I'm breastfeeding & eliminated dairy from my diet?

Question

to see if my son may have intolerance for it (he has reflux, gets lot s of gas etc) How many days without dairy would it take for me to know if this was the cause of his problems?

Answer 1

It is at least 2 weeks, and don't forget you can't eat anything containing casien or whey as these are milk proteins.

The amount of dairy you eat has nothing to do with how much or what kind of lactose is in your milk ONLY cow's milk proteins are passed through breastmilk.

However I cured my son's "GERD" -and it was so bad you could see bile in his spit up - just by feeding him MORE OFTEN. Human infants are not meant to be fed every 2-3 hours, they are meant to be fed 2-3 times PER HOUR. I started offering the breast once an hour, and within a few weeks he was taking it about 2-3 times per hour -only for 2-5 minutes a feed. The GERD was gone within a week.

Frequent feeds can also decrease the amount of lactose in the milk and increase the amount of fat -which reduces gas and fussiness for some babies.

http://llli.org/FAQ/frequency.html
Moreover, many breastfeeding problems -- including those attributed to "too much milk" or "not enough milk" -- are resolved with more frequent nursing.



http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactose.html
http://users.bigpond.net.au/allergydietitian/fa/inflact.html
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/lactose-intolerance.html
http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/Food/LactoseIntolerancevsMilkProteinAllergy.htm


THE ELIMINATION DIET
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041200.asp
". You may need to do this for two weeks since it can take this long for the offending foods to get out of your system and baby's system. Here is the variation we find helps mothers get the quickest, surest relief for their hurting babies:"

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepthrough.html
Human children are designed (whether you believe by millions of years of evolution, or by God, it doesn't matter) -- to nurse *very* frequently, based on the composition of the milk of the species, the fact that all higher primates (Primates are the zoological Order to which humans belong, higher primates include monkeys and apes) keep their offspring in the mother's arms or on her back for several years, the size of the young child's stomach, the rapidity with which breast milk is digested, the need for an almost constant source of nutrients to grow that huge brain (in humans, especially), and so on. By very frequently, I mean 3-4 times per hour, for a few minutes each time. The way in which some young infants are fed in our culture -- trying to get them to shift to a 3-4 hour schedule, with feedings of 15-20 minutes at a time, goes against our basic physiology. But humans are very adaptable, and some mothers will be able to make sufficient milk with this very infrequent stimulation and draining of the breasts, and some children will be able to adapt to large meals spaced far apart. Unfortunately, some mothers don't make enough milk with this little nursing, and some babies can't adjust, and so are fussy, cry a lot, seem to want to nurse "before it is time" and fail to grow and thrive. Of course, usually the mother's body is blamed -- "You can't make enough milk" -- rather than the culturally-imposed expectation that feeding every 3-4 hours should be sufficient, and the mother begins supplementing with formula, which leads to a steady spiral downward to complete weaning from the breast.

http://llli.org/FAQ/frequency.html
Moreover, many breastfeeding problems -- including those attributed to "too much milk" or "not enough milk" -- are resolved with more frequent nursing.

http://www.todaysparent.com/article.jsp?content=1266685
Anthropologist Kathy Dettwyler from Texas A&M University says that nursing a lot is typical of babies around the world. She cites a study done in 2000 that looked at the feeding behaviour of infants aged three to four months in three different communities: families from Washington, DC, the Ba’Aka hunter-gatherers and the Ngandu farmers, both of the Central African Republic. They found that the Ba’Aka babies nursed 4.02 times per hour, the Ngandu babies nursed 2.01 times per hour and the American babies nursed 1.6 times per hour. Certainly the American babies nursed less often than the two African groups, but they nursed more frequently than many new parents expect.

Straight Talk About Real Babies
Defining New-mom Expectations
http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/expectation.htm

So I Nursed Him Every 45 Minutes
http://www.llli.org//NB/Law45com.html

"He Can't Be Hungry. He Just Ate!"
http://www.wiessinger.baka.com/bfing/howworks/hungry.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/foremilk-hindmilk.html
Your breasts don't "flip a switch" at some arbitrary point and start producing hindmilk instead of foremilk. Instead, think of the beginning of a nursing session as being like turning on a hot water faucet.

The first water you get out of the tap isn't usually hot, but cold. As the water runs, it gradually gets warmer and warmer and warmer. This is what happens with the fat content in mom's milk - moms's milk gradually increases in fat content until the end of the feeding.

Since fat content is is directly related to the degree of emptiness of the breast, it is possible, depending upon nursing pattern, for fat content to be higher at the beginning of a particular feeding than it is at the end of some other feeding.
! Now think about the hot water faucet again. If there is a long period of time before the faucet is used again, then you go through the "cold to hot" process once more, but if you turn the water on fairly soon after it was used then the water is either pretty warm or still hot, depending upon how long it's been since the faucet was last on.

This is how it works with mother's milk too - the longer the time between feedings, the lower the fat content at the beginning of the next feeding. If feedings are closer together, you're starting off with a higher fat conte

Answer 2

"Suggested method:
The mother should eliminate all milk products for 7-10 days.
If there has been no change, the mother can reintroduce milk products. If there has been a change for the better, the mother can then slowly reintroduce milk products into her diet, if these are normally part of her diet. (There is no need to drink milk in order to make milk). Some babies tolerate absolutely no milk products in the mother's diet. Most tolerate some. The mother will learn what amount of dairy products she can take without the baby reacting.

If there is concern about your calcium intake, calcium can be obtained without taking dairy products. But, 7-10 days off milk products will not cause any nutritional problems. Actually, evidence suggests that breastfeeding may protect the woman against the development of osteoporosis even if she does not take extra calcium. The baby will get all he needs.

The mother should be careful about eliminating too many things from her diet. Everyone will know someone whose baby got better when the mother stopped broccoli, beef, bananas, bread, etc. The mother may find that she is eating white rice only. Our diets are too complex to be sure exactly what, if anything, is affecting the baby..."

http://www.drjacknewman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=120

(Dr Jack Newman's advice is generally top-notch, I find. I really recommend his book/site for any breastfeeding questions.)

Answer 3

if it is reflux, getting rid of dairy product may not fix it,
it may have something to do with the muscles at the opening to his stomach. I take care of a 9 month girl, in the beginning every time I would feed her, then burp her she would spit up alot of what was given to her. I talked to a pediatricians that I know and asked her what to do, she was on formula though. I recommend you call the baby's doctor or a lactate specialist.

Answer 4

sorry to have to tell you this but dairy takes as long as 6 weeks to fully leave you're system it is actually the dairy proteins that generally cause problems I've been dairy and soy free for quite some time now and have seen a huge improvement in my babies reflux and temperment!!

Answer 5

When I did this, my ped suggested I go on an elimination diet for 2 weeks to see if there was any result. I eliminated spicy food, dairy, etc. He said to re-introduce things slowly each week to see what was causing my baby's gas.

Answer 6

I agree with 3 days, but you must be certain to avoid all dairy.

Answer 7

Probably three days!