Is my breastmilk making my baby sick?

[Applecrumble0110]

So I'm EBF my second baby. Didn't manage to get to day 2 with first because genuinely had no colostrum and caved in when everyone said DC1 was starving and gave formula. Everything bfeeding related is new to me.
I have a 5 week old and he's gotten a little poorly and the Dr said its his mucus cough making him throw up but HE IS PROJECTILE VOMITING EVERY SINGLE FEED. EVERY FEED. I've been awake for 4 days straight with 1 or 2 hours sleep a night because he chokes on his vomit if laid down so me or DH hold him up but I can't rest knowing he's unwell.
Now I'm starting to wonder if it's something I'm eating? What foods helped your bf baby not have reflux/vomiting and what foods triggered it?

I know how stressful this is. I had a very similar experience with my second baby (now 10 months old) although he was not sick after every feed.

In the end I eliminated dairy from my diet and the vomiting stopped. He was vomiting every other day, had mucous in his nappies, would often be congested and coughing.

I did also consider whether it could be due to fast let down. Does baby splutter or cough at all during feeds? Could you try any different feeding positions?

I also really struggled to get anywhere with the GP - the advice I was given ranged from ‘baby’s are sick for a lot of reasons’ to ‘maybe try feeding him less’. Have you tried contacting your health visitor or infant feeding team?

@Aquarius93 thank you so much for the advice. How you describe your baby is exactly hiw mine is at the moment and the Dr gave us the exact same answers. The only question I have is was this from birth? DC is almost 6 weeks and this has just gone on a few days!

@Aquarius93 also yes I have alot of let down and he splutters at the beginning of a feed and sometimes cries I guess till it slows down but thay doesn't explain the sudden recent cough and mucus and the let down has never made him throw up before!

My baby did something similar. Turned out he had a chest infection. They were very worried about his blood sugar level, but it was fine which can only be because I was constantly breastfeeding him. However, I was getting more sleep than you. I think it’s probably difficult to tell the cause without seeing a doctor, particularly whether it is something you are eating.

It is awful when they are so poorly! Having a stomach full of mucus can definitely make babies vomit. Have you tried saline spray and using a snot sucker before a feed to help clear some congestion before feeding?

And trying to feed in a more upright position helps when they are congested too. Recommend seeing a lactation consultant / breastfeeding support group for help with positioning if you can.

Dairy can also be a culprit as the cows milk protein does transfer into breast milk and it is a common allergy in babies. However would say before cutting it out, see if any of the above helps.

My first couldn’t cope if I had dairy or caffeine.
He projectile vomited after I ate tomatoes .

Your breast milk is perfect for your baby. At the moment though your baby is still developing their digestive system. Projectile milk vomiting happens a lot.

There's also a lot of seasonal illnesses around. An awful lot right now. Baby might be a little poorly.

You're doing great. Keep doing what you're doing and things will settle down. My second baby was very vomitty. I usually ended up covered in it. It does settle down though as their digestive system matures and settles. More stays in than comes out.

@Answeringaquestiontonight I saw a Dr yesterday! They said his chest sounds clear and ears look fine and free of infection and it looks like he has a common cold. Which is why I'm wondering if it's my diet :(

If you have an aggressive letdown and he’s spluttering on milk then you can try and hand express a bit before you feed him?

I’d make a gp appointment in case he’s unwell.

Also to add there are so many bugs around at the moment, if it is recent congestion then I would say more likely to be illness rather than allergy.

My daughter has allergy to cows milk and soya and the signs (rash, reflux, mucus nappies and then blood in poo) started pretty much from birth

@GrowBabyGrow have started doing both those things after seeing the GP yesterday, alot of mucus does come out . I will continue for a little while longer before considering cutting things out although I don't eat alot of dairy so I'm a little confused!!

Does your nhs trust have an infant feeding team, if they do I’d try to get a referral to them.
Projectile vomiting isn’t normal so don’t let the GP fob you off, do they have any other symptoms? I had a baby that projectile vomited, screamed, was mucousy and pooped 18 times a day. We ended up seeing a private allergy peadiatrician who prescribed omeprazole and advised to eliminate dairy, then soya, then egg in that order and see what happened. After eliminating all 3, he calmed down a lot. We only saw the peadiatric dietician through the nhs the week before his first birthday, unfortunately the nhs is very slow and we skipped the allergy testing as we’d done it privately through the peadiatric allergy specialist. On weaning we discovered he was allergic to dairy, egg (very badly), soya, peanuts, treenuts, lentils and tomatoes. He was “only” reacting to dairy, egg, treenuts and soya through breastmilk - I could eat peanuts, tomatoes and lentils with no issue, so it could be something you are eating but babies can also have an allergy which doesn’t react through BM.

My DD had fpies to dairy and soya.

@Lindy2 thank you so much for the supportive words. I'm feeling incredibly exhuasted and low right now and have both a poorly toddler and newborn. I do believe he may have picked up a bug ir illness from any visitors or potentially DH going out for work so it might be that and I hope I can ride it out

Sorry just to add I cut milk when bf my first for 18 months and now 10 months with my second. Also have a oversupply and a v fast let down, both times once baby was a few months old they learnt to cope with the flow, just have to find your way together

@GrowBabyGrow yes it just started recently and he fed great from birth with no vomiting and very minimal spit up/very good weight gain!!!

@Applecrumble0110 we didn’t start to see any symptoms until around the 5 week mark.

For fast let down I tried laid back feeding as this seemed to help baby cope with the let down a bit better but this didn’t stop the vomiting.

If you do try eliminating dairy, do try to get advice first. It was a last resort for me but luckily I know a dietician who was able to help me with reintroducing dairy gradually.

Sorry I mean I cut dairy due to similar symptoms - and it did the trick, diary and soya and a few other things (Shel Banks is the expert here I spoke with her)

@Applecrumble0110 just read your update if he was fine before it is probably more likely a cold or your let down. We could tell from day 4-5 that there was an issue with DS with the allergies, he was admitted for dehydration as he was either vomiting the feed up or it was going through him so quickly and he had almost every other classic symptom.

Will have to give my HV a call and find out if I can get further help from feeding team. I haven't eaten a single egg or any soya products since he has been born and don't drink milk. I do eat a little cheese every day and sometimes yoghurt!

Well this sid start around then for us also and hw had no temperature or anything so it may well be a food intolerance however he doesn't have the rash etc and his symptoms match those of a cold also

I’m EBF dc3, just coming up 6 months. We had vomiting, screaming in pain and scrunching, eczema, dry blistering skin, mucus and snotty poo etc- turned out they had an allergy to dairy and eggs. I’ve eliminated this from my diet and symptoms resolved very quickly. We noticed very early on but both our DC1/2 had similar allergies from birth so knew what we were looking for and what to expect.
conversation with gp is important as they can connect you with dieticians who will support your diet and babies once the time comes.

but please don’t think your milk is the problem, you are doing great!!

Has pyloric stenosis been ruled out?

Has he been checked for pyloric stenosis? That causes projectile vomiting after every feed. Particularly in babies 3-6 weeks of age. I'd go to your nearest children's hospital. (A district general probably would transfer you anyway)

I'm a paediatric nurse in a surgical ward. We see it very often.