chronic diarrhea and breastfeeding

  I posted this to the GI forum, and they asked me to post here.  I hope you can help me.  My son is 11.5 months old.  He started having diarrhea when he was 7 months old.  It coinsided with starting of solid foods.  Prior to that, he had been exclusively breastfed.  He also has multiple food allergies that cause hives.  Two months after the diarrhea started, my sons weight had dropped from the 75% to the 25%.  O&P and stool cultures were negative.  At 10 months(3 months after the diarhea (diarrhea) started), we saw a pedi gastroenterologist.  He ws found to have iron deficiency anemia.  His hematocrit had dropped from 37% to 28% in 1 months.  His serum iron was 11 and his ferritin was 3.7.  He had an endoscopy done and everything was normal.  Biopsies were done for deliac disease and his villi looked perfect.  He was treated with Flagyl for 5 days just in case they had missed a parasite.  At the last visit, the pedi GI said she thought he was breastfeeding too much and not getting enough solid foods.  She instructed me to limit breastfeeding to 4 times per day and give him solids 3-4 times per day.  I can understand how at 10 months too much breastfeeding can lead to mild iron deficiency anemia, but I don't understand how it can lead to the diarrhea.  His stools are not just loose, they are watery.  When he does eat solids, they show up in his diaper within 2 hours and the food doesn't even look digested.  When he only breastfeeds, he has 1-2 watery stools per day, but when he gets solids, he has 3-5 watery stools per day.  It seems to me that the solids are making the diarrhea worse.  Any help or suggestions you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

[HFHS.RN-AM]

Dear Patricia,
I consulted with our lactation consultant who is also a registered dietitian.
She agrees that breast milk is probably not the problem and your son
has many more food allergies than you realize. You do need to consult your pediatrician again. You may want to ask for a referral to a pediatric allergist.
Our consultant recommends that in the meantime, start over, just as you introduced foods to him at 7 months.. Start with exclusively breastfeeding for a few days until the diarrhea stops, then start reintroducing foods one at
a time, waiting a few days between each new food. Be wary of highly "allergenic" foods, such as dairy, wheat, eggs, and citrus. As soon as a food causes diarrhea, stop giving it, and keep track of the offending foods so you can report them to the allergist.
If it's any consolation, there does exist the rare child who tolerates only a limited number of foods. Fortunately most outgrow their intolerance.
Good luck to you both.
HFHS.RN-AM