dairy intolerant and maybe something else???

[Kayna]

Not sure if this should be on the Breastfeeding board or Allergy board?

dd will be 12 weeks on Monday and is bf. About a month ago we found out that she is dairy intolerant so I cut dairy from my diet. Her poops seemed to clear up right away but they became very runny and watery.

I decided to go off soy a couple weeks ago to see if that would bring them back to the seedy poops that bf babies have. It seemed to help a little for one or two diapers but never made that big of difference. I have kept it out of my diet though just in case.

I accidently got some butter in my system when I went out to eat a week ago  and within 24 hours she had visible blood in her stool again. I've been monitoring her poops and it's gotten slimy and looks as though there could still be blood  :cry: .

Can anyone give me any ideas what this could be? I feel like by bf'ing her I'm doing her a disservice instead of the other way around. I feel strongly that I want to continue nursing but feel lost as to where to go from here.  :cry: Please help..........TIA!!!

[rooby-rooby-roo]

Don't have any advice, but i'm sure others will do. Just wanted to give you a huge hug. You are not doing Avery a disservice at all, your bm is still the best possible food for her,you are doing a great job!

Best love x x

[EmmasMom]

Hi Kayna,
In my experience, the worst of the mucosy diapers went away within a week, but it took DS 6-8 weeks to have seedy poops.
If the problem did not go away, my lactation consultant suggested I eliminate beef, as the protein is quite similar. (?)
Certainly talk to your doctor about all this and also about your diet to keep your protein intake adequate.
Take care,

[GraceKellysmom]

I agree that it can take a week to get the blood out. Examine your diet again closely (read labels) and make sure you're not missing a unusual dairy.

You could try the soy thing again, or one of the other higher allergens.

And I agree with Clair, you are doing her so well to keep nursing and adjust your diet. Some moms can't even do that, I feel so lucky to have been able to. And imagine the alternative  :shock:  Yuck! Some of those alternative formulas are soooo nasty.  :shock:

[Kayna]

Thank you Clair, Isabelle, and Stacy for your encouraging words. Her poops continue to be super inconsistant but I'm plugging away at it. Started reading labels even more closely and not allowing anything dairy or soy (even though our pedi said you don't need to be that careful  :x ) in hopes her poor little intestines will heal  :cry: .

Isabelle, thank you for the insight on the beef. I was completely unaware of that.

I have continued to bf but wish I had more support from family and friends. They get annoyed with my constant label checking and don't understand why I wouldn't just formula feed and "indulge" again. I tell them its the cost of the special formula that I don't want instead of suggesting that breast is best  :cry: . Spares the arguments!

Thank you again for your help.

[matt&chris mom]

Kayna,

It is very difficult to deal with friends and family who are not understanding of the situation. There is no guarantee the formula would not cause problems too. Be sure to come here if you need some support.

I did find that prepared meats have milk in them so you might want to look at labels that you wouldn't normally consider to have milk. We bought fajita meat that had whey and it said it was milk based, but I didn't think of looking at that label until Chris reacted to it. Stacy also suggested that even grilled chicken prepared at restaurants are prepared with butter.

Good luck. I hope she does better real soon.

Minerva

[GraceKellysmom]

A lot of chicken sold at the supermarket is injected with "broth" (soy) to increase the weight. Just an FYI. There is a brand sold in the midwest "Smart Chicken" that is broth free. Golly what can we eat?

I'm sorry you don't have much support. What helped me is finding things I could eat and cooking for my family so they realized that I wasn't really living without. And the pounds rolling off my thighs shut my mom up pretty quick!  :lol:

[Jennifer2e]

Stacy-could you make a list of things you DO eat?  TIA

[GraceKellysmom]

:lol:

There is a pretty extensive list on the MSPI announcement on the top of this forum but I should add more to it - I keep finding great milk/soy free foods. Like plain old Sun Chips. I do eat soy lecithin and vegetable oils, most babies don't have a problem with that.

[Jennifer2e]

Thanks Stacy!  I'll look.

[Kayna]

Ooooo Stacy, if you get a chance and feel like adding more dos and don't to the list I would super appreciate it. I have printed a copy of your original info and carry it with me but have been too lazy to look up anything else.

Or if you know of another place I could look for additional foods that would be super appreciated too.

I'm finding it extremely difficult to eat these days. There are just soooo many foods with dairy and soy in them  :cry: . Then I start feeling sorry for myself :oops: but only briefly before I remind myself of how much weight I've lost  and the health benefits my child is getting by continuing to nurse.

[GraceKellysmom]

All right gals I added my menu list to the "foods you can eat" post in the MSPI announcement (on page one) If anything specific looks good that isn't self explanatory, pm me for the recipe. I don't have all of them in my computer but I'm happy to type them out for you.

I know what you mean about feeling sorry for yourself when not eating dairy/soy. Once I found replacements for most of things I loved, it was a ton easier. However, now that I'm back eating dairy I've gained a load back!  :roll:  :shock:

[Kayna]

Thank you Stacy!!  :lol: