She Says… The Happiest Place on Earth

Nope, not Disneyland. Well, at least not for me. Err, not that I would know. I’ve never been there. No… better. Land of simple and smart design. CHEAP simple and smart design. Land of wandering through interior spaces and wanting to live there. My own personal Disneyland.

IKEA.

You may think I’m joking. But I’m not. I LOVE Ikea.

We needed a few key pieces for our new house so we set off on an excursion to go pick them up. But anyone who has been to Ikea (especially with me) knows that there is no such thing as “running in and picking up one thing” at Ikea. It’s pretty much a day-long trip, what with wandering through the rooms and discussing design choices and examining products and drooling over all of the cheap things (that tend to really add up) in the Marketplace. Oh, and the meatballs. You HAVE to try the meatballs with lingonberry sauce. Divine.

So we did something we rarely do (but this was an emergency!). It was our last weekend in our current house before we move, and it was our last chance to get any furniture we want to have at the house on move-in day. So we threw naptimes out the window and set off on our trip. Well, not exactly. We discussed doing that, and then I vetoed that plan and decided we should let Owen have his morning nap (his longest and most reliable) and then go after that. Lucky for us, Owen seemed to know that an Ikea trip was in his future, because he napped terribly and woke up early in a grumptastic mood, so it was the perfect time to plop him right in his car seat and let him finish his nap on the way there. Decent morning nap (x2)? Check.

We brought the stroller so he would be comfy for our day of Ikea strolling, since I knew I could only keep him happy in a cart for so long. That was a great decision, as he was happy as a little clam for the entire day! Seriously, we couldn’t have asked for a better shopping companion.

We even got our meatballs. (Well, Owen had baby food that we brought with us… Benjamin and I had meatballs). Even the high chairs at Ikea are cute! The whole store is so family-friendly. I told you I love Ikea.

Owen even had his first taste of their delicious vanilla soft serve.

The only challenging part was at checkout when Benjamin had to go get something we forgot and I was left with an antsy baby, a stroller and 2 carts to push (one full of furniture and REALLY hard to steer, and one full of little housewares like curtains and towels and a few adorable wooden toys for Owen). Instead of getting us all into a serious traffic jam, Owen and I played at the checkout until Daddy returned. We entertained everyone waiting in line

Then we loaded everything up into the car. The little darling had been cooped up in the stroller for most of the day (except for a few times when I let him cruise along furniture in beautiful Ikea rooms), so I wanted him to have a little “playtime” before we got back in the car. It was hard to contain him in the loading area so I popped him in our empty shopping cart. He was talking up a storm! See?

(P.S. I know you are not supposed to leave a child “unattended” in the back of a shopping cart, but please know that Benjamin and I were only an arm’s length away and had our eyes on him at ALL TIMES).

I think Owen loves Ikea just like Mama. He was an absolute angel this time around, but I fear the days of him being happy in a stroller for several hours are numbered. Any tips for entertaining little climbers when they need to be in a chair or stroller but want to be running around?

She Says… Wet Morning

Sigh. It’s another cold, gray, dreary, foggy, rainy morning in Boston. We haven’t seen the sun in days weeks years. Where is spring? It’s going to be summer before we ever get a taste of spring, I’m afraid.

Not only is it a wet morning outside, but it was a wet morning inside, too. Little Mr. Owen woke up at 5:15am (again) with soaked pajamas and sheets. I thought maybe we had another “lovey overboard” scenario going on, so I crept in and said “shhh” with the lights still low while I searched for that beloved hippo. It wasn’t lovey’s fault this time, though. One of his legs was tucked safely in Owen’s mouth and his body was draped over Owen’s face, just the way he likes it. So I picked Owen up to give him a little snuggle and a pat and realized his pajamas were soaked, right up to his neck. And there was a puddle in his sheets. Oh boy. Here we go again.

I have written before about Owen’s amazing ability to pee through any diaper before. After that post we have switched to size 5 overnight diapers (which are bigger, but somehow he still manages to overflow) and cinch him in as tight as I can manage, but we’re still having floods some nights. Not every night, but at least twice a week. Since so many people on that post suggested that I try cloth diapers or diaper covers, I went to this awesome cloth diaper store near my house and asked for their advice. They suggested adding a cloth insert to increase absorbency with the nighttime diapers I’m already using. We’ve tried it a few times and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I asked about waterproof covers, since that sounds like exactly what we need, but they said that covers wouldn’t help with more absorbency and they wouldn’t necessarily seal the moisture in, so they wouldn’t help our particular issue.

I have one big question about cloth diapers, though. And maybe I’m being totally dense here. But when we first used them I was appalled to take Owen’s diaper off in the morning and realize that the insert was SOAKED (um, duh… I’m not sure what I thought was going to happen). Meaning that his little bum, from butt crack to belly button, had been sitting with soaking wet fabric against it all night. Isn’t that how babies get diaper rash? We’ve never dealt with diaper rash, so I don’t really know. I use a dab of vaseline during the day (though not so much anymore) and I’ve started to use Desitin at night since Owen went through a night pooping stage… but how in the world do baby’s butts survive cloth diapers?

Anyway, I’ve been going back and forth on using these inserts, but sometimes he even overflows a size 5 overnight diaper WITH a cloth insert, so I’m at a loss. Come on moms of superpee-ers, I know you’re out there! What do I do? I’ve thought of double diapering, but can’t really get that to work either. The one time I tried it the outer diaper was bone dry and the pajamas were still wet. Mystery.

I realize I should be glad that Owen doesn’t wake up crying every night for no reason (and that he generally waits until 5:15am or so, which is the norm for some early risin’ babies). While his wakeups been more frequent recently, there’s always a reason! And a good one, too. Could you sleep if you were covered in cold, pee-covered pajamas? Me neither.

Happy Friday! We’re gearing up for our last! weekend! of packing! Pretty excited to just get everything packed and move on to our next big adventure.

She Says… Progress

We made some serious progress packing this weekend. Even Owen helped.

And today we’re off to sign our names a million times and plunge into a massive amount of debt Can’t wait! I’m mostly excited for the walkthrough prior to closing. It feels like it’s been forever since we last saw the house because we put the offer in waaaay back in February. We’re taking measurements and comparing paint chips and all that fun stuff. Yip yip!

We decided to leave Owen at home today so we could concentrate fully on our important errand, so he is playing the day away with a babysitter. We have never really had a babysitter come play with him when he was awake (the few times we’ve had one at all we’ve had them come after we put him to bed). I know, I know, we’re lame. Given the little bit of stranger anxiety/clinginess we saw the other day, we did a “dry run” with this babysitter this weekend and had her come for a few hours to play on Saturday while we got some packing done. It was a win win! Now I feel like she and Owen are buddies so he won’t mind when we’re gone today.

I’m in that blissful, naive state where I feel like we got so much packing done this weekend that we could move tomorrow if we had to. Cough, cough. The logical part of me KNOWS this isn’t true (we still have an entire basement we haven’t touched, along with all of our clothes and lots of things we left out because we might need them in the next 2 weeks), but I’m going to live in denial until next weekend when our next round of superpacking happens. We’re not expecting really any packing to get done during the week since between work and daycare and playing with Owen and sleeping there are only a couple “free” hours each night, and most of the time they are taken up by cooking, cleaning up, and spending quality time with my husband watching a tv show. Next weekend I’m sure I’ll be totally overwhelmed by how much we have to do again.

For now, my thoughts have turned to all of the phone calls and appointments that need to be made between now and then: cable/internet/phone, gas/electric, painters, wallpaperers, plumbers, oh my. Not to mention all the things we’d like to buy in the next few weeks: TV(s), dining room table & chairs, coffee table, curtains, lighting, the list never ends.

Wish we could move in right now so we could get started!

She Says… Beep Beep!

No, not bleepity bleep (even though that’s what I feel like doing when I look at my neverending To Do list recently).

Beep beep!

Owen and his ride-on walker car have become BFFs. So much so that they even look like twins now, no?

My buddy, my buddy... my buddy and me!

His FAVORITE thing to do is walk all around our house holding my fingers (and recently he’s been testing a few steps with only one finger) and climb all over me. Who needs toys when you can climb all over Mama?

I'm blurry because I never stop moving.

Closer... closer...

I can barely get a picture because he just wants to climb right up into my face.

Gotcha, Mama!

But his 2nd favorite thing to do is toddle behind his little car buddy. Can’t wait to get this little movin’ man to our new house where he’ll have a lot more space to practice that walking. For now we have to go back and forth, back and forth in his nursery and our tiny hallway (as you can see from the video!). As soon as he gets going, he hits a wall. Poor kid.

Any bets on when he’ll be walking without assistance? I’m still thinking by 10 months we will see his first step(s), but we’ll see. He certainly does love to hold on… and who can blame him?

She Says… Stranger Danger

Yesterday Owen and I went to visit his new daycare. The teachers wanted to meet him and I had to pick up some forms and other things, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for Owen to get used to spending some time there. I think we may be entering the next bout of teething (top teeth! woot woot!) because Owen has been a bit clingy and sleeping a lot the last few days, and then yesterday he barely slept at all and seemed very frustrated most of the day. Ahhh, teeth. You are my frenemy.

Anyway, yesterday’s morning nap, which is normally 1.5 – 2 hours, pretty reliably, was 30 minutes. After the ‘lovey overboard’ incident I got about half an hour of quiet and then heard coughing and babbling. Argh! Too early! I tried to pat him and put him back down, but he was raring to go and giggled and slapped my face around as soon as I pulled him out of the crib, so I acquiesced and got him up for good. The drive out to the new daycare is about 40 minutes, so I figured he would conk out on the way and finish his nap. And conk he did (boy am I glad we’re over the “I hate the car and I’m going to scream and cry until you getmeoutofherewoman” stage). He was dead asleep when we arrived at the new daycare. I spent a few minutes slowly waking him up and walking around the parking lot babbling about trees and clouds and whatever, since I knew he was about to be bombarded with voices and sounds and little tiny hands of the other daycare kids, and that could be… well… jarring to a sleepy baby. Still, when we went inside he was a bit sensitive (as his current daycare likes to say when he’s having an emotional day).

We sat and played with the new kids and new teachers. He showed off his mad walking skillz and grabbed everyone’s hair (he has a serious obsession with hair right now, especially curly hair). They loved him. Couldn’t stop talking about his awesome mohawk and little button nose. I know, I know, he’s the cutest. When we were about ready to leave, I asked if I could leave him there for a second while I went to the bathroom. He was crawling away toward a toy, and I walked out the door.

When I returned, crocodile tears were running down his face and his pouty lip was quivering. A teacher had him on her lap and was trying to read a book while he smacked it and stared longingly at the door. As soon as I walked in, his frown turned upside down and he did his funny laugh/cry and reached for me. It could have been that he was still feeling touchy after his bad nap(s), or that he was overwhelmed by the new sights and sounds and colors and faces, but there’s no denying that there was a bit of clinginess and stranger anxiety that I’ve never seen from him before.

When Owen was 6 months old and first started at our current daycare, he was so social and engaged that he never even noticed when I left the room. Then at about 7 1/2 or 8 months there were a few weeks when he would cry when I left him, so I started making sure that I went right up to him and said, “Bye bye” and waved so he knew when I was leaving, even if it made him cry. I think it helped him realize I wasn’t sneaking out. And I was coming back.

He’s such a super social kid and loves everyone so much that I never really give a second thought to handing him over to friends and family members. He pretty much loves everyone. No stranger anxiety to speak of.

But I realized that I haven’t really LEFT HIM left him (as in, leaving the building) with anyone except our current daycare. People who he has known for months and sees every week and adores. And recently, even when I just leave the room for a minute or so, he kind of “freezes” what he’s doing and watches the door until I come back. The moral of the story: I think this transition to the new daycare is going to be a bit harder than I had imagined, given the stage of development he is in right now.

I’m SURE he’ll be his happy, goofy little self once he gets comfortable there. He loves kids and thrives at daycare. I guess I thought that since he was already used to being away from me that this transition would be a cinch. But that little bathroom slip-up reminded me that I may need to take a bit more care in easing him into this new place and giving him time to get to know these new faces before I just turn on my heels and walk out the door. The great news is that once he gets comfortable at the new daycare, he’s there to stay. He’s going to grow up there, and make friends there, and they will all travel together between the classrooms, even up until preschool and then eventually elementary school.

Any tips on how to ease Owen through this transition of moving and changing daycares? Do you/how do you say goodbye if you leave your child at daycare or school?

She Says… Lovey Love

When Owen was tiny and we were establishing a strong bedtime routine, I introduced a “lovey”. When I say the word “lovey”, people of older generations (or those without children currently) look at me like I’ve gone loopy. You know, a blankie, a security blanket… except now we’ve learned that blankets can suffocate babies so most people use these little fleecey animals with bodies like a little blankie and knots for hands and feet. A lovey. Or, the term favored by behavioral psychologists, a transitional object.

Anyway, we were given about a million of them when Owen was born, but my mother gave me one very important piece of advice: ONLY CHOOSE ONE THAT YOU CAN BUY MORE OF. Don’t choose the super cute one that so-and-so brought back from Paris and you will never be able to put your hands on another one. Because all hell is going to break loose once your child falls in love with that lovey and then pukes on it in the middle of the night and you don’t have time to do laundry before he or she goes back to sleep. Trust me — it’s a key piece of advice. Thanks, Mom!

So I chose the one that I found the sweetest, and the one I knew I could find again in a heartbeat: The Pottery Barn Hippo. The first thing I did was sleep with the lovey for about a week so that it would smell like me. My mom group teacher suggested this for babies who were having a hard time transitioning out of sleeping in their parents’ room. Owen was not having any issues with that, but I figured anything that would give him comfort and help him sleep longer and more peacefully was worth a shot. Once I slept with it for a week or so, I started holding it between us while we nursed or he drank his bottle at night. This was during the time of all of our breastfeeding issues, and I know for a fact that that darling little lovey caught lots of tears in those first few weeks. From both Owen and I. As I laid Owen in his crib, I would nestle the lovey next to him so he could smell me and feel its softness while he slept. I don’t know if it was the lovey exactly, but you all know that Owen has a pretty awesome sleep record. I’ll give some of the credit to our dear little hippo friend.

Anyway, at that point, and even for the next few months, I continued to keep the lovey in the crib with Owen, but honestly I had no idea if he cared at all about the little blue thing next to him. Once Owen started being put down awake in his crib, I would hand him the lovey and let him cuddle it. Since he never took a pacifier, I think the lovey is his thing. Now, as soon as I hand it to him for bedtime or for a nap, he smooshes it all over his face, pops one of the “feet” in his mouth, and falls asleep with it laying across his face. Believe me, when he started doing this I would often come in and gently lift it off of his face, afraid he was going to suffocate. But he’s clearly strong enough and smart enough now to pull the thing off of his own face if it ever became an issue. And he likes it that way! Unfortunately I wonder if that contributes to his eczema issues… but I digress. Not gonna interfere with the lovey love.

Once Owen started daycare I sent his lovey in with him every day so that he would have something familiar to fall asleep with at naptime. After the first day that it was left at daycare, I realized we needed backups. Also, I realized how much I need to wash that slobbery, germy thing. Disgusting. So I ordered 3 more. Now we have one at daycare, one at home, one in the laundry and one clean at all times. Still, I wasn’t entirely sure if Owen really loved that lovey, or if I was just making a big deal out of it.

Then today, something adorable happened. I put Owen down for his morning nap as usual, handed him his lovey and let him wipe it all over his face. I went to take a shower. Once I got out of the shower I heard him sobbing big, heaving sobs. What? Haven’t heard him fuss at naptime in ages. I went in to comfort him and I found him laying on his stomach with his arm reaching through the crib slats for… his lovey. Who was on the floor. I’m not sure how he got there (I’m assuming he was pushed through the slats and not thrown over the top rail!), but Owen missed him. And loved him. And had to have him to sleep.

That’s lovey love.

She Says… Teaching an Old Baby New Tricks

Ok, so he’s not an old baby. But he’s learned some pretty adorable tricks recently!

 

#1 – Flushing the Toilet. No, we’re not potty training just yet, but since Owen is walking (assisted) and crawling all over the place, he often finds himself wandering in and out of the bathroom (don’t judge… we have a small apartment!). Recently he pulled up on the toilet and realized what an awesome sound he can make when he smacks the top of it. It wasn’t long before he figured out what that cool silver thing does too. It cracked me up so much I had to grab the camera. He flushes, I laugh, he laughs. Again! Again! We may be wasting some water, but the little cutie is learning cause and effect, and giggling about it is pretty contagious. And whaddayaknow, maybe he’ll be early with potty training too? All that interest in the potty… This little exploration into the wonderful world of toilets has made me realize just how many germs his little hands come in contact with every day (the flusher? gross!). Let’s just say we’re wiping down the toilet multiple times a day now and getting lots of practice washing Owen’s hands!

#2 – Climbing Stairs. This sort of happened by accident. Benjamin was joking around and set Owen on a step and told him to go upstairs. Hardy har har. We thought there was no way he’d be able to pull himself up over the step. He patted the step for a second, lifted a knee and all of a sudden the stairs were no longer an obstacle. Crazy! He’s a climbing machine. It’s AMAZING how fearlessly he’ll fall right down them, too. No sense of gravity or danger or edges or balance. Makes me cringe just to think about how easily he could roll right down the whole flight if someone wasn’t there to catch him. Having a early mover is wonderful and exciting, but there are so many potential hazards!

#3 – Playing Tag with Schnitzel. Best. Game. Ever. Owen’s new favorite thing is to “chase” the dog around the house and he giggles and gasps and chortles the cutest little belly laugh (whether or not Schnitzel is playing too). BFF.

She Says… It’s Just a Phase (Right?)

First of all I have to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who commented, tweeted to me or wrote me an email in response to my last post about the possibility of Owen having asthma. His wheezing is 99.9% gone, thanks to a weekend of nebulizer treatments every 4 hours and although some congestion remains in his chest, he seems like he’s feeling fine. Most importantly your stories reminded me that there are FAR bigger things in the world to worry about, and even if he has to live with asthma, it doesn’t have to negatively impact his life! He’s going to be a happy, healthy kid, with or without a little eczema here and there or asthma once in awhile. And chances are good he could still grow out of all these little issues and I’ll forget all about this nonsense.

Instead of wrapping myself up in what ifs, I’m going to try my best to stop analyzing his skin for dry patches, stop rehashing in my head everything that passes through his lips and just let it be. The worst case scenario is that he eats a food that he is intolerant of, and the eczema returns. Not such a huge deal since we know how to treat it and manage it.

Moving on.

Now I’ll let you in on his latest phase. Ahem, emphasis on the word phase because THIS IS JUST A PHASE, RIGHT?! I guess I knew this day would come. He was bound to break out of his angelic little “go with the flow” attitude once in awhile. I think it’s called demonstrating independence, or becoming a big boy, or growing up or something silly like that.

Bathtime and bedtime used to be precious, happy moments of quiet playtime and snuggles and lotion massages and pajamas and the sweet smell of clean baby and slow bottle drinking and lullabies. Now it’s more like wrestling a greased pig to the ground and trying to hold a hurricane in my lap long enough to drain a bottle.

Let’s start with the bath: Now that Owen has learned to stand up, he wants to do it all the time. All day long, all he wants to do is pull up and stand and walk. Apparently the bath is no different. As soon as his little butt hits the tub, he’s pulling up on the wall and standing and trying to walk. Obviously this is incredibly dangerous in a tub filled with water, so I’ve taken to taking off my shirt (or letting it get soaked) and wrapping one arm around him while I try to get him to sit back down safely. No dice. He locks his rock hard legs and flat out refuses to sit down. He’s been practicing this refusal to sit for several months now, but it comes in particularly handy in the bath. The more I try to respond with a firm, “No.” and making him sit (thinking I’m being all calm and controlled and using this as a teachable moment), he grins and laughs. Apparently “No.” is the funniest thing he’s heard all day.

Once I slap enough soap on his body to call it a bath, we head to his nursery for what used to be a lovely little ritual of lotion and singing and love pats and kisses. As soon as I lay him down on his back, there are tears. Tears and wails such that I never, ever hear any other time of day. I haven’t really heard Owen cry much beyond an “I bumped my head” whine in months. MONTHS. And now, every night, as soon as I lay him down on the changing table… tears. I try to get a diaper on him while he tries his best to flip over and crawl away. I’m lucky if I get a handful of lotion on him before stuffing him into his pajamas. Last night I started doing this part on the floor and allowing him to stand so that he wouldn’t scream, but it is HARD to put a diaper and footie pajamas on a standing child!

As soon as we’re sitting in the rocking chair and he’s drinking his bottle, all is right with the world. You would think the child is starving, except that he eats a big dinner (his 3rd solid meal of the day) about an hour prior. Since I am a Weissbluth believer, I thought maybe he was overtired. But we’ve had the same bedtime for months and he’s had the same naps as usual recently. His awake time prior to bedtime is usually not more than 3 hours. I moved it up by 15 minutes, didn’t help. Moved it later by 15 minutes, didn’t help. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that his nursery is brighter because the spring/summer sun shines through his blinds brighter than it has in the winter. Not sure about that theory yet. I thought maybe he was getting another tooth and Ibuprofen would help. Didn’t help (although, to his credit, I gave it right before his bath so it didn’t have time to work before that fussy time).

At least once the bottle is gone he goes right to sleep like a little angel, so it’s just the post-bath/pre-bottle time period that is so strangely fussy. Any ideas that I haven’t thought of on what might be bugging him? Anyone else dealt with this phase? Tell me it’s just a phase, please?

She Says… Deja Vu

Biiiig sigh. We’re back at the doctor’s again. And not for a well visit.

Remember this day, when I said that we would try to make it to our 9 month well visit without another doctor’s appointment? Well, we did it. By the skin of our teeth. At our well visit on Monday the doctor heard Owen’s [persistent and ubiquitous] cough. She said, “Oh, is he sick?” and I said, “Nah, he’s had that cough since he started daycare in January. It doesn’t bother him and it hasn’t gotten better or worse.” She listened to his breathing and said, “Well, if he starts wheezing, let me know.” Got it, doc. Haven’t heard a wheeze since his bout with pneumonia.

Cue the wheezing Wednesday morning… a mere 48 hours after leaving the doctor’s office.

I heard a slight wheeze Wednesday morning, but he didn’t have a fever and was in great spirits, so I waited and listened before calling the doc. Didn’t want to rush to the doctor for no good reason. Also, I was beginning to feel so sick I could barely see straight. A sore throat had morphed into an all-consuming illness with high fever, chills, horrendous body aches and a feeling like a knife was slicing through my throat every time I swallowed. After an urgent trip to the doctor myself, turned out I have strep throat. Man, strep is NASTY when you get it as an adult!

By Thursday Owen’s wheeze was louder and he was running a fever, so we made the call and got a late afternoon doc appointment. Deja vu. Oh how many times we’ve been there recently!

I have had a work event yesterday and today, so Benjamin was on doctor duty, as I couldn’t get away. Which I hate. I want to be the one holding the sick baby and asking the questions and giving the rundown of all the little symptoms I noticed that led up to the appointment. It’s not that I don’t trust Benjamin; far from it. He is wonderfully sweet with Owen and knows just what to do. But I’m the one who likes to hear the diagnosis from the doctor’s mouth, and to be the one explaining what’s going on. I notice little things about Owen that sometimes Benjamin doesn’t, and in the past some of those little things have really helped us identify underlying issues.

But alas, duty called this time, and I felt the sting of being a mother who works outside the house and had a responsibility to stay at work this time. I’ll be honest… a few tears were shed while I waited impatiently for phone calls from Benjamin updating me on the appointment and the diagnosis.

Bottom line: Owen has an upper respiratory infection and is wheezing again. We’re back doing the albuterol nebulizer breathing treatments every 4 hours that we did when he had pneumonia, and are also using a long-term inhaled steroid (pulmicort) daily to keep his asthma under control. The unfortunate part about this is that since it’s the 2nd time we’ve seen this asthmatic breathing, we may need to have some larger discussions about Owen being “an asthmatic child”, rather than just dealing with each instance discreetly. I have another appointment with our regular pediatrician in a week or two to have this discussion. The idea of Owen having asthma for the rest of his life scares the crap out of me, but it may not be as bad as my brain is making it out to be. Plenty of kids have childhood asthma and they grow out of it and into perfectly healthy little people.

But apparently eczema, allergies and asthma all go together in a sad little triad. And Owen demonstrates all 3.

Wah. How did two perfectly healthy people have a baby plagued with so many issues?! I know that doesn’t really have much to do with it, and we’re doing everything we can to treat each of these issues, but it still makes me sad.

Anyone out there dealt with childhood asthma? Tell me happy stories!

She Says… Of All Things

Owen’s allergy blood tests came back today. I haven’t had a chance to debrief with our doctor yet, but I accessed the test results online and then commenced a furious Google search.

Milk: No
Egg whites: No
Egg yolks: No
Wheat: No
Casein: No
Oats: YES

Wha? That’s definitely not what I thought was going to happen. Leave it to my little medical mystery baby to throw us another curveball. Oats. Of all things.

I say “of all things”, because you should see the amount of oats that pass through this house. They are the one thing in our pantry I am sure NEVER to run out of. Benjamin and I eat them every morning. I use them in almost all of my baking. They were the first or second grain Owen ever ate. Heck, they are one of the first foods most babies eat! Oats. Who knew. I wasn’t even going to check for them, but just before getting Owen’s blood sample, the doctor said, “Is there ANYTHING else you can think of that you’d like to test him for?”. I replied, “I don’t know, what other grains might he be allergic to? Oats, maybe?”. Oats indeed.

Here’s the thing about oat allergies: They are relatively uncommon. That’s why parents are told that baby oatmeal is a perfect first food. It also explains why Owen’s eczema started showing up a few weeks after we started solid food, despite introducing one new fruit/veggie at a time and watching for a reaction. I guess I thought oats and rice cereal were a given. The eczema reaction (slow and gradual as it was) was to the oatmeal that I had been mixing with those other foods, little by little, to get the right consistency.

Although I am sad for my baby to be diagnosed with an allergy, I think this is a really positive outcome. Oats, as far as I know, should be pretty easy to avoid. I don’t think they are often hidden in other ingredients under different names like milk and wheat often are (though correct me if I’m wrong!). From what I’ve read, though, it sounds like inhaled oat dust can actually cause an allergic reaction like the persistent cough and runny nose that Owen has had since January. I have been blaming that on daycare germs, but I wonder, now, if eliminating oat dust in our house could also eliminate the extra boogers and hacking cough we’ve grown so used to dealing with. That means no more morning oats at the table with Owen. But it’s a price we’re more than happy to pay.

And unfortunately it sounds like oat dust can sometimes be present in other grains like wheat flour due to cross-contamination in processing. That’s a huge bummer; that we can’t be sure of exactly what we’re getting even if the package says “wheat flour”. The good news is that in the grand scheme of things, Owen’s allergic reaction is pretty mild (eczema just on his cheeks), so if he’s unknowingly exposed it’s not an issue of life or death.

The best news? Several websites I read stated that children diagnosed with this allergy often spontaneously get over it. Owen’s IgE level was .39 instead of the normal <.35, which I believe is pretty low. So that gives me hope that this is a minor thing that won’t plague him for the rest of his life.

Off to de-oat dust-ify our kitchen…

Do you have any experience with an allergy to oats or other grains? Anything else I should be avoiding while we give Owen’s little system time to recover?