Going dairy free while EBF - best way to do a dairy challenge?

[minipie]

so, DD is EBF and has some symptoms that could be linked to cows milk allergy (silent reflux, sometimes green and mucousy nappies, constant nose congestion, bad wind). GP suggested going dairy free and then doing a dairy challenge.

I have been avoiding all dairy and soy for a couple of weeks now (though DD has one bottle a day of previously expressed milk which was from when I ate dairy, so she is not completely dairy free).

what is the best way to test whether she has an allergy or not? Do I spend a couple of days eating lots of dairy and see what happens? or do I try feeding DD some formula and see what happens...? Formula would presumably provoke a stronger reaction if she is allergic - so on the plus side, it would be more obvious, on the minus side, it would be more horrible for DD...

would really appreciate any experiences

I was in your situation - though I didn't give up soy but i did give up anything which might have had any sort of dairy in it, so quite a few breads, flavoured crisps, etc. - and I found the positive effect of quitting diary (massively reducing puke, and an added plus of fewer exploding nappies) was noticeable within about 5 days.

I 'tested' it (actually... cracked...) by having macaroni cheese which had been in the freezer since before he'd been born. Yeah. there were still problems.

If it gives you any hope though, I was dairy free between August and Nov/December, when I started weaning LO. I tried a little bit of bread and butter on him first, and then some philadelphia, to no ill effect. Within a couple of weeks I was back on the dairy myself and it was fine.

Watching with interest have been dairy free for a week due to LOs awful eczema and intolereranve to formula. Her skin seems a bit better but could be the creams etc! This was all suggested by GP.

Positive side effect all my jeans now fit. :)

I was fully dairy and soy free for a year. DD was particularly sensitive to EVERYTHING. It was hard. You test by eating your favourite thing that you miss the most and savour every mouthful. Then wait. I'd give it a few more weeks though, it can take a while to fully get out your system. If you have doubts about this I'd avoid giving formula at all it could really hurt her belly. Good luck, you're doing great

many thanks everyone. DD is only 16 weeks (and was 6 weeks premature so only 10 weeks corrected) so won't be weaned for a while yet.

Yes I do worry about the dairy "tainted" freezer milk, ideally she wouldn't have that either. The thing is that DD still wakes a lot in the night and so the only time I get a decent stretch of sleep is when DH gives her that bottle. (and it gives my nipples a break to recover!) I have tried expressing new dairy free EBM instead but I can't get enough out per day, my boobs don't seem to respond to the pump any more. if the challenge suggests she is intolerant/allergic then I will stop using the freezer supply (sob) and BF for that feed as well.

Interesting that that some of you saw the effect quite strongly within a week. It's been 2 weeks and I haven't really noticed much difference.

Anyway, it sounds like if she is intolerant there should be a pretty obvious reaction if I eat some dairy, so no need to use formula as a test (my main reason for thinking of this was because I wasn't sure that just eating dairy for a day or so would be enough to show up any intolerance, but sounds like it will).

off to plan a cheesy meal....

Sorry to say but for the test period I'd ditch the dairy tainted bottles and BF at night. I know it hurts... I had to ditch a binbags worth of EBM i'd built up while Dd who was 12 and a bit weeks early was in the nicu but the test wont work if shes particularly sensitive and still being fed traces of dairy. DD is super sensitive and weve been off dairy and soy since nov 2011 but its slowly easing. As for a test start at a trace and build up gradually to minimise the suffering. DD told me loud and clear what she thought of one Quality Street I dared eat.

It took us well over a month for her to really improve. When she did though-different baby. Give it about another week or so until you pump again to store it. Some tips for that are to drink loads more fluids in the day and to pump at the same time every day.
I used to pump one side whilst she was feeding on the other first feed of the day every morning. Sterilised pump etc and kept next to bed ready to whack on first thing. Dp used to help me with the logistics if I got tangled.

Don't throw away anything from the freezer yet until you know that there really is a dairy issue. If she can't have it you could donate the milk to a family who needs it via human milk for human babies.

Tips for you to keep sane: kara or oatly choc flavoured milk heated for hot choc, top with marshmallows. Own brand bourbon biscuits are usually dairy and soy free. As are rich tea, gingernuts.
Good quality dark choc is fine usually-check label.
Vitalite spread, quite nice actually, aldi do their own version too 'solesta sunflower spread'. Use this for baking or olive oil to do muffins/pancakes.
My fave fake milk for everyday use is oatly (good for porridge) but I loved alpro hazelnut milk in coffee, yum, has sugar added though.

If you have a good health food shop near you go and ask them for some tips I found people so helpful when I asked.

It may be a good idea to take a calcium supplement as insurance, I used solgar osteocare (or something like this, can't recall exact name)

Good luck

I do hear you on the freezer milk. The thing is she's actually a pretty happy baby at the moment... so it's hard to believe she is reacting to the bit of dairy in the freezer bottles... and hard to motivate myself to give up that bit of sleep! But perhaps if I can catch up on sleep this weekend while DH is home then I can face ditching the bottles next week.

thanks for the tips on expressing and dairy free foods. will add ginger nuts to the shopping list! I like them best dunked in milk

Hi minipie it seems we're in the same boat! I've been dairy free for about 6 weeks as I suspect DS (11 weeks old) has CMPA. DD had it, we picked it up when I gave her a bottle of formula at 4 months old, it brought her out in hives and red marks where it touched her skin (she spat most of it out).

I did a dairy challenge this Saturday by drinking a delicious cup of tea with milk at midday. By 6pm he was unsettled, he cried on and off during the night (which is unusual for him) and was very grumpy/sicky/exploding nappy all Sunday. And his nappy rash came back. It's Monday here now and he seems much better.

Can you ask your GP to refer you based on your suspicions? DD was under a paed/dietician for her allergy. After her first reaction they didn't ask me to challenge her again while she was BF, she just had regular skin prick tests until she was 2, when she stopped reacting to cow's milk. She was able to have processed dairy (cheese etc.) from about 18 months.

interesting Seymore, I had read that skin tests don't work but clearly they did for you...

sadly I doubt GP would refer me until I've done a challenge as it's the GP who suggested going dairy free and then having some dairy as a way of finding out.

I don't think a skin prick test would have worked in the first instance. She had one bottle of formula and was ok (that one sensitised her I suppose), it was the second one that brought on a much stronger reaction. I don't think the skin prick test would have shown much until after the first reaction.

Good luck with the dairy challenge.

Sorry can I just ask what dairy challenge is? I tried cutting down on dairy but no effect so thought I should try completely dairy free.

(Ebfing 7wk old ds2 who often cries on and off breast when feeding and suffers from painful wind)

Thanks

Ok reading the posts answered my questions. How long do you think you have to try before doing the test? It's just I really miss sticky toffee pudding with cream :(

eliru, my GP said 2 weeks dairy free then test, but others say 3 or 4 weeks to get the dairy properly out of your system. it partly depends on how much dairy you were eating before going dairy free I think.

just a thought - have you had your DS checked for tongue tie? DD was often unhappy feeding and came on and off, and was mega windy, but was recently diagnosed with tongue tie and has been much happier feeding and less windy since I got it snipped. (not perfect but better).

i still haven't done dairy challenge - haven't yet managed to give up the freezer bottles but going to try to do that this weekend.

Thanks minipie. Am going to go for the 2 week test.

Actually both ds's born with 100% tongue tie - ds1 diagnosed age 2 weeks after very painful feeding so we were looking out for it with ds2 and got the snip the day he was born.

I guess the fact that he had TT could be the reason for wind probs - ie not great latch so swallowing too much air.

I do still have sore nipples but I've seen so many lactation consultants and actually breastfeeding never got 'good' with ds1 (did it for 6 months)
Anyway that's another issue!

Still want to try and rule out dairy just in case, at least so that I can eat cheese without feeling guilty!

To clarify its two to three weeks per person. So 2-3 weeks to clear your body and milk.... then another two to three weeks before that milk then clears baby. So 4-6 weeks in all.

Thanks. That's a long-time without but going ok so far day 5. Pudology chocolate dessert actually quite tasty and tomorrow I'm going to try making a banana loaf with coconut oil instead of butter.

Have a look around here: Ditch Dairy - should help put you off dairy for good. Lots of info for better health without dairy, info re the impact of dairy farming on the environment, and info on cows and farming. And a few other things.

Hth.