diahrrea in 2 mo bf baby

[hoff]

hi, need a little help/advice.
my 2mo exclusively bf baby has had diahhrea for a week. doc first put him on anti-diahrrea med. it didn't make any differernce. today he said lo was lactose intolerant and wants me to put him on lactose free formula. anyone have any experience of this? i'm reluctant to take him off bf incase he wont go back. but obvs desperate to cure the explosive diahrrea...
he has been gaining weight really well up until last week -300-450gr per week, but this week just 50gr... help!

if you are BF, then the easiest way is for you to cut out dairy first......do NOT try him on formula, that is the doctor being lazy and not giving you decent advice.

I was given the same advice with three of mine who were dairy-allergic, and I so regret now not sticking to what I wanted, which was to BF.

there are some fab women here who can give you really good advice on this.

thank you, i really don't want to stop BF. its just too soon. but i can't bear seeing him suffer either. i'm feeling awful about it all. can a lactose intolerance manifest after 2 months?

Can you describe the diahrea? Are you sure it is not just a normal manifestation of bf poo? There is a lot of variety among what is normal. Could you describe the symptoms?

Oh, and I forgot to say, yes it can manifest after 2 months. Are you eating a lot of dairy in your diet?

with mine, the allergy was apparent from birht, altho it took a while with DD2 (my first allergic baby), as I didn;t recognise the symptoms (rash, diahhrea, tummy pain, vomiting etc). she was 8mths and had been in hospital twice before it was suggested, and 12mths before she was tested.....and in the meantime I got pressure to put her onto formula, which I resisted for a while, but she was fully weaned from me by by 8mths.

DD3 and DS2 were very obvious, and with DS2 he was on special formula by 8wks, and mixed fed until 6mth................very much not the way I would do it now if I were able to.

yes, i eat a fair amount of dairy (always have so i will cut it out and see if it helps. OK, TMI description: very runny (sometime gooey raw egg-like consistency), dark brown and comes with explosive sound effects. escapes the nappy either filling trouser leg or all up his back. it is darker and runnier than his poos have been up until now (which were mustard-y colour and wet/loose but not runny). it happens once a day or once every 2 days, and it is nearly always right after his lunchtime feed. once he had 2 in one day, after lunchtime feed and after 7pm feed.
he's been crying a lot more than usual (especially at night)and he has been pulling his knees up to his tummy -but not every time. this has all actually cooincided with his sleeping through the night (8-10 horus), so he has been feeding more during the day...

There's lactose in your breastmilk, whether or not you eat dairy. (lactose = milk sugar. All milks have it) But it could be your baby has a problem with cow's milk protein, which would be in your milk only if you eat cow's milk.

I think lactose intolerance in babies (rather than problems with cow's milk protein) is very very very rare. (It's pretty common in people over the age of 8, normal even, if you're not from Western Europe.)

Most children aren't susceptible to things their mother eats and drinks, but it might be worth eliminating a few of the most likely culprits (I'd pick dairy and caffeine) just to see.

It's also entirely possible that your child has had a nasty tummy bug, and there is nothing systematic wrong with him - it may just clear up on its own.

Does he seem unwell, other than the scary poop?

Cross-posted. The pooing doesn't sound that OTT, I wouldn't switch him to formula for it.

Fiddling with your diet sounds worthwhile. Maybe try to give him a dreamfeed, too, if you get the chance?

the only other "symptom" is more crying than normal -when the feeding, changing, cuddling etc doesn't do the trick and he is inconsolable for up to an hour or so. its not like him at all... but apart from that he seems very contented, smiling and cooing plenty, playing and sleeping a lot. even when it happensd he doesn't seem bothered, surprised by the noise sometimes! lots of pee (except for last night, not much after a 10hour sleep...)

dairy intolerance isnt the same as lactose intolerance as breastmilk itself contains lactose whereas an dairy intolerance is more an intolerance of cows milk protein which isnt the same thing. Here are a few links from kellymom:

Lactose Intolerance and the breastfed baby

Lactose intolerance

lactose intolerance

i haven't got the trick of dreamfeeding yet. i have tried a few time but he just wont open his mouth when he's asleep! -any tips??
i feed him before bath, then just before bed at around 9pm and he usually sleeps for 9 to 10 hours hours. he doesn't wak up crying for food but i feed him as soon as he stirs.

If he is lactose intolerant, then you cutting out dairy will not make any difference, though, hoff - lactose is present in breastmilk, no matter what you do, as NQC says.

If your baby is cows milk intolerant then he would probably have other symptoms.

Some babies can become temp. LI after a tummy bug - congenital LI is very rare indeed, and would not wait until 2 mths to show up.

If your baby is basically ok, then swapping to formula seems like using a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

I used to dream feed DS2. I had no problem getting his mouth open, though - I just had to think very hard to make letdown happen. It was a bit like willing yourself to pee, iyswim (only, of course, without peeing).

This really does just sound like one of those "babies are all freaks" problems. Welcome to being a parent. They start out weird, they stay weird, they're weird little buggers. Get used to it.

It will probably pass.

(Oh - one simple fix - don't get him weighed every week! Find something else to do!)

From what you describe he doesn't sound milk intolerant to me (both mine have been).

tbh your description fits teething at least as well as it fits milk int.