BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Food Allergies => Topic started by: annette.xx on October 07, 2009, 09:26:14 am
-
Hi all
had numerous problems with DD over her 8 month life and last week thought id figured out the problem ...now im not so sure... here is a rundown to make sense!!;
she is 8 months
exclusively BF
9th percentile for weight...followed line no weight loss
extreme colic as baby until 5 months (10 hr screaming sessions)
suspected reflux - never medicated
started solids at 6 months
before solids stools very loose and explosive (4 - 5 a day)
after solids introduction stools a paste still on the loose side (2 - 3 a day)
always been a greeny colour - varied from bright to khaki
after solids sometimes get a orangy brown (I assume this is how it should look) but still more often than not green.
frothy looking kind of whippy looking poos every few days
sometimes give formula in sippy once a day... everytime the following day stools are less frequent maybe just 1 then the day after she has explosion of khaki green whippy poo!! loads of it...
after BF she is sick about 10 mins later then after about 30 - 40 mins when I let her go down to play (keep her upright until then) she is usually sick 2 - 3 times over the next hour or so...not huge amounts but little puddles
sometimes she is sick what looks like a hell of a lot but not always
sick is generally clear kind of mucousy with white specks in it.
after solids she constantly burps and I hear it coming up and see her swallowing it back down (doesnt bother her too much) if she is on tummy when it happens she will let out a scream followed by sick
think she is teething but then she seems to be teething forever...
so thats all the backround ...thought it may help!! Im so unsure whether this is just normal and im being paranoid cos I know babies are sick and stuff... could all this just be normal and nothing to worry about if so I take it she will just grow out of it?
could it be reflux?...is it ok to just leave her be and it will eventually just sort itself out?
or MPI...I took her to docs suspecting this and he was very good and gave me a prescription for the special formula without the milk protein that causes allergy ...im trialing it and started today...she hated the taste wouldnt take it so I had to mix a little fruit puree with it (is this ok!)...im going to give her one cup of this a day and continue with BF morning and night and see if this makes a difference... then we will get an idea if the sickness is caused by MPI ...after I gave it this morning she was sick about 45 mins later but I guess the other milk could still be in her system?
Im worried that if she doesnt have an allergy to milk that she may develp one if I take away all milk products ...could this happen?
or could all of this be due to teething alone?
I really dont want to take away milk or medicate if its all in my head!!
so confused????? ???
Annette.xx
-
Annette big HUGS to you, thats alot of stuff your little girl is going through from that list up there, it does sound very much like milk protein intolerance, its the same as how Caleb was before they changed his formula. His formula is disgusting as well but he drinks it no problem because it doesnt hurt his tummy. He also has reflux and is now medicated.
What formula are you giving her now? yes it will take a couple of days for the old stuff to get out of her system, at least thats how it was for us, took about three or four days.
Can i suggest you go to another Dr until you get Jasmine medicated for the reflux??
-
hi annette and HUGS! This is such a hard path to travel. We did almost exactly the same as you, and your story sounds just about right for MPI. If it was reflux, things should be calming down around now.
The thing that rings a big bell with me in your story is the way the sick is, delayed by up to a couple of hours post feed and little puddles of it (i guess about 10ml each time?). Thats what my lo did, and the best decsion we ever made was to make the switch to soya milk. (BTW some babies are also intolerant to soy!) after we made the switch a couple of weeks later (yes it can take that long for the milk to get out of their little systems) he stopped being sick, stopped screaming in the evening, started STTN. Woop!
Now we are on the other end and trying to go back to milk, but without much success yet...he has just puddled some sick in the pushcahir after a biscuit with skimmed milk powder in :o
So, you are going to need to give the formula a try for a good few days, and I'm not sure about the BF's (sure someone with know how will be along in a bit) because stopping you eating dairy is an option.
Also dont give baby foods with cheese/milk in. If you use jars they are hard to come by but they do make them, and if you home make or BLW then stick with veg and chicken/meat products for now.
HTH
Lili xx
-
Do you have dairy in your diet? I am by no means no expert but if she has a MPI, i thought you would get the projectile vomit everytime she has milk. I may be wrong though.
It sounds alot like reflux to me. My lo has silent reflux and had almost exact same symptoms. Has it improved with solids? The solid food should give more substance to whats in her tummy and keep the acid down and stop the wet burps, or at least help them. I still get a little bit but nothing like it was before the solids.
With her being BF she will poop alot more, as it is digested so much easier, and it make sense for your lo to poop less on formula as its not so easily digested. When i did the breast milk to formula switch, my lo only pooed every 3 - 4 days!!! This was green and like thick peanut butter! I took her to the docs and was assured its normal! I didn't think so but never did her any harm. Now on solids she has a poop at least once a day and colour varies from green, to brown, to light brown to orange depending on food!
I wouldn't be so hard on yourself though, i wouldn't say its all in your head, but if your lo isn't bothered by it, and is still feeding well, then IMO i wouldn't medicate as she will eventually grow out of it. (Thats if its is reflux and not MPI)
Sorry i can't be more help, as i am no expert, and i am sure you'll get some more advice, but if your lo is gaining weight, and eating and sleeping well then i wouldn't worry too much. For the reflux with my lo i never medicated as the thickened formula helped enough then had early introduction of solids which helped no end. Have you tried just for 3 days removing all dairy and see if it makes a difference? I know it will be really hard for you and your lo just basically living on meat fruit and veg but it won't harm your lo and 3 days should be enough for you to see a difference. Then if there is a big difference, introduce things back slowly and see if you can pinpoint the problem if there is one. What do you think?
-
Adaias mom - theres not always projectile vomit with MPI :)
Caleb has MPI and the only way we found out was he was a really bad eater and developed an intolerance to feeding and started refusing and screaming when he saw the bottle 9this was the extreme end of it) etc but mixed wiht reflux made it hard to decipher the MPI as well, once we went to the hospital and was admitted for three days (they didnt think there was an issue at first as he was sleeping really well at night and there was no weight loss at all he was still thriving) they changed his formula and saw an improvement instantly, not much but he would at least drink the bottle.
We havent looked back since in regards to his formula.
From what i know of Annette there are quite a few sleep issues going on though.
-
Hi Annette
Your story does echo mine, as well. Only I gave up the BFing completely at about 3 weeks because I couldn't handle being vomited on 7 times a day. On formula it just meant that DH and I shared the vomit!! Poops were a nightmare, absolute nightmare. When you describe them as frothy and whippy, to me it sends up a red flag as that is NOT normal. My advice, as yuck as it is, is to start taking pictures. It was one of the only ways that I got a good diagnosis from the paed - and he was thankful for the photos and said he wished every parent did that, as descriptions can't do what a photo can!
My LO also had "suspected" reflux, although when medicated it didn't really go away - the one thing they gave him that did help him stop puking actually made his poops worse, and it was because his puking was a way of getting the milk OUT of him, but by us forcing it to stay IN, he had nightmare poops.
What formula are you on? Is it Nutramigen or Neocate? Is your GP sending you to a paed/gastro doc for further discussions or clinical diagnosis or support? I would request it, unless your GP is very confident and comfortable with these kinds of problems. I know most GPs aren't mainly because they are not specialists. Our hospital paed didn't really "do" anything but he was a wealth of information that I couldn't have learned from my GP.
I am of two minds with the BFing. I had always read on BW that if you were BFing an MPI baby, you needed to eliminate all dairy from your own diet, however, I have a friend who has an MPI baby and she was okay BFing him, as long as she kept her dairy intake very low. May be something you want to think about. She got her LO onto Nutramigen and kept only her morning and night BF and cut most dairy out of her diet and her LO was okay while she weaned those last two feeds. But, there are BW mothers here who have breastfed MPI babies who can't have a sniff of cheese or their LO will react - I think it depends on a lot of different factors. As I didn't BF I don't know how you would decide how much dairy you needed to cut out. BUT if you have her on the hydrolysed formula and she is still acting as above, then I would think you would need to either eliminate dairy from your own diet or stop BFing if you find that too difficult (I know for me I am very dairy dependent, there is no way I could survive dairy free, I would not be able to consume enough calories to keep milk supply up!!)
With how long it takes to get the milk out of her system -- you should notice a fair improvement within a few days to a week, but again if you are continuing to BF and consume dairy yourself, then you may not notice large improvements. And then, once she is completely dairy free, the "rule of thumb" that our paed told me to go by is half as long as she was on the dairy for. So, in our case DS was on some form of dairy until he was 5 months, so he told us it could take up to 2.5 months to see a full recovery. And, sure enough, I would say it was about 7 months before things were totally cleared up.
You asked if she could develop an allergy by keeping her dairy free, and the answer is no. Absolutely not. Quite often humans (adults and babies!) do get a temporary lactose intolerance from prolonged periods without consuming milk, but this isn't any concern, really, as it's not a true lactose intolerance, it's just the body needing to remember how to break down the lactose, rather than the body not possessing the capabilities of doing so. And, on the flip side, if she is milk allergic/intolerant then continuing to give her milk/dairy is not going to help her learn how to tolerate it or break down her allergy, you can actually cause her more problems by continuing when she should be off of it.
As for the adding fruit puree to the milk...I'm not 100% sure about that. I would be more inclined to express some BM and mix it with the formula than add the fruit. My son went from milk formula onto soy formula (turned out to be soy allergic as well) and so when we switched to the Nutramigen it took about a full month of mixing the soy and Nutramigen to get him to drink the Nutramigen. I know some moms have done it with EBM as well, but if you are not used to pumping or don't have the supply I'm not sure if you would be able to? Sorry, my BFing knowledge is limited to what I read here on BW. We started with mixing the soy and Nutramigen by just adding a couple of ounces of the nasty Nutramigen, and every 3 or 4 days one ounce less of soy and one extra ounce of Nutramigen.
Not sure what else to add.....had to go check on DS so I sort of lost my train of thought. Let me know if you have any more questions, there are lots of us here who have been through this!!!
-
MY LO has MSPI and had reflux, what you describe sounds very familiar to me, especially the green frothy poos! IF you are BF you can also go on a dairy and soy free diet, because the proteins come out in BM. IT also depends on her tolerance threshold - i.e. how sensitive she is to dairy. I've only just started eating dairy again after a year! If she is milk intolerant, you would expect to see an improvement from 3 days up to about 14 days after the milk proteins are removed (either through the formula or your diet restriction), my doc said it can be up to 6-8 weeks for the gullet to heal if the reflux was caused by MSPI.
IF you really want to be sure it's the milk you can try a challenge of dairy once her symptoms have gone - if the symptoms come back you can be pretty sure it was the dairy.
-
OMG...im so touched by the amount of info you ladies have given me...soooo grateful...you are all amazing!!
:-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
the formula ive been given is nutramigan...she hates it....spat it out all over kitchen floor!!...think I may have to follow your suggestion mashimaro and mix EBM with it until she will take it...Im going to try expressing tonight at the time I used to do DF and see if I can get enough!! if not I will just keep pumping a bit whenever I can and wait to give the formula until I have enough to mix it up!!
actually very strange thing happened today...I gave her normal organic porridge and mixed it with the new formula and she went down for her am nap without even one cry...not even a whimper...nothing... :o probably coincidence??!!
Adaias mum - I will definately try 3 days with no dairy whatsoever and see if that has an added impact... your right it is sooo hard giving up dairy tho... cant start today cos the cheesecake in the fridge is calling me and it would just be soooo wrong not to eat it!!!! ive got to have one last dairy treat!!!! ;D...
lilsuze - yeah it is about 10ml a time!! about 3 - 4 times between feeds so total of at least 16 sicks a day (on a good day!!)
calebs mummy - I never realised you too had this problem... thats great that we will be able to share info as our LOs are the same age! Think I will stick this docter out for a bit to see if he can build up a full picture himself (I have developed a major fear of drs since a bad experience with awful one at 4 months and this dr didnt make me cry so thats got to be progress for me!!) once ive done trial with formula and removing dairy if sick is still the same after a couple of months I will re assess and make them look into it more definately!!
mashimaro - we do seem to have alot in common!! you know my history now (PND) and It actually feels so releiving to think it might not all be in my head - thought I was the worst mum in the world - seriously when you have a baby you dont expect it to cry 10 hrs a day for months on end, even the ILs were starting to question my skills as a mum - how many times have I heard MIL say ''pass her here'' when she used to cry as if she would be able to calm her properly (it never worked!! ::)).
the idea of pictures is an excellent idea...im going to start doing that from now on!! I may ask next time if I can see a paed think it may be helpful...I always get the feeling that docs just dont have time to be seeing babies!!
you said about the mixing of the soy formula with the nutramigin - if I find it hard going with the pumping do you think maybe I should mix her normal formula with it until its just the nutramigen?...I suppose its better to get them taking the milk then creating an aversion to it...I know my Jasmine is just sooo fussy if she has it a few times and doesnt like it she will end up never wanting it!!
MLK - a year without dairy!! how hard was it?...thats a great idea about the dairy challenge...think I will stop eating dairy myself and give her the nutramigen and bf and only homemade dairy and soy free foods and then if all is well after a few wks then I will eat my favourite cheesecake and see if it makes a difference!! LOL...any excuse!!!
so as you can see ladies I have got so much out of your responses its really helped...im sure there will be loads of questions I have so its great to have you all here!! thankyou so much. :-*
I feel a bit guilty now cos I remember a couple of times when there was blood in her poops...just a little but when I asked HV about it she said it was most probably my blood from bf or from her gums etc.. and that its normal...it only happened about twice and separate occassions so I never worried - do you think it could be linked to this?
Annette.xx
-
OMG...second day of no dairy and her naps have been 1 hr 20 mins and 1 hr 45 so far!! Calebs mummy you will know from all my nap problems this is a miracle...
could it be coincidence?...Im debating eating that cheesecake later now cos ive barely had any dairy last 2 days just incase and done want to ruin things!!
so shocked... :o
Annette.xx
-
Annette - I haven't read all of this through but just had a thought - hope someone hasn't said it already though :-\.
We tried to switch J to neocate at 7 mths due to reflux and suspected MPI. I *tried* to fully dairy exclude but was finding it really very hard and was losing weight quite dramatically, so my doctor recommended that I should move away from BFing.
Jacob WOULD NOT take neocate. I spent weeks and weeks pumping and diluting the formula with EBM, increasing by just 0.5oz every few days. I managed to get all the way to 4oz neocate and 1oz EBM, and just couldn't go any lower. In the end I tried just stopping and doing full forumla but ended up with a 3 day complete food strike. So I gave a normal formula and the poor chap drank it all.
My paediatrician says it can be very hard with older babies, especially those who are weaned, as they know full well that the milk is very bitter and strange tasting. He felt, in our case, that forcing him onto the formula would do more harm than good and that he should just have the reflux medicated and move to soy milk at 12 mths if the MPI didn't settle. So that is what we did, but at about 11 mths he started being able to tolerate a little fromage frais, so we never went this route.
That said I know plenty of mums who have been successful with the dilution route, and even some who just gave it straight off with no issues. But Jacob just wouldn't take it. I think most likely because he had lots of feeding aversions at that age and was more than happy to just not eat if something wasn't right. That was what he had been doing his whole life anyway. And I think his food aversion was the main reason the paediatrician felt we shouldn't be forcing a food he hated. I guess as long as your lo is motivated by food everything should be absolutely fine.
I feel bad for writing this now as I guess it comes across as negative - but really I just wanted to tell you what route we ended up going down. It frustrated me for quite a while knowing he was drinking something that was bad for him, but at 11mths when he started to outgrow the MPI, he just got got so much better.
Sending lots of ((hugs)) to you both.
Oh - and bloody stools CAN be linked to MPI - but it would usually be often and quite a bit of the colon was involved. Blood in stools can be due to constipation and getting little splits in the skin. That often happened to my little man - made me so sad that he could get into so much pain.
-
Liz, I knew you'd had a hard time with J and the reflux/MPI but I never knew all of the details...sounds like it was a total nightmare ((hugs)) Neocate is way more disgusting and more foul than Nutramigen. Which is pretty hard because that first whiff of Nutramigen nearly knocked me over; DH and I used to threaten each other ("Fold the laundry, or I'll make you smell the Nutramigen!!" ::) ) I think it is much harder to get a baby used to Neocate, especially without going through the Nutramigen first!
-
Thanks Mash - thankfully those days are behind us now :).
My paed refused to let J try nutramigen as he said it lasted even worse. Can't say I agreed though - to me nutramigen tasted very 'earthy' - whereas neocate tasted like a chemical form of mouldy broccoli juice (a friends baby takes nutramigen). Yuk!!
-
Wow, lots of advice and support, loving it! I'm just here to offer hugs, and say, "stay away from the cheesecake!" lol You have already two days in. I would really stick it out to know 100 percent sure that this is a dairy issue. I hope it continues to get better!
-
Ohmygosh! Annette, cant beleive you got those good naps in!! it sounds VERY promising, i cant wait to hear more progress!!!!!!
Caleb is on Pepti Junior and that stuff is horrid too but he takes it and im not argueing with him!!!! LOL
-
Annette, it was hard being o nthe dairy free diet but the first couple of weeks were the hardest. HWnever Ifelt like giving in Ithought about all those NWs and it motivated me! After a while the diet just became a way of life. I still cook a lot that way because even though Ican take dairy now DS2 is still MSPI, so I have to cook for him. At least I am used to it now!
And it sounds like you are havign some good results - yay! Stick it out for 14 days if you can before doing a challenge, that way you'll have more of an idea. There are lots of recipes in the sticky at the top of the page so you don't have to be deprived! If you're desperate for a biscuit and don't want to cook I know McVities original digestive biscuits are dairy and soy free. Boring but kind of satisfying!
-
lizJ... I have a feeling you may be right about the milk rejection!! I mixed it today (mainly BM) and she did the same again pulled a yuck face and dribbled it out!!
im going to keep offering her a little bit each day and not force it at all and see if one day she just decides to drink more...
she did exactly the same with the formula and I started to make it a fruit smoothie and one day she just took the milk on its own...dont think this will work with the yucky stuff tho!! ...made me feel sick just smelling it!
MLK - im going to really try my hardest to go dairy free and see if I can help her that way - it is hard tho cos what can I eat for breakfast and how do I get enough calcium and iron myself?!!!
im going to spend soem time this evening looking at ideas and meal plan my days so Im prepared each day otherwise I know I will end up eating things I shouldnt ...
silly question but if I had a tiny bit of something with milk proteins in it would that be game over and start again? would that still cause the sickness? I only ask cos its my DH birthday next week and I would love a tiny nibble of the cake!! ...you can see how hard im going to find this!!!
Annette.xx
-
Annette, I mostly had toast and/or eggs for breakfast. You can make a substitute for milk for cereal by blending tinned pears in natural juice with coconut milk, it keeps in the fridge for a few days. Some people use rice milk but I didn't like the taste of it. A good breakfast smoothie is made with fruit and coconut milk. You do need to eat extra protein when you cut out the dairy, so I had an extra serve of meat or eggs daily. That takes care of the iron; for calcium I took a good calcium supplement.
For baking i found a mixture of coconut milk mixed with water or rice milk worked best. Hardest is the first few days until you get used to it! Anymore tips feel free to ask.
As for the cake- well it depends how sensitive she is, it might cause her to react which would mean starting again! But you can make dairy free cakes if you are so inclined. Orange cake is good because you can substitute the milk with OJ and use a dairy free spread or bland tasting oil for the butter. You can even make dairy free chocolate cake!
Lan
-
hi all
just wanted to say she had her first normal(ish) poo today!! ...so thats what its supposed to look like!!
it still had a greenish tinge but it wasnt slushy or frothy or runny in anyway just soft and in one peice...so shocked and so happy!!!
TMI i know but it made me really happy!! ...I take it this is the normal baby poo now? ...
she was still sick loads yesterday so still could have reflux but it could just take longer for that to slow down cos as you said it can take 14 days ...heres hoping!!
as for the nutramigen ...she point blank refused it this morning when I offered a bit after breakfast (thought this was a good time to try it with her cos she will try anything in the morning!!) as soon as she smelt it she turned her whole body away and pulled a face!!
am I right in thinking that you can start re introducing milk after they are a year old?...just thinking I can probably stick the BF 4 times a day until then as I dont go back to work until she is one ...then it will start to get tricky....
just really dont want to force her to take this yucky milk if there is another way...
tho I am really missing my cups of tea now!
Annette.xx
-
Hi Annette,
I know how you feel about the poo -it took as 3 weeks to get a normal poo, never so gald to see orange in my life! I remember when I did the milk challenge after that, within 1 day the gree poo came book . SOrry maybe TMI but it looked like spinach and feta cheese!
My doc said to to challenge again at 12 months, this time we gave him the dairy directly, rather than just me have it. He still reacted, so we are trying again every 3 months, next time will be when he is 18 months. I BF 4 times a day until 10 months, then 3 times a day till 13 months, after that i started giving him the MSPI eggnog that I make (recipe in the recipe sticky.) I didn't bother with the formula because I knew there was no chance he would drink it.
AS for tea- I drank green tea or Earl Grey, I could drink both without milk!
-
Annette - one of the things I should have said last time I posted is just how very sad I am that it has taken until 8+ mths for your lo to be diagnosed with a medical issue. I remember from previous posts what a rough time you have been having, and how many tears you both suffered especially in the early days. It makes me so sad that people out there are not finding these babies sooner. IMO the term colic should be banned - babies how cry so very much have problems that need to be found. Pain and tummy ache needs to be treated - just like you would for an adult. So really just huge huge ((hugs)) to you.
I always felt with J that he would never take the hypoallergenic milk whilst I was still BFing. It is so bitter and BM so sweet. I mean, why would he?!!
A lot of babies do recover from MPI at 12 months - but some don't. But even those who have previously been sensitive to soy tend to be free from that aspect of it, and so soy milk becomes an option. Still a bit odd tasting, but far more palatable than hypoallergenic. J could tolerate dairy at about 11.5mths (yoghurts) but at 13 mths I still haven't been brave enough to convert to cows milk in the bottle, even though he is on a normal formula.
And YOU can have tea - just use a different sort of milk. The supermarket stocks loads. You could try soy as long as Jasmine isn't sensitive to it, if you would rather not complicate the picture then use coconut or oat milk. They are all in the aisle with the UHT milks. I'm a coffee drinker - and found coconut milk to be OK as long as the coffee was quite strong. Sure - it tastes different - but not unpleasent different. You can use other milks in cooking as well. You can also use these milks to make things for Jasmine if you would rather not express - deserts and the like.
-
Me again!
Annette I remember the feeling of not wanting DS to have to be on the Nutramigen, like it was something awful we were doing to him. DH used to get really mad some days and say how DS should be a "normal baby" who was drinking "normal milk like all other babies" (ie/ breastmilk....which only made me feel worse for not continuing to BF). He used to smell the Nutramigen and say that NO he was not going to give it to him, there had to be a better option, etc etc. But, the reality is that after about a month, DS sucked back his bottles, every drop of milk there was, screamed at bottle time and grabbed for it, and just really learned to enjoy his formula.
And, when we switched to cow's milk, he HATED it, just as much as he hated the Nutramigen, and we had to mix it in gradually to get him used to it. But my DH never once commented on how nasty or yucky the cow's milk was, because we don't think of it like that. To DS it was just as bad!!!
As for poops, if you do keep BFing then yes, they will probably be SO much better from now on! If you do get formula into her, do NOT be alarmed if his poop goes nasty again - the poop when they are on Nutramigen is often a very dark khaki green, quite runny and smells insanely horrid. A funky smell that doesn't smell like poop, but is just awful anyway. Just want to prepare you!
And yes, to add to Liz and Lan's stories about re-introduction - it might be worth asking your GP if you can have an appointment for a paed or a paediatric dietician for your DD. It was my paed who did the dietician referral and the dietician arranged the milk challenge when DS was one. We cancelled on it at the last minute as we moved overseas, but they basically give LO milk and watch for reations. I know a lot of parents do it on their own as their area doesn't do this, so maybe it is not available where you are (not sure which part of UK?). We did ours at home at 12 months and DS was quite ill, but then about a month later he got some butter by accident and was fine. So, I tried cheese, yogurt, and milk all that week and he was okay - I think at 14 months he went from HA formula to cow's milk. Paed had said to try at 12 months and if any reactions to hold off until 18 months, and then until 24 months if needed. Stats are high for babies to outgrow by 12 months, but there are small percentages who take longer to outgrow it.
-
Hi
lan - I never realised how much I would be talking about poo until I had Jasmine! Lol!! Just went to buy some mcvities digestive biscuits and read the back and they contain milk...but found some cheap oatie biscuits that had no nasties so im happy with them!! Think next time I go back to docs I will ask him about dairy challenge...
I spoke to soon by the way cos her second poo of the day was green and slushy but not the normal frothy/whippy stuff so think thats probably the nutramigen I put in her oats this morning like you said mash!!
liz - thats so true what you said...brought a tear to my eye...I remember so well all the torment ive been through (especially at the beginning) seriously I thought I was going insane (still do most days!!) Ive been doubting my instincts all along because of all those HVs and Docs and ILs telling me its cos im a first time mum...they should have realised something was amiss from day one when she cried on the hospital ward for nearly 12 hrs straight...the nurses told me to keep her on the breast and it would help cos she was hungry and all would be ok soon...guess what after 5 or so hrs on constantly feeding and screaming the place down they took her from me and gave her a little bit of formula and gave her back to me and said she would settle now cos she had got soem milk...they said probably cos my milk hadnt come in yet and she couldnt get anything......... well that was the biggest mistake cos she went into a complete frenzy screamed the place down I had the other mums calling out to me to see if I was ok ...
now looking back that was just ridiculous surely they should have had a red flag at that point? and when the same happened again the next night still they didnt twig...nothing in notes, no advice given ...surely with me being in a special care ward with my baby being the only one crying like this they must have thought something was wrong... sorry im ranting now but you raised a good point and it got me going!!!!! so awful cos as a first time mum I was naive and just took whatever I was told my the health proffessionals as right....this has caused months of me self doubting and feeling like a complete failure...
im going to look for the different milks tomorrow when I go shopping...fingers crossed I will like one!!
mash - thats an interesting point cos she hated the formula so much at first so I suppose this is just like that to her a new alien thing...its just the BF that I worry will taste so much better!! I will keep offering a little nutramigen every day and just wait and see!!
Im definately going to ask at next appointment to see a paed...think it would be really helpful to speak to someone that can help me along the way!...do they generally have them at the docs surgery or do you have to go somewhere else?
im keeping my fingers crossed that she outgrows it by 12 months ...ive decided to only go back to work 2 days a week and im hoping to put her into a nursery right across the road from my work for one of those days so I could still go in and BF her...so all should work out ok I think!
thankyou so much ladies.xx
-
I'm having a look at my packet of McVities Digestives "The Original" and they definitely do not mention milk in the ingredients... just "produced on a line handling milk" which you can pretty much ignore. I am in Australia but these are imported from the UK. Maybe they have a different export line? Good thing you read the label though!
-
I will have to read them again next time I go shopping knowing me I just saw the word milk and stopped there!! so I bet it says what you said made on a line handling milk!! LOL!!
Im quite excited now that I will have another biscuit choice!!
Annette.xx
-
Yeah amazing the things that can get you excited when you are on a restricted diet. I was SOOO happy when I found dairy free dark chocolate (Lindt 70% cocoa or Whittakers 72% Dark Ghana in case you wanted to know! Also a few of the organic/free trade ranges have dairy free dark chocolate.)
Also if you are avoiding soy anything with soy lecitihin is usually OK.
-
Hi
just wanted to update you all and ask a bit of advice...
DD is doing really well...Ive had no dairy for 2 weeks now and she has been completely different!!
dirty nappies are down to 2 a day and im so shocked how they have changed!! No more green whippy poo...its almost adult like ...just a softer version !! TMI!!!! :o :o
The sickess has lessened so much too...its amazing shes gone from forever being sick to maybe just 8 times a day!! :o :D...still think there may be a touch of a reflux issue as im still seeing her swallowing and hearing gurgling noises after shes eaten so I will keep a close eye and see...
the nutramigen - think ive given up on giving it to her!! its too much hassle to keep making it up only for her to reject it...such a shame cos now shes even rejecting the sippy cup (which she had mastered) cos she thinks it will have the yucky milk in it!!
My question is that im worried about only BF her...will she get enough calcium from me alone? - what will happen when she goes down to 3 feeds and then 2 feeds a day?
I know this sounds really lazy but I just cant be bothered to express milk as it takes so long to do but im worried that if I dont soon get her taking a milk feed out of a sippy cup again she will permanantly reject it and my PND seems to be getting to me more so now cos I feel like after months of coming so far and getting her to take milk from a cup I was soon going to be able to let others have her for a few hours so I could do something just for me in the day (ive never done anything without baby in day yet!)...now this is not an option once again I feel really deflated... I live in a small town you see and dont drive so even to get the bus takes a 30 min walk so by the time I get anywhere its time to come straight back as its feed time again!!
I had my return to work interview yesterday and dropped the bombshell that I cant cope with more than 2 days ... really loved my job but dont think they are going to be able to work around the 2 days so I may have to do 3 or even 4 and I dont know how im going to get milk into her!!...
sorry im rambling on again...
Annette.xx
-
Annette, Are you taking a breastfeeding supplement vitamin thing? These contain all the things you need to produce healthy breastmilk so you should be ok with the calcium, try eating other calcium rich things, sardine, beans, fish, kale........
With the sippy, can you try filling it with water or juice, while she is watching? We had most success getting my DS on the sippy by taking an empty sippy, and pouring from my glass into his sippy so he could see that I was having it too. He thought "well if its good enough for mum, i want some of that!" and within a few days, we were sippying good! This would do for now, until you can get your energy up with the pump!
Lili xx
-
Yay for the improvement! It really sounds like it was the dairy bothering her. If you think she is still refluxing a bit you could try removing soy as well - it is in lots of things so I know it makes your life even more difficult but some babies react to both - my son does. Soy lecithin is OK unless she is really sensitive so if you read that on a label you can ignore it.
Annette, my doc told me that 3-4 breastfeeds a day was OK for calcium, down to 2 and you will probably need extra calcium of some sort.
I use a lot of homemade stock made from bones as a source of calcium - I cook rice in it, add it to soups and sauces etc. You can also get liquid or powdered calcium supplements which you can add to food. Since he turned one I give my son an MSPI eggnog that I make - recipe in the recipe sticky. Others go down the fortified rice milk route but I find that it constipates my son really badly.
As for the cup - what about trying a different sort of cup - eg a straw cup if she used a spout or vice versa. Something she won't associate with the bad taste.
Good luck, you've made great progress but it is hard work I know. Especially with going back to work.