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.

[foxytocin]

spices?

[foxytocin]

maybe one of them?

[bethdivine]

DS was definitely upset by fruit juice (esp. orange juice) and sweetcorn.

personally would cut out the diet coke, more for your benefit than anything else as it does stop your body absorbing vitamins and minerals, depends how much you enjoy it though - I've been "dry" for 4 years

[IlanaK]

I think I would find it harder to cut the diet coke than anything else. Interesting about the fruit juice. I replaced the orange with apple juice.

[FairLadyRantALot]

withy ds2 I thought he had probs with dairy, as he seems to be spitting up more when I drank lots of milk....however, it waas not dairy he was reacting too, it was the fat in the milk....I realised that, after I ate a very greasy fish and chips and he was rather sick after bf afterwards....

[IlanaK]

Thanks HMFG, I will email you now.

[Guadalupe]

DS2 reacted to me eating dairy and oranges. He would get stomach aches, mucousy poos, watery eyes and wheezes.

The doctor said it couldn't be connected to the milk but I tested it loads of times and every time I started those foods his symptoms would return. We see a dietician now and she says they do affect babies through the milk but we know that now!

[Guadalupe]

and I didn't really eat wheat at the time either so my diet felt very restricted but you get used to it. I ate a lot of oats though some people still find those heavy.

[becaroo]

AFAIK any citrus fruit can cause reactions in sensitive people - me included! If I feel like juice I now have apple.

Was there suet in the chutney???

[IlanaK]

Nope, no suet. I had apple juice instead of the orange juice the other day - I hope that's ok. Cutting out orange juice is not such a problem, but lemon juice is. I had tahini at lunch today and we normally add lemon juice to it which we did not today. It tastes yuck without it

[CaptainCaveman]

Reading the thread with much personal interest - am trying to decide if my 6week old ds2 is colicky, affected by what I eat, or just plaing grumpy to settle down!

I don't know where to start. Ds2 has just been screaming for over an hour and has finally fallen asleep in the sling. Not convinced he was in pain though - ds1 had colic and you could tell by his cries/screams that he was in pain. Ds2 seems to start crying as if he is tired then moves on to a meltdown because he can't settle.

Sorry IlanaK - thread jacked there

[CaptainCaveman]

I think thats what I shall do - I'm scratching around trying to figure out what he's trying to tell me but not actually making any progress!!

[IlanaK]

Hi CC. Sorry you are having a hard time too.

When ds3 was screaming with colic, it was realy obvious that he was in pain/discomfort. He still screams when over tired and trying to get off to sleep or when I take my breast out of his mouth (god forbid!), but it is a different sound.

Dairy is the most obvious culprit in reflux and colic so maybe cut that out first and see? There is good info on Kellymom which is where I started reading about it.

[PearTart]

Hello,
I think that my 3 month old baby may be reacting to dairy/ egg in my diet, She'd had mucusy, painful bowel movements and has been arching away when fed, on and off, for the last 3 weeks. The first episode followed me eating a very cheesey mozerella pizza.
GP thinks nothing to worry about and "will pass", but she's changed from a very happy babe to not very happy at all.
I'm cutting out dairy as of today, so I'll have to wait and see. I just wondered if these symptoms sound familiar to anyone else here...

[PearTart]

Thanks for the info and links HoochieMomma. I'm giving it a go as of today (and hoping that it's only a mild intolerance)
I had porridge with water only for breakfast and survived that.
(shocked at your doc Pxing ranitidine for your son's intolerance)

[jellytoes]

I'm jumping in here too. My Ds of 3.5 months has very restless nights...tossing and turning due to wind and i've been trying to figure out what to cut out of my diet aside coffee, alcohol etc. Similar symptoms to all of above but happy at the breast generally. I'm exhausted cos if he wakes completely I end up feeding him at night as much as three times. I am sure that if he wasn't in discomfort he would be going a good way through the night. DD of 3.4 years old also waking a lot...I'm really tired!
If only I could get Ds right I'd feel happier.