Green beans?! Are you kidding me?!

[meaniejean]

So, we tried green beans yesterday. I cooked up some frozen ones the night before for dinner and then put them in the food processor for Sawyer. He ate about a few TBSP of them yesterday, but then didn't want any more. He didn't throw up, so I thought maybe we were in the clear.

In the afternoon he got more and more agitated and then started doing some grunting and screaming (this is what he does with abdominal pain). I still didn't get it at this point. He wouldn't even drink his bottle. So we tried some more green beans (I know, I'm a little slow) and he completely refused to eat even a bite. This is when it started to click. So, he had a really hard time sleeping last night - kept waking up screaming and grunting and then very loose, stinky BM this morning.

I thought green beans were okay - then I looked on here last night and saw that some people have trouble with them and that they seem to be on the limited list. I am assuming that they would be more of a problem for a baby since tolerance is based upon weight in kg - Sawyer weighs about 10 kg, so that means less than 400 mg per day - do I have that right?

What do I feed a baby who has a milk protein intolerance and HFI?! He basically lives on goat milk, some safe saltines I bought at Whole Foods and some safe bread that my mother-in-law makes for us with her bread machine. He refuses mashed potatoes, but I haven't tried plain boiled or baked yet. Any other suggestions?

Thanks a bunch!!!

[colormist]

I've noticed a trend with frozen veggies--they seem to have more fructose (more of a sweet taste, anyway) than the canned variety.

You can try rice and puffed rice. Cream of Wheat, puffed wheat (puffed rice might be a little easier with him to start out with--puffed wheat breaks down a little awkwardly in the mouth). Eggs, beef, chicken, fish should all be okay (barring any other allergies). Scrambled eggs would probably be pretty easy. I'll keep thinking. Other people might have ideas.

[ljs678]

My baby is just suspected HFI so I am not an expert but he is doing much better on the HFI diet. He is now 10 months. So, for what it is worth, I am feeding him milk products but in addition he also likes:
baby cereal made from rice only (Hirsana), and/or baby cereal from rice, maize and millet (Milupa). These are the only two types I have found here without added forbidden ingredients, but I am not sure they are brands that exist in the US;
mixed with poached chicken/turkey pureed with the water it is cooked in. He eats this a lot.

Less often I also give him the cereal mixed with;
mashed tuna (canned in oil only);
pureed spinach.

He will also eat pieces of chicken, turkey and white fish, and chew on lamb and venison (I know this is a bit unusual for a baby but it is the hunting season here so there is a lot of it about). He also likes to chew on white breadsticks (Italian grissini), and will sometimes eat cous cous.

Like your baby, he refuses potato and once ate but didn't go so well with green beans. He is also not keen on eggs, but good luck with this. I also tried mushrooms which I think should be safe but he refused them.

Hope some of these work. My baby doesn't seem to mind having the same things again and again, which is a blessing.

[millan]

I can eat green beans (or at least haricots verte, which is a type of green beans). But I hardly eat more than two or three and only rarely. I've also noticed I like them more when they are bought fresh, not frozen, which would be logical if the fructose content is larger for frozen vegetables.

I've never liked potatoes. Can eat them if I have to, but never boil any myself. If you can, let him stay away from potatoes for a while, at least if he eats rice and pasta (or maybe bulgur or cous cous).

As for general tips on what to feed, I don't remember the exact age of your baby, but if he's nearing one year, I'd definitely try fish and meat and chicken. Well-cooked and in small pieces, maybe make a puree if he's closer to half a year than a year.

White rice is excellent.
Porridge is also something you can easily make yourself and there are many different varieties so it doesn't get boring. I make oatmeal porridge, semolina porridge and graham porridge both for myself and my daughter. Make it with water, or maybe goat's milk would work?

Have you tried avocado? I can eat that without any problems and I often gave my daughter avocado as a snack when she was just a baby.
Spinach should be fine.
Mushrooms should also be fine, if he likes it.

Eggs are great and can be made in so many different ways. Scrambled or an omelet with a bit of seasoning, or hard-boiled and chopped with a bit of salt and maybe some chopped spinach?

Hmm, I realize have cheese or cream with most things I eat. Trying to come up with things that won't cause any problems for a milk protein intolerance was a bit more tricky than I'd imagined. ;D

[meaniejean]

Thank you all so much for the ideas. Luckily, as many have stated on here, the kids don't seem to mind eating the same things over and over. Of course, I don't mind either, but I keep feeling like I am supposed to be feeding them more of a variety of foods, healthier foods, blah, blah, blah. I keep trying to remind myself that we should just be focusing on the fructose-free for now and worry about the rest later.

Sawyer does also eat some Cream of Wheat and some plain Quaker instant corn grits. Last night I took our dinner and pureed it for Sawyer and he did very well with it. It was ground turkey, chicken broth, spinach and elbow macaroni - it's our fructose-free version of italian wedding soup. I used some goat milk to make it more liquidy for him. He has trouble with textures which is why he usually will not touch meat at all. He likes crispy food or soupy food only. I tried the puffed rice because we had some in the house - he made a weird face and spit it out. He likes the texture of the O's, but oats don't seem to agree with him.

Calvin had texture issues as well as a baby - and he still kind of does. I don't know if it was related, but he didn't start talking until 3. Well, he started before he was a year and then he seemed to stop talking and relied on sign language until he was 3. Now he is talking up a storm.

This morning Calvin woke up crying, he was breathing kind of weird and he is having some trouble with keeping his blood sugar up. Last night he had more diarrhea and it literally looked like pale yellow sand and he passed some slightly bloody mucus. Not sure what the cause is, but it might be remnants of his green bean intake the other day??? I can't believe that the GI would even suggest this is just some malabsorption!

Thanks again for all the help. This is such a helpful, supportive group of people! I am so happy I found this site!

[colormist]

Check your chicken broth. If you're making it, it should be fine (if the chicken is sugar-free), but if you're using the canned variety, it usually has carrot and onion broth. I've found a mushroom broth that doesn't have carrots and onions in it (http://www.pacificfoods.com/products-broths.php), but I don't know if it would be available in your area. You might check Amazon.

[meaniejean]

Thanks, Laura. Yup, I just looked again - the broth is Shelton's chicken broth - it has dehydrated onion in it. I'll look for the mushroom one - I bet I could find it at Whole Foods. I bought a whole chicken the other day - I think I'll try to make some broth with it.

Poor Calvin ate a little breakfast earlier, but now is refusing to eat anything- Just wants glucose tablets. I think I'll have to go out and grab some unflavored pedialyte between the food refusal and diarrhea.

Well, I just realized that I made a glass of homemade lemonade the other night (the same night as the green beans) and he ended up drinking most of it on me. So he had green beans, most of the juice from one lemon and then chicken broth with onion in it. Guess I shouldn't be surprised he's having issues ...

[julienc]

Hi There,

Laura and Millan gave you some great food suggestions. I wanted to make a comment on the green beans. For some reason I can eat canned green beans without any trouble at all, but fresh and frozen do not sit well with me at all. No idea why...it has always been this way.

[ljs678]

I tried avocado with Hugo tonight. He had just a small amount, less than a dessertspoon.

As well, he had things he has often: chicken, cheese and safe baby cereal. Then at bedtime he had breastmilk and, as he wanted more once the breast was empty, cows milk.

He was ok for a couple of hours, but didn't want to go to bed at his usual time. Then he started crying and writhing in pain. Then he vomited up all the contents of his stomach and kept vomiting over a period of 3 hours.

Is it possible this is the avocado? This is the same reaction he has had to fruit in the past. With vegetables it had been a lesser reaction, still vomiting but keeping something down.

The other thing that has changed recently is that he is no longer having anti-reflux medication while the doctors investigate his reflux. (They refuse to investigate a possible fructose intolerance until they have ruled out more common possibilities).

Up til now the difference I have seen with stopping the reflux meds is that he does little acidy vomits and has pain during and after feeding, but not nearly as bad as tonight and not projectile vomiting as tonight.

Does anyone have problems with avocado or have I missed something? (The other possibility I can think of is that his 3 year old sister may have dropped a raisin or 2 on the floor that he has eaten).

I hesitate to post this as it makes me look like such a terrible mother, but I am really really trying to get it right and would appreciate any feedback.

[meaniejean]

I second the avocado idea - I know we are not diagnosed, but I don't seem to be tolerating avocado, my oldest had a reaction to it last week and my youngest refuses to eat it at all (he's good at refusing trouble foods).

Thanks to you all about the canned green beans - I think we will give that a try in a couple of weeks. We are currently recovering from a broccoli overdose. I am guessing that broccoli is one of those "limited" items ...

I am currently feeling very sick from the glass of Pinot Grigio I just had. I keep trying to find a wine that agrees with me, but my hubbie thinks maybe I should just abandon the search ...

[Jenny]

Hi there, I'm new here but have been really enjoying reading all the discussions. I too cannot eat green beans but I do eat broccoli as I though it was ok - I am confused!! It doesn't taste sweet like other veg. Can anyone help with that one?

Also, Sandra, I too have been on the wine quest! I don't drink white at all as can't find any not sweet but have been doing the reds for a while and have a sister who works in the wine industry who has been helpfully advising! She says to go for wines with higher alcohol content as more of the sugar has been fermented. I have found Spanish & Italian wines to be the best. Particularly any Spanish Tempranillo.

Hope that helps!

Jenny.

[julienc]

I do eat small servings of broccoli. Typically no more than once a week, and I eat just the crowns of the broccoli (not the stalks). They taste less sweet to me.

Wine is hit or miss for me. I never drink whites - just dry reds. I drink it so rarely now since I have been sick from it in the past. I generally stick with beer if I want an alcoholic drink. Wine is just so unpredictable.

Also, I haven't noticed any problems (for me) with avocado, but I generally eat it in small quantities. For example, a few slices on a sandwich, or some home-made guacamole (without all the added onions and other bad things).

[colormist]

I was on a huge guacamole kick a year or so ago. I thought it was a safe food, so I started eating plain avocado in salad, on sandwiches, etc. Then I realized I was getting nauseated just looking at avocado or from eating small amounts. Now I avoid it. There are very few fruits/veggies that we can eat anyway and even the smallest overdose can cause a bad reaction.

[meaniejean]

I know what you mean about the avocado. I have one sitting on my counter and I just feel repulsed by it, so it goes in the husband pile - he is a fruit fanatic.

I had a sore throat on Saturday so I tried the juice from half a lemon in some water - apparently not a good idea - dizziness and nausea yesterday and BM issues today. I can't believe that I have been feeling this way for so long that I was starting to think all those things were normal. I didn't know what it was like not to be dizzy and nauseated!

[charlie]

Hi, we have finally been sent the official diet advice given here in England from our dietician, that states avocado is OK but green beans aren't if you have low tolerance of fructose.

One idea on the frozen issue, being in the horse world. Frosts in the winter stress the grass and it emits a higher sugar content until the frost melts and therefore if you have a pony with laminitis caused by high sugar intake you should keep them off frosted grass. maybe it has the same effect with frozen veg? Sorry guys, just don't start neighing back at me.

[thewigglesrule]

have your mother in law make breads that use potatoes, white bean puree (or any kind of puree that is bean based for that matter) also cauliflower in a home made bread works well if there is other flavours, ie soy - Nadine

[colormist]

Okay, so I tormented myself yesterday and had a slice of avocado. There was also some weird potato/cauliflower mashed thing that was sweet that I avoided. My main mean was corn cakes and goat cheese. Either the corn cakes or the avocado made me pretty gosh-darn sick. I'm feeling about one IQ point smarter than a slug today.

[meaniejean]

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well today. The guessing game is so frustrating! My avocado tolerance is so low these days as well. And my potato tolerance is lower than I thought it was too. I should let my kids be my guide - they both completely refuse potatoes - except for potato chips.

Hope you feel better soon - throw back those smarties And your green tea trick has been working very well for me - thanks!

[colormist]

It's jasmine green tea, peanuts, and gobstoppers for me today. I'm feeling better in increments and the room is looking a lot brighter. I think my IQ is closer to that of a horse now.