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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

advise needed please. breastfed baby

8 replies

lovelymamma · 10/09/2006 21:44

hi, i dont really know why i'm typing this but i suppose i am hoping its not all in my head. this may be long so i apologise in advance.
it started off with my dd orlaith aged 3 weeks throwing up all the time i was advised to keep her upright etc etc and it didnt really work, at 5 weeks old dr diagnosed reflux and gave me gaviscon. it worked for a while but i read on here about a possible link between reflux and cows milk intolerance. i cut out dairy when she was about 8 weeks old and the change was dramatic. no more gaviscon needed no more throwing up. happy content baby. well at 12 weeks old hv started nagging me to add calcium back into diet cos orlaith needs it, which i agree with, so said to try soya milk. well i dont like it but better than nothing. well orlaith had to go back on gaviscon, waking in night screaming, could hear the acid gurgle before the screaming, she also started throwing up again and the watery, brown/orange very smelly nappies returned several times a day. i now have a very unhappy baby. the gaviscon has made her constipated so i stopped using that 4 days ago along with scrapping the soya milk. she went for a poo yesterday and it was back to mustard yellow soft paste. she hasnt been today but i'm hoping shes ok.
anyway my point is could there be a problem with her and soya milk? i have been so careful to check packaging to make sure there is no milk in it before eating. but is it a coincidence that when i cut out the soya too she went back to normal? i am beginning to think all this is my head. i love breastfeeding her and i am adament not to give up so i really neeed to sort this out. she is now 15 weeks old.
someone please help as people are starting to give me sorrowful looks like i am totally paranoid and neurotic. thanks

OP posts:
mears · 10/09/2006 21:47

Haven't time to do an indepth reply but you can get calcium though mnon-dairy foods such as white bread, green vegetables etc. Ask to see a dietician via GP who will be able to give more advice than HV. Your milk will have enough calcium in it without any milk intake TBH.

morningpaper · 10/09/2006 22:00

Agree - see a dietician. Cut out the soya for now and see if it makes a difference. Good luck - you are doing a great job!

tiktok · 10/09/2006 22:43

Sounds like you have a very sensitive baby, lovelymamma - a baby who reacts to dairy may well react to soya as well (and boo to your HV who doesn't seem to know the non-dairy sources of calcium).

Dietitican may well help.

Original poster
lovelymamma · 10/09/2006 22:52

hi thanks for your replies. i have a family history of milk intolerance. my elder sister and i both had to have goats milk whereas my younger sister had soya.
why would she be reactive to soya milk too? i thought it was totally different.
will go and see gp tomorrow now and see about referral to a dietician
Orlaith has been referred to a paediatrician but the letter said her case has been assessed and is treated as routine so i have an 11 week wait yet for an appointment!!

OP posts:
tiktok · 10/09/2006 23:06

Soya is still foreign protein, LM, and my understanding is that it this that causes the probs. In the vast majority of cases bf babies don't react at all to anything in the mother's diet (or at least not in a clinically significant way) but the ones that do, from what I have read and heard from mothers, will react to cows milk and soya.

It doesn;t sound to me that your baby needs a dietitican - I think the suggestion was that you saw one, not her

Original poster
lovelymamma · 11/09/2006 15:20

ok thanks. yes i think its me thats been referred to a dietician. i havent heard back tho. i have rung gp surgery and hv and left a message to discuss this. Orlaith seems very content today thank goodness after 5 days now of no soya or milk. shes just not been for a poo since sat and before that was tuesday. anything i can do to encourage her to go? or do i just sit it out? thanks tiktok, you've put my mind at ease alot that i am not dreaming all this.

OP posts:
tessasmum · 11/09/2006 15:30

Bf babies can go for quite a few days without a poo as are able to digest all the stuff in your milk. I had read this whilst pg and asked HV at 8wks, in a rather miffed voice, why my baby was pooing every feed! Was told that babies are all different and that they can change. Was REALLY glad I asked as she soon changed to pooing every 4 days. If I hadn't known I think I would have been in A&E expecting her to explode

Original poster
lovelymamma · 11/09/2006 15:35

thankyou she doesnt seem at all bothered by it. will just sit back and relax then now shes not screaming in pain every 5 mins. thanks xx

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