Monday, November 3, 2008
Bob Evans Allergy Friendly:)
We went to Bob Evans restaurant tonight. When we told them about our milk allergy, the manager came out and spoke with us in person. He spoke with the chef and made sure that the kids' pasta was boiled in a new pot with no butter added. He also substituted the garlic toast for french fries which were dairy-free. He cooked the burgers on a griddle that never has butter on it and didn't toast the bun (to avoid any contact with butter). He also left off the cheese. In addition to this, he read the ingredients of the other kid's menu items and informed us that the grilled chicken and potato smiles were also dairy-free. It was such a pleasant experience. I thanked him and the waitress for their kindness and told them that we would definitely be coming back thanks to their service and help with our kids' allergies. It's nice to know that some restaurants will accommodate our needs and do so with the greatest of care.
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6 comments:
Hey there,
I happened across your blog while trying to do some internet research. Here's our situation. My daughter(Chloe) is 14 months old. On her first Birthday (the day) she came down with a really rough cold. Soon after that, I began to try to wean her from breastfeeding. She was extremely fussy but I just assumed it was the weaning. When she was about 13 months, my older daughter got sick and since my younger seemed to be still fighting a cold, I took her too. Turned out, they both had an ear infection. The oldest cleared with antibiotics. But after three rounds of antibiotics, Chloe still has the ear infection. They are referring me to an ENT. After reading some on milk allergies, it's looking very suspiscious. Since it was the first ear infection and I had cut back on breastfeeding her, I linked it to that and upped her breastfeeding again and am back to breastfeeding her three to four times a day. But,now I'm thinking that it had more to do with the fact that I introduced milk around the same time I started weaning.
I'd love to hear you opinion on this
and also, If she does have a milk allergy and I cut out all dairy, will it improve without antibiotics now that she has the infection?
I realize that you aren't an MD but I'm starting to wonder if they are of any help anyway!
Thanks
Dana,
I'm definitely not an MD, however, I can share with you what we've experienced. My second son got lots of ear infections (every six weeks) and antibiotics never seemed to fully clear them up. After seeing a new ENT, after two surgeries and five ruptures (or six...I've lost count), we were told to take him off of all dairy. He has not had an infection since. His hearing is slightly diminished in his left ear (the one with all the ruptures), but he has been symptom free. He also used to have a lot of colds and drainage year round. That has diminished significantly.
The best advice I can give you is to try to take her off of all dairy for a month and see what happens. In order for this to work, you have to be really strict. After a month, you can try to reintroduce dairy, if you'd like. I haven't tried that with my second oldest yet because the results were so dramatic that it's not worth it to me to try.
That said, my youngest son had chronic ear infections as well and was scheduled for surgery. I opted out of surgery and took him off of all dairy as well. He has not had an infection since. Interestingly enough, one night my mom fed him pizza with cheese. The next morning he woke up screaming and holding one of his ears. So...I do believe that in most cases, mothers have the intuition to know what their children need.
As far as finishing antibiotics goes, it depends. With my second son, his ear drum ruptured so much that I wouldn't take that chance, however, many doctors have told me that ear infections can go away on their own, and if dairy is the cause of the extra mucus causing the infection, then it would make sense that it would go away on its own. I would use your best judgement on that. I have used a hot pack on his ear (rice in a cloth case heated in the microwave) to alleviate discomfort. I've also taught him to clear his ear passageway by plugging his nose and blowing air into his ears gently.
With my youngest daughter, when I weaned her and introduced cow's milk for the first time, she got her first ear infection. I took her to an allergist and he said it wasn't related. However, she is now dairy-free and hasn't had an infection since. Again, trust your gut and try to find a doctor that you feel comfortable with. I wish you the best!
My daughter has had chronic ear infections since July, finally ending in October when I took her off dairy. Since then she's had an additional two infections but both come after consuming dairy. This latest one occurred within 24 hours and included a ruptured ear drum.
It's amazing how fast things can happen. Within 3 hours of consuming dairy there was gastro distress and the next day we had a double ear infection with a ruptured ear drum.
It took the past 6 months for my pediatrician to listen to me when it came to dairy allergies. I'm so glad I listened to my gut and eliminated dairy from both of our diets!
Haley,
Wow! I'm sorry to hear about your chronic ear infections and ruptures. That said, I'm glad that you found the source. It's nice to know I'm not the only one out there whose children have severe ear infections after consuming dairy products. The evidence is overwhelming.
I wish I would have found your site sooner! I too have been struggling for a year with my sons chronic infections. He did not even have a runny nose before I stopped nursing him. Within a week of weaning him, he got his first ear infection, and pretty much kept one for two months until he had tubes placed, no antibiotics would help! The tubes helped the ear infections, but then the sinus infections started, and once again, no meds helped! We've been fighting with this for a year now. I had done some research of my own, and found a strong connection with his symptoms and dairy. I told his asthma/allergy dr this and they said No it wasn't a milk allergy, that the milk may just be making the mucus thicker, but it wasn't an allergy. We finally were referred to a pediatric ENT who, the moment he saw my son, says "oh, he has a pasty pale complexion, has he been tested for dairy allergies?" I had been trying to tell the other doctors this for months and they just wanted to keep pumping him full of more meds!
He's going to have a few more test done, but suggested we go off of all dairy for 30 days and see what happens. Today made day 3 off of dairy, and it was the first day in 12 months he has had NO nasal drainage, NO cough or wheezing!
Thank you for this site, it very informative and helpful! Keep up the good work!
You're welcome! I hope that going off dairy helps your son. I have lots of different quick meal ideas on this blog. There are also free recipes on the blog as well as on my website www.milkallergycompanion.com Good luck!!!!
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