Colicky baby - should I cut out dairy?

[ruthietoothie]

Hi all,

I feel like I am going mad! My second child is five weeks old and since he was three weeks he has been screaming every evening betweeen about 6pm and 11pm. Gets really distressed and nothing can properly comfort him.

I'm breast feeding and wondered about trying cutting out all diary to see if this helps. Has anyone tried this? Is it worth doing or are there other strategies I should try first?

He's not too bad at other times - more unsettled than my daughter ever was but its just in the early evening when he really loses it...

Any advice / thoughts much appreciated

Thank you!

I cut out milk and it really made a difference. Less whiney and colicky

I switched to goats milk because dd was struggling with silent reflux. It really helped.

Fussy evenings are very common and unlikely to be the result of a dairy allergy, especially as it is uncommon for a dairy sensitivity to be so severe as to be affected by the minute quantities in breast milk.

There are some tips for coping here:

kellymom.com/parenting/parenting-faq/fussy-evening/

Thanks for the thoughts.

Debbie and the woman who... Did you just cut out cows milk or all dairy produce?

Noble giraffe - thanks for your thoughts! I wonder whether its worth just giving a shot as he's not just fussy but completely beside himself and inconsolable. One thing that doesn't make sense to me though is why - if it was a result of an allergy - he would only be like it at one point in the day...

Difficult to know what to do for the best...

I would see your GP before randomly cutting out food groups from your diet, tbh. Have you tried the normal colic stuff like Infacol or Colief?

Unless you have other reasons to suspect dairy, like a family history of allergies, other symptoms such as crying after feeds, vomiting, eczema?

I had a VERY colicky baby who had reflux and CMP allergy and in all honesty, if it's 'only' bad for you in the witching hours of colic, then it's probably 'just' colic. I say 'only' and 'just' like it's easy to handle which, believe me, I know it isn't.
DS screamed for 16/17 hours a day at it's peak. Literally screamed and screamed constantly from days old right through to 15/16 weeks before we noticed even a slight improvement.
A lot of babies have colic which passes as they approach 12/13/14 weeks

The kellymom link is spot on. Fussy evenings & part & parcel of new babies, particularly when BF.

In my experience cutting out dairy does ease a vast number of issues. By dairy I mean all cows milk products as the proteins have shorter chains in them, goat & sheep's milk have similar long chain proteins to human breastmilk & therefore are less irritating to the gut. However do speak to a BF peer supporter (try your local children's centre for info) or HV before doing this. Colief can help as well.

My DS has a CMPI & soy allergy and only cried in the evening. No idea why.

He had lots of other symptoms too though - forest green nappies, lots of wind, was really farty, had a mucousy chest, reflux.

If you do trial dairy free, don't replace with soya products as the proteins are similar and lots of babies have problems with soy too.

All dairy so chocolate, yogurts cake, cream. It really made a massive difference x

Thanks all. He's improved a bit lately though still considering whether cutting out dairy might help things further.

My h/v was round today and she suggested it, as well as recommending cranial osteopathy!

Thanks again for all your thoughts