Tuesday, September 30, 2008
So long, Dairy
Owen is a breastfed baby, has been exclusively breastfed, and eats very well. I am so happy for this and thought things were going great and motherhood was so easy. Then, starting about 2 weeks ago, Owen would go through these times where he'd eat a little bit, then start to get very fussy, to the point where he'd get this horrible scared look in his eyes, scream, and push away from he. But he'd still be hungry. He'd try to eat more, and it would just make him scream more. It was quite distressing for me. He also started breaking out in a blotchy red rash on his face and head. The nurse at the dr. office told me a few things to do to try to figure out the problem. Was it something I was eating? Reflux? Just a growth spurt? Something else? Well, after doing several things for a few days, including restricting my diet very poorly, we discovered he seems to have a sensitivity to dairy products. Well, this little knowledge is affecting my life tremedously! I have stopped eating all milk products...milk, yogurt, sour cream, all cheeses, whipped cream, ice cream (the hardest one of all). It really does seem to help Owen out a lot. His rash is much much bettter too. (His face was so red for a while, it was awful!) I'm just not quite sure how long I'll need to restrict my diet for, and how strict I have to be. (even a lot of bread has milk it it!) I've talked to a few people and got very different opinions, from being super strict and extreme to much more relaxed. I think I'll probably do what the dr. suggested: no dairy as long as I'm breastfeeding. I was planning on breastfeeding a year. I don't know if I'll be able to survive a year without milk and cheese. And icecream! I've started to try the soymilk thing, but it's just not the same. The dr. said I should also restrict chocolate. Boy, this is going to be a LONG year!!!
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11 comments:
Research the SOY. I've read some things about it that would make me nervous about drinking it while breast feeding. I generally don't eat dairy -ever- so I know you can get through it. Promise. I am one of those people who believe that milk is for baby cows. I know. I know. SO -rice milk is my favorite. Plus it has a nice long shelf life so you can actually store it! My whole family (not Matt) has converted to rice milk -but we were never regular milk drinkers anyway, so its just for cereal and baking and stuff like that... although I did warm some up once and added some pumpkin pie spices and it was pretty good. :) Almond milk is another choice. And to fix the ice cream cravings, when I was first switching my diet over to a healthier one, I would blend -or run through the juicer- frozen fruit. I think there are some brands you can buy in the store that are similar to ice cream, but they are just fruit -without soy even. For sure they make all fruit pop-cycles.
Good luck!
I was allergic to breastmilk, so I had to drink soy milk and goats milk only. My mom felt the same way you do!
Wow! That's tough! For me when I restrict something, I crave it more. But when it's a sacrifice for your child, it's different. Your a good mom. Melanie. Good luck with this ... and getting to Ecquador safely.
I know we really don't know each other that much, but my daughter had the same thing, but now she LOVES dairy! But not eating it is SO hard. I just didn't drink milk, eat cheese, ice cream, or anything. I still ate bread and things with a little milk in it, but paid close attention to how it affected her. Bummer, I so know what you're going through!! Good luck!!!
Kyla (Ray) Pew
Yeah, dairy and chocolate seem to be a trigger for a lot of babies! If it were me, I'd restrict it completely for a while, then introduce it very slowly, to see if there's any sort of reaction.
So, are you going to have Internet down there?? Because I just might go through withdrawals, if you don't! :)
It's amazing how what you eat affects your milk so much! I've been really lucky in that regard. My kids have never seemed to mind me eating chocolate (thank goodness) or anything else! The only real thing that I've had a problem with is garlic. I just can't eat things with real garlic...garlic powder is okay. So good luck with the dairy stuff...that's just rough!
I had so much fun hanging out with you and Owen yesterday. I'm so glad you came over. You left one of Owen's blankets here and Jada was so concerned about it. She folded it up and put it in a safe place to give to the "beebee".
Good luck in Chicago, I hope everything goes smoothly.
Oh, Melanie I can totally empathize with you. Both of my babies had trouble with milk through breastfeeding. I got so frustrated with my first and gave up at five weeks. With my second I eliminated milk for the first nine months and it worked wonders, especially on the rashes. We too dealt with hives and strange rashes. We also played with the reflux idea. But in the end I kept at it and breastfeeding turned out to be a great experience with my second baby! You can do it, I know it's tough and you really have to read labels because milk is in EVERYTHING!! At 9 months I was able to slowly add milk back in and as long as I didn't drink it straight she did fine! I breastfed her til 15 months. Let me know if I can help! Good luck! You can do it!!
So sad! Chocolate, too??!! The things we do for our kids. Maybe you'll find this wonderful diet in Ecuador and you won't even miss the dairy. Good luck! Glad Owen is feeling better! Such a cutie.
I am so excited to talk with someone about this. My children have very severe food allergies. It runs on my husbands side and only the baby boys will have them. When my third son was born we knew the drill....he couldn't drink any baby formula, soy or milk (it made him so sick) and so the only option was to breast feed for a full year. I couldn't have any milk products, just like you. I would read all the labels, because it is so scary what strange things contain milk. The most difficult for me was breakfast, I loved my morning cereal. So I ate oatmeal or cream of wheat. Also when I wanted pizza I would order cheeseless pizza from Papa Johns with all the toppings I wanted. Papa johns is one of the few pizza places that do not have milk in their crust or sauce. The good news is I lost so much weight doing this, and the baby didn't cry as much and slept so much longer. Good luck, I have lots of food ideas if you need any let me know.
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