to worry about people being told to cut out dairy

[noblegiraffe]

I've noticed on here recently (or maybe I've only just noticed?) that if a mother posts about a fussy baby and she's breastfeeding, it is quite common for someone to suggest the mother try cutting dairy from her diet.

Now I'd have thought that cutting out dairy should be something done carefully and with dietary advice on how to compensate for it.

If you're cutting out dairy, that means you have to cut out nice things like cheese, milk in your cereal/tea, and if you're doing it thoroughly, things like chocolate that contain milk products. This sounds tedious and not very pleasant. It may even convince a mother to give up breastfeeding.

So I would have thought that cutting out dairy isn't something that should be taken lightly.

Also, babies are quite often fussy, and they quite often grow out of it without any intervention. A mother who has cut out dairy may attribute the improvement to her restricted diet and continue on it for months despite it being completely unnecessary and making no difference at all.

It's different to when people make other suggestions on here like 'it might be reflux' because people will need to see their GP before getting a prescription, and tips like propping up the cot are harmless even if it's not reflux. People can go ahead and cut out dairy without any health professional giving it the once-over.

So, AIBU to worry about this advice being bandied about? Or do people not attempt dietary restrictions on the say so of an Internet forum and I'm worrying about nothing?

I haven't read that thread noble. Given you seem so good at explaining everything away I'm
Unable to comment on that particular case. Fwiw dd2 had horrendous nappy rash caused by green acidic poos. In her case yes it would have done.

Perhaps you should be a gp as you seem able to normalise every single symptom others have posted. I don't think it can be said to much to be honest because even of its irrelevant to the op if someone reads the post and it plants the idea in their head then that's great IMO. Cos if it doesn't fit for that baby then it might still help another and that's a good thing isn't it?

Deficient doesn't mean mother's body didn't have that mineral at all. It would have been conceivable that mother's breast milk be complete with the necessary minerals, even if that means depleting her reserves completely.

I was told when pregnant that what I eat doesn't matter because "baby takes what it needs from you". I'm not so sure about that.

To clarify to those of us still talking about trips to A&E:

Nobody is objecting to mothers of CMP allergic babies avoiding milk consumption.

OP is about mothers of babies with vague "symptoms" like being fussy, and how those mums are being told to avoid dairy for six weeks.

Plenty of vegan mothers breast feed, and they and their babies are perfectly healthy. It's also perfectly possible for a breast feeding mother on a dairy eating diet and their baby to be deficient if the mother isn't eating well enough.

Is it really so ingrained in our society that people cannot believe that you do not need cow's milk to have a perfectly balanced diet?!?!

Well taking into consideration everything you have just said then cote the babys deficiency had nothing to do with the mothers vegan diet.

And cote ALL babies with CMP issues start off fussy before elimination.

So yes, some mums will do well to eliminate dairy if their baby is fussy.

Mostly yanbu but more by inference than the actual op.
what you are saying about babies being fussy and growing out of things is a big thing and actual problems are a bit over diagnosed. By problems I mean not restricted to dairy issues.

There is a Facebook page, actually several, which is much more gung ho that cutting out dairy and amber beads will cure all

Most if not all babies are "fussy". Am I missing something?

DD cried nonstop for 5 months. She is not allergic to cow milk.

DS had terrible reflux and would vomit incredible amounts of breastmilk after each feed which would run down the length of my dress and pool on the ground. He is not allergic to cow milk.

Another study:

Children who avoid drinking cow milk have low dietary calcium intakes and poor bone health1,2,3
Ruth E Black, Sheila M Williams, Ianthe E Jones, and Ailsa Goulding

• Author Affiliations

1From the Departments of Human Nutrition (REB), Preventive and Social Medicine (SMW), and Medical and Surgical Sciences (IEJ and AG), University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Conclusions: In growing children, long-term avoidance of cow milk is associated with small stature and poor bone health. This is a major concern that warrants further study.

OHfor - No, actually, that is not what I have said at all. Maybe read that post again.

That was patronising Piemother. Did you read the whole thread? How some of our babies nearly died from milk consumption?
How baby and mother go through absolute hell before they find out problem.
Can I assume you have never experienced it?

Go to the allergy forum and see if women are self diagnosing their babies sniffles for CMPA.

I assure you, they re not.

Thats a bold statement. Children who dont drink cows milk have poor bones.

Not 'some' or 'might'?

I can say right now thats rubbish. My toddler is not deficient in anything and hes only had cows milk once.

No not all or most babies are 'fussy'. News to me!

Again, maybe read the study before commenting.

Obviously, it is referring to the children who took part in the study.

Yanbu. After reading one too many threads on here, I decided that ds' green poo nappies, his wind, is waking through the night might be diary allergy related so tried to cut out diary. I lasted 2 days. Personally I love milky cups of tea, cereal, cheese (yum), creamy sauces, lattes, the occasional chocolate - obviously I'm a bad mum for failing to give up diary. Ds green poo nappies stopped after a few days, he's still windy if he's not burped properly & still wakes up during the night but he's a pretty happy baby and I don't think he's diary intolerant! The risk of diagnosis over the Internet, thinking it's something greater than just 6 week old baby behaviour...

And again, nobody is saying parents of children who are severely allergic to cow's milk should feed it to them anyway.

This is about children who are not allergic to cow's milk, who don't end up in A&E or risk death if they drink a bit of milk.

For you it wasnt CMPI so no mums should try eliminating milk if they suspect a problem apachepony? That would mean a lot of very ill babies....

Who do you think suggested anyone thought it was a good idea to feed milk to an allergic child?

No one has suggested that, nor accused anyone of suggesting that.

And cote about those children who ate not allergic to milk and dont end up in A and E, great! Thats brilliant for them. What is your point?

Why do you act like this thread is about children like yours, then?

Cote, I thought you were quite a bright person? In all these studies you are linking to the subjects were not replacing milk with any kind of calcium rich substitute or mineral supplement.

It's fairly bloody obvious that if you're not ingesting any calcium then you're going to be deficient. IT JUST DOESN'T NEED TO COME FROM COW'S MILK!!!!

There are plenty of calcium enriched "milks", rice, oat, almond, coconut, soya available.

My point is clear, OHFor but you are so emotionally invested in this subject that you can't see it. (Sorry)

Sadly, babies with CMPA start out as fussy babies though. I researched my sons symptoms online, and spoke to a consultant & my GP about my concerns. Both told me not to be ridiculous. It was highly unlikely he'd be allergic & reacting through breast milk.

I was right. He has a severe CMPA. If I'd gone along with the consultant & the GP I dread to think what life would have been like.

So, sometimes fussy babies (along with other symptoms) do have CMPA. It's not difficult to cut it out completely & I ate out easily. I asked for help and was given none.

I have not read the research on cmpi and so can't comment on that. I simply agree with the op that reading too am y threads on the Internet about diary intolerances could lead to mothers unnecessarily restricting their diets and some of the pleasures of food, as well as a food source of calcium for no reason whatsoever. Is there a possibility that cutting out diary could increase intolerances? Rather like how cutting out peanuts during pregnancy is now shown to increase the likelihood of allergies? Has research on this been done?