Very Unusual Food Allergy..to sweet potato!?!?!

[@llli*jlk51496]

I would like to know if anyone has had a similar experience:

I gave my lo sweet potato today for the first time! (It was stage 1 gerber puree) She loved them and ate it all up! Then about 2-3 hours later, she was in her car seat and she projectile vomitted VIOLENTLY! Four times in a row! It looked like something out of the Exorcist there was so much it super saturated her bib, shirt, pants, even her diaper! All over her car seat and bundle me! "Lucky us" it was a nice florescent orange!

I immediately called the ped and he thought it could be that darn virus going around! But she didnt have a fever or diarrhea! He suggested I give her some pedialite (?spelling?) instead of her milk for one feeding! She didnt like it at all, I dont think she even had a sip! So after an hour of seeing how hungry she was, I fed her BM! She hasnt has any symptoms since that one time in the car seat! Its like it never happened she didnt spit up or vomit any of the BM! That is why I am convinced it is not the virus!

My DH and I tried to do some research online and found out that it is not only rare, but there were some babies out there that experienced the SAME EXACT thing..I could have written their stories!!!

So I am convinced that it is not the virus, but an allergy to sweet potatoes! Both my DH and I have no food allergies!

I hope this doesnt apply to ALL POTATOES (I am Irish-potatoes are a staple!)

These are the only things I found so far on the internet:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=381259
http://forums.greenmountainmoms.com/viewtopic.php?t=689

Anyone else out there with similar experience!?!?!

[@llli*apron.strings]

I'm sorry, I haven't had a similar experience. I was just checking back this morning to see if there were any more barfing episodes since you posted.

I personally haven't heard of a baby being allergic to sweet potatoes, not to say that it can't happen. It uncommon, but not impossible.

What other foods has she tried? Any reactions to those? Could she have possibly been too full?

How's she doing today?

[@llli*yee-haw]

That's what I was thinking, did she maybe eat too much and it didn't settle well in her little tummy? Did she have any other allergic reactions to the sweet potatoes...rash or blotchiness?

[@llli*jlk51496]

no vomitting today!
Thanks for asking very sweet to think of us
she didnt have anything like this to her other veggies and the same amount was always given (carrots, squash, peas and green beans) Today it's like it never happened! No diarrhea, rash, etc then or now! She didnt even cry after it happened..acutally she gave me this huge smile! WE wont be trying sweet potatoes for quite sometime! I wouldnt have believed it was them myself if I didnt read those posts on those other websites!

[@llli*apron.strings]

Originally Posted by jlk51496

no vomitting today!
Thanks for asking very sweet to think of us
she didnt have anything like this to her other veggies and the same amount was always given (carrots, squash, peas and green beans) Today it's like it never happened! No diarrhea, rash, etc then or now! She didnt even cry after it happened..acutally she gave me this huge smile! WE wont be trying sweet potatoes for quite sometime! I wouldnt have believed it was them myself if I didnt read those posts on those other websites!

Glad to hear it!

I didn't look at the allergies forum, so I was wondering if you had posted there on lo's possible sweet potato allergy. Those mommies are quite knowledgeable. When I read that lo tolerated carrots and squash (butternut?), I thought the moms in the allergy forum might know why a baby would tolerate some orange-colored veggies but not sweet potatoes, that is, if that has anything to do with it.

[@llli*mumsy07]

sorry i'm late to this post, but my LO has had a reaction in the form of bad diaper rash to a sweet potato/yam puree as well as a butternut squash puree. but not to carrots or acorn squash (which is yellow).

[KristiJo]

My boys both have food allergies but not to sweet potato. I know it is possible though as I have also heard accounts of it on message boards. One of my boys had the same sort of reaction to rice cereal (projectile vomiting). Exact same thing. I would just suggest removing sweet potatoes from her diet (which I'm sure you've already done ) Maybe it's something that you can try again after a while. If you aren't already, you might want to be extra cautious when adding new foods to her diet, too (wait at least 3 days in between new foods).

Do you or your husband have allergies of any kind (I know you said no food allergies)? I learned after DS#1 was diagnosed that it doesn't matter what kind of allergy, if parents have some type of allergy, the child's chance of allergies (any kind) go up. Just FYI

[Audey Lee]

Hello,
I'm researching my own allergy to sweet potatoes (or is it yams?) because I've been having some adult problems that I think may be related to this allergy and to not being breastfed. I was bottle fed out of necessity as I was not raised by my biological mother and in addition to that, I had violent reactions to sweet potatoes as a child (such as the ones described here), as well as Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. I don't know if these are related, but if anyone finds these correlations familiar, wants more information, or can give me information, please contact me.

Thank you,
Audey Lee

[@llli*andrea.wolford]

I know somebody who had the throwing up after sweet potato
The child was able to eat it in baked goods when he turned 3
and then by it self when he was older...

[@llli*jen.van]

This may sound like a silly question, but did you burp her after you fed her the sweet potato?

I just started my little man on sweet potatoes at the recommendation of my pediatrician, and he loves them. Well, the other night, he just would not burp after I fed him his sweet potatoes. (My mother in law, a retired RN, and my pediatrician both said to continue to burp him after I fed him.) So, he wouldn't burp and wouldn't burp, and he conked out to take his dinner-time nap.

When he woke up, he started fussing, and my husband picked him up just in time for this poor kid to just violently spit up what seemed like every last bit of sweet potato that he had just eaten. I mean, it was all over him, all over my husband, and all over the floor. And my poor little man was just SCREAMING. He was so unhappy! My mother in law and I figure it was probably one big air bubble in his tummy that made him spit up, and since he only had sweet potato in there, that's what came up! So, I got him calmed down and cleaned up, and he's had his sweet potatoes twice today (in smaller amounts and this time I sat with that kid for half an hour until he finally burped!!!!) and no more violent spit ups! Hehehe...