is my breastmilk causing a reaction in my baby?

[lilipup]

Hi there. My 10 week old baby girl (exclusively breastfed) cries most of the time she is awake, and has done for weeks now. We are putting it down to colic, but I'm not quite happy with leaving it at that, as it doesn't feel right to me. She appears to be in real pain, taut limbs, screaming etc, especially about 10-15 mins after a feed, and especially when passing wind. She is very windy as a whole. She doesn't posset much, only vomited about 3 tinmes in total since birth, but have been wondering if she has silent reflux - sometimes hear her swallowing hard a lot, and the bubbles/froths at the mouth a fair bit. I'm wondering if there is any chance she could have an intolerance or allegy to something in my milk, and if so, how would I find out about this? Our local GPs just tend to sit and wait for you to ask questions, rather than volunteering info! She does regular no.2s, although sometimes, they do have a greeny, mucus-y look to them. We've tried every remedy under the sun, and currently trying Gaviscon to see if reflux is indeed the problem - don'[t think it is making much difference though, apart from giving her very thick no.2s! Any help gratefully received, particularly as I have a mother who keeps telling me to just put her on formula, groan.

bumping for you, lilipup

I don't know diddly squat but sure HunkerMunker or TikTok will be along soon.

have you spoken to any of the bf helplines? i think you need a more detailed discussion than can happen here, like how long/frequency of feeding etc etc.

my ds cried a lot as a baby too. i think some babies are just really unsettled and we find it difficult to accept there is no amazing solution. carry on looking though, it may be something very simple.

this sounds similar to how my DS1 was - and we only discovered what the 'problem' was much later, after i stopped bf-ing him at 10mo, and then him having a "normal" diet til 20mo that he was intolerant to dairy stuff. Now others on here probably know loads more about this than me, but i think the gist is that to find out, you reduce the amount of dairy stuff in your diet but you would have to substitute them with something so that you get enough calcium etc. I think it would be wise to get advice from someone like GP or dietician. My other two children (DS1 the eldest) have been dairy free since birth and i used goats milk and soya yogurt etc whilst bf-ing DS2.

Have you tried winding her longer after each feed? Do you make sure you hear the wind come out (either end) before stopping?

Souds exactly like both of my DDs, especially the mucosy stools which is generaly the sign of an intolerance.

Cutting dairy out of my diet worked wonders for me, although it can take up to three weeks to show full effect. Usually some improvement is made in a couple of days though. Lots of people tend to replace dairy with soya products but you need to be careful with these too as it is common for a person who doesn't tolerate dairy to have difficulty with soya. Neither of my girls can eat soya products so we use rice milk in cooking instead.

Hope you get to the bottom of this, but certainly cutting out dairy (all dairy, butter, milk, cheese, plus any additives like skimmed milk, casein, etc) would most likely be a good place to start.

There are loads of people on MN who have had this so you won't be lacking in advice.

Good luck.

Hi, thanks very much for all the responses. Feeding patterns - she isn't a really keen frequent feeder to be honest, unlike my first baby who wanted to feed all the time. I try to feed this lo every 2 or 3 hours, and sometimes i try to feed her but she doesn't want any because she;s too upset. Her weight gain was great in first 3 weeks (nearly a pound a week) but has slowed dramatically - only about 8 ounces over past 6 weeks in total. i normally only give her one breast in each feed, although this week, i've been offering her 2 as she seems to want more. she is quite a quick feeder, usually done in about 10-15 mins. i try to wind her after every feed (except for nighttime ones), and sometimes spend about 20mins trying to get wind up, but not always successfully. i change her nappy about every 3/4 hours, and usually fairly wet. number 2s, usually 2 a day, although sometimes only 1. i've tried gaviscon on her over the past day and a bit, but don't honestly see that much of a difference though to be honest, i'm not giving it during the night as just stagger out of bed, feed her in the dark, and put her back to sleep to avoid disturbing her. i can't understand why she is OK sleeping during the night with no pain, crying etc, but a nightmare during the day.

Lilipup, my ds had silent reflux and the symptoms you describe do sound refluxy (although I am no expert!). Just wanted to say that the gaviscon can take a few days to have an effect, so worth keeping up with, and there are stronger drugs if it doesn't work. Cutting out dairy (cow's milk dairy) definitely made an improvement with us, although it wasn't the miracle cure I'd been hoping for. Might be worth a go though. Think you have to stick with it for at least a week if it doesn't work straight away.

If she does have reflux, your milk is absolutely the best thing for her (so says Kellymom!). So don't listen to your mother...

Starlight, i normally initiate a feeding if i think its about time to feed her and i often try to feed her if she is crying and i know its been an hour or 2 since she last fed - i don't normally try to feed her if less time than this as know from experience now if she is crying and just had a feed, another one won't be accepted. she doesn't like to sit and linger on the breast. just went to see a cranial osteopath today - she reckons she just has a flat system from a csection birth, and doesn't see any signs of silent reflux or milk intolerance. just an opinion though i guess, we'll have to wait and see if things improve after our session.

hi starlight and thanks to all posters, all advice very helpful. yes, i agree with you completely about the whole relationship thing - with a toddler, i have found it horrendously difficult to relax and enjoy feeding with my second lo as much as i did wirh my first, especially when my toddler becomes very demanding when i start feeding, bringing over books to read and crying for attention etc. so, i don't really have much of an opportunity to do what you suggest, although i really think it is needed - i am scared the bond between my second lo and myself is not as good as with my first, because of all the crying and the lack of time, with a toddler. i might try to get the grandparents to take toddler on for a day next week, and just try to relax at home with the little one. i wonder from what you say if you think the feeding cycles is a key part of the problem, and that i should feed her on demand rather than by the clock? i do try to feed her on demand, but as she cries so much, its often hard to know if she's hungry or not. i do try to feed her when she's not crying, as that is often the most successful time to get her to feed well, although i admit, she might not always be hungriest then, just not crying! these past 2 weeks, she has been feeding much more frequently, and wanting to suck a lot, which i am happy about, as hopefully her weight gain will improve (as has been poor of late).

this is not a bf suggestion but hopefully helpful. do you use a sling with your dd? if you can get hold of a pouch/ring sling and carry her round in it as much as possible, she'll be getting a lot of skin to skin, staying upright (if you have her in an upright position, obviously ) and you'll be well placed to feed her at first signs. also you can run round after your toddler easily. some you can even wear while bf.

Lilipup, I have just seen this, or would have chipped in sooner.

There are a lot of good ideas on this thead already.

I do think this is the sort of case the benefits from a good talk with someone who will listen, not jumping in with solutions, but just hearing you tell your story, and your baby's story, and who will be open to the possibility that a baby who is crying so much may be telling us her own story too.....

There are a few clues in your posts that make me think that relationship issues may be worth exploring.

There is always something going on when a baby cries as much as this. It can help to be responsive to those cries - to be there for your baby, maybe holding her and carrying her and building up her trust in you, and strengthening the communication between you, and building your own confidence in your ability to comfort her and get to know her.

I think there is a place for reflux diagnoses, and exploriing dairy intolerance, but not at the expense of this other, more tricky stuff. A good health visitor might be a useful person to talk to about it, or someone else with an interest in infant emeotional health issues....you are doing the right thing in seeking help and taking her crying seriously.

thanks so much for the useful advice. yes, tiktok and starlight, i really relate to what you are saying, as i often catch myself often thinking of dd2 as second fiddle to dd1. i guess this is natural as i know dd1 much better and she is such fun as a 2 year old, but i do need to work on relationship with dd2. this past week dd2 has been much more settled, strangely since about 48 hours after the CO session, and its been great being able to get to know her better without crying getting in the way. so hopefully, a virtuous circle.