EBF - issue with some dairy but not other

[JamieJay]

DD (3 wo last Thursday) was a chilled baby with good weight gain who fed and slept well, had normal nappies, went down no problems and had a little wind but nothing major.

Following a loving lecture from my mother last week regarding calcium I considerably increased my dairy intake from last Friday (hadn't been having any milk or cheese and very limited yogurt for the first 3 week of her life as craving carbs and meat ).

Since Saturday she has been very unsettled, horrid watery smelly explosive poos, lots of wind and obviously painful farts, fussy when feeding, thrashing around and hating to be put down and not comfortable on my chest either, crying and pulling legs up in her sleep, developed horrible nappy rash last night and generally really distressed crying. Weight gain is still good, she's alert and temperature etc. all normal.

Spoke to HV at clinic this morning who has suggested a link to the introduction of the above dairy and has suggested cutting them out. Discussed going totally dairy free but she said to do dairy light first as there was no problems for the first 3 weeks when I was eating spread, a very occasional yogurt and 'hidden' dairy (cake, biscuit, chocolate etc.).

Has anyone else done this reduced dairy approach or have any opinions, experiences?

I realise that she is still very little so any change could just be the next phase but she was so pitiful and upset so soon after this one change that I can't just ignore it

Thanks for any help, not ignoring you if I don't reply - just dealing with DD

Sorry to hear about your DD's problem.
It does sound like it could be due to the dairy. It's certainly worth cutting it out of your diet to see.
Dairy isn't hard to cut out, especially with all the alternative products on the market. Alpro make a great soya range including yogurt and milk. You can also eat goat and sheep milk cheese. These things all include the calcium that you need without the cow's milk protein that your DD doesn't.
I had to cut out dairy for my DS. He had terrible reflux and vomited every time I fed him. The milk just poured out of him and he could never lie horizontally.
I cut out dairy and it stopped within a day. The change was both instant and remarkable.
He's now almost 2 and has been eating dairy himself since he turned 1 with no bad effects. He wasn't allergic, just temporarily intolerant.
Good luck!

Thanks so much for replying Ruth, so good to hear that it worked for you.

Will take a trip to the big Tescos tomorrow to stock up on some alternatives,

Glad your boy is better now, sounds like you had it tough.....

Just like ruthchan, from roughly 4 weeks, my dd would be really sick after every feed. It would pour out of her mouth and could be really scary. She still gained weight and had plenty of wet and dirty nappies. She was still very alert, slept well and generally thrived. Gp prescribed infacol and then gaviscon. However, I worked out that on the days my dd was sickest I had eaten quite alot of dairy the day before. For example, if I had a bowl of cereal and milk one morning my dd would be really sick after her first feed the next day. From this time I have reduced my dairy intake significantly. I try to avoid milk altogether but still have 'hidden' dairy and a splash of milk in my tea etc. My dd can still have sicky days but I can usually trace it back to me eating dairy the day before, for example if I have a cream cake or something like cheese sauce. I am on holiday at the moment and have been eating out more. Today my dd was a bit more sick than usual and looking back I realise I had a starter with cream in it last night. It seems to really be milk and cream that has the worst impact on my dd. It is really hard to cut out all dairy from your diet, but its quite easy to cut out the very obvious things and use substitutes. I use alpro milk and their choc yogurts are so nice! I would give what your hv says a go. Fro some people it can take a while to see a difference though I saw the difference in my dd within 24 hours. Let us know how you get on.

Thanks haverina, useful to hear your experience.

Have stocked up on a few 'replacements' today and was surprised by how nice the oat milk was .

DD seems to have been a bit better today but it is still a little early to be sure so I will see how it goes over the next couple of weeks........

cooked milk less allergenic than raw, so what you're seeing is entirely reasonable. Takle calcium supplements if you feel you need too. Or eat a lot of broccoli

Didn't know that about cooked milk - would tie in with what I ate with no problems in the first 3 weeks.

Thanks both for the info