Parents of kids with MPI: Please read and vote

[Katet]

Interesting DI - but just to be a total PITA both myself and DH were extended BFers. DH until about 18 mths, and myself until 2 years. Neither had a bottle or formula at all.

I assume DDs MPI comes from me though - as I had 'colic' for over 6 mths. Mum says I was exactly the same as my children are, so I must have had reflux and MPI, but I was left without treatment. Mum gad lots if feeding issues with me as well.

So for us I think genetic rather than environmental.

Liz, but it is possible that your/your Dh's grandparents were fed milk & that may be why you were a "colicy" baby & even with BF if your Mum had been given milk as a baby it could go down the line. 

Ie....From 1930 to the early 1970s, now with the collusion of physicians, not only did mothers continue to supplement their breast milk with cows’ milk and wean infants in the first few weeks and months of life, but more and more mothers did not breastfeed at all. By 1971, breastfeeding had reached an all-time low in the United States. Only 24% of mothers initiated breastfeeding—that is, only 24% breastfed at least once before hospital discharge. Not until later in the 1970s did the feminist-inspired women’s health reform movement rekindle interest in breastfeeding.

Basically any child born between 1930's & late 70's has a high chance of not being BF for very long, so even if say you were born in the 80's & exclusively BF, there is a huge chance that your parents weren't BF for very long! So for DH & I who are both children of the 60's (yes oldies LOL) & have parents who were children of the 30's I'm pretty sure there is a reasonable chance not all the Grandparents were BF for very long & in the 30's in Australia (& probably UK for my Dad) & certainly with MIL (who was adopted) they were given cows milk before 12mo... both My Dad & FIL have siblings who are only just over a year younger, so doubt they were BF to 12mo.

BTW I was taken of Dairy for 4 years as a child & ever since only have about 1/3 of my calcium needs from dairy... which I think may have helped my boys.

Both my siblings were very colicy & my Bro hardly eats Dairy as it gives him IBS

[Mashi]

I do agree Kate that there seems to be a genetic factor in milk allergies - we've been told that from the start, that as with other food issues it does tend to run in the family. BUT if as you say most all LOs born between 30s-70s were only BFd if at all for such a short time and then put on either an evaporated milk or straight cow's milk, then would it not be even MORE prevalent? ie/ if a grandparent exposure to cow's milk at a young age was a key cause in milk allergy then i'd say figures for milk allergy/intol would be much much higher than they are now, iykwim?

[EloysH]

Both my Ds's have reflux and MPI, the mechanical reflux is their main issue. 

MY DH had reflux as a bub and screamed daily till he was 9 months old. He was also put on cows milk at 6 months as the doctors said there was something wrong with the breastmilk.  MIL says he just got alot worse after putting him on cows milk 

[*Liz*]

Yes - both my parents were exclusively formula fed (no idea what age they went to normal cows milk) - DHs parents likely were BF as they are from a small Sri Lankan villiage.

[Katet]

Mashi, definitely genetics in there... but like with many things genetic (like cancers for example) there also tends to be the trigger factor. ie, My sister was colicy, but has always been the "dairy queen" & she eats heaps of dairy & none of her children have issues & only one of mine has an issue & that is the child that is the "mini me"... where as DS2 is very much DH's side & he has no issues with Dairy, even though one cousin on DH's side has big Dairy issues, but so does his Mum (not related to DH), so guessing the fact DS1 & nephew both have issues isn't related to DH's family but to mine & SIL's.

If there is a gentic/exposure link (which is  probable) then having the "genetics" & the "exposure" wouldn't mean it was necessarily higher, as it would depend on the prevelance of a "gene" in society & what impact the trigger was... ie if only 5% of the population have the gene, but all of them express a reaction, then only 5% would continue to express, but if it was linked to a gene that was say in 80% but only expressed on 20% of triggers then you'd expect the rate to get higher.

[MLK]

I asked my mum what was common in Vietnam when a mother couldn't BF her baby (as she couldn't not her mother or her mother before that) and she said they were given to a wetnurse for about 2-3 months and then put on buffalo milk. Speaking to relatives/friends in Australia this was also common in the country too (DH's aunt refused to BF as a baby and her mum had to pump until the baby was considered old enough for cows' milk  -at 6 weeks!) but no one on DH's side has dairy probs, same with other friends who have said the same.

Maybe it is NOT the straight cows' milk given to babies in previous generations after all but processed milk i.e. formula or evaporated milk? Who knows? You could make a case for either since the change to processed milk happened in the 30s when my parents were kids.

I know they say Asians are intolerant to cows' milk - but think of Indians who eat dairy and nomadic Mongolians whose main staple food is yak/horse milk.

[deb]

There is actually a difference in cows' milks, too. Apparently some people who cannot tolerate milk from Holsteins can tolerate milk from Jersey cows, for example. It has something to do with how old the different breeds are, and I'll never find the link again in a million years, something about Type A and Type B breeds.... but if that's the case, it's not hard to believe that people intolerant to cows' milk would be fine with mare's milk or goats' milk or sheeps' milk or water buffalo milk. The proteins will be slightly different.

Also, there are differences between raw milk and milk that's been pasteurized. Calves fed pasteurized cows' milk fail to thrive, so it's not a big stretch to work out that humans might react to it differently as well. In more primitive settings, fresh raw milk would be more available to people to use for babies.

[ccg01]

Different breeds of dairy cattle have different levels of fat content in their milk (Holsteins lower, Jerseys, higher) -- might also have slightly different protein profiles, I suppose.

My guess is that much of it has to do with better diagnosis (imprecise though it may be) than in the past. A lot of babies just didn't thrive in the past. Even today, many babies probably have some intolerance but are just thought to be "colicky."

My own mother was put on goat's milk for horrible "colic" in the early 1940s. Apparently, that helped reduce her crying... but unfortunately today she has kidney problems (which can be related to goats' milk at a very young age) and Crohn's disease (which has been possibly linked to a trigger from something in dairy, although that is far from proven). Bad luck all around, I'd say!

[Mashi]

I understand now Kate!