BF: talk to me about dairy free

[teatimefor2]

Ugh, it pains me to even write that out. DS2 (1 month tomorrow) has horrible gas - last night we were up for hours and my mom even heard it today via speaker phone.

My pedi - who is very pro breast feeding - said eliminating milk is his first port of call in dealing with gassy babies. Did you cut every and everything with milk or just the big stuff? DS has not had bloody stool, just gas and is gaining weight well.

I'm not thrilled about this as I'm a vegetarian and dairy is a part of my daily life.

Many thanks for any suggestions you may have! I appreciate them.

[arch01]

Is it mucousy as well?

The first weeks of dairy free were HARD. I was in tears a lot, I cut out everything with dairy (hidden and obvious). As time went on, it got easier. I'm not a ton of help since I'm not a vegetarian, but I will say that Oreos are dairy free

Is he getting the gas out but just has a lot of it?

[laurenh]

I'm sorry, I know it seems like a super difficult change. I did cut out all forms of dairy and all soy based products, as many babies with casein intolerance also can't tolerate soy protein. My pedi stressed that we really had to commit to 2 - 3 weeks of the diet to know if there was a change because it takes to leave both your system and the baby's.

I started by switching to almond milk, earth balance for butter, TJ coconut yogurt when I really wanted yogurt, and basically avoided cheese substitutes because many still had casein as an ingredient. There are some nut based cheeses that weren't bad but I can't recall the brand.

For breakfast I'd have oatmeal made with almond milk and frozen fruit, or eggs and a bagel, etc. Instead of a typical bowl of yogurt I did smoothies with some coconut yogurt. It honestly was much easier for me once I started focusing on what I could eat vs. what I couldn't.

Ask any questions! The difference we saw was incredible and made giving it up for 16 months of BF far easier. Good luck!

[imimahoney]

Since it's just gas I would start with the big stuff- straight milk, cheese, butter. By just reducing the amount you eat should help him if it's dairy that is causing the gas. There are lots of other culprits though, everything from a forceful let down to garlic so don't be surprised if he is still gassy after you eliminate obvious dairy.

[teatimefor2]

Nov 23, 2014 15:09:10 GMT -5 arch01 said:

Is it mucousy as well?

Stupid question, but how would I know this?

He's just gassy all the time. It's never all out, it's like he's never done being gassy and he's crying out a lot because of it, so I think he's in pain too.

[water*drop]

I cut all forms of dairy and soy, although DD's main symptom was really bad reflux. It was hard for the first few weeks, but it got progressively easier, and it made such a huge difference for DD. My main advice is to make sure you have snacks with you at all times (almonds are easy and portable) because until you're really familiar with what you can and can't eat, it's hard to just stop someplace and grab something if you get hungry.

[water*drop]

Nov 23, 2014 15:18:48 GMT -5 teatimefor2 said:

Nov 23, 2014 15:09:10 GMT -5 arch01 said:

Is it mucousy as well?

Stupid question, but how would I know this?

He's just gassy all the time. It's never all out, it's like he's never done being gassy and he's crying out a lot because of it, so I think he's in pain too.

Not a stupid question - I didn't realize how mucousy DD's stool had been until it cleared up. It's like...stringy, kind of. You know that slime stuff that kids sometimes play with? It's kind of like that. 

[MadamePresident]

Honestly, I'd cut it all to see if it helps then you can try adding some back in. Because I think it would be super hard to tell if he was "less gassy" rather than all or nothing.

I did it for a few weeks, when I was going to start pumping for my friend whose son is allergic, but she ended up not needing my milk. The hardest part was just changing your habits. I usually had some ice cream before bed each night, but found that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was still tasty and satisfied me.

[zeewifeandmama]

I wouldn't cut dairy for that. I had to cut dairy and soy for DS because of an intolerance and it was really, really tough. My DD was a ridiculously gassy child and caffeine was her trigger. Even then she still had some trouble. Gripe water was our BFF.

[anna7602]

I eat so many stir-fried and steamed veggies with just a big hunk of baked fish or of some kind of cut of meat. I also lots and lots of black beans, lentils and chick peas. Ten tons of nuts, too.

It's totally doable, but a PITA to eat on the go. I make all of my meals at home, pretty much. Latin restaurants are a good choice bc I can always get rice & beans and meat.

[anaps28]

My pedis office said at this age you would not see the blood but it can be present in microscopic amounts. They had me bring a diaper in and run it thru for blood at 4 weeks and it was positive. See if you can have that done before you go eliminating dairy caffeine etc

[arch01]

Nov 23, 2014 15:18:48 GMT -5 teatimefor2 said:

Nov 23, 2014 15:09:10 GMT -5 arch01 said:

Is it mucousy as well?

Stupid question, but how would I know this?

He's just gassy all the time. It's never all out, it's like he's never done being gassy and he's crying out a lot because of it, so I think he's in pain too.

You can see it

What else have you tried? Gas drops, bicycle legs, gripe water?

[imimahoney]

Nov 23, 2014 15:33:10 GMT -5 anaps28 said:

My pedis office said at this age you would not see the blood but it can be present in microscopic amounts. They had me bring a diaper in and run it thru for blood at 4 weeks and it was positive. See if you can have that done before you go eliminating dairy caffeine etc

I don't know if this is always true. At 4 weeks my son had neon green poop with red blood streaked through. It was clear as day. But he didn't have mucus, just scary blood. 

[anaps28]

Nov 23, 2014 15:45:31 GMT -5 imimahoney said:

Nov 23, 2014 15:33:10 GMT -5 anaps28 said:

My pedis office said at this age you would not see the blood but it can be present in microscopic amounts. They had me bring a diaper in and run it thru for blood at 4 weeks and it was positive. See if you can have that done before you go eliminating dairy caffeine etc

I don't know if this is always true. At 4 weeks my son had neon green poop with red blood streaked through. It was clear as day. But he didn't have mucus, just scary blood. 

Wow that is scary! But good for others to know it's possible that early.

[teatimefor2]

Nov 23, 2014 15:38:41 GMT -5 arch01 said:

Nov 23, 2014 15:18:48 GMT -5 teatimefor2 said:

Stupid question, but how would I know this?

He's just gassy all the time. It's never all out, it's like he's never done being gassy and he's crying out a lot because of it, so I think he's in pain too.

You can see it

What else have you tried? Gas drops, bicycle legs, gripe water?

We've tried all this plus a warm compress.

[jamer]

I started with just dairy and had to cut soy as well before I saw a difference. It was hard at first. Go to mspi mama for recipes.

[teatimefor2]

Thanks, I'm going to make simple changes and see if that helps. I typically have milk and water in my oatmeal in the morning, I'll just have it with water. No like a smoothie with coconut milk so I'll have that tomorrow with almonds for lunch. I'll make homemade soup and chili for dinner Monday and Tuesday with leftovers on Wednesday.

I'll see if that's any impact and go from there. I feel so bad.., I did try to go vegan back in my late teens and I managed it for a while, although it was tough. Looks like I'm back to the vegan diet again. Sigh, off to look up new recipes.

Thanks! Due to thanksgiving his next check up is on the 2nd.

[Jalapeñomel]

I cut dairy and soy, and it didn't make a lick of difference. It was very frustrating. I hope it works for you!

[melsamoony]

teatimefor2 I have been dairy and soy free for about 3 weeks. It was tough at first but is getting better.

DS didn't have blood in his stool but that is not necessary in order for there to be a milk/soy protein intolerance. My DS is doing much better.

I agree w recommendations to cut all dairy and then go from there.

Lara bars are decent and are dairy and soy free
I eat a bowl of special k w almond/coconut milk in the morning
I make a big salad (chicken...but you could do bean salad/ne thing else) on Sunday and eat that for lunch every day
I eat lots of pretzels and nuts
Popcorn w sunflower oil is pretty dang good (skinny pop is dairy and soy free)
I haven't tried dairy free cheese/alternative yogurt yet
Smoothies, apples (w peanut butter), tortilla chips w guac, carrots and hummus are all good snacks.

[daisy24342]

Maybe it was a full moon last night, cause DD ( 4 weeks) was up screaming, gassy, refusing to nurse last night as well. I did dairy free with DS last year but only later when his poop seemed weird. Her diapers seem fine ( not mucousy at least yet) but I felt awful with her gas pain last night,.


Has this been consistent for days? I would say cut out the big things like you said before going cold turkey. It could be something else too. Since I've been having dairy everyday since her birth and we have many good days of no gas, I'm chalking last night up to the garlic,horseradish or onions I had for dinner.

I also find broccoli and cauliflower often lead to her gas, so I've cut those veggies out.

[moopoint17]

I cut dairy and soy. It helped DS2's gas issues and curbed some of his eczema. I also gave up nuts in hopes that his eczema would go completely away, but that did nothing.

Dairy was easier to give up, but apparently soy is in everything! So beware. I have sandwiches for lunch and I go to Whole Foods for dairy/soy free bread and mayo and usually make my own chicken salad or egg salad. I've been using coconut milk but lately switched to rice milk just to try it out.

Good luck! There are definitely days that a cheat and I usually end up paying the price with DS2 scratching up a storm. Sigh. But I'm already planning ahead to Thanksgiving and I'm planning on giving DS2 frozen BM and nutramagin so mama can eat to her heart's content!