CMPA and breast milk

[Englishrose35]

Hi all,
Wondering if anyone has been in the same boat. I’m at FTM and baby is almost 4-months. He is exclusively fed by pumped breast milk, no formula. He has always had a lot of quite mucousy poos (up to 6 per day) but is putting on weight. We recently saw some blood streaks in the poo and GP suggested possible CMPA. I have eliminated dairy and we are waiting to see the paediatrician.

From my reading, it’s not that common to get CMPA if breast milk and not formula but does happen. The blood in the poo was my main concern but looking back, I have noticed:

• poos are always mucousy and can be very frequent
• he would often cry/ be upset after finishing a bottle - but we interpreted this as he was still hungry and so would give more milk (I’m so worried now that this could be related to CMPA rather than being hungry and I made it worse..)
• he is often gassy and would arch his back/ cry especially in the evenings (witching) but I just thought this is probably normal for baby
• he had some red patches on his arms and back which would come and go but I thought this is just sensitive skin. Same with some mild cradle cap

for those with CMPA in breastfed babies - what symptoms did baby have? (We’ve not had any concerns about weight)
how long after stopping dairy did you notice a difference? And what were the things that improved?

I’ve only seen the blood once or twice and basically have now immediately cut dairy out. I just don’t know if CMPA is likely or if could be something else.

thanks!

Yes I had exclusively breastfed baby with severe CMPA. Blood, implacable screaming and low weight gain. Resolved within days once I cut dairy. Went on to feed for two years successfully and he grew out of the CMPA slowly from around 18 months. Good luck.

Thanks @garden321 can I ask when it was diagnosed? We are almost 4 months which seems quite late but GP said can develop at any time.
Did you notice a big change in baby nappies when dairy was cut out?

I’m so worried that the crying after feeds was actually due to CMPA rather than being hungry. We were just giving more milk and probably making it worse

Lots of gas, stomach pain, upset after feeding and silent reflux. A speck of blood in his poo once or twice but this was at 8 weeks. Gained weight very well but that's because feeding soothes the reflux. I stopped all dairy and soy at 8 weeks and he was better within 2 weeks.

You do have to be extremely strict. No dairy means not cooking in butter or ghee, no pesto, read every label. The dairy protein builds up for weeks so a bit of dairy here and there will still cause the gut to inflame and therefore the symptoms. I had to cut soy as well, most do, as soy protein is very similar. Unfortunately that meant no takeaways or restaurant meals. Virtually all restaurants, especially on the cheaper end, use soybean oil in cooking. And most dairy free foods, especially in bakeries, have soy to replace the creaminess of the dairy.

So you basically have to cook everything yourself. Did wonders for my waistline, I lost all the baby weight by 6 months!

And be careful when weaning. No dairy until dietician says ok. We re-introduced dairy in my diet at 5-ish months (you have to be dairy free for at least 12 weeks first so his gut can heal) and he was ok with that. After 6 weeks of dairy in my diet, we gave him a few teaspoons of yogurt. He was violently ill for hours unfortunately so at 16 months he is still dairy and soy free.

my kid had this but it was due to egg protein in breastmilk. her eczema started getting better almost immediately when i eliminated it.

just mentioning this as egg allergies are also extremely common in babies

exactly two months post birth was the first blood in the nappy. I also cut egg and soy from my diet for about eight months as egg seemed to trigger it also. I see you pimp and wanted to say that we had a nightmare with latching and screaming, but once the allergy cleared up the direct feeding become so much easier, in case that was something you wanted to explore. It is annoying to restrict your own diet but baby did grow out of it and chocolate tastes great when you get it back!

Mine had prolific diarrhoea from birth, with lots of green mucus. Very occasionally blood streaks. She was weirdly not upset by it. She’s now two and seems to have grown out of those symptoms (on the milk ladder) but she’s very windy bless her.