Ebf 3 month old allergies/intolerances?

[Betsy9022]

Hi all, posting here as I'm at a bit of a loss regarding my 3 month old DD.
She's exclusively breastfed but weight gain is slow - tracking near 9th centile having fallen from almost 25th centile at the beginning. Her average daily gain up til 12 weeks was around 17-19g per day, and I know it should have been more like 20 to 30g.
From about week 6 she's become increasingly fussy and agitated when feeding and in between - peaking with full on breast refusal at 10 weeks which we're still dealing with now having seen a lactation consultant who told me to feed when she's sleepy and try latching standing up etc. Baby just doesn't like breastfeeding and doesn't seek it for comfort - will turn away and cry if offered when alert. For the very few feeds where she's hungry enough to actively transfer milk she's really uncomfortable, kicking legs, clawing at head or ear, grunting and pulling off and refusing to relatch.
I cut out dairy about 6 or 7 weeks ago, but admittedly haven't been 100% strict. After her last weigh in, the HV suggested milk supply might be an issue so I came home and thought I'd eat some cheese and see what happens as I've been finding limited diet hard to feed myself quickly. Then came the explosive mucus poo in a green tinge, so back to no dairy.
She's still very unsettled at feeds and doesn't enjoy it. I wonder if there's other foods that could be causing digestive issues?
Mums of breastfed babies who you found out were actually allergic or intolerant to certain foods - what behaviours did you notice?
She is in lots of discomfort trying to pass wind or poo, grunts, kicks and flails, refuses feeds, claws at head or ear when on breast, cries and unlatches. Her poos are always quite shiny (?) - mucusy? Never seen a 'seedy' poo so I worry she's not absorbing fat properly or going through her inflamed gut too quickly? They're usually dark yellow, sometimes towards brown or orange and we often get frothy poos too.
Any insight much appreciated, in case I need to try cutting out other food. I just want her to be settled and happy and hopefully the weight will improve too.
Thank you x

My baby had CMPA and I was EBF. I cut out all dairy and soy (most babies allergic to dairy also react to soy) and I had to be obsessively strict. Even some ghee in a curry would cause symptoms to come back. The paedetrician advised I need to be totally off dairy and soy for at least 6 weeks. That meant homecooking only. Dairy and soy is in absolutely everything, it's impossible to avoid in takeout etc.

My baby was completely different once I was off dairy and soy within about 2-3 weeks. Feeding well, gaining weight, happy, sleeping better, no reflux, no stomach pains, no pulling off the boob and crying after a feed. He had been so unsettled until that point.

We did reintroduce dairy around 4 months (dr advised I go full on dairy, latte, porridge, glass of milk to really see if there is an immediate difference). Unfortunately symptoms came back within a day. Went off dairy again. Tried again at 7 months, and this time he was fine. At 12 months we started the dairy ladder and he can tolerate baked dairy in a muffin but not cheese, yogurt etc.

Hope this helps. Paedetrician did stress it's very important to be strict with the diet as dairy builds up. So little bits accumulate over time and still doing harm. In CMPA babies, dairy inflames their gut and they need time to heal.

If you can't commit to a dairy and soy free diet, you may be better off on formula but be mindful that the dairy free formula is a minefield. There are different levels of dairy in them. The ones that are totally dairy free taste horrible and are thin and cause reflux. So you are exchanging one headache for another.

Thank you for your reply. Sounds like I need to be extra vigilant and strict for the next few weeks as I've been still eating the odd biscuit or something which has butter in the ingredients. Unfortunately baby refuses a bottle, even if I wanted to give up breastfeeding, so I'm very much stuck and having to battle through!