Maybe it's not the milk

Baby E was really getting hysterical tonight when I tried to put her to bed. She wouldn't settle down for me, and I gave her to DH. After he finally got her to sleep, he came in and said, "She's either having an allergic reaction or some kind of really bad indigestion." He said that it was obvious she was miserable, and she was doing her classic allergy thing of falling almost asleep and then waking up crying and flailing.

She's been at her ears again, too. And here I thought she was being so fussy and grumpy for the past few days for some other reason. Her sudden escalation in tantrums, hyperactive behavior, sleeplessness, grumpiness and defiance I had thought must be some strange new developmental stage.

How could I miss all the classic allergy symptoms?

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I don't think she's refusing to nurse because she wants to wean herself. She's been acting so conflicted about it, giving signs that she wants to nurse and then refusing. A few times she's started to nurse and then pulled away, gagging. Yesterday at least once she started whimpering while nursing. I thought it must be her teeth, but once I put it all together it's obvious she has probably been having some kind of allergic reaction.

She's been having a very hard time going to sleep at night--I thought because she didn't know how to fall asleep without nursing. She woke up at 5 a.m. this morning and flailed around restlessly, obviously tired but unable to get comfortable. She didn't go back to sleep until she finally took a brief nap just before church. Again, I chalked it up to the nursing transition.

She even has the pinpoint-like diaper rash that's classic for her, but I had attributed it to putting her in disposable diapers too much for outings (she's had that reaction much less since we started using Pampers, which are supposedly corn-free, BTW).

Baby E's unwillingness to drink my milk even from a cup had me wondering if there was something about the taste that was bothering her. I racked my brain trying to think of anything I had eaten that was new or unusual, but didn't come up with anything. I even contemplated the possibility that I might be pregnant (supposedly that changes the flavor of breastmilk).

Tonight, DH and I did some brainstorming together, and we realized that there are at least three culprits that were new Friday night (just before she began the nursing strike and strange behavior) and that we've been eating fairly consistently since then.

First, we opened a new container of yogurt. This is a yogurt she's been fine with before, but there's always the possibility that now that summer is over they've started feeding the cows corn.

Secondly, we opened a bag of Terra Chips. Both Baby E and I had some. They seemed safe (non-nightshade root vegetables and salt), but there's always the possibility of cross-contamination.

Or there's the really frightening thought. Sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are not nightshades--they're in the morning glory family. They are supposedly one of the least allergenic of all foods, but (like any food) it is possible to be allergic to them.

There are sweet potatoes in the Terra Chips. I ate quite a few of them and gave some to Baby E within a half-hour before the last time she nursed that night. After that feeding she refused to nurse again, and was fussy until she fell asleep.

I didn't eat any sweet potatoes or yams all day yesterday, and Baby E nursed just fine and was in a good mood all day. Until dinner, when I had more Terra Chips. Baby E had just a few Terra chips--and maybe two were sweet potatoes. She was absolutely miserable by bedtime, and slept poorly last night.

I made muffins with grated sweet potatoes instead of carrots this morning, and ate lots of them all day. I thought it might be a good way to disguise them since--wait for it--Baby E has never been partial to sweet potatoes or yams. Baby E loved the muffins at first, but then decided she hated them halfway through the first one and refused to touch them after that. I had several for breakfast, then no more for several hours. She nursed happily after church. Then I ate several more muffins for lunch. After that she started nursing eagerly, then abruptly ended the nursing session halfway through and has refused to nurse since then.

DH and I conspired to sneak some of the milk I'd pumped this morning into Baby E's food this evening, since she'd refused it after one taste every other way we'd tried to give it to her. Then we gave her some Terra chips as a before-bedtime snack.

By bedtime she was in full allergic-reaction mode.

She also ate the yogurt quite a few times over the last few days, so it could be that along with or instead of the sweet potatoes. But the correlation certainly doesn't seem as direct, and she and I both had yogurt on the day she was fine and nursed well, too.

But I find it very interesting that Baby E has never liked sweet potatoes or yams. Each time she's had what seemed like a reaction to the baby food I was wondering if had corn cross-contamination issues, it was a sweet potato blend.

I feel like some crazy woman imagining allergies behind every bush. But I really suspect that Baby E may not tolerate sweet potatoes and yams well, even if she's not truly allergic to them.

I hope not, because that would really put a crimp in our menu. Those potato-like roots were such great alternatives to nightshades.

Now I'm wondering if there's a similar reason Baby E detests carrots, too. Carrots would be a hard one to pinpoint, again, because we eat them so often.

Please tell me the discovery of new problem foods has got to come to an end soon. The child can't possibly be allergic to everything, can she? Can she???