Terrible sleeping, lots of spit up, mucus nappies- could this be an intolerance or allergy?

[Suchanamateur]

DD is 8.5 weeks and am bfing. As title says she is a horrible sleeper-waking hourly through the night, and she is extremely windy. She spits up a lot although it doesn't appear to bother her that much and her nappies are extremely mucusy. It could be reflux but the nappies make me wonder whether it might be an intolerance?

I'm thinking about going dairy free to see if that makes any difference. Is it worth it and how long would I need to be on it for it to show an impact?

I may be clutching at straws here but I'm on my knees and willing to look at all options.

Hi, I'm no expert but thought I'd share my experience. My dd now 8 months had similar 'symptons' we went through various possible causes like colic, wind , silent reflux. We didn't get much joy when I went to the gp, I think they must have got fed up with me turning up stating the same things again.

In the end I just decided that's how she was and she'd grow out of it. Fast forward to when I started weaning at 6 months and she had an allergic reaction to dairy. Then it all seemed to fall into place when I googled cows milk protein intolerence. Why I'd not thought about it before I'm not sure as there's a family history of allergies!

Anyway I started on a dairy free diet (I'm bf) and within a month she started to improve. I also tested after about 6 weeks by eating dairy again and her eczema flared up really badly.

It's tricky at first to eliminate dairy but once you get used to reading labels it's ok.

I guess what I'm trying to say is it won't hurt to try it and see what happens but you will need to do it for a while. I think it's supposed to take up to 2 weeks to leave your system and another 2 weeks for it to leave your dd's.

Good luck

Hello

Mucous in the poop is as a result of food going through the system too quickly and it does sound like maybe your DD has an issue with something in your diet.

As your baby is quite young, it might be worth speaking to your GP about this and seeing if they would be happy to refer you, especially if your DD isn't thriving.

As you're feeding your DD it's important that you get a good balanced diet so don't forget to look after yourself too.

Thanks both. I have a docs appt on Tuesday so will mention it then and see how the no dairy goes. Will need to keep an eye on my diet though- are calcium supplements non dairy?

I think we've had marginally less puke today but I could just be hoping. Half of me really hopes it is dairy as it would explain a lot and we could try to address it. The other half can't bear the thought of giving up my beloved cheese, although if it resulted in even marginally more sleep I guess I could!

I hope it goes ok at the appointment and you get answers even if it turns out not to be a dairy problem.

I've just checked my calcium and vit d supplement- sainsburys own ones and they're dairy free.

For me it's the cheese that I miss too, I've not found an alternative thats acceptable yet :( there's quite a good range of dairy free cake and chocolate I the supermarkets though!

Thanks Meg. One more question- should I be avoiding soy too?

You might need to eliminate soy as well as dairy and soya allergies/intolerance quite often go together.

But I've not had to avoid soy yet so you might be lucky. Fingers crossed for you as avoiding soya seems like a total pain as its in loads of things. :)