Lactose Free Formula and Breast feeding

[mousemole]

DS2 is now ten days old and from the outset has suffered from horrific colic. It is agonising to watch him in so much pain.He was also producing horrendous 'rotten egg' wind and was constipated. I did a bit of research and it seems that all colic is a form of lactose intolerance. I was bf him with one formula feed at night. Cut out the formula feed but it made no difference but then I discovered that breast milk contains lactose too. For the last 24hrs I have expressed off my milk and given DS2 SMA lactose free formula. We have seen a HUGE improvement and he is so much more comfortable. I dont really want to give up breastfeeding but equally it is is horrendous for him to be in so much pain. Any of you wise MNers had experience of this scenario ? Someone mentioned I could express my milk and add Colief which reduces lactose in formula or breast milk ?

[tiktok]

mousemole (nearly wrote mousehole ) - you need to speak to someone who knows about supporting breastfeeding. The symptoms you describe in your baby can be helped by adjusting the position his mouth is in when he takes the breast - a deeper latch can improve feeding and ensure a more satiating feed for him. Another possibility is that the formula you were giving him has led to the symptoms, which will clear up if you solely breastfeed him.

There is no evidence base for Colief in breastfed babies, as far as I am aware, and expressing is such a hassle, it's best avoided unless unavoidable IMO.

Do find someone who can help you fix things - your midwife, perhaps, or a breastfeeding counsellor.

[Kif]

Chat to someone in rl would be an idea. My ds did the smelly farts and infrequent poos when he was tiny - but he wasn't constipated, since when the poo came it was normal. Lactose intollerance is classically indicatedby exploding green poos. Have you tried cutting dairy out of your diet?

[Amberjee]

Hi Mousemole,

I think you would be best speaking to a breastfeeding counsellor in real life who could look at your situation and give you some advice.

Just wanted you to have a look at this link

www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactose.html

I remember researching this when my baby was young and finding out that true lactose intolerance was very very rare and would actually mean that a baby would fail to thrive, rather than exhibit colicky symptoms.

wondering if you have a lot of milk. the article suggests lactose overload possibly causing this type of behaviour in babies.

wishing you luck. in my experience just time and patience fixed a lot of things, but it's so hard when you see your baby suffering.

[mousemole]

Thanks everyone.It seems like true lactose intolerance is really rare. I'm wondering if it was just the one formula feed at night that caused the problem and which might have took some time to clear out of his system. I am oing to exclusively BF for a couple of days and see what happens. Amberjee - thanks for the link, really interesting reading.
Gosh it's all a minefield isn't it and health visitor has been really quite unhelpful.

[Amberjee]

mousemole, i think that's a really good idea to exclusively BF for a few days and see how it goes. thefact is that breastmilk is designed for their systems and if your LO has had some disturbance to the gut lining, then breastmilk is probably the best thing for it.

to be honest most health visitors don't have a lot of training in breastfeeding and its minefield of issues - would always recommend chatting to a breastfeeding counsellor, they are so wonderful, knowledgable and supportive.

the breastfeeding helplines are listed out near the bottom here

[mousemole]

Amberjee, thanks for the info. I am a member of NCT so will ring them tomorow for advice.
To add to the mix DS2 is tongue tied and tonight he had it snipped. very quick and didn't disturb as much as I thought. The paed said his eating and latch would be much better now that the tie had been cut. We'll see ! Thanks again.

[Amberjee]

seems to make sense mouse. perhaps if he had tongue tie, it would have been so much easier for him to get more milk from a bottle than at the breast which is maybe why he settled better. I hope cutting the frenulum will improve things for you both. let me know how it goes.

[terramum]

Just to clarify MM for you & anyone else reading...you don't need to be a member of NCT to use their bfing helpline....tis the same for all the org's - LLL, ABM & BfN - they are all open to all.

Hoped the tt snip helps.

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Hi mousemole - haven't read the other links, but although lactose intolerance is rare in babies, cows milk protein intolerance isn't. Hopefully things will improve for your ds now he's had his tongue snipped, but if not, then do give cutting dairy out of your diet a go. I've been dairy free for 13 months now, after discovering at 4 months that this was the cause of dd's constant distress. It does take about 7-10 days to clear fully from your system, so don't be put off by some bad days during that time.

[Haribosmum]

I had exactly the same problem with ds2 (now 7 months. The doctor prescribed me the Coleif drops and although they made some difference it's such a pain in the arse to use them. We then tried DS2 on SMA LF and the difference was unbeleiveable. Tried the breastmilk again and a reaction again. Although he has not been tested we treat him as Lactose Intolerent and keep dairy out of him diet. This seems to work for him. We did try to re-introduce and we got a reaction (mainly in the nappy dept!). We have decided to keep trying him every month or two as I beleive he will grow out of this eventually.