EBF 9 weeks old: there is anything I can eat (or not eat) to help him?

[Andromaca]

Hello everyone,

my 9 weeks old DS is EBF and has serious problems with wind (from the "south side"): he has problems eating because he is bloated and struggles a lot to pass wind, he wakes up in the middle of the night not for milk but because his poor tummy is bothering him and cries constantly in discomfort. He is also not very good at pooing (last poo was 5 days ago), put we have plenty of wet nappies and the weight gain is fine. I burp him during the feeds and after them, i give him tummy massage and we do the bicycle but I'm wondering if there is anything that i can eat or drink (or I should not eat and drink) to help him. So far I'm eating apricots and prunes, but do you have any otherer suggestion? Or should I I stop eating dairy?

Thanks!

Poor baby :(

Andromaca, can you say a bit more about what his problems eating are? How do these show themselves?

Nothing you eat is likely to help/not help with wind, by the way - sometimes babies who are intolerant to cows milk, or very sensitive to caffeine, show less fussiness when the mum cuts these out of her diet but there's no good evidence for anything else.

Hello Tiktok,

he starts feeding nice and happy, then after a couple of minutes he pulls of the breast and start straining and crying until he pass wind loudly (and this can go ahead for 10 minutes) and then he goes back at feeding again.

i don't drink a lot of coffee or tea (just 1 espresso in the morning to help me starting the day), i don't like milk so i don't drink it, but i do eat a lot of cheese... it could be i'm overdoing the cheese a little bit after 9 months of pregnancy abstinence

I have friends who swear by infacol for windy babies but I didn't find it made any difference. Not eating brassicas for the first 3mo made a huge difference to dd.

DS appears to be lactose intolerant. For the first 6 weeks he was fussing at the breast, arching his back, screaming in pain, farting loads, hating lying on his back. He was diagnosed with silent reflux but gp wouldn't medicate. when he was 6 weeks I gave up dairy and within 48hrs he was a different child.

I think with intolerances like that it can often take 3 weeks or so to clear your system so its a bit of a commitment.

You can always try it, but if you're breast feeding and you drop things from your diet you may have to eat other things to compensate - like if you drop dairy, watch your calcium intake. Calcium enriched non dairy mills are good as are almonds.

Thanks a lot Golemming, my DS sounds exactly like yours , I will eliminate dairy from my diet and see if things improve.

golemming breastmilk does have lactose in it so your DS can't be lactose intolerant, maybe a dairy intolerance instead?

Lactose intolerance is very rare in babies as breast milk contains it. It's likely to be a reaction to cows milk proteins.

Soya is similar to cows milk so avoid that too.

However cutting out dairy (if that's the culprit) means you'll need to supplement your diet for the lost calcium and vitamins if you do it long term.

Both my mine have had reactions to my diet and both have silent reflux.

However you also should be aware that an over active letdown/over supply of milk can also cause similar symptoms to reflux. Does your milk shoot out? Does your baby choke and splutter on feeds?

Dd (my second) has had worse reflux and dietary issues. I've had to cut out anything spicy, onions, chocolate, dairy, soya and tomatoes. I've been going for five months and have noticed that if I slip and have something, she'll react within a few hours. It's happened too often for me to dismiss as coincidence (and ive been through it before with DS).

I agree - could be over supply (more common than dairy intolerance). This dies down by itself, or else you can reduce the 'fire hose' effect of it yourself - google over supply or search on mumsnet archives.

Signs of over supply are often huge weight gain, spurting of milk, lots of leaking, breasts always feel over full....any of these fit?

I think I do have a lot of milk: my breast leaks a lot and sometimes my DS gets away from the breast at the beginning of the feed making gagging sounds, in the morning my breast are rock hard but ( and I know it is illogic) what if then I dry out??? Sorry, but I've being brainwashed to believe that because I have small breast and my baby is big I will not produce enough milk....

Don't be brainwashed :)

Call one of the bf helplines and ask about ways of dealing with over supply if this is what the problem is - you should find they're really helpful and good at explaining.

Andromaca, I'm sure someone more knowledgable than me will come along in a minute but I'm fairly certain that the size of your boobs has little impact on the amount of milk you produce and your baby will make sure you produce enough if you feed on demand.

Fhdl and iggy, that's interesting. I had presumed dairy intolerance because he screams 6hrs after I've eaten dairy (cow or goat) but I was able to drink lactofree formula without him reacting to it so I wondered if it was just the lactose. Probably not from what you said. And soy appears to make him very sick, again about 6hrs after I've eaten it. Currently weaning him as a fish eating vegan whilst waiting for an appointment with the dietitian. Sorry, that was a bit of a hijacked. Sorry, OP.

I found infacol really worked for us. I was a bit sceptical but ut made a huge different for our boy. Hth

I found things that gave me slight tummy issues also affected my lo (fish and onions). But i had a Huge let down that she always struggled with, it evened itself out eventually as she got bigger and wanted more but i used to have to massage/squeeze off the first bit before i layched her on, which helper a bit (and sometimes surprized myself just how far i could spray milk!!). She had the same symtoms you describe.

Oh yea, theres no diff between big and small boobs, the 'full' feeling is just extra production being stored, but you actually produce mailk as your naby drinks it. No doubt you will go through abphase when you feel 'empty' and physically drained (this often happens during growth spurts) so i'm pre-advising you that it is not that ypu dont have enough milk, your body just starts making it 'on demand'. Eventually things even out and you feel neither full nor empty (around 3months for me, between growth spurts that is!).

Hmmm way more info than you asked for!

X

Infacol alsp helped us x