Gassy, spitting up?

[NaturalMindedMomma]

So my baby seems to be having some really gassy days. I was told by my midwife that what I eat does not affect my milk, milk is a blood product and food doesn't get into the blood stream, but the gastrintestinal tract.

I am wondering if that is correct or not? I have heard conflicting information.

Then I am wondering if there is something I can give my baby for the gas? I used Mylicon drops with DD1, but not sure if that is a good thing or not? I am wondering if it is dairy products? My other question is, Is the gas in and of itself a signal of a health issue that would cause me to eliminate dairy? She has no mucous or blood in her stool, she just seems uncomfortable, so if I treat the discomfort (which is not an everyday thing) would that not be a good thing or should I be eliminating?

I have limited myself to one 4 OZ glass of skim milk every other day, which in and of itself is hard for me. I only drink iced water now.

I eat a lot of hard boiled eggs. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies and yogurt. That is mainly what my diet consists of. I avoid caffeine (except dark chocolate, 1-2 squares per night).

I guess the issue is, I am on a fixed income and budget and need to be able to eat what WIC gives me and what I can afford with my food stamps.

Anyone have imput?

[ewe+lamb]

It could be what you are eating or it could be something else! So how old is baby? What is your let down like; could it be that you have a strong let down? Is the gas in the baby low down in the intestine? What colour are the stools?

Personally I do not agree with your midwife, babies who are allergic to certain foods can be so through the milk from their mother and that is why we can have elimination diets for both mother and later on for babes who are starting to wean through starting on solids! If you can answer the questions then we can go further into finding out what the problem maybe. Look forward to you replying. Hang in there.

[NaturalMindedMomma]

Originally Posted by ewe+lamb

It could be what you are eating or it could be something else! So how old is baby? What is your let down like; could it be that you have a strong let down? Is the gas in the baby low down in the intestine? What colour are the stools?

Personally I do not agree with your midwife, babies who are allergic to certain foods can be so through the milk from their mother and that is why we can have elimination diets for both mother and later on for babes who are starting to wean through starting on solids! If you can answer the questions then we can go further into finding out what the problem maybe. Look forward to you replying. Hang in there.

I think I do have overactive let down. She will cough and choke a lot. She also breathes hard and fast at times. She unlatches frequently to breathe, spits a lot of milk out during the feed. Does that sound like overactive letdown? She is 4 weeks, She tends to be gassy as she is having a movement. She fusses, strains i hear the gas and the poop splat then she calms down. Her stool are mustard colored.

[wombatclay]

If you search pubmed you can find a number of studies that demonstrate that maternal diet does, in fact, impact breastmilk in terms of passing along potential allergens to nursing infants. You might suggest that your midwife check out a few of these studies, or refer her to this reference site (nice, readable with references, page on maternal diet/breastmilk)?

However, as a mom with chronic oversupply, your experience sounds familiar! Kellymom has a great "forceful letdown: is this you? what to do?" list here. Maybe give it a quick read? Her checklist includes:

Gag, choke, strangle, gulp, gasp, cough as though the milk is coming too fast
Pull off the breast often while nursing
Clamp down on the nipple at let-down to slow the flow of milk
Make a clicking sound when nursing
Spit up very often and/or tend to be very gassy

Some mothers notice that the problems with fast letdown or oversupply don't start until 3-6 weeks of age.

So far my kiddos have figured out how to handle the letdown (though it usually takes a while and it's a good idea to have a towel handy for when they pop off unless you really want breastmilk on the ceiling!) and my oversupply has let me be a milk donor for over 4 years now.

[ewe+lamb]

Yes it sounds like a classic over active let down, so you can start off by block nursing, nursing two or three times on the same breast and express off the other breast to for comfort, then change to the other breast that way the baby is getting more of the hindmilk than at the moment, it does even itself out depending on your body - it can take a while though, just be careful to make sure that your baby is actually nursing the breast many babies can become lazy because of all this milk pouring into their mouth that they don't need to nurse the breast until the supply evens out and then they have to re-learn how to nurse, you can also try different positions so that baby can cope with the supply more easily, sitting baby straddled over your leg so that the back is straight and gravity deals with most of it, careful with the stools mustard yellow is great, dark green isn't and shows that the imbalance is not working its way out, if you have anything else to ask please do not hesitate to post again. Good luck.

[NaturalMindedMomma]

I have never offered both breasts. I always alternate. So I will try block nursing.

She goes looong periods between nursings too. So that probably doesn't help, sometimes I will pump, but lately i try not to because I think it is making it worse...