Now what am I supposed to do?

[mrsbernstein]

This is long, and for that, I apologize now.  

My son was born at home and was an emergency transfer.  I was admitted to the hospital ONLY to be close to him, but for no medical needs of my own.  And was not given ANY help for pumping until he was 3 days old.  And my pumping was NOT as consistent as it should be.  Just as I was building my supply, we transferred hospitals (YEAH!) and my supply took a major hit.

At my best, I was pumping 60-80ml per pumping (INCLUDING both breasts).  While we were in the hospital, that was enough to keep up with his needs.  Of course, once we came home, it became clear that the "hospital schedule" was not going to work with us.  

My son has a feeding tube, but we still were visited by the most fabulous IBCLC in order to help me with my supply.  She recommended a Lactina over my Medela Advanced, and it sits in the kitchen.  

My poor baby poor has had the WORST gas.  And we've tried everything.  I have cut down on gluten and OUT on cow's milk, but still drink/eat goat milk (we have a raw source).  The gas has become BETTER for him with Gripe Water, but not gone away.

So, long story short, we feed him a mix of breastmilk and goat's milk formula.  Some feedings are all BM and some are all GM and some are a mix.  My son's poos went from BM poo to frothy green/yellow and not after every feeding.  This week, it hit me that the gas attacks seemed to come MOST of the time AFTER a BM feeding.  Not always, but a pattern.

So Thursday and Friday we ONLY gave my son his GM.  NO gas.  NOT ONE SCREAM.  Not one fuss.  His behavior was even different!  It was astounding.  And then today, since I needed time to pump and build up a stash, we cut out the GM, and have given him ONLY BM today.  And about an hour ago, the screaming began.  A full-on gas attack!  

Of course, we this feeding that we just did we took him off of the BM and put him back on the GM.  And that would be fine, except for one little wrench.  

We are trying to get my son to eat my mouth.  And right now, the ONLY liquid he is "allowed" is BM.  They want us to start him on solid foods, but WE are not ready.  I'd love to hold off.  But the ONLY way to hold off starting him on solids is to get him to take a bottle.  And the only liquid he can take by bottle is BM.  But the BM is killing him with gas?

HELP!!!  Oh, and if I should stop feeding him the BM, how to I ween my boobs?

Thank yoU!

Mr sB

[WaitingForKiddos]

How old is the little guy?

I wonder if perhaps it's not dairy but something else he's having issues with. I know more moms with kiddos sensitive to soy than to gluten. Has he been looked at for reflux? 

[mrsbernstein]

Eds is 6mo.  

"Reflux" has been thrown around at us for months...and we have refused to put him on Zantac, which is all that seems to be offered at the hospitals.  We brought up the Zantac to our Ped, and he said "no" as well.

What bothers me is that the NICU AUTOMATICALLY puts babies on Zantac when they are born here.  So I know that his gut flora has already been horribly tampered with!

As for soy, we don't "do" it...so I'm not sure about that.  As I said, I'm not gluten-FREE, but we run a low-gluten household for my husband.

Thank yoU!

Mrs B

[GoddessKristie]

My LO had a soy sensitivity. When he was EBF he had a lot of gas, I never knew it could be caused by food. Then, when he went on solid foods, he started getting terrible rashes and was cranky and had awful bowel movements. I had him tested by an allergist and the allergist said he wasn't allergic, but when I cut out soy all his symptoms went away. I told the Dr that and he said that it would be easier to just give him medicine every day, that avoiding soy would be too much work. Well, nothing was too much work for my baby's health and I too, hated the idea of keeping him doped up all the time (can you imagine being on benedryl 24/7?). I had to cut soy completely out of my diet, including meat and milk from animals that had been fed soy. It was hard at first, but his health improved so rapidly that it was worth every bit of it. Now he can eat things that have soybean oil in them, but still can't have soy. If he does have soy his reaction is very minor compared to what it used to be, and I feel like he may eventually be able to have soy with no problems. He's 5 now and it's been so rewarding to see his health turn around like it did. 

I just want to encourage you to find what it is that's causing problems. For us it only got worse until I found it and got it out. Now, if he gets soy we don't even have to medicate him every time. I just watch him closely for the next 24 hours. It's worth it!

We found the allergy through an elimination diet. I read the details on Dr. Sears' website.  http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-infants-toddlers/food-allergies/elimination-diet

Good luck!

[Hymanroth]

My son has a really bad wheat/gluten sensitivity ... anytime I eat it he's so gassy and spits up all over. Same thing with dairy ....