Baby reacting to foods I am eating. People who have had to modify their diets when bf, please come and talk to me!

[IlanaK]

I am a bf counsellor and generally say to mums that you do not need to modify your diet when bf. And this was true for me for my first two babies.

My third baby is now 7 weeks old and seems especially sensitive to what I eat. He developed very bad colic around 3 weeks of age that was resolved by cuting dairy from my diet. He then had a really bad reaction to egg that I ate - so that is now off the menu.

Today he reacted to something I ate at lunch time. (He seems to react within two hours of me eating with severe screaming in pain as well as bringing up partially digested milk). The only thing I ate that was different was some chutney which contained dried fruit. It has been suggested to me that dried fruit can be problematic. A cranial osteopath I saw today (prior to the reaction to my lunch) said it felt like he was still reacting to something I was eating. One possibility is the orange juice I have each morning for breakfast.

So, I am looking for other people's experience of this as well as some empathy! It is so hard having to keep evaluating my diet and knowing that things I am eating are upsetting him.

[Tash1519]

OMG! I thought I was alone mt dd allergic to eggs, dairy and gluten I am bf and have been eating a lot of bread this week and her eczema which is on her face has flared up this week so looks like a vegan diet for me as I am veggie anyone got any recipe ideas or books. DD is 9 months and refusing mushy food

[ruty]

when dd started having specks of blood in her poo at least i didn't have to rush her to A&E this time. I immediately cut out dairy and gluten [had cut nuts and sesame already] and unlike ds, she improved immediately. Seems the quicker you start the better it is. Poor ds suffered whilst i waited for a hospital referral, clueless as to what the problem might be.

[purpleduck]

Thanks Hoochie - sorry to hear about your dc. I had one of each (one reacted one didn't)
It just seems so common, that women should be forewarned - just so they are not confronted with a screaming/poorly baby, and then left to deal with it after. And deal with guilt...

[purpleduck]

DS was sensitive to ANY caffeine, tomato, onion, and dairy

Not having a go, and I only read first half of thread, but I am that as a bf counsellor you are taught that you don't have to modify your diet...




I don't understand why all the good stuff will go through if you are eating a good diet, but somehow all the bad stuff gets filtered out...

I do empathise, as I found it very hard to cut out tomato.

In hindsight, I think he was a bit sensitive to dairy as well. I feel terrible that the tiny bit i did have probably caused his exzema

[forevared]

More sympathy, especially with regards to the dairy. I'm so glad ds2 didn't react to my dairy intake. I'm known as a bit of a cheesaholic.
With him it was tomatoes, onions and chocolate. Chocolate being the worst culprit, he screamed for over 2 hours one day and I couldn't figure it out. Then a few days later the same thing happened. I'd already cut out the tomatoes and onions, but realised the only thing I'd eaten in common both days was chocolate. As an experiment I had a little piece a week later and same thing so gave it up completely, not even a nibble. Fortunately I don't have much of a sweet tooth.
As for your chutney, the spices may well have caused a problem. I did have to tone down my usually very spicy diet as it made him very windy.
Best of luck to everyone.

[IlanaK]

Well, as of last night I have cut out wheat and nuts in addition to the dairy, soya, egg and citrus that I had already cut out. I also skipped the apple juice at breakfast just in case.

I have stopped having tahini, but I am still eating hummous which has some sesame seed paste in it. He has been so much better today already - no screaming and really happy.

He last fed just before my lunch and I had hummous at lunch. He will probably want a feed soon soon so it will be interesting to see if he reacts to that. He seems to react very quickly after having a feed from me.

I also stopped the diet cokes (caffiene free) last night. This is incredibly hard for me as I usually have one at lunch time and one in the evening. I also have started putting sugar rather than sweetener in my (decaf) iced tea in case he is reacting to the sweeteners.

I tell you what - my own health better bloody well improve after all this!

[ruty]

oh HMFG so glad i was of some use and that you sorted it out.

[ruty]

i would be careful with tahini as it is sesame seed. I know it sounds like there is nothing left to eat though!

[IlanaK]

Well, I am back again typing one handed with a screamy colicky baby again. After cutting out orange juice (last week Thursday) things improved for two days. Then he became quite sicky again thou without any colic or pain. Yesterday afternoon and this afternoon he has terrible colic. So clearly in pain.

The only thing I can think ofis antibiotics I was put on Thursday afteroon for a wound infection. It is one that is safe for bf. But thr colic seems delayed for that? I stopped them at lunchtime yesterday as the GP called with results of my swab and the infection will not be helped by that antibiotic. So could he still be reacting to it?

I keep thinking of my lunch as his colic is in the afternoon. Yestetrday I had rice and beef casserole (which I had the night before too). today was pitta bread, aubergine and tahini.

The only thing left to cut out is wheat and he didn't seem to react to this in my diet before.

Help!!

[ajm200]

Peachy, My LO definately reacted to anything gassy so maybe your HV isn't so daft on that one. He'd get terrible colic, be a nightmare to wind and lie in his cot all night grunting as though he was trying to wind himself.

[ruty]

and orange juice too.

[ruty]

sorry haven't read thread but yes both my ds and now dd seem to be sensitive to foods i eat. Both of them had/have mucousy nappies with specks of blood. Ds's was much harder to sort out despite numerous food exclusions, dd seems to be reacting better, i am excluding gluten and dairy, bloody nightmare but it is actually working and no more blood. So definitely worth it. very odd though, don't know why they both react like this.

[Peachy]

oh- make sure you supplement for calcium and vitamin d!

(sorry about typing, wriggly breastfeeder lol)

[Peachy]

yes libra they could

myb 5.5 month old is dary intol (casein). IIRC lactose isnt passe through BM, casein is.

the casein worry is especially big here as caein has possible been linked with asd- I have 2 asd kids already. but was essential anyhow as Bas didnt grow until I gave it up completely.

i wanted to give up gluten (same reason- asd) but it was hard and just too expensive ultimately to follow both

My HV says she has experience babies reacting to sparkling water (the gas? she is daft mind, my HV) and fennel tea- certanly Bas had less wind after I gave up the fennel tea

[Libra1975]

Could a LO become intolerant to certain foods, the last 5 nights my LO has got very bad wind/pains during the night and yet my diet hasn't changed since he was born.

[trixymalixy]

My DS definitely reacted to what I was eating. He used to arch his back and scream when feeding, be sick a lot and have terrible nappies.

He was given meds for reflux, but it made no difference.

The GP said there was no way it could be a dairy allergy and it was passing through my breast milk, but he was wrong. It turned out that DS was allergic to dairy and egg and once I cut out both of those things improved dramatically.

As to whether you accept some degree of unsettledness, I found it impossible to avoid dairy sometimes, but for the main part it was OK.

As he got older and was eating more solids I found I could eat more and more of the things he was allergic to without it affecting him. Now at 20 months he still bfs twice a day and I can pretty much eat what i like without him reacting.

[ajm200]

Jelly, has cutting out the fizz helped?

[ajm200]

Jelly Don't panic. Cut out the fizz for a day or two and see what happens. It may not be what is giving him colic.

Also try the food diary and see if you can work out any common factors. Every baby is different so there is no guarantee that what upset my DS will upset yours.

[jellytoes]

i drink cpious amounts of fizzy water....

[jellytoes]

will do, just had an awful thought. I have been freezing breast milk for when I go back to work in November but it will probably give him colic, now what????