Is eliminating dairy all or nothing?

[Beauchamp]

We're not sure if DS Is reacting to dairy or not, most likely I have forceful let down problems, and possibly oversupply. I've been feeding twice per side before switching and have been seeing *some* improvement. (He cries a lot, poor baby.)

Anyway, I was wondering if significantly reducing dairy has any effect, or if you need to get it ALL out of your diet, i.e. I stopped drinking milk, putting 1/2 & 1/2 into my coffee, no cheese, yogurt, etc, the *obvious* dairy. But for lunch I had a small bowl of pasta with two meatballs (homemade, which have abut 1/4 cup milk in the whole batch)

So, is it all or nothing to see some change in the baby?

NAK

[bandgeek]

I saw a significant change in my DS when I took out "most" of the dairy.  I was super uneducated back then so I KNOW I was missing lots of trace ingredients, plus I'd have a little bit of cheese or something "once in a while".  But I DID see DS's symptoms come back when I'd have obvious dairy.  If you eat some dairy and see the symptoms return, I'd try to abstain, but if the problems resolve without being super strict I don't see a reason why you'd have to eliminate it all.  If there hasn't been a change though, I'd abstain completely for *at least* 2 weeks before deciding dairy isn't the culprit.

[McMandy]

My daughter had major issues with dairy, so I had to remove it from my diet UNLESS it was baked in some sort of bready item, like cake or brownies.  At the time, I wasn't vegan, so I used cows milk in my cereal, and just began to get by with as little in my cereal as I could, and that seemed to be okay.

Whenever I did have something cheesy (like queso) I would take a probiotic mixture to help with digestion. It helps the baby too (you dont have to give it to the baby, she'll get it through the milk).  I like the brand Super Digestaway (I get it from Vitamin Shoppe).

[seamaiden399]

For those with a true allergic reaction to dairy, even a tablespoon of dairy (baked or not) will cause the skin or poop issues to continue. For those with allergic colitis,  like we had, you have to strictly cut out dairy for at least 2 weeks-1 month to really see results.

However, if you are trying to help with colic and you are not having skin issues or poop issues, then I imagine being less strict is ok.

-Brenda

[tincia]

If your baby is lactose intolerant...which my first daughter was..then I was told that elimiating milk products from your diet will not do the trick because lactose is naturally occuring in human milk..just like cows do not consume dairy but their milk contains lactose...so if lactose intolerance is your issue than it may be worth looking into

[foreverinbluejeans]

Lactose intolerance in infants is a genetic disease that is very, very rare. The infant wouldn't be able to make the enzyme lactase. Human milk sugar is lactose. A baby with lactose intolerance would have to have special lactose-free formula. Sometimes a premature baby won't have enough lactase and will have diarrhea, this isn't the same as lactose intolerance.

Some people think their baby reacts to cow's milk protein in their breastmilk. This is actually very rare. People are quick to blame any problem they think a breastfeeding baby has on breastfeeding. If the baby was having a problem from milk it would be from the protein not lactose (remember human milk is lactose just like cow's milk). Both parents have to have problems for the risk of the baby having problems with cow's milk from human milk to increase beyond rare. If both parents don't have bad allergies (not just hay fever) there is little chance cow's milk is going to be a problem.

To be sure you have to go on a total elimination diet for 2 weeks. Of course in 2 weeks your baby could be over whatever was causing the problem if it wasn't cow's milk. Some babies cry a lot. I don't know what you mean by nursing twice per side before switching. Finish the first breast first is what is one thing that is recommended for fussy babies. The idea is to usually use one one breast a feeding and to use the other the next feeding.  

[teraze]

My babe experienced hives and stomachaches/gas that I was quickly able to attribute to dairy.  At first I cut out the obvious dairy, but soon after that I cut out everything I could find that had even a little bit - English Muffins, waffles, you know, convenient food.  :)  Totally eliminating dairy really helped my son.  We're 9 months in, and every now and then I'll have something with a trace of dairy and my babe tolerates it fine.  I'm looking forward to doing a food challenge with cheese or something super purely dairy-riffic, but will probably wait 2 or 3 months more.  I've gone this long already, right...?

Good luck to you!  If eliminating everything dairy is the route you choose to take it's a lot of careful work at first and turning down LOTS of food, but it's absolutely worth it if it makes your babe feel better.  (That's my experience, anyway.)

[Toposlonoshlep]

I say it's all or nothing for babies truly sensitive to dairy. A couple weeks after I cut it all out (ALL of it. Not just the obvious sources. Casein is hidden in things like bread oddly enough...) my DS became a different baby. He used to scream and cry and nurse, then start the whole thing over again. He is 28 months now and still has the sensitivity. How do I know and why do I say all or nothing? Because when I accidentally eat something with even a bit of dairy in it and he nurses (even though it's just a little toddler nursing and not as extensive as a baby), he will toss, turn and moan all night. Keep in mind too that lots of babies who have a dairy sensitivity have a soy allergy as well. DS doesn't, but I know lots of kids who do. Good luck, mama! I have been dairy free for this whole time and don't even miss it anymore. Its not great for humans anyway. And, So Delicious makes amazing coconut milk ice cream, yogurt, etc.

[Toposlonoshlep]

I would like to know where you get your information. It is EXTREMELY rare for a baby to be lactose intolerant. It is pretty often that babies have an allergy to the cow's milk protein (casein). When the mother ingests it, it is expressed in her milk. The baby's immune system sees it as an invader and produces anti-bodies to fight it, causing stomach upset because stomach lining is actually shedding. That is why with some sensitive babies you can see blood in the stool.

In general, however, the ability to digest lactose is a genetic mutation. That is why populations who have never had it in their diet (Asia and parts of Africa, for example) are mostly lactose-intolerant. Those of us who can digest cow's milk are actually evolutionary mutants. My reference for this is Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle. 

Neither DH or I have a single allergy between us, yet our son has an ongoing allergic reaction to dairy.

Also, OP, keep in mind that it can take about two weeks for you to see results of the elimination, as the protein lingers in your system for a while.

Originally Posted by foreverinbluejeans 

Some people think their baby reacts to cow's milk protein in their breastmilk. This is actually very rare... Both parents have to have problems for the risk of the baby having problems with cow's milk from human milk to increase beyond rare. If both parents don't have bad allergies (not just hay fever) there is little chance cow's milk is going to be a problem.

[McMandy]

As I previously mentioned, I have issues with milk, but not if it is baked into things (like a cake). Now, a cheesecake would be a different story. It would still KILL my stomach.  When I desire to eat some queso or something, I take probiotic pills. Acidophilus has always helped me digest milk a bit easier (as long as I don't go overboard). I used to take Lactaid, and it would help, but since I didn't just have a lactose problem, I had an allergy at well, it still left me with some issues.

Overall, I try to avoid it, but sometimes it's nice to have a little chips and queso or a small (dairy) icecream.  I tend to use substitutes alot though since we try to stick to a vegan diet. Someone mentioned using Coconut milk. It's super good. Also try Flax milk. It's pretty thick as well.

I have found there is really no good substitute for cheese (I've tried different vegan brands, with no satisfaction). I've also found that many supposed vegetarian brands still have casein in them. BLEH.

As other's mentioned, you really have to check the labels because milk products are in so many things. (So is soy... I am not a fan of soy and it seems to be EVERYTHING these days.)  Learn all the names for milk products... maybe even keep a list with you.  It's also good to keep a food journal so you can see triggers.

[teraze]

Originally Posted by Toposlonoshlep 

He is 28 months now and still has the sensitivity. How do I know and why do I say all or nothing? Because when I accidentally eat something with even a bit of dairy in it and he nurses (even though it's just a little toddler nursing and not as extensive as a baby), he will toss, turn and moan all night.

Yikes - 28 months...!  I'm hoping my babe is conventional in the milk sensitivity sense and has outgrown it by year one.  We shall see...

[Toposlonoshlep]

I hate to be the barer of bad news, but conventionally it's outgrown by 3 years old, not 1. Good luck!  

Originally Posted by teraze 

Yikes - 28 months...!  I'm hoping my babe is conventional in the milk sensitivity sense and has outgrown it by year one.  We shall see...

[MamatobabyA]

I saw drastic improvement in DS diapers and mood when I eliminated obvious dairy.  Getting rid of glass of milk, milk on cereal, ice cream, cheese, etc was huge.  I never had to fully eliminate and he tolerates whole cows milk just fine now at 19 months.

[foreverinbluejeans]

I was curious and I looked it up to see the percentages of how important it is that there is a history of cow's milk allergy for the infant to have milk allergy

 "If both parents have allergies baby is 80% more likely to get it, if only one parent is affected, baby has a 30% chance of being allergic."

If neither parent has milk allergy then the chance would be less than 30%. There is something called the epigenome. People can have the gene for a condition and it not be "turned on". Identical twins can have the same genes and one gets a disease and the other doesn't. An infant may have healthy parents that have genes for allergies that never turned on. That's one theory. The parent may get the disease later in life.