I’ve been trying to avoid it. I’ve been trying to convince myself there might be another way. But it’s time now. It’s time to say good-bye to all dairy products for 10 days to see if it helps my little one be more comfortable.
Baby M.E. is still refluxing (it seemed to have improved for a few weeks after starting Prevacid, but it appears to be worsening again). She’s also writhing in what seems like GI pain, having longer and longer crying jags, and scrunching up those chunky legs after she nurses. Not to mention, our sweet, little girl has enough methane to put a dent in the ozone layer. (How does such a tiny thing produce such loud and noxious gas?)
I consulted my mother-in-law (the lactation consultant) this afternoon after I wasn’t able to get her to sleep for more than 45 minutes all day, and she agreed I should cut out dairy for just for 10 days and see if it makes a difference.
I’ve already given up caffeine. Now my decaf lattes must go as well. No, I’m certainly not looking forward to going dairy-free (starting today, my friends), especially since I’m a complete cheese monger and love protein shakes (and ice cream, but I sound so much cooler saying I like protein shakes, which I do, but not as much as milkshakes).
But, honestly, what wouldn’t I do for a face like that? (Though you better believe I chugged a milkshake down last night before entering the no-dairy zone this morning.)
If there’s anyone out there who has experience with extremely gassy, crying, and nursing babies, feel free to put in your two cents. With my previous nurslings, I was able to eat whatever I wanted. Jalapenos, dark chocolate, beans – you name it. Nothing seemed to bother them, so this is new territory for me.
I gave up dairy with my son for about 6 months. By that time, he could handle it.
What you describe with M.E. is exactly what we experienced with our son, Owen.
We used Zantac, which seemed to take the edge off, but cutting dairy seemed to help as well.
Good Luck!
My little one was colicky and gassy for about 6 months. I did a complete elimination diet, eating only rice, rice milk, and lean natural meat. The goal was to add food and spices in one at a time to try to pinpoint what was causing the problem. Unfortunately after 2 weeks of just the basics, nothing helped so we just dealt with the colic until it went away. :( Good luck!
P.S. You might want to ask your lactation consultant if rice milk is ok, usually it doesn't tend to irritate babies systems.
I only had problems like yours with one of my five, and it helped to eliminate dairy completely for a month or so then add it back gradually. My daughter was also affected by high sugar foods, so no dessert for me for several months! The good side of that is that I actually lost the extra pounds by her 6-month birthday!
Hang in there!
My cousin Jack (age 5) is allergic to dairy. As a baby, the poor little guy would cry and bunch up his tummy. (His nursing mom loved cheese and dairy products, too.) As soon as they pinpointed the issue, he really improved.
Good luck!
You might also consider tomato based products. The acidity can impact babies also. I had that problem with Josh.
You know I couldn't breastfeed with any of mine, and Emmie still had horrible reflux and gas and colic(real, true colic). The other two kiddos didn't. So it might not be anything milk/formula-related. After trying SO MANY things, I had to finally accept that maybe this is just the way she is. That was hard for me. Praying for you…
p.s.I have to laugh a little bit at the "word verification" for this post: boinging. :-)
With Jayce, I did an elimination diet after his pulling away at the breast, frothy smelly stools, and gas pain. It seemed to help a bit, but nothing got better until we did the dose of Prevacid. Since she's already on Prevacid, I'd say cutting out dairy would be the next logical step. Good luck!
Hey there! My kids have always been a little "gassy". Milk, broccoli, garlic, beans, and chocolate always seemed to cause problems, especially in large quantities.
I would eliminate dairy and then add it in gradually. Sometimes if I ate gassy foods for days in a row, I would notice a change. A lot of times it was the milk, more than say, the cheese. Cheese is cultured and so is yogurt.
Also making sure they get the hind milk helps. Sometimes when they only get the thin foremilk it can make them gassy. Make sure you are not stressed out during feedings because that can affect your breast milk. (That one was tough for me with my other kids running around!) My hubby would have me drink a beer every once in a while while feeding in the evening. It relaxes mom, baby, and probably dad! Of course, that advice comes from my husband's German grandmother!
Of course, we used the baby gas drops (Mylicon?) and the "gas hold". (baby's head rests on one forearm and the other hand supports her body by her tummy. Kind of like an upside-down cradle hold. Of course, it worked better for my hubby because his hands are bigger.!)
God Bless you! I'll be praying!
Oops! So sorry to use the words "of course" that many times in my previous post. I'm tired…it is late and I didn't proofread well enough! :-)
Could it be a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance? http://www.llli.org/FAQ/foremilk.html
You've been at this longer than me, so you probably already know this :) But I had issues with this, so I thought I'd pass it along.
You have one of the cutest babies ever – ok all three girls. I would do it for that face too.
I wish I could help – my two babies have not had these issues – I am having a different issue I should e-mail about instead. You are not alone!!
About fussy babies I have no advice, but about a dairy free diet I unfortunately have lots. The makers of So Delicious just came out with a coconut milk ice cream which is much closer to real ice cream than the soy or rice milk based ones. Of course, it's mighty fatty and expensive, but it's a great cure for those milk cravings (so long as you like coconut)! There are a couple good soy-based margarines; that and soy milk substitute fine in baking. And for buttermilk, I found adding 1T lemon juice to each cup of soy milk works just like it does for cow's milk. Email me if you need any other hints. Good luck!
Wow! Thank you so much for all the great advice/tips, etc. I really appreciate it.
The Boys: I don't have your email, but I was wondering if you had any good (and tasty) suggestions for cheese substitutes. I've been missing not having cheese with my fajitas, in my eggs, and on my salads! :)
Thanks again.
hi kate!
your sweetie sounds just like my now 17 month old. she was also on prevacid, and it really helped her. maybe a little increase in the dosage?
i hope cutting the dairy works for you. thankfully, the only dairy i ate during her nursing was jsut a splash of cream in my coffee.
when she was weaned after 1yr of nursing, she couldn't tolerate milk! thankfully she didn't vomit the milk, but would get rashes. we switched her to jersey milk that is non-homogenized, but still pasteurized. the next step would have been raw milk from a local farm. thankfully, she tolerates this. so i know she's getting the beneficial fats. otherwise my pediatrician recommended fortified rice milk. it's interesting that my daughter is allergic, given all her reflux. i knew she had reflux early on because my son had the same symptoms.
the lactation consultant could really be on to something with your sweetie.
i'm offering prayers for you both! i remember it all clearly.
i almost forgot! we used the little tummies brand for the gas pains instead of mylicon (spelling). seemed to work better. found the best price at target.
i also let her sleep in her carseat in the house during the daytime. i put the entire seat into the pack and play to keep the other kids away from her.
otherwise she's sleep with me in a inclined position. on my chest, etc.
sorry for the typos. lol
she's should read she'd
I had to give up dairy for two of my children (one of them also required me to give up soy as well!) and it helped A LOT!! They say it takes a few days for it to get out of their system, so don't be too discouraged at first :)
It is a hard adjustment, but worth it for a peaceful and happy baby!
I had a friend, who cut out everything, or so she thought…Only to discover it was oranges! Just thought I'd share, since I myself wouldn't have thought of that one :o)
I had three very colicky babies out of eight, and sometimes they just have to outgrow it, sad to say.
Our sixth baby was also on Prevacid for reflux and it worked pretty well for her.
A good sense of humor was really the miracle drug for mom :o)
You'll be in my prayers,
Oh, my goodness, you're right. Who wouldn't do it for that beautiful little face!? She's gorgeous!
I don't know that I have anything helpful to say but I've been where you are and am proof that a mom survives! I'll go ahead and ramble anyway….
I've breastfed four kids. Each time, I kept my diet as it was before Baby arrived.
The first one was colicky no matter what I did. She screamed her little head off for about three months. Then one day, while we were waiting for the evening episode to start, she slept. It was over.
Baby #2 made angels look ornery.
Baby #3 had blood in his spit up in his second week of life and was fussy but Zantac solved that problem and it was very easy after that.
Baby #4 cried for a year. The Zantac helped the reflux but kept him awake ALL DAY. We stopped giving him the Zantac. It didn't matter what I ate or did not eat; he cried almost non-stop and wouldn't nap for more than 45 minutes, like you described. He would have a BM only once every four days or so and when he did have one … well … holy cow. He slept sitting up in his car seat for about six months and finally, when I introduced solids at eight months, his reflux tapered off and the fussiness gradually decreased to nothing at about a year. Now he's the happiest two year old I know.
All that and I still hope for more kids! ;)
Sheesh.
My heart goes out to you. Cutting things out of your diet is a big challenge. It seemed like cutting them out only made me want them more! Good luck, Kate!