Baby reacting badly to breastmilk

[Tirednewmum30]

Hi.. I'm a new Mum to a 5 week old. For the first 4 weeks I fed him expressed breast milk exclusively (he struggled with latching on despite seeing a lactation specialist). I ended up getting mastitis twice, so have been on 2 pretty much consecutive rounds of antibiotics. By half way through the second round my son was showing signs of colic- very unsettled, screaming/writhing in discomfort- but otherwise well in terms of wet/dirty nappies and putting on weight.

After discussion with my health visitor I switched to cow and gate comfort formula and saw an immediate improvement. I kept him on this for 2 days until 24 hours after I'd finished my antibiotics and pumped and dumped in meantime. Today I started him back on breast milk but almost immediately saw the colic like symptoms return. After a day on breast milk I've switched back again to formula as it was horrible to see him in such discomfort.

I really want him to have as much breast milk as possible but wondering whether it's just not meant to be- clearly there is something that is not agreeing with him even though he antibiotics are out of my system.

Has anyone had an experience of this or any thoughts? I'm happy to keep pumping to maintain milk supply but worried now that it will just make him poorly again.

Thanks for any advice

I honestly don’t know on this one sorry. Could you ring one of the Bfing Helplines?

My only idea is you might be eating something he's allergic or intolerant to. I'm not sure how you would go about finding out what though, hopefully a more knowledgeable poster will be along soon.

You need to speak to a lactation consultant as, IME, many midwives and HVs aren't that knowledgeable about specific issues with BFing. You seem really keen to BF, if you can, so getting the right advice from someone who knows what they're talking about is essential.

However, if this issue cannot be resolved please don't beat yourself up for switching to bottle feeding. It's not what you want to do, but if it's best for your DS then it will be the right choice. New DMs feel such pressure to do everything 'right' or at least to do what they wanted or invisaged doing, but parenting is all about being adaptable and going with what works and keeps everyone happy and well-fed, and ultimately that's the main thing. and congratulations on your baby.

It may take longer for antibiotics to pass from your system. I'd check with lactation consultant.

Comfort milk is low in lactose and that helps with colic, digestion and general feeding discomfort. So it could be possible that your baby is just struggling with the lactose in your breastmilk. Colief drops break down the lactose in the milk and make it easier for babies to digest. It only needs to be used in the short time as their digestive systems mature to cope with the milk. I use it with DS and I am currently weaning him off (less drops and every other bottle etc). It is pretty expensive but I managed to get a few bottles on prescription. Tried infacol, dentinox and gripe water which all worked to a degree but this was far more effective. You can put it in either regular formula or breast milk, which may mean you can continue expressing and feeding that way. Worth a try and you will see results fairly quickly (a couple of feeds)

Most likely is he’s intollerant so something you’re eating, dairy is the most common. Can you try keeping a food diary and seeing if there’s any connection to his symptoms?

I doubt he's dairy intolerant if he's better on formula.

It sounds like latch issues and your supply building - he may have a tongue tie which makes it harder to feed, they can swallow lots of air and also can tend to snack on the foremilk which can make them gassy. (Lactose over load) mastitis is a common issue with tt, there's posterior tongue tie also.

Secondary Lactose overload can also occur in over supply - supply often goes a bit over board in the first few weeks as you're both adjusting to feeding.

I think you need a well trained breastfeeding advisor on this one.

breastfeeding.support/lactose-intolerance-in-babies/

Some more useful info:

kellymom.com/hot-topics/fussy-while-nursing/