Excluding dairy when breasfeeding

[strawberrycornetto]

I was advised to cut out dairy and see if it helps DS who is allergic to milk. I was going to trial it for 4 weeks but am definitely going to continue (and have seen some improvement).

My question is, now I know I want to continue does it matter if I don't manage to be 100% perfect or does that make it completely pointless? I ask because I am supposed to be going out for dinner for work and its really hard to know what you are eating when you eat out. If I try to avoid all milk and dairy where it is obvious, will it still benefit DS even if occasionally I do have a very small bit of dairy in processed food etc?

I would try to avoid as much as possible, but if really unavoidable, you could try using lactase tablets. lactase is the enzyme that breaks lactose down (if thats is the problem, if its casein then it won't make a difference). I wouldn't reccommend this to be used all the time, just in emergencies if you are unsure of what exactly you are eating

I had to do the same and found that even if I just had a small amount of dairy it did make a difference to dd, screeaming crying and pain which made me feel exceedingly guilty so held me back on "filling my face"

I tended to eat stuff like tuna/ fish in general. It's not that difficult to avoid stuff when out Dh also has dairy intolerance (I guess that's where dd got it from) If we were in doubt a quick question to the kitchen usually got an answer.

On a positive note dd is now 3 and appears to be outgrowing her intolerance so there may be some hope.

NB in the 9 months I bf for I found it much easier to lose weight as cream cakes etc were off the menu

Doris, its definitely helping me to lose weight I am happy to avoid as far as possible but its worrying about things being cooked in butter etc I worry about. Also, whether I should avoid the "made on the same production line.." etc. I would have thought the risk to DS from that would be really small.

Misi, what are lactase tablets? DS is allergic to cows milk protein I think, so presumably this wouldn't help?

I too had to do the same. I found it vvv hard (selfish i know) if i'm honest and switched dd to neocate formula on prescription at 6 months.

lactose and casein are different so wouldn't help
there are enzymes to help break down casein - but that only helps intolerance not full allergy.

I didn't avoid the made on the same production line as, but i did avoid anything with whey/ whey powder /milk /milk powder/ lactose etc etc

regarding the "being cooked in butter when out" I presume it's not very often so I would avoid the obvious " buttery potatoes "etc but just be prepared for a whinggy baby for 12-24 hours (for dd this was the case) You can't stop living your life but i found it did make life that much easier when I gave up dairy so tried to avoid where possible

Good luck and enjoy your evening out

I am trying him on nutrigamen at the moment, he's happy with it in porridge so will try it as a drink soon.

It is hard, but its more how limiting it is when I am at work (can't eat in the staff canteen, really hard to go out with clients etc).

It is very hard... Unfortunately i didn't just have a whingy baby... If she has the slightest dairy it resulted in violent vomiting and huge hives over her face that were agony and lasted up to a week.. She's 13 months now and still as bad.

DS doesn't whinge either but he is sick all the time and I am really hoping that me giving up dairy will help. I think what I take from this is that I will do what I am doing but not go to the extremes of refusing to go out for work dinners etc, I'll just be as good as I can.

I did notice that an M&S sandwich was labelled as containing milk but there was no milk at all (or milk products of any description, eg whey etc) in the ingredients. How does that work???

Not sure, i did used to find it very confusing and the slightest amount would set her off. Once i started on the neocate at 6 months and weaned her it was much easier.. I suppose it's easier for a baby as they don't know what delicious foods they are missing out on!!!!

Good luck.

Thanks for your help everyone