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| 2 Months Old |
When my son Andrew was about a month old he started to get a rash on his face. At first it just looked like baby acne, but after a couple of weeks it began to take over his cheeks. I took him to our pediatrician, who told me it was baby acne and that it should clear up in the next week or so. After a couple more weeks we were back at the doctors office, where I was informed that Andrew had eczema, which was most likely being caused by laundry detergent or a soap I was using of him. The rash began to get much worse and soon my son's entire face looked like one big scab. I used olive oil to keep it moist and did my best to keep him off fabric, but none of that seemed to matter. I had many people offering me advice on how to help him. One friend gave me a homemade ointment to try, which really helped keep infection away and calmed the rash down, but didn't heal it completely. Another dear friend, who went through the same thing with her son talked with me about leaky gut, food allergies and sensitivities, which took me on a very intense journey of eliminating things from my diet to see if food was the problem. The first thing to go was dairy. Within 3 days I began to see a difference in Andrew, the eczema was calming down, but not going completely away.
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| 10 Months After using coconut oil on Andrew's face. |
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| 15 Months Old |
Then, I took out any foods containing gluten. Again, I noticed a difference, but there was still more that needed to be taken out of our diet. During this time the rash spread to Andrew's arms, legs and feet. He also wasn't sleeping at night and would have random fussy times during the day, where nothing seemed to console him. I took Andrew back to our Pediatrician and asked to have him tested for food allergies. All of the testing came back negative, but his skin response was telling me something different, so I chose to ignore the blood test results, and kept going with the elimination diet. Over the course of about 8 months I took out all processed foods, all sugar, dairy, grains, legumes, beans, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Through the help of many friends, tons of conversations, and a lot of research, I came to a diet called the Auto Immune Protocol (AIP). It's much like the Paleo Diet, but more intense. It wasn't easy, but for 2 months I stuck very strictly to this diet, so that the milk Andrew was getting from me would be completely AIP. Thankfully Andrew wasn't super interested in food until he was about a year old, and he nursed a lot, so it wasn't hard to make sure he was getting the nutrients he needed inside of this diet. I ended up losing a lot of weight and felt like I was always hungry, but over time I figured out how much I needed to consume to maintain my weight and stay satisfied. The diet worked, soon Andrew was no longer scabbing and he also started sleeping through the night. I read a book called the Paleo Approach, which talked about how this diet is different for everyone, as everyones gut issues are different, so I paid very close attention to how Andrew's skin and stomach responded after eating different foods inside the AIP diet. I found many other things that needed to come out such as poultry, pork, coconut, watermelon, squash, nightshades, etc... I also focused on what would help Andrew heal. We did a TON of cooked vegetables, leafy greens were a big part of my diet, bone broth and quality organic meats, and fruits. We started this journey in June of 2014 and by October of 2015 his skin was completely clear, he was happier, and sleeping very well! I was absolutely thrilled! In November of 2015 I decided to try to reintroduce eggs and almonds, as I was thinking about weaning him, and wanted some more options for proteins and fats. These were also easy foods to have on the go or make in a jiffy. I thought he was doing fine with them, but his poop started to become mushy, and he started waking up at night again. Over Christmas he got really sick and had diarrhea. I gave him a very small amount of activated charcoal mixed in applesauce and the next morning found worms in his diaper. That's an entirely other story that I will write about another day, but after eradicating the worms and taking back out the eggs and almonds Andrew began to thrive again. I will say he hasn't been the same since this happened, and he still has one small patch of eczema on his leg, that we are working on healing. I have noticed the best medicine is sticking to his diet and time. I also recently introduced a new probiotic. I'm hoping he will respond well to it, as so far we haven't been able to find one he tolerates, and probiotics are so good for gut healing. Our hope by being so strict is that as Andrew gets older his body will completely heal, and he will be able to tolerate a wider variety of foods. This journey has taught me so much about health and the healing power of food. It has shown me a strength inside of myself that I didn't know I had, and it has given me a passion for making food healthy and keeping it fun. It has not been easy and there have been many tears and sleepless nights trying to figure all of this out, but I am grateful to have grown through this with my son, and seeing the fruit of my labor I will keep going, knowing that we can fight through anything.
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| Two years old and thriving. |
Advice that I would give to any person working through skin issues or gut issues is that all people are different, and what worked for us may not work for you. It is truly trial and error, but I will say the AIP diet has worked for many people. Also, have grace for yourself. There were many times in the beginning of all this, where I wasn't prepared and had to eat something I knew I shouldn't simply to feed myself. I always told myself its okay, and tomorrow is another day.
Andrew's Food List
After a lot of trial and error, reading, research, prayer, and directions from friends who have had the same experience we have been able to narrow down foods that are safe for Andrew to have, foods that he can tolerate very moderately, and foods that he must stay completely away from. There are many foods that we haven't tried to introduce, because our focus has been getting him to thrive inside of what foods we know to be safe. When he is completely in the clear we will try other things.
Unsafe Foods:
Processed foods
Dairy
Grains
Legumes/Beans
Peas
Green Beans
Coconut
Eggs
Poultry
Pork
Nuts
Seeds
Squash
Yucca
Corn
Cucumber
Grapes
Berries
Cherries
Melons
Night Shades- tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, potatoes (sweet potato is okay.)
Honey
Maple Syrup
Tolerates Moderately:
Terra Sweet Potato Chips
The Original Sea Snax Sea weed
Peaches
Nectarine
Plums
Beets
Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts
Safe Foods:
Red meats
Fish
Sweet potato
Carrot
Kale
Spinach
Moringa
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Asparagus
Parsnip
Lemon
Lime
Avacado
Plantain
Banana
Apple
Papaya
Pineapple
Mango
Onion
Garlic
Celery
Herbs
Seasonings that do not contain peppers or any extra ingredients
Soups are definitely a staple in my home. They are so easy to make in big batches. Leftovers make for easy warm up lunches or I'm too tired to cook dinners. They are gentle on our stomachs, and with the right ingredients can they can be very healing.
