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Infant feeding

Could my diet affect DD's colic?

17 replies

lolalotta · 04/11/2013 05:54

Hello, I'm really struggling at the moment to help my DD with what I suspect is colic. (Crying and upset from 4.00pm each evening where very little seems to settle her/console her) She is nearly 10 weeks old and is back at home recovering from major heart surgery which she had at nearly 7 weeks. She is exclusively BF, though she is having 1ml of calagen 4 x a day, a high fat supplement to aid weight gain. Anyway, it is only a few days after we got home that she has appeared to start suffering from the colic. I was just wandering if this was an age related thing or could it be my diet? The week after the op in hospital when I was eating ready meals she appeared to be very calm (but perhaps this was her coming off the drugs). Since I have got home and started eating healthily again, my veggie diet means lots of lentils, the colicky symptoms seem to have come on full force! Hmm
It's really getting us all down, she has had such a rough few weeks I would love to ease this for her! Hmm

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lolalotta · 04/11/2013 05:56

Sorry about the essay! She is having a 24hr trace on Tuesday to make sure it's not heart related... I hope/ suspect not though it happens like clockwork each day...the rest of the time she is quite happy!!!

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AndIFeedEmGunpowder · 04/11/2013 06:14

Sounds like a tough start for you. I'm glad she's home. Smile
I think it's really unlikely to be anything in your diet. With some babies it's a combination of cluster feeding, 'fourth trimester' and over-tiredness.

DD was slightly less colicky if she'd napped well, was being constantly held/moved and was allowed to feed from 4-11pm. Absolutely exhausting though!

A lovely health visitor told me that colicky babies are usually very strong and determined which made me feel better. Smile . Things improved lots at 14 weeks.

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AndIFeedEmGunpowder · 04/11/2013 06:17

This page has info about diet while breastfeeding and may help.

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tiktok · 04/11/2013 13:50

lolalotta - wow, what a difficult start for you and your little dd.

Babies who have had a disrupted period may well go through a stage where they need extra cuddles and care and responsiveness, and it may be this disruption that's causing the upset rather than your diet (which is prob the least likely cause, to be honest).

She has been through a lot, and will have a lot of feelings to process - obviously, none of her experience can be understood in a cognitive way, but it will produce feelings, even so. These may well surface in the evening when she is a bit more tired, perhaps, and just overwhelmed....consoling her is all you can do, and I'm guessing you try all the tricks in the book and eventually something seems to work and she calms down. Being with her, taking her distress seriously, and reassuring her is important, even if it seems not to fix anything very quickly.

I hope this stage starts to get better soon.

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PeterParkerSays · 04/11/2013 13:53

I couldn't eat onions when DS was tiny, because they have him wind. I once ate some french onion soup because I forgot until I'd got the tin open and I wanted a quick meal and we didn't have any other soup - he was beside himself howling, with his knees pulled up. you could try cutting out onions, and I've also heard about fizzy drinks being uncomfortable for baby the day after.

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tiktok · 04/11/2013 14:26

Trouble is, Peter, that there are mountains of anecdata like this....and no biologically plausible explanation.

Onions are harder to digest than some foods, but they do get digested....and after this they don't get into the breastmilk in any form that would affect the baby's ability to digest them (the taste might affect the milk). Fizzy drinks cannot possibly get into the breastmilk.

The most likely explanation for your baby's apparent reaction to onions is coincidence, really. Or maybe he really, really did not like the smell.

:)

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sparklysilversequins · 04/11/2013 14:28

I found it did. If I ate cake or refined sugar, dd would be extremely unsettled the next day. Too much fruit juice and she would get awful nappy rash. I know many say it doesn't make a difference but it really did with dd.

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HaveAQuestion · 04/11/2013 15:16

I cut out all lactose with DS an he was much better within about 3 days and pretty much over it within 10 days. It was hard though! Chocolate, milk, cheese, butter and lots of ready prepared things that you wouldn't think like oven chips contain lactose. I also stopped having caffeine and fizzy drinks.

Well done for feeding under what seems like a very bumpy start. Hope DD recovers from surgery completely.

L

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tiktok · 04/11/2013 16:26

Cutting out lactose makes no difference - it cannot make any difference, because the lactose in breastmilk does not come from the lactose in a mother's diet. Lactose in breastmilk is the milk sugar in all mammalian milks. Badgers, sheep, cows, pigs, mice, rats, donkeys, duck-billed platypuses .....they all have lactose in their milk, just as we do :) Nothing we can do can change that.

Your baby may well have changed behaviour haveaquestion. If it was diet related, it will be nothing to do with your lack of lactose.

It could have been the caffeine you cut out - caffeine in large quantities does seem to affect some babies.

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lolalotta · 04/11/2013 18:19

Thank you soooo much for your replies, it is very kind of you all to take the time to get back to me. Tiktok, you are right she has been through a tremendous ordeal, the poor little poppet was in intensive care for a week after the operation on a ventilator, we are soooo very lucky she is still with us. It occurred to me that yesterday she didn 'to get a lot of sleep in the day, we were at home and it is tough with her older sister who is 4! So today we really made the effort to get out with the pushchair so she could have some good sleeps.... And she has just been feeding/ sleeping on me now for two hours! So lots of cuddles! So far she has been peaceful so fingers crossed for this evening! Perhaps she was very, very overtired yesterday??? Maybe that is what contributed to the colicky behaviour yesterday evening?

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AndIFeedEmGunpowder · 04/11/2013 21:09

Hope the calmness has continued. Agree over tiredness is the worst!

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lolalotta · 04/11/2013 21:20

She's still doing well Gunpowder! Grin
She is going to cost me a fortune in batteries though...we have just discovered she loves the vibrating function on her bouncy chair! It really seems to calm her!

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Flatasawitchestit · 04/11/2013 21:24

It won't be diet related.
My last baby had awful colicky symptoms come dinner time, I thought I had a fast letdown so used to try lying back to feed, so she didn't gulp.

I found the kellymom site helpful. I also saw a LC who diagnosed a posterior tongue tie that was snipped (9 weeks old). In the end though she just grew out of it after some really horrible, upsetting weeks of daily screaming.

Hope it was just a phase for you.

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AndIFeedEmGunpowder · 04/11/2013 21:38

Yay yay yay! Long may it continue. Grin Glad the chair is helping.

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Creamtea1 · 04/11/2013 21:56

I really hope its true that diet has no effect seeing as I've just eaten a big pile of Brie and Roquefort (and chocolate to follow!)

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mrsspagbol · 05/11/2013 08:23

Congrats on your baby!! Just wanted to say the battery expenditure doesnt end - wait till you get s cot mobile that turns and plays music!! [colief]

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mrsspagbol · 05/11/2013 08:24

Meant to say try colief for colic symptoms and Flowers for you!! Sorry, have had a rough night!!

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