That's tough.
I think if you feel confident about your doctor's recommendation you should follow his advice.
However this is subject close to my heart because a good friend was told her baby was lactose intolerant and gave up breastfeeding to switch to a lactose-free formula. She was really sad about it. After doing some reading she discovered the over-use of the term lactose intolerance and that infact she didn't need to give up breastfeeding completely. By the time she had researched it she felt it was too late to try and relactate and decided not to. I'm
not saying this is your situation but it's worth considering and I feel I should give you her point of view. Have a look at this article:
http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactose.htmlIt says:
Occasionally it is considered preferable to speed up the healing, and reduce the immediate symptoms, by reducing the amount of lactose in the diet for a time, particularly if the baby has been losing weight. In this case, it is possible to alternate breastfeeding and feeding with a lactose-free infant formula, or it may sometimes be necessary to temporarily wean onto a lactose-free infant formula. In the case of a baby recovering from severe gastroenteritis, average recovery time for the gut is four weeks, but may be up to eight weeks for a young baby under three months. For older babies, over about 18 months, recovery may be as rapid as one week. Breastmilk can be tried weekly to see if the baby has recovered, or it could be gradually introduced.
When taking the baby off the breast temporarily is being considered, thought should also be given to other aspects of the breastfeeding relationship. These include:
How will alternative feeding methods affect this baby? Could it result in breast refusal later?
How easily will the mother be able to express her milk to maintain her supply?
A mother needs to be aware of exactly what is happening, and understand that this episode need not undermine her confidence in breastfeeding. Her breastmilk is still the best food for her baby in the long term.Here's another perspective:
Is my baby lactose intolerant?
By Kelly Bonyata, BS, IBCLC
If your baby is sensitive to dairy products it is highly unlikely that the problem is lactose intolerance, although many people may tell you so.
There are three types of lactose intolerance:
Primary lactose intolerance
Congenital lactose intolerance
Secondary lactose intolerance
Primary lactose intolerance (also called developmental, late-onset or adult lactose intolerance) is relatively common in adults (and more common in some nationalities than others), and is caused by a slow decrease in the body's production of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose (milk sugar). This occurs gradually, over a period of years, and never appears before 2-5 years old and often not until young adulthood. Almost all adults who are lactose intolerant have this type of lactose intolerance, which is not related to lactose intolerance in babies.
Congenital lactose intolerance and similar congenital disorders
Congenital lactose intolerance is very rare and is an inherited metabolic disorder rather than an allergy. This disorder is generally apparent within a few days after birth and is characterized by severe diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration and failure to thrive. It resolves after the age of six months.
A similar, less severe, metabolic disorder is congenital lactase deficiency. This disorder, apparent within 10 days of birth, occurs when brush-border lactase activity (required for the digestion of lactose) in the small intestine is low or absent at birth and is characterized by diarrhea and malabsorption. It is also very rare.
Galactosemia is another rare metabolic disorder that occurs when the liver enzyme GALT, needed to break down galactose, is partially or completely absent. Although this disorder does not directly concern lactose, babies with the more severe forms of galactosemia will not be able to tolerate any lactose since lactose is formed from the two sugars galactose and glucose. The classical form of galactosemia is characterized by vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice and failure to thrive within a few days after birth.
Some premature babies have a temporary form of lactose intolerance because their bodies are not yet producing lactase. This will go away as baby matures, and in fact the maturation process can be accelerated by baby's ingestion of lactose.
Secondary lactose intolerance (also called acquired lactose intolerance) can appear at any age and occurs when the intestinal brush border is damaged by an infectious, allergic or inflammatory process, thus reducing lactase activity. Causes of secondary lactose intolerance include gastroenteritis, food intolerance or allergy, celiac disease (gluten intolerance), and bowel surgery. Per Joy Anderson, IBCLC (in Lactose intolerance and the breastfed baby):
"Anything that damages the gut lining, even subtly, can cause secondary lactose intolerance. The enzyme lactase is produced in the very tips of folds of the intestine, and anything that causes damage to the gut may wipe off these tips and reduce the enzyme production.
"...Secondary lactose intolerance is a temporary state as long as the gut damage can heal. When the cause of the damage to the gut is removed, for example the food to which a baby is allergic is taken out of the diet, the gut will heal even if the baby is still fed breastmilk."
Although cow's milk protein sensitivity and lactose intolerance are not the same thing, they can sometimes occur at the same time, since food allergy can cause secondary lactose intolerance.
There's another link here:
http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/lacintolerance.htmI'm not saying your doctor is wrong - of course not - but I just want to share my friend's experience just in case.
