Thanks Christy, as it's all new & early stages for me I appreciate any thoughts, advice & info...
We leave for Bali in 12 days for 3.5 wks so I deally I'd like him to be happier!!!
Basically take a very drastic stance than, the highest allergens are milk, soy, nuts, wheat, and eggs. You could take it all out of your diet straight away, or start with the most likely first like milk and wheat.
The diet Robyn put me on was breakfast with some form of animal protein because its very important to have fat in your diet when you are breastfeeding.
Actually... have a diet as they would in Bali!! Perfect... noodles & meat for breakky, rice & veges for lunch & meat & veges for dinner. Do coconut based curries. BBQ's and stir fries are fantastic. Cut down on gluten jic, so only have gluten based noodles once a day or toast etc.
I continued to have butter with Jovie but only Full butter like Devondale as I was advised, but Matilda can't have it so we use avocado and nuttlex.
I'm so glad to see this-- I posted a previous thread about Breastmilk Colitis which from reading your posts seems to be the same thing-- A reaction to a protein or food that has irritated the immature gut rather than a lactose intolerance. My son Hamish was also fine until 3 weeks of age and then started passing bloody, mucusy, green stools. It causes him quite a bit of pain (understandably) and is also fairly distressing for us. I have been off dairy, seafood, nuts and strawberrys for two weeks and off soy for about 4 days (didn't realise it had the same protein in it!). I really want to keep bf'ing but it's hard to maintain your resolve when you see your baby in so much pain. CHRISTY did you say it took 4 weeks to see an improvement? I've been at the paed.s twice and he is supportive of me continuing to bf but wants me to try a special formula called Neocate (sp.?) for three days to confirm the diagnosis of colitis-- is this what they said to you TRACEY?? If the condition is confirmed I can continue to bf. Apparently lots of bubs grow out of the condition.
I was beginning to think I just had the world's crankiest baby-- as a first time mum it's hard to know what's normal and what's not. I will keep checking on the progress of your little man Zyon, TRACEY and hopefully SHANNON and CHRISTY will be a wealth of knowledge and experience for us!
Leahxo
Last edited by Hope; September 3rd, 2007 at 09:52 PM.
Hi tracey, I will send you a email with a few links... but in the mean time I thought I'd just do a quick post to try and help and clear things up....
Firstly, lactose intolerance and dairy allgery or a sensitivity to the dairy protein casein are two quite different things....
Lactose is a sugar and is found in the breast milk of ALL mammals.... including humans.... so if it's a lactose problem, it won't matter what you eat, as your body will produce it's own lactose anyway...
From memory, there are 2 types of lactose intollerance. One type is rarer and occurs from birth, the other type is the one you hear more about and I was under the impression that they wouldn't strictly confirm it until the child is about 5 years old as an intollerance is soemthing you achieve over time.
though a lactose intolerance can be caused by an underlying allergy to something like dairy or wheat, A sensitivity or allergy to something will cause an immune response in the body (all sorts of things but most commonly reactions range from hives to anaphylaxis). Basically the body attacks itself in the presence of the allergen.
a lactose intolerance will cause symptoms of pain, discomfort or illness but not an immune response.
So firstly and really importantly, you need to get an allergist or paed to just do a skin ***** test for the basics... dairy, soy and maybe egg.... like Christy said the main allergens are dairy, egg, soy, seafood, strawberry, nuts, citrus and kiwi fruit. THese are the things you need to stay away from.
Until you know what you're dealing with, eliminate all of those from your diet. depending on how things go.... you might want to eliminate wheat until you know for sure it's safe to have it.
Like Someone mentioned that you will need to check the ingredients on EVERYTHING!!!! honestly, they put soy or milk in all sorts of things..... from tuna to orange juice to wine..... it's all got milk or egg or soy in it. So be really vigilant because whilst the body does filter to a degree.... the baby will still get a dose of whatever you eat. About 3 months ago i accidently took one single bite of a sandwich that had cheese in it (it wasn't meant to) and from that one bite, DD got the runs, a really nasty nappy rash and hives!!
As for what you can eat.... rice and meat and veges and fruit (avoid citrus and strawberry and kiwi)...plain but safe for now.
Bread - if you go to bakers delight or brumby's get them to give you their big recipe book and you can check things, otherwise you will need to stay away from the processed breads from the supermarket as pretty much all of them will be no good ( I think helgas is ok.... but check) Turkish bread usually has milk in it ..... SOME brands of crumpets are ok, others are not.... and also, it's really common for a product that is safe one week, might not be the next, so you need to check EVERYTIME!!
Rice milk is available from the supermarket.... we use rice milk as opposed to soy... we use the Pure Harvest brand.... Its organic and australian and has less ingredients than the brands that primarily make soy milk.
at this point, i woudn't worry about your calcium intake... it's really the least of your worries, plus there really isn' that much in dairy.... depsite all the ads and blablabla they'd want you to believe on tv.
Also, the protein in soy isn't the same as the one in dairy. They are similar, but you may find that if he is allergic to dairy, he might be fine with soy.... or it might be that its the soy or maybe a nut allergy that is the underlying issue. you won't know until you do the skin ***** test.
Also, have you noticed that he get hives, or rashes on his face or skin if you kiss him after you've eaten foods with dairy in them?!? that's a good indication of an allergy
DD will get hives is someone kisses or touches her and they have milk on their lips or hands etc...
The up side is that once you eliminate all that stuff from your diet, you should see massive improvements really quickly, like within a few days.
I have a friend that has one son with a dairy and egg allergy and the other with a lactose intolerance.
The one with the dairy allergy, he could breastfeed no worries as long as she didn't eat anything with egg or dairy in it.
Her son with the lactose issues.... well she still has cut out dairy, but she can't exclusively breastfeed as that woul result in too much lactose for him, so he has soy formula and she feeds him 3 feeds a day at most. Until they figured out the lactose problem, he was on meds to treat refulx... now that they've made changes to lessen the amount of lactose he's getting, they are able to cut back the reflux meds and soon he'll be off them completely.
Apparently breastfeeding technique can greatly affect a baby with a lactose problem too... basically you just need to make sure the baby gets the all the hind milk.... but i have a link for you to check out that explains it all much much better than me.
I hope you can get in to see someone to do the allergy tests soon (many will tell you that it's unreliable before 3 months of age.... and it probably is.... but if you just want one or 2 things checked... i still think it's worth checking out and discussing with the allergist or paed.)
big hugs!!
I've also sent you an email
xxx
L
Last edited by luscious Laura; September 3rd, 2007 at 09:38 PM.
It sounds like you had a tough weekend, but hopefully things are improving. Often it is the protein intolerance which sensitises the gut and this sets up a lactose intolerance, secondary to the protein intolerance. So removing cows milk porteins from the diet allows the gut to heal and baby will be able to tolerate lactose better.
How did you go with the bottle of lactose free formula? Did it help? I posted this on the forums last week. there is another thread on the forums - another mum going through a very similar situation to you. Maybe some-one could find that thread and you can get in touch. It's a tough time for you - you need all the support you can get
The American Academy of Pediatrics has published a recent clinical
report (Heyman 2006). Included is the following:
'In developed countries, even in the case of acute gastroenteritis,
enough lactose digestion and absorption are preserved so that
lactose-free formulas have no clinical advantages compared with
standard lactose-containing formulas except in severely
undernourished children, in whom lactose-containing formulas may
worsen the diarrhea and lactose-free formulas may be advantageous.
Breastfed infants should be continued on human milk in all cases.'
(pp 1283-1284)
Tracey how are you going with it all?? So much to process in a short space of time, but Thank God for BB !!!
Laura our allergist wouldn't do skin ***** tests on the girls because he said they were allready too reactive and would show up allergic to more than they are. Some allergists for babies will do kineseology which uses you to show what your baby is allergic too. There are kineseologists out there that are not allergists, I would check with a local naturopath that you know of or trust to find one. Yep they are alternative therapists but our allergist who is a medical specialist as well does kineseology on babies. He said it won't give you indication of "How allergic" there is no absolute value just a "yes" or "no".
Re: Barb Glare's comment on the other thread. TRACEY I think I mentioned to you that I had posted about this earlier last week? Here is the link: Breastmilk Colitis?? - BellyBelly Forums ~ Pregnancy, Birth & Baby
There is also a great article on the ABA site about Lactose Intolerance-- I'll try to PM you the link. The paed. seems to think in Hamish's case that it is unlikely to be lactose int. as he has been passing blood as well as the mucus-- I've almost forgotten what a normal healthy baby poo looks like. I understand how upsetting it can be to watch them go through that pain-- distressing for everyone and makes for a fairly unhappy baby! I hope you get some answers-- we're still waiting for some here!
Barb I think that might be what's happening... that he got the cows milk overload when at around 13 days I drank the Aktavite drink in a short space of time & the following night (about 24-36hrs later) this all began, some days are slightly better & I start to think it's all ending & the next day it's worse again...
I think maybe the overload of dairy may have caused sesetised his gut & as you wrote, it has set up secondary lactose intolerance...?
But if I express 30-50ml off my breast & then let him feed for 30+ mins he is no better? Could this be as I still have the dairy in my system? I stoppe it all as of Sunday afternoon being at the hosp...
The formula bottles? who knows, although his poo's are not a green liquid in every nappy change now but a pastey yellow?
I am seeing the midwives at the hospital tomorrow (having just broken down in tears on the phone to them..) I am seeing the midwife/LC
In a nutshell, I will do anything to have him settled & happy & no longer in pain.. Try to enjoy our family holiday in Bali & if that means formula (is there a dairy protein/lactose free one).
Then continue pumping & when we get back home I will then go back to paed/hosp & relactate.. I can currently express 220-250ml per breast... But I am working myself up more because of this holiday, if we werent going to meet friends from all over the world & having ceremonies done, I'd cancel, but there's been to many plans put in place.. I need to get through the holiday to refocus..?
You are doing a great job under difficult circumstances. At first I thought you were saying the paed said to give him lactose free formula - but is that the case? I'm not so sure. You said she was very supportive of breastfeeding. It is important to keep your baby breastfeeding. Go back and read my earlier post on the study from the American college of Paediatrics. I know you say "I will just relactate" but it's not that easy! It's possible, but tougher than just keeping him breastfeeding. it will probably be about 2-3 weeks before his gut begins to recover now that you have removed dairy from your diet. There's no quick fix. It means you have a harder row to hoe than some, but it is worth sticking in with the breastfeeding. It won't help to express milk and then feed him. The lactose free formula is still cow's milk based? yes? So will stil have the cows milk proteins.
Warm Regards
Barb
Yes the paed said to alternate breast & lactose free formula?
I am just so lost, so am going to see the midwives from the FBC tomorrow & as she is also a LC, we will see what is going on...
I am annoyed though that the MCHN, dismissed anything & just said he is overtired & needs to learn to resettle, the GP had NFI & said he was fine just needed to settle better! Which also the Paed said that he has now got into this habit of not sleeping & crying non stop, he is over tired & needs to be left...
I am not happy with those answers, but could it be that he is just in a habit now!????
I feel so lost, with Indah I put her to the breast & she fed!???
Last edited by Tracey; September 4th, 2007 at 12:17 PM.
: * what is silent reflux?
Tracey you are doing a great job. Hun its so hard, I know I went to so may places with Matilda and followed everything, even down to the sleep school and its only now showing up.
Matilda slept through last night. She's only done it a handful of times in her life & she's 3 1/2. Jovie slept through too, she's 10 months and breastfed. It does make a difference but you do have to give it time.
Don't believe he's gotten himself in a habit, or he's a difficult baby or an unsettled one. You know better, you are his mummy! Water off the ducks back mate... sticks and stones.... You know better. He's in pain and once his guts heal, he will be a different baby.Just think if everytime you sat down to eat it felt like someone was kicking you in the belly....you wouldn't want to eat. Jovie is so different, such an easy child... its amazing. I was pacing the floors, bouncing the hammock... everything to get her to stop crying and once her guts settled she was amazing.
Oh!! I forgot to mention nourishing floura.... a probiotic that is dairy free that you can give babies. 1/8 a capsule mixed with a bit of breastmilk and syringe it in. Will help his gut clear up quicker.
I got it from a health food shop. They have childrens ones but you still use a tiny amount for a new baby. I used to dip my finger in BM and then let Jovie suck before eating.
Tracey, for Matilda (in hindsight) I believe her silent reflux was caused by the milk allergy. Because it does do damage to the gut lining, of course when the acids raise it causes the heartburn type thing. I think doing all the reflux things, sleeping in the hammock with the head raised higher. It can be hard to do, but what we did was put a wheat bag at the feet of the hammock so more weight was there and it would raise Jovie's head up. Wearing them can give relief.... feeding in the bath... all those sorts of things can help with reflux symptoms no matter what the cause.
Ok, well it's all stuff to discuss tomorrow, now he's been asleep in my arms for 4.5hours!
But upright, if he lays down he is instantly hysterical.....
He often has foamy/frothy bubbles in his mouth too, but rarely vomits?
Good luck tomorrow, I'm a bit worried you'll get the same response you did last time. I got those "unsettled" baby responses for the first year or so of Matilda's life and then I got the "difficult" baby reponse. *hugs*
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