can i culture my bm for dd?

[ellasmama2007]

im trying desperately to get some good probiotics into my allergic dd and the stuff in the bottle just isnt cutting it. i have been giving her store bought goat milk kefir but am worried that she might be reacting to it. can i put her usual probiotic into some breastmilk and leave it out for a day? ive done that and it smells sour so i dont know if something good has happened or it just went sour.
also, i have water kefir grains, do you think i could just throw some in bm and see what happens? i wouldnt want to use milk kefir grains because of her allergies and cross contamination risks.

[dogmom327]

Interesting. No idea if it will work but please keep us posted!

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by ellasmama2007

i wouldnt want to use milk kefir grains because of her allergies and cross contamination risks.

The goat's milk kefir is suspected bad, but not really, really bad, right? What if you found someone who had been using their milk kefir grains in goat's milk for a long time? I think the amount of proteins left goes down quite a bit over time, and it may be a workable in-between solution. I just mention it cause I'm not sure how well water kefir grains would work in milk--maybe they'd be fine, I just don't know.

[spughy]

I don't think the probiotic powders will thrive in BM. If they do, though, a couple of hours should be sufficient - a day might be too much. What is not cutting it about them though? Are they having no effect? What are your DD's symptoms that you're trying to resove?

[ellasmama2007]

she has tons of food allergies and we've both been taking these probiotics for months. her allergies keep getting worse, so i wanted to ramp up the probiotics for her. i have been able to drink water kefir and eat some ferments so that really has been great for me.

[mich]

I saw your post, read the whole thread, and had to think about it for 5 minutes before I realized that you were asking about breast milk, BM.

I thought you were asking if you could culture your bowl movement (my mom always called poop BM) for your dd.

The funny thing was how long I had to think about it. I think I may be a little too... open minded.

Best of luck with your daughters health.

[ramlita]

Now that's open-minded!

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OP, a shorter culturing time sounds sensible.

Have you looked into homeopathy? Some folks have been helped geatly with allergy issues.
Good luck- this sounds so tricky for you!

[ellasmama2007]

thank you for the suggestions!
there are places in europe where they use other peoples poop and insert it into sick people's intestines, so you werent as far off as you think. fyi, i think that's seriously gross

[MovingMomma]

What about trying to culture it like yogurt? It depends on what's in the probiotic...different bacteria need different temps to propagate.

[dogmom327]

I've heard from several people that yogurt won't culture in BM but for the life of me, my pregnant brain can't remember the reason. Too bad because that would be awesome.

[ellasmama2007]

yeah, yogurt or maybe kefir... i was hoping someone would have some experience trying that because it seems like a good idea for us since dd is so allergic. i really want to shove those probiotics in her and i just dont know how otherwise. it seems like it would make the bm even better in terms of probiotic value.

[dogmom327]

So this link was posted over in the BF forum but I have to say that if you are heating the milk to 180 degrees, I think you'd completely kill anything good you hoped for.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Breastmilk...r-Babies-52832

[ellasmama2007]

hmmm, i wonder if i put a scoop of goat milk kefir in some bm and kept it warm if it would culture. then i could take a scoop of that for the next batch and so on. i didnt want to use the gm kefir, but i think she needs it. i really dont want to heat the bm high like that though, i agree that it would kill all of the good stuff.

[ChristieB]

Do you have some extra water kefir grains to play with? If so, I'd try them to culture the BM. It just might work. I make fabulous coconut milk kefir with them. They gradually die off over about 4 weeks, but they make a great kefir. And they grow faster in sugar water than they die in coconut milk, so we're still ahead.

I keep them in a cotton pouch that I got from dogmom. That helps with separating the grains from the kefir, but BM is thinner than coconut milk, so it may not be necessary.

Anyway, that's my thought.

[MovingMomma]

Maybe try the raw milk yogurt recipes at the bottom of this page.

[caedmyn]

I know someone who made BM kefir...not sure which type of grains she used. But you can culture probiotics into sugar water just like you'd make yogurt--I used to do it quite a bit. Use one Tbsp of whatever sweetener you want per pint of water, or more to taste.

Have you considered food chemical intolerance for your DD? It could be that she's actually sensitive to naturally occurring food chemicals and you'll get some foods back if they're prepared properly to minimize food chemicals. I don't know if you're vegan by choice or because she reacts to meats, but if it's because of reactions, she's far more likely to be sensitive to food chemicals than intolerant to several different types of meat.

www.plantpoisonsandrottenstuff.com and www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info have more information on food chemical sensitivity. Feel free to PM me if you want.

[ellasmama2007]

the water kefir in bm and raw yogurt both really sound like great ideas! i think i might try both and see what happens . i wonder how you know the difference between milk is just sour and when its cultured...

caedmyn, i dont honestly know whether dd is just sensitive to food chemicals or what the deal is with our diets, but we are down to so few foods, i dont even know what to do anymore. i will read those links you posted for ideas- i certainly need all the help i can get.
so when you cultured your probiotics, did you just open the capsule into the sugar water and leave it overnight or longer? did you try to keep it warm? how did you know when it was done?

[MovingMomma]

Definitely try refrigerating after culturing. When I make yogurt it will often set a bunch more & smell more like yogurt after 12-24 hrs of refrigeration.

[caedmyn]

Cultured milk will smell different than sour milk. Versions of kefir smell slightly yeasty. You could just leave some BM on the counter for a day or two and then smell that so you know what soured BM smells like.

You make cultured sugar water just like you would yogurt, so you can either use a yogurt maker or use the cooler method for making yogurt. Basically warm the sugar water to around 110 degrees then add the probiotics and keep it that temperature for several hours. I think I used one capsule of probiotics per pint of water, but they were super strong probiotics so you might need more capsules per pint for most probiotics. I think I left mine for 8-10 hours. It'll smell different if it cultures, and you can always double check to make sure it worked by using some of the cultured water as a yogurt starter--it'll culture milk if it worked.

What foods can you have?

[ellasmama2007]

Originally Posted by MovingMomma

Definitely try refrigerating after culturing. When I make yogurt it will often set a bunch more & smell more like yogurt after 12-24 hrs of refrigeration.

oh great, good to know. ill try that. i know my water kefir always gets fizzier and more like kefir if i let it sit for a couple days after i pull out the grains too.

Originally Posted by caedmyn

Cultured milk will smell different than sour milk. Versions of kefir smell slightly yeasty. You could just leave some BM on the counter for a day or two and then smell that so you know what soured BM smells like.

You make cultured sugar water just like you would yogurt, so you can either use a yogurt maker or use the cooler method for making yogurt. Basically warm the sugar water to around 110 degrees then add the probiotics and keep it that temperature for several hours. I think I used one capsule of probiotics per pint of water, but they were super strong probiotics so you might need more capsules per pint for most probiotics. I think I left mine for 8-10 hours. It'll smell different if it cultures, and you can always double check to make sure it worked by using some of the cultured water as a yogurt starter--it'll culture milk if it worked.

What foods can you have?

thank you so much, im really looking forward to trying this! my probiotics are pretty strong but only contain two strains unfortunately. she just doesnt seem to tolerate any of the others that ive tried (even without fos/inulin).
i can eat sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, banana, avocado, red bell pepper, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, beets, cukes, cherries, raisins, strawberries, grapes, fennel and cranberries. i think she can drink goat milk kefir, but im not sure. i can drink water kefir.