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?

[OHforDUCKScake]

In fact noble the person you linked to went on to make many posts in the allergy forum.

She didnt post past 10 weeks of age so we'll never know if she got to the bottom of it, but as I am unfortunately experienced in this her babys symptoms spoke volumes in CMPA direction.

[Ladyflip]

Dooin, exactly what "shite" do you think we "pump into cows to up production"?
Ohfor Duckssake Really? Pus in milk? There is no more pus in cow's milk than in human milk.

You are both peddling myths about dairy farming of which you clearly have no knowledge.

I have no issue at all with whether you have a pint of gold top every day or spend your life dairy free. I also completely understand that there are many people who are intolerant to dairy.

This does not mean that you can use the internet to lie about milk and its production or peddle half baked bullshit about pus or "shite".

So stop it.

[awkwardsis]

I for one am thankful that someone suggested I cut out dairy. Ds was just a furious baby, throwing up after most feeds. Hvs were useless. Only a chance meeting with a breast feeding consultant (who my mutual friend knew from here originally) led me to cut out cmp. A year later and I'm still very happily breast feeding.

[EdgarAllanPond]

the problem with cutting out dairy as advice is

we don't know how babies become tolerant/intolerant to things - not completely

so cutting out dairy may worsen an intolerance they would otherwise have got over

or simply do nothing

or it might be the right answer

or the symptoms may not be an intolerance issue.

[OHforDUCKScake]

Can I ask how you are so sure about that lady?

[noblegiraffe]

DUCK you are missing the point that the people on that thread saying 'cut out dairy' were on a thread about blood in the nappy. It probably was a tear which would resolve in time (let's face it, Gaviscon is known for causing constipation and the mother talks about straining). Cut out dairy is a rather flippant response to that thread.

[Ladyflip]

Tell me how you're so sure its there OH

[OHforDUCKScake]

Ive read about it, not just online either.

Id love to be proven wrong though, I drank milk for years and expect I will again when I stop breast feeding, so Id love to see how its not true...

[noblegiraffe]

Caffeine you say cutting out dairy will give you an answer pretty damn quick but from what I've read it can take weeks to leave your system. That's not quick when weeks are a large proportion of a baby's life up to that point. Things can change very quickly. Baby happier after weeks of giving up dairy. Is that a quick answer suggesting dairy is the problem or is that simply an older baby being more settled?

[OHforDUCKScake]

OP - AIBU?

Everyone - YABU

OP - No Im not.

[OHforDUCKScake]

Its not quick but its blatant.

A mother stops milk for 2 weeks. Baby improves.

Mother drinks milk again, baby does or doesnt get ill again.

Mother has her answer.

Is it really that much of a big deal?

No. Its not.

[noblegiraffe]

awkward out of interest, how do you know that cutting out dairy solved the problem and it didn't just resolve of its own accord?

[noblegiraffe]

OH interesting that you see this thread as everyone saying IABU, I'm clearly reading a different thread.

[awkwardsis]

I know because every now and then I slip up (thank you, fudge obsession ) and the results in ds are easy and immediate to see. He breaks out in enormous hives. We're under the care of a dietician now, it was a consultant but he said I was doing brilliantly so discharged us. You might think people throw around the possibility of a intolerance around too readily, but I for one am glad it was suggested to me. Otherwise I'd have carried in causing ds pain, and probably even stopped feeding him. As it is, we're doing fine. A dairy free diet is not all that restrictive. I also lost heaps of weight a few years ago cutting out carbs so I am clearly highly suggestible to 'stupid' dietary advice

[OHforDUCKScake]

Far enough 90%

Your point has no substance though, people have shown that.

Its not a hassle for a mum with a very unhappy baby and could be the answer to their woes.

The question is not 'should she be told to try eliminating milk' if it continues for weeks, the question should be 'why isnt that mother being told to try eliminating milk'.

[OHforDUCKScake]

awkward good to hear a positive story. Its heart breaking to hear mothers and babies suffer for months and months on end because they dont know that milk could be the issue. Btw, you know that your baby has a milk allergy, rather than intolerance?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

They are routinely given growth hormones to increase the size to un-natural proportions and increase milk production the increase in production can cause mastitis (which yes, causes pus, why do you think milk has to be pasteurized before it is safe to drink?) the mastitis is then treat with anti-biotics which also passes through into the milk to be drank by us later.

Not enough research has been done to prove whether it is safe/unsafe for us to be drinking anti-biotics and growth hormones or not, but why risk it when there are plenty of other natural sources of nutrients?

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

That depends entirely on how you feed your baby. It's instant answer with formula and yes it takes longer with EBF But the sand goes for the medication though doesn't it, appears to work a few weeks later but who knows of it truely can take the credit. You would keep up the gaviscon though wouldn't u? If people were suggesting dairy free then there must have been enough other info in the thread to warrant saying that. Ultimately it's a better way to treat your baby than pumping it full of drugs. Perhaps then they wouldn't end up in A&e with suspected anal tear in the first place. And blood in stools can be down to intestinal bleeding caused by milk intolerance. It's not unhealthy to live dairy free milk is meant for cows not us. I really don't know why it bothers you so much that its suggested? Things must be pretty bad if people go that far in the first place so y not give it a chance?

[awkwardsis]

OH yes I am far too lax with the terminology, I've used intolerance for so long, but the consultant and dietician do agree its an allergy because of how his reaction shows itself. I think the problem is that when you hear about cutting dairy, it's enormously daunting. In top of having to deal with an already unsettled baby and the brain fog that comes with that, you have to learn to heck ingredients, be careful not to let anything slip through. Ime, the idea was far worse than the reality. Bourbons are milk free people!

[Ladyflip]

Ok, I'm sure its not. Because pus is produced when a cow has mastitis. And milk from cows with mastitis does not go into the bulk tank, so doesn't enter the food chain.

The herdsman knows it doesn't go into the bulk tank because he checks the cow before he puts the units onto the teats. If the cow does have mastitis, the cow is still milked and the milk goes into a separate bucket. The cow is marked (tape around tail) and given antibiotics (just like a mum with mastitis) so that everyone knows the milk from that cow doesn't go into the bulk tank. And whilst I'm at it, the antibiotics don't go in either because there is a withdrawal period printed on the box of antibiotics to say how many days after you have finished treating the cow you have to keep the milk from the bulk tank.

So, there is no pus in milk.

We also don't pump them full of hormones either, in case Dooin was thinking of coming back and suggesting it. THey were banned by the EU years ago.

Farmers are incredibly dedicated to their job and animals and it makes me angry when I see these lazy comments.

Yes, I may confess I have a vested interest in that I'm a dairy farmer's wife. And I'm sorry if I over reacted

[EdgarAllanPond]

Everyone does not agree ducks.

[GirlOutNumbered]

I gave up dairy for both of mine. For both there was an net ant improvement and an n start reaction when reintroducing dairy.
I've been dairy free for 13 months with DS1 and so far 8 months with DS2.
It's no big deal and you can get calcium from plenty of other places. I noticed that I am less 'mucousy' now I am dairy free and actually feel much better.

I am actually gong to continue when I stop brestfeeeding. There is no evidence to suggest I should be drinking cows milk. Or my children.

[Ladyflip]

Oh, look at that. Whilst typing that, Dooin has come on and suggested exactly what I thought she would. The FDA is in America people.

Check your facts.

[JenaiMorris]

That link is to a US site. The situation is quite different I believe here (and in the EU possibly).

[Ladyflip]

Thanks Jenai