Anyone Ever Told to Stop Dairy While Breastfeeding?

J.:

I have suggested this to mom's but I first look at what else may be causing the gas... also when I do this we talk about suggestions of what mom can replace the dairy in her diet with.

you are welcome to contact me.

P., RLC, IBCLC, CST
Breastfeeding and Parenting Solutions
www.breastfeedingandparentingsolutions.com

My daughter was very fussy as well, gassy, uncomfortable, etc. I eliminated all sorts of things, dairy included. In the end I ended up going to formula and the problem was solved. Definitly start eliminating things, hopefully you will find the root of the problem and be able to continue to breastfeed, just remember if she is still uncomfortable it is okay for both you and her to go to formula. Breastmilk is best, I agree, but she needs to be comfortable and happy as well...

What you eat can affect how your daughter reacts to your breastmilk. I never had a problem with dairy, but I know my son always got very uncomfortable and fussy when he nursed after I ate cheap chinese food. ...so I stopped eating it and never had that problem again.

I have a reflux baby, so I decreased a lot of dairy from my diet. He was screaming in pain when I ate ice cream. I am not a huge milk person anyway, so that was not an issue. I still ate cheese, and he was ok with that. My son also had issues when I ate pizza, anything tomato - including ketchup, pineapple, OJ, bacon. Anything with a lot of acid or grease. He is now 6 months old, and I am slowly adding these items to my diet since his reflux is much better. Forgot to add.... I also started to take a herb called Primodophulis - you can get it at Whole Foods in the refrigerator section. It helps with a Mom's digestive system, so gets passed through breastmilk to also help the baby.

Yes... I had to eliminate most all dairy from my diet while nursing & it made a HUGE difference right away. We also had issues later on when we had to introduce formula... it took a while to find one that our son could tolerate. Same thing when we introduced whole milk.... organic worked fine but regular milk did not...

I had to cut out dairy with my first and it made all the difference in the world. He outgrew it by about 4 months and hasn't had any sensitivity since. Good luck!

I hope you have better luck than I did.

I cut out dairy, peanut products, wheat products, cruciferous foods, you name it, I stopped eating it. Nothing made a difference in soothing my baby's colic.

Hi J.,
Yes and yes! My second son had some digestive issues when I ate dairy. I cut it out (and I LOVE cheese!!) and he was much happier.

Try it for at least a week . . .I hope you get some results.
B.

My son was generally colicy and had a lot tummy discomfort. We found a tiny bit of blood tinged mucous in his diaper, a sign of a milk protein intolerance (which he outgrew). I had to cut the milk and soy. My Pediatrician gave me a list of ingredients that come from milk & soy protiens. The list is extensive. And, you'll have to learn how to read the labels. I was told not to expect any changes for about 2-3 weeks.

My advice would be to have your daughter's diaper tested for a presence of blood. Then you'll know more before embarking on the elimination diet. Cutting dairy is do-able but, not as simple as you'd think because it is in bread, hot dogs, flavorings and things you would not expect. And, you just can't cheat - even with the tinyest piece of mac & cheese.

For us, things did greatly improve. But, I did end up weaning him at 4 months and put him on Nutramagin (sp?) by Enfamil. That was when he started sleeping through the night and we all got our sanity back.
Good luck!

The RN suggested that you cut out dairy because she probably suspects your daughter may be reacting to the milk protein she is getting through your breastmilk. (By "reacting" I mean it could be either a lactose intolerance or maybe even a milk allergy -- depending on if she is exhibiting other symptons like eczema or loose stools.) The only way to know for sure if it is the milk is to cut it out of your diet completely for at least 10 days to 2 weeks. It takes that long to work its way out of your's and your daughter's bodies. If she gets better, you have found the culprit.

Yes, dd would have major stomach pains when I had dairy while nursing. Once I stopped dairy, she was fine and she was fine with dairy once she switched to whole milk.

J. -
Hi! My little guy had bad reflux at about 2 weeks of age. After trying many things (even prescription medicine), I found that giving up dairy was the best thing that I did! He improved significantly. He eventually outgrew it by around 6 months. I'd say all you can do is give it a try for a few days and see if it makes a difference.
Good Luck!
D.

It can help if your child has a sensitivity to dairy. Really it could just as easily be anything else as well. I am curious how long your daughter has been gassy? Is it possible that you have a strong letdown that is making her inhale extra air and making her gassy? How old is she? Has she always been gassy? There are just a lot of variables and although cutting out dairy could be the solution it could also be a lot of other things. I would recommend calling a lactation consultant. Also check out the website www.kellymom.com. Good luck!

Yes, I stopped all dairy at it helped my then 4 month old son who has GER. It took 30 days to clear my system. I think lots of people try giving up dairy for a week or so then think it isn't helping. But after 30 days, my son was much better. On occasion when I would have anything with dairy in it, his excessive spitting up and crying would return. It was hard not eating cheese, milk, butter, caesin, etc... for more than 10 months. But now my son is almost 14 months old and is able to eat yoghurt. I'm back to eating dairy in limited amounts while we slowly wean at his pace. The woman who advised me to cut out dairy was a La Leche League leader who saw my son crying and spitting up at one of the meetings. It sounds like your daughter's symptoms are a lot less severe so the results might be fast. I take calcium by the way. Good luck!