid in her ears! The fluid wasn't infected yet, but was there!
Both the nurse practitioner and I felt that Kelsey reacted to eggs. I had never eliminated eggs from my diet! I immediately eliminated all eggs, and she didn't have another ear infection. In another month, we had our appointment with the ENT. He pushed for us to get tubes in her ears, but I insisted we wait and see how keeping eggs out of her diet helped. She had been ear infection free for 2 months, the longest ever since the chain of infections started! Will continue....