lactose intolerance / colic advice needed

[miabl2]

Having a nightmare feeding DS who is 9 wks. Breastfed exclusively then starting introducing some formula as milk was dwindling and wanted to top up. Was having problems with wind etc and was given infacol, gripe water, homeopathic advice from HV. None of these worked well and HV is thinking he may be lactose intolerant. (makes sense as DS1 was) Now using SMA LF formula but now DS is crying when feeding from me and fussing after a couple of minutes but wanting to go back on again and if given bottle eventually will only drink 3oz. Anyone had similar problems I really want to continue with breastfeeding.

Have you tried to cut out all dairy from your diet? you may try it for 2 weeks to see if you can apreciate a difference?

HV said if it was dairy then the SMA LF wouldn't show any improvement and it does seem to help him but he just seems to have problems feeding from me ater the initial let down. Would he have problems that quickly if it was the dairy? Also he will drink my milk if its in a bottle it just seems to be the position of feeding.

I'm not an expert just 2 thoughts that struck

1. now he is used to a bottle is he getting frustrated at having to work hard to get the milk from you? don't know if this happens but could be.

1. is the let down so forceful that it is too much to cope with - this was the case with my dd and it gave her terrible colic until read on mumsnet about feeding from one side for so long and then the other.

to be blunt, if you want to carry on breastfeeding then cut out the formula.

your milk supply depends on your baby feeding to make enough milk. introducing top ups just lets your body know that it needn't make any more because baby doesn't need it.
you need to feed feed feed as much as poss to up your supply and ditch the bottles.

it does sound like he is getting used to the bottle and starting to refuse the breast.
if you do still want to top up then what about expressing and giving that?
I have also heard that it's best to give a top-up once a day as a big feed, rather than after each feed because they can get used to it coming and hold out for it

ok

could be forceful let down, that certainly would equate to +changes in position etc. positions where baby is higher than the breasyt will help, does this seem to equate to what you are experiencing?

3 of my 4 ds's are dairy intolerant. you'd need to cut out dairy as well as give f formula for that to work. your son's reaction does sound like ds4's, and we cut dairy in my diet 100% just a few weeks back to great effect. levels of lactose needed to cause a reaction vary- ds3 wuld need me to drink a glass of milk, ds4 seems to react to ione sandwich with butter!

I can't cut out the bottles as he is having difficulty feeding from my breast. He will latch on and start feeding but only lasts about 4/5 mins before crying, he then jumps off and on. I've got loads of milk as I can express 4-6oz in one go so I am keeping up my supply in the hope of being able to feed again. I tried expressing this morning before latch on so that he didn't get the let down but he still fussed after 5 mins he tries to go back on but jumps off again for about 7 times then just starts crying. I think it may well be the position he's in but I can't figure out a position where he would be more upright. I've been given colief drops to put in my expressed milk started these yesterday and he seems much better today managed to get 4oz breastmilk in him at 7am and another 5oz at 10am. I'm not averse to giving up dairy but I think the problem is more complex as he wouldn't know after 5 mins of breastfeeding would he?

ds4 seemed to know, and i know my stomac cramps from dairy are fairly immediate. certainly within 5 minutes.

ppositioning- apparenty try lying on your back with him on top of you, so his head is positioned over the breast- gravity then should reduce some of the force iyswim

my DD is lactose intolerant and Colief helped hugely. if you can't get it on prescription, you can also buy straightforward lactase online - it's the same thing and costs about half as much for twice the amount

we used it for about 4 months and after several attempts, cut down and then cut it out and she is now completely fine at nearly 6 months

formula-wise (if you continue to use this rather than expressed milk) we tried reduced lactose formula, but it never worked as well, and also nutritionally it is not as good.