Cutting out dairy for breastfeeding

[HarrysMummy17]

I'm thinking of cutting out dairy to see if it helps my ds who I'm breastfeeding who is very windy and uncomfortable quite a bit of the time.

I'm just wondering how strict I need to be and will a tiny bit make a difference? Things like a slice of chocolate cake for example.

Not looking forward too it! I've got a calcium deficiency to start with and I love my dairy products (cheese!)

[user1467273391]

Hi

My opinion is that if you are going to go to a lot of effort in removing milk then you have to eliminate it completely for about 4 weeks to begin with. If you don't eliminate it completely, it will always be at the back of your mind did this happen because of the chocolate cake.

After 4 weeks, if there is an improvement then you can always start introducing small amounts of milk into your diet to see if it has an affect and to see how much milk you can take without having an affect on your ds.

If you let me know what products you will miss the most I can try and suggest alternative dairy free products that you could have. We're used to it in our house as my son has a milk and egg allergy.

[MrsRyanGosling15]

You either cut it all out completely,or you don't. There is something called the milk ladder with different foods having different amounts of dairy in it. There is no point cutting everything out and then having even 1 chocolate biscut a week and the dairy will be in you system and can take upto 6 weeks to leave it. Is you baby showing any signs of CMPA? I thought the idea of certain foods making babies windy was proven not to be the case? Maybe get someone to check his latch or try some new positions to ensure he's not gulping down lots of air when feeding.

[trinitybleu]

When I cut out dairy we saw an initial improvement in DD within 48 hours but yes, you need time cut it all to be sure and it takes time to do that. This was for lactose intolerance.

[Ditsy4]

Yes, all dairy cut out for four weeks.
I did this with son 3 wish I had known for son 1. Worked a treat for 3.
You can have your cake and eat it!
Lots of vegan cake recipes and some I have tried actually taste better than ordinary dairy chocolate cake! Look at Vegetarian and Vegan Society also Jamie has Dairy free recipes now on his site.

[HarrysMummy17]

Thank you for the replies. It may just be as simple as his latch. I also seem to have a lot of fore milk so I'm not switching breasts as often.

If anything I thinks it's likely to be a lactose intolerance rather than a dairy allergy. The only symptoms are that he's very windy and uncomfortable. I hear him grunting and groaning through the night. His windy is very smelly. He only poos once a week. When he does go he will fill 3/4 nappies in the space of a couple of hours.

[broccoliflowers]

If you are cutting out dairy it is for the proteins in the cows milk getting into your milk and triggering either allergy or intolerance responses - the immune response is slightly different.

Therefore, yes you need to completely cut it out to see if it is the reason for the issues.

Ime babies with cows milk issues tend to have bad skin.

Lactose is naturally in your own milk. Issues with lactose can occur after a tummy bug or naturally - it's down to having enough lactase enzyme to digest it. Colief is an enzyme you can buy to help (mix in spoon with bm before a feed).

[broccoliflowers]

Fore milk and hind milk are a bit of a myth; there's no magical change over.

However, poor latch and feeding habits can mean a windy baby for various reasons.

I'd strongly advise getting some really good support on bf - contact the la leche league, or local peer support groups and/ or read up online. Dr Jack Newman, a Canadian paediatrician and lactation consultant has excellent bf videos on YouTube and fantastic advice on his FB page or website.

If you are in the north ish of the country I can point you to some excellent places for support :)

[HarrysMummy17]

Definitely trying the latch first.
Ds wouldn't latch at all this morning. Must have taken him off 40 times. The milk was flowing fairly fast so he was just sucking the drops from the nipple.

[broccoliflowers]

Argh I had this. Try hand expressing some off while he yells and then latch. Try lying down with him on his side or laid back on a sofa to ease the flow. Strong let down is really tough for them as its like a hosepipe. My son had mild tongue tie but was just a crap swallower too. It added to the wind issues.

Best thing would to get a feed observed by a peer supporter or other and help with latch.

Also - walk about while feefing; can get a better latch for some reason.