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Infant feeding

Did Dairy-free BFing work for anyone?

26 replies

Annarose2014 · 27/12/2014 12:31

DS (6 wks) diagnosed as CMPI last Monday, I've been strictly dairy-free ever since. The GP said it would take 2 weeks to leave my system ompletely & gave us some Aptamil Pepti to supplement with in the meantime.

The difference on the formula was instantaneous - baby was no longer in pain!

But I've been trying to reduce it as my dairyfree days clocked up & now he hasn't had formula since xmas eve. And he was in pain all night and all this morning. Literally sobbing himself awake with the cramping. Sad

I know the GP said 2 weeks but come on, surely it should be improved?? This is so distressing.

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josephine1986 · 27/12/2014 12:42

Afraid it did always take 10-14 days for me. It stays in your system and theirs so there is a delay. Hopefully it will gradually improve. Of cours of after 2 weeks you are having the same issues, there may be something else he's racting to.

I think cows milk is proven to pass through to breast milk in particular , but other proteins do too. My daughter definitely reacted when I ate fish or chocolate (as in cacao) as well as dairy so trial and error is often involved to find the cause.
Good luck

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FlossieTreadlight · 27/12/2014 12:43

Slightly unhelpful but I thought it could take up to 6 weeks for dairy to leave your system, rather than 2. Sounds like you've done less than 2 weeks so I'd go back to the formula. To answer your Q, My good friend was dairy free BFing for her highly allergic son and it was annoying for her but worked and BF until 2yo. She still has her coffee black now...

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josephine1986 · 27/12/2014 12:43

Having said that, it's really important not to restrict your diet any further at this stage

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Rikalaily · 27/12/2014 12:44

Double check everything that passes your lips, I was extremely shocked to find dairy in a lot of things that I didn't expect to find it in and we had a few blips because of that. Unfortunately it does take quite a while to get fully out of your system.

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anotherdayanothersquabble · 27/12/2014 12:47

Worked for me, took a while though. I am sorry but I can't remember how long. Unfortunately, dairy was only one of the things I needed to exclude, one I identified wheat and sugar as well, things improved though the never showed up on the skin prick test. Accidental exposures took 2 weeks to leave his body and during that time he suffered. Over the years, other things have been in and out, it's been a constant balancing act.

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JustWantToBeDorisAgain · 27/12/2014 12:50

What have you changed in your diet? Dairy is hidden in many different guises ( dh and 2 dd's are DF and one U.S. also soya free).

Give us a quick run down on what you gave been eating and we can offer pointers or even better post on the allergy threads as there are loads of really well informed people there... White bread often upsets my dd's.

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TychosNose · 27/12/2014 13:02

Yes worked for us after 2 weeks totally dairy and soy free.

It's hard because as pp have said, there's plenty of hidden dairy, and many CMPI babies (1/3 iirc) are intolerant to soy protein too, so be careful with your substitutions.

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Roonerspism · 27/12/2014 13:08

Sorry to jump in... Can I ask what your baby's symptoms were before going dairy free?

I have a really unsettled 2 week old. Constantly writhing as if in pain, poor sleep. But I don't think it's a full allergy to something.

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Annarose2014 · 27/12/2014 13:30

I've been allowing soy as the GP said to keep it in till proven otherwise. But I've honestly had a very restricted diet this week. Nothing at all with milk proteins in it. Checking labels on everything. No chocolate/cake/biscuits/pastries etc.

The bread I have seems to be milk protein free. I've basically been living off veg & potatoes and meat. Thank god I could at least eat Xmas dinner!

The only slip up was a handful of Pringles yesterday which I didn't realise contained milk protein. Am beating myself up to an illogical degree over that.

He just gobbled a bottle of formula. Hopefully he'll have a settled afternoon. I'm honestly afraid to BF him now. Its meant to be a good thing, but it now feels a bit scary. Poor little thing. He's such an angel, this is literally the only thing that upsets him and it could be totally avoided if I stop BFing and go FF.

DH is telling me not to make any decision when emotional. But surely keeping it up for another week (at least) would be pure selfishness on my part?

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trixymalixy · 27/12/2014 13:35

It did, but then I started substituting with soya and we were back to square one. Once I cut dairy, soy and egg out of my diet, DS was a different baby.

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Annarose2014 · 27/12/2014 13:37

But trixymalixy what on earth did you eat then??

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anotherdayanothersquabble · 27/12/2014 17:03

You could express... Allow him to recover, then try again.

Are there any allergies, atopic reactions, asthma, eczema, autoimmune diseases, recurrent infections, thrush etc in your family? this could indicate an inherited weakness but is not the only possibility? Did you or your DS have antibiotics during pregnancy / around delivery? Again, not the only source of problems.

I know the advice differs, this is just one point of view and many disagree with restricted diets, but you could try an elimination diet, no alcohol, no caffeine, no dairy, no eggs, no shellfish, no deep water fish, no potatoes, no tomatoes, no potatoes, no bell peppers, no aubergines, no corn, no wheat, no meat, no soy, no processed food. There is still a risk you don't catch everything with this diet so it is not fool proof. Suppliments of high potency probiotics and fatty acids would also be useful. You can get enough nutrients on such a diet but it is not easy, and many will say, unnecessary, sadly, I don't think there is one prescription for everyone and many professionals will suggest the formula route as breastfeeding on an exclusion diet is just too hard on the Mum.

Please do not beat yourself up, there will be many many opportunities to do that and many many times you will think, why did I do X, why did I not do Y and while it helps to know what the consequences are and to learn from them, it is wise (but very hard!!) to let them go.

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Annarose2014 · 27/12/2014 18:00

Are there any allergies, atopic reactions, asthma, eczema, autoimmune diseases, recurrent infections, thrush etc in your family? this could indicate an inherited weakness but is not the only possibility? Did you or your DS have antibiotics during pregnancy / around delivery? Again, not the only source of problems.

No, none of the above. Ironically, I was formula fed. Hmm I won't do an exclusion diet - too hard on the Mum as you say, and I'm exhausted already. My DH would put his foot down at that point and I would agree with him. I need all my strength right now. As it is I don't know what the hell I'm going to eat for dinner as we've been away over Xmas & all thats in the freezer is frozen pizza and I can't eat it!

Thank you for your input - I'm FF him today and expressing. I may BF him overnight and just FF during the day...certainly I daren't BF him too much over the next week or so. Sad

He is completely peaceful all afternoon since the formula, which is a relief.

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anotherdayanothersquabble · 27/12/2014 18:21

I have to say, that I breastfed excluding wheat, dairy, sugar, then nuts and seeds for a long time and it broke my heart when the last it of eczema disappeared within weeks of me stopping feeding him. At that stage, I was not eating anything that he wasn't eating so I think he was allergic my milk, either that or the occasional coffee / glass of wine. Part of me wonders if he would have been better off on hypoallergenic formula. It is good that you have found out this early. I hope the peace and calm lasts and you can both rest and not be living on the edge of your nerves, which I bet you have!

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OodKingWenceslas · 27/12/2014 18:29

I've now been dairy free for 18 m for ds , initially soya too but he's ok with that now.
I'm veggie which complicated things diet wise but actually do ok. There's lots of things out there in the normal aisles that are fine to eat (big jammy dodgers and some Jaffa cakes are ok, dark chocolate, after eights are all worth checking out). It's not that hard once you're into it .
We have found it takes exactly 2 weeks for ds to settle after any dairy so you do need to be clean for that long to see a difference.

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trixymalixy · 28/12/2014 11:19

I used oat milk instead of soya milk, it's much nicer than soya milk anyway.

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Annarose2014 · 28/12/2014 13:33

Thanks I'm definately going to have a look for Oat milk. Going to go shopping and have loads of dairyfree chocolate things in the house too.

I'm feeling a bit more optimistic this morning, mainly cos DS has been very settled with the formula. No particular nighttime discomfort and he slept very well outside feeds.

I BF him last night as he'd had formula all day up to 9.30pm and I do want to keep my supply up best I can. I really can't face messing around with bottles at night either! I gambled that two BF feeds during the night wouldn't be enough to cause a reaction and so far so good. He's only had formula today though.

Interestingly, I noticed yesterday a couple of spots had come up on his face - they've completely disappeared now.

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SilverStars · 28/12/2014 13:50

I had to be dairy and soya free to bf. had almond/oat milk, sunflower spread and vegan chocolate ok.

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Superworm · 29/12/2014 15:07

Also dairy/soy free while breastfeeding. Oat milk, Koro coconut milk and almond milk are all good. DS loves oatly cream with pasta, some biscuits - bourbons, digestives are free of both.

Genius do amazing chocolate muffins that are DF/SF in the free from section.

Most bread contains soy. Hovis and waitrose do a bread that's fine, the part baked baguettes are also fine.

It feels like a huge faff but you get to know what ok pretty quickly. It's also good prep for when you introduce solids as you know by them what they can and can't have.

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BNmum · 29/12/2014 21:40

I'm dairy and soya free at the minute for my CMPI lo. It was a royal pita initially but it soon becomes second nature.

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SilverStars · 30/12/2014 19:15

My little one likes the Oatly - blue box has added nutrients and dietician recommended
His symptoms were reflux, weight loss, allergic rash/hives, face swelling and eczema.

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bakingtins · 30/12/2014 19:27

I was dairy and soya free for a year to BF DS2. When I first eliminated it we saw some improvement in 2 weeks (didn't use formula during that time, continued to Bf) but it was about 6 weeks to see the full extent of it. Any minor slip-ups gave us a rotten couple of days. The comment about weaning is v relevant, as while it's a ball-ache working out what to eliminate for yourself you will be dealing with a restricted diet once you wean LO and it's easier if everyone just eats the same (I gave my older DS yoghurt, grated cheese on top of what we were eating etc)
For my DS it was any dairy at all, even tiny traces in something I ate, any soya, including soya flour in nearly all bread, and any legumes (peas, beans, lentils etc - presumably related to the soya)
By 16m I could eat what I liked, he no longer reacted to traces in milk, by 2.5 he was fine with dairy and soya, now at 4 he lives on cheese sandwiches and yoghurt.

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Bumpandbaby2014 · 31/12/2014 23:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

monkeymamma · 01/01/2015 00:04

Very similar experience to bakingtins here. Wanted to add my encouragement and support because I rememebr the first few weeks after diagnosis were very, very hard - but it gets easier. The guilt is hard because you feel it's your fault - please try not to feel that way though! You are doing an amazing thing feeding your baby and once you can calibrate this dietary stuff it is totally doable and so worth it.
My ds started having bleedy nappies at 5m and after weeks of appointments but no clear diagnosis I was desperate and a young registrar at the hospital suggested cutting out dairy to see if it worked. In the end I cut out dairy, egg, soya and beef and even then it was a good 6 weeks before the bloody nappies stopped. I then gradually reintroduced each thing with the support of a dietician ( had to be pretty insistent to get referred on the nhs though!).
Once we had it sussed ds was so much happier. The first few weeks were really hard as it feels like there is literally 'nothing' you can eat. But once you get your head round it, it's doable and actually a really healthy, tasty diet. My top tips below!

Cook and bake - there are great recipes on the Pure website (Pure Sunflower in the butter section is your friend, it is great for cooking, spreading etc). Get a dairy free cook book for tasty cake and treat recipes - you need treats! Co yo coconut yoghurt is great, vegan chocolate is lovely (eg booja booja, mini moo) and nakd fruit bars (esp the choccy one) are great to take with you everywhere (have one in your handbag so that when you go for coffee and cake you aren't sat there hungry while everyone else tucks in. Ditto take a little jar of oatly/coconut/almond milk so you can always buy a black tea or coffee and add your own milk).

Thai curries and recipes are great as they use coconut milk and are super nourishing and tasty, you can make a yummy rice pudding with coconut milk and add mango etc for dessert.

Ready meals - Waitrose do two Thai curries that are totally ok to have and their Piri piri chicken is also free from all of the above and very nice.

You can make your own pizza, just skip the cheese and use rocket to top it instead. ditto risotto, top with bacon to add flavour without needing cheese or butter.

Lots of super cheap things are actually ok - hobnobs, digestives, chocolate shredders (!) and the cheapest bread is often soy and dairy free. Birds custard powder is also fine if you make custard using milk substitute (Oatly is good for this).

The hardest thing is when other people cook for you because you feel so rude interrogating them about ingredients or saying no to stuff they've made for you. Unfortunately most people won't understand and will say 'oh its only a tiny bit of butter!' Unfortunately your body/your baby's body doesn't know the difference between a lot and a little and will react no matter how much the amount.

I absolutely loved breastfeeding and fed ds till he was 14m - he's now totally allergy free and a strapping 3 yo who eats everything in sight, even ice cream, eggs, cheese etc - all the things I thought he'd never get to eat!

Very very good luck with it op!

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BNmum · 01/01/2015 21:22

Great post monkeymamma! Did your lo wean from you straight onto Oatly or similar or onto a Formula first?

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