The dreaded colic - anyone's babies been allergic to their breastmilk?

[Annie75]

My 14 week old has been 'colicky' since she was several weeks old. I've exclusively bf her and have really enjoyed it. It's one thing that's gone v well for us both. The colic, however, is really getting me down - or the crying is. She really seems as though she's in pain, writhes around, I can feel the gas bubbling in her tummy and she has explosive, runny poos. It starts her crying and then seems to tip her over the edge.

My health visitor says that she's fine as she's putting on weight steadily, but that maybe she's hungry and that I should try giving her formula every evening for a bit, which I'm loathe to do in case it b*ggers up the bf. My hunch is that she's either got a digestive system that hasn't properly developed yet, or that she might be allergic to something in my milk, but I'm not sure what and what I should try and exclude.

Any ideas, please?

Hi, I remember my friend having a colicky baby and her not realising that things like orange juice and foods that are acidic causing the problem. As soon as she stopped eating/drinking these problem foods life became a lot easier.

Hope this helps

If there is any suggestion of allergy, Annie, then it would be a bit mad to give formula.....your HV cannot have thought that one through

Very bad colicky crying sometimes does improve in a bf baby with a change of diet in the mum - usual suspects would be dairy of all types in your diet. You'd need to elim. properly for some time though - not my specialist subject so hope someone else will come on and chip in.

My DS was a very fussy feeder screaming all the time.

Turns out he is allergic to dairy and eggs. Giving formula will not help if your DD is allergic to dairy.

I would try and exclude dairy for a couple of weeks and see if that helps.

Hi Annie. Symptoms sound very similar to my dd, although her poos weren't so much explosive as constant. She turned out to be milk intolerant. I gave up eating all dairy products, and she got better (takes 7-10 days to clear completely from your system, so don't give up before a couple of weeks have passed).

Formula contains dairy, so would be disastrous to give if this is the problem.

Sounds very like my dd. She improved a little when I gave up dairy, and then went downhill again. Turns out she had silent reflux (lots of arching like she was doing a ski jump when pulling off the breast and fussing) and was also intolerant to gluten. When I gave that up too, the explosive mucusy poos and excessive bubbly belly wind stopped immediately. Took 6 months to work all this out - I was SO crestfallen that the magic 3 month mark did nothing for her colic! She still gets it sometimes - I do think oranges and nameless other things set her off.

Anyone else think MN should have colic as a talk topic? Similar problems in this house (12 weeks) so will start by cutting out orange juice. I am mildly lactose intolerant, but have no idea if it's inherited. Any opinions on whether I should try dairy-free or osteo next?

I found baby massage classes quite helpful for helping dd with the pain and bubbles but she was 6 months before I happened to go to the class so she had to put with it until then, I hadn't thought to cut out things. I still massage her now she is 3 and a half, it can help with the symptoms anyway if not the cause.

I'm with hobnob57. My dd did exactly the same thing. It seemed like she was really frustrated when feeding but was happy as larry when finished feeding. I gave up dairy and had soya instead which seemed to help. Turns out that she has an intolerance to the protein in all forms of dairy so maybe there is something in it. The tummy massage seemed to help too. She is still a complete wriggler climbing all over me when feeding. She won't stay still. Incidentally oranges/citrus fruit set my little ones tummy off until recently. She is now 15months! I assume you have tried drinking Fennel tea? Not sure it works but may be worth a try

same with my dd3

orange juice was the culprit, as soon as i stopped things improved. i would look at what you're eating. dont give up bf your hv is nuts.

good luck