Breastfeeding Diet and a Fussy Baby

I had a similar struggle and discovered at 7 weeks that the following foods had the biggest negative impact on my baby...I had to avoid eating onion, peanuts/peanut butter, rice, and more...but those 3 were the absolute worst! Good luck!

When I breastfed my son I had to stop eating certain foods. They were peas, beans and spices mostly. Cut down on a single food at a time to pin point which food exactly is the culprit.
I don't think fruits are a problem, however, try cutting back on melons and watermelon. These two are usually the most difficult to digest.
Blessings for both of you.

I had to eliminate all dairy and then they were fine. Their little tummies just aren't mature enough to digest the proteins in dairy. Good luck and remeber it is well worth the sacrifice for a short time!

hi B., Your diet may not be the cause of your babies fussiness. He may have a little colic which most babies develope at about 6 weeks. The other thing that maybe bothering your son is reflux. Baby boys more than girls tend to get GERD which causes them great discomfort. If this is the case ,thankgoodness you are breastfeeding because formula would make things worse. Talk to your doctor about either of these possibilities. I breastfed all 3 of my children and by 7 weeks of age they were able to fart amd poop without much discomfort. Foods didn't bother them unless I ate extremely spicey ones. Good luck. Stick with your breastffeding, it's best for both of you.

Hi! I hope this helps...this was my recent experience (daughter is now 1 yr.). Anyways, starting about 3 wks. old or so she started becoming very fussy--it was frustrating! I did not eliminate anything from my diet at first but then after doing some reading decided to eliminate anything that had the whey or caesin (sp?) protein in it (mostly dairy products.) However, it's also found in anything "cheesy" i.e. goldfish ers, doritoes, etc. Be patient if you give this up. It takes 2 wks. to get out of your system and the babies. Thankfully you're breastfeeding him exclusively b/c formula would only make it worse. About 14 wks. old is when I was able to start reintroducing those things back into my diet and she was able to handle it. This is NOT lactose intolerant so drinking Lactaid milk will not solve the problem either. Also, most babies that have a difficult time tolerating milk proteins (in your breastmilk) also have a difficult time w/soy (b/c I tried drinking soy milk--which really isn't good for you anyways). My ped. told me that often the milk and soy intolerance are related. So, I hope that helps if you eliminate those proteins from your diet. Like I said, thankfully you're BF b/c that is the BEST thing you can do. :)

Please keep up the breastfeeding! Even if you have to adjust your diet, he is so much better off with your milk! Some babies are fussier than others. They usually grow out of it. I'd follow Sue M's advice. G. B

HI B.,
I agree with Jennifer B - make sure he does not have acid reflux. Try to eliminate dairy and if you do not notice a difference in a couple of days I would bet it is reflux. Some babies do not spit out - it reluxes up but does not come out but it still hurts his throat so he will cry. We spent the first 4 weeks like this - he cried all the time when he wasn't sleeping. I tried to elimnate acidic foods and dairy and nothing worked so the doctor put him on Zantac and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!

Good luck - I feel your pain - I hope he gets better soon!

L.

Congratulations on your new baby B.. I work with breastfeeding moms as an IBCLC (Lactation Consultant) and an LLL Leader. Many babies are sensitive to a protein found in cow's milk. It passes through the breastmilk to the baby. You might want to eliminate all obvious dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream) for a couple of weeks and see if you notice an improvement. If you notice some improvement, but not complete improvement, you might want to eliminate any hidden dairy as well. Anything that contains ingredients that say casein, whey etc. You can find more information on this at www.kellymom.com. You might want to check out the local LLL groups. You'll find lots of support and information at them. To find a group near you go to www.llli.org
Best wishes, S.

Hi, my son is now 6 months old and I went through as much as you are now. A baby's stomach can be immature for the first 3-4 months and a bit more sensitive during this time. As the child gets older this will settle and become easier. The first thing I suggest is getting the DVD and/or book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" by Dr. Harvey Karp. This was the BEST advice someone gave me! My son was also very "fussy" and was considered colicky for the first 3-4 months. The DVD shows you the strategies and order of how to soothe your child and they work! Second, if you really feel that your diet may be effecting your child, remove all dairy, soy and chocolate from your diet. These are the top three offending ingredients for colicky/fussy breastfed babies. I didn't believe it until I did it. I am allergic to dairy but was eating it thinking that it was helping my son get calcium and nutrients, then I went to soy and he was worse. Plus I was eating chocolate as my "wine" and this was also causing issues for my son. Once I remove them all from my diet for at least two weeks, I experimented and ate one item (say a large serving of cheese) in the morning and then wrote down how my son "responded" with diaper changes and feedings during the next 24 hours. If I noticed a worsening of his sympotms I realized I should continue to block that item from my diet. Try not to remove other foods from your diet since you need to get a balance of nutrients as well. Plus, remember this, women around the world (i.e.-India) still eat their spices and their children are just fine. The more foods your child is getting through your milk will help in many ways latter on!

I had the exact same problem with my baby. His pediatrician diagnosed him with acid reflux and gave him medicine (which has worked miracles). I would have NEVER thought it was acid reflux because he never spit up at all. I would call your baby's pediatrician's office.

I breast fed my son until he was 8 months old, then switched him to milk because he was so big, and I was pregnant again. He was always a fussy baby, and cried alll the time. I tried mylicon, and everything, and nothing helped. As it turned out, he got really sick and was almost hospitalized because he turned out to be allergic to milk, which he was getting through my breast milk. It wasn't until he was getting alot of it that we realized what was happening! Try cutting all dairy out of your diet, or switch to Nutramigen formula, which has already broken down the milk proteins. Good luck!

Honey, that sounds like such work! But congratulations on having a sweet babe to take care of :)! There is no hard evidence that what you eat will or will not give your baby gas, by the way. You're welcome to try it, but it typically doesn't seem to make a difference. Allergies would be something different: if he's allergic to a food that you eat. He may have reflux--that would make him fussy, and is worth checking out. Otherwise, it is probably wise to remember that newborns just do require a lot of care, and some more than others. It's the wide-spectrum nature of babies :)

There is a bubble of air in the stomach that if positioned on the heartside (laying on the right side) will alleviate some pressure/heartburn. Conversely, laying him on his leftside will shift stomach contents onto his heart and cause distress.

I would try eliminating dairy from your diet. Dairy has some pretty harsh proteins that little tummys often have a hard time with. However, keep in mind it can take up to a WEEK or more to get all the proteins out of your body once you cut out dairy. 7-10 days!!! So, if it is a dairy thing ... you could be looking at about 2 weeks before you really see any difference.

I know what you are going through though. My daughter was quite fussy and very sensitive to what I ate. I found if I wore her alot that helped. The motion and jiggling helped calm her alot. You can also try the football hold jiggle. You lay baby on your forearm, face down, little head in your hand (tilted to the side obviously), hug close to your body, head slightly down, and just jiggle a little. Like jello.

I also found 'Colic Calm' online. (www.coliccalm.com) It worked WONDERS for my daughter. It has vegetable charcoal in it which absorbs the gas in their bellies. It's DARK purple and will stain clothes. I suggest getting the medicine pacifier with it which is a miracle for giving medication! It will turn their poop DARK purple... just know it is the product going through their system. Anyway, it would work within just a couple minutes of me giving it to her.

Our pediatrician recommended against mylicon ... as it is mostly sugar quite honestly. It tastes good, but doesn't do a whole lot for them.

this is normal - it is nothing you ate or didnt eat.

babies just do this...

Right now if your baby has a burp he sceams and cries.. in a couple months if he has to burp he will just fidget around and burp and be fine.

Six weeks is actually the peak of crying.. I think it is just developmentat - just a stage.. they spend a lot of time crying at this age but then in a couple of weeks they are much better,

Dont give up on nursing.. it is the perfect food for your baby. He will settle down in a couple of weeks.

The mylicon drops did nothing for my baby.. a waste of money in my opinion.

It sounds like you are doing the right thing by looking at your diet closely. My little guy couldn't handle most vegetables when I was breastfeeding. Of course, your doctor probably told you to watch your dairy as well. Just another couple things to avoid and see if it helps.
Good luck!

When my daughter was that age, we figured out (through a lot of frustration and time) that she was sensitive to me eating acidic things like tomatoes, orange juice, anything citrus, etc. If I so much as had a tad bit of ketchup touch my lips she'd have an upset stomach for 5+ days. One time I ordered a sub from Hungry Howies and forgot to say "no tomatoes" and even though I was careful to take them all off, just the fact that it had cooked with the tomatoes on it was enough to upset her. It takes 5-10 days for something to be completely out of both of your systems so make sure you're giving enough time between eliminating things to see if they work. Good luck! It's a pain getting it figured out, but once you do, it's so wonderful!

Oh, and the thing that helped with my daughter when she did have an upset belly was to put her sideways, face down on my lap so her stomach was on my legs. The pressure on her belly helped and then I'd softly rub her back while I talked to her softly about whatever.

Have you tried Gripe water? My 2 1/2 year old had a horrible time- would pull her legs up and cry after eating -every time. Once I started using the gripe water, it pretty much went away. I used Baby's Bliss, and found it at a Health Food Store, but I know you can find a different brand at Babys R Us now...hope this helps!

I see others have also recommended this - but Gripe Water and Colic Calm are both great homeopathic remedies for gas and general fussiness. My DD also experienced unusual fussiness around this time, but it DID pass! I think it's a combination of things that make babies particularly irritable at this stage in development. Best of luck with all the suggestions -

Have you tried cutting out all milk, wheat and eggs from your diet? My son had a sensitivity to cows milk. It gave him horrible gas whenever I ate it and he would just scream and cry :(

Try completely cutting out all dairy, wheat and eggs at first and than try adding them back one at a time for a week each so you know for sure it isn't causing any problems. My sons case was such that I couldn't have any dairy at all so I switched to soy and other vegan products to get all vitamins and minerals back in my diet that I was missing from the lack of dairy.

This takes a little time and effort but it is sooooo worth it! Once I figured out it was the dairy. His gas was normal and he nursed till he was 13 months when he weaned himself.

Good Luck and feel free to PM me if you'd like to chat some more.

God Bless
K.