cutting out dairy during pregnancy to avoid issues with baby « Back to Group Discussions

[LadyCatherine185]

So, my first 2 boys had some pretty bad issues with me consuming dairy. Colic/reflux/etc for the first year or so, and even now Ian (almost 2) can't tolerate more than just a little dairy.

Something a friend of mine did was cut dairy out of her diet at 38 weeks pregnant to avoid any dairy getting to baby via milk once she was born. Her/my midwife said that if you do this and wait until they are 12 weeks old to slowly introduce it, there is a better chance of baby being able to tolerate it.. plus the added benefit of baby not having colic/reflux and then having to wait 2+ weeks for the dairy to leave your system once you decide to cut it out.

I am terrified of another colicy baby. Both of mine had to be held/worn constantly the first 5-6 months, woke every 30 minutes until 8-9 months old and then every hour until 18 months old, etc etc.. I lived in an exhausted blur. I did cut out dairy eventually (once I realized they were reacting to foods in my diet- I had no idea with DS1!!!) and they both had to be on reflux medication for several months, and they also both reacted to other foods (DS1 was tomatoes/acidic foods, DS2 was eggs) but it felt like once their gut was affected it took FOREVER to heal it and for them to not be hurting.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Should I go ahead and cut dairy at 38 weeks, or wait it out and see if this baby reacts to dairy too? Anything else I can be doing NOW to ensure a healthier gut for baby?

Thanks mamas!

[Chloe'sMama]

I have also heard of avoiding a food known to be a 'family' sensitivity in pregnancy (Maybe now to the end?) can help avoid the symptoms when baby comes.  

Have you thought of taking them to chiropractors?  I used to work for one and there was a baby with terrible colic that improved so much with chiropractic and also avoiding the trigger foods.  I went a ton in my pregnancy with Hannah and took her for the first time when she was about a week old.  

Both my kids have reacted to wheat (DH has celiac, the girls have tested negative, but still have a sensitivity when under 18 months), so I plan on taking it out soon.... I just have not mustered the discipline to take it out since it is one of the only things that sounds good.

[loveandgarbage]

I think cutting out dairy before birth is a great idea. I'm not going to pretend I know the science behind when your milk becomes clear of dairy but it seems like a good bet to cut it out before labor?

[odinsmama]

Sounds like it might be a good idea to cut it out ahead of time and then introduce it again slowly once baby is a bit older.
You could take some probiotics, too. No idea if it would actually help baby's gut but it won't hurt.

[LadyCatherine185]

ChloesMama- we have just recently (in the last year or so) found a great chiro! If baby3 does end up with colicky issues I will definitely be taking him! and I hear you, all I want to eat now is dairy! Even though I couldn't tolerate it (it made me sick to my stomach) the first half of this pregnancy. We do get good quality milk (grass-fed, non-homoginized) but I just don't know if I'm willing to take the chance again!

loveandgarbage- they say it takes about 2 weeks to leave your milk supply, which is why I was thinking 38 weeks would be good to cut it out. I don't think with the holidays around the corner I would be able to before then anyway. :/

odinsmama- yes I have been taking probiotics! not as regularly as I should though- need to make sure I do that!

Thanks for the feedback mamas! At least I have done it before, so I know I can do it again.. *sigh* and knowing that I will be doing it in a couple months I can prepare myself and find dairy free recipes/food ideas now, rather than thrown into it all of a sudden with a newborn to take care of and starving from breastfeeding!

[loveandgarbage]

I've been off dairy for almost year due to my own gut issues and I've been craving it this pregnancy like crazy . I'm already thinking about the holidays, too. Last xmas I was still eating some dairy so I ate a lot of cookies but this year I'll have to step up my non-dairy baking game and hope no one minds too much.

[HouseofPeace]

Lady Catherine-

I was very very lucky in this to have both my mother and my mother-in-law pull me aside BEFORE i had my first baby and warn me that they learned (after nursing 9 kids for about 18 years between the 2 of them) that dairy caused colic in each and every one of their kids.  No dairy.  I cut it out after trying it when my son was 2 weeks old and he got gas and colic for 48 hours after one dish w/ cheese.  I do actually cut it out towards the end of pregnancy, and keep it out of my diet for 4-6 months.  Seriously.  Basically, when my babies got into food and started stealing their siblings food, then I introduced it back in, but avoided all milk and cheese and anything with dairy other than butter.  I was lucky and can handle butter very well, but made sure to mix it up w/ coconut oil a lot for those first few months anyways as it is a great source of lauric acid and good fats for the breastmilk!

I've taken a more severe approach after birth, but it has made my babies so easy!  they sleep well, rarely have discomfort from gas, and so far no food allergies or intolerances or sensitivities.  I do a GAPS diet approach to birth (as i don't do group b strep tests and homebirth) just to make sure my gut flora is really hearty and clean before birth and give the babies that advantage.  I do grass-fed cream and cheese during pregnancy (and some milk, though normally neither my husband and i can tolerate milk at all!  and industrial dairy has never been kind to us, so we keep to our farm stuff), but all my kids drink loads of farm fresh jersey milk (we go through at least a 1/2 gallon a day for all of them) and do great on it.  both my husband and i were lactose intolerant from a young age, so we're grateful we don't have to deal with that.

So GAPS is helpful- i do extra fermented veggies, remove sugars, lots of greens, kombucha, and focus on good quality meats and veggies w/ minimal starches.  If you look into it, don't get swept away with the extremes, but try and learn the basics and then apply them as it works for you!  I find that's a good strategy for many things...... 

My youngest was still a hard baby- not colicky, but just needy.  I wish i could say she was less clingy, but i wore a sling for months, and she was always on/w/ me.  she did sleep better early, and has been a great sleeper and eater all along.  Though i can say it was not the post-partum blur and amnesia my son caused.  So personality can play a role!  But my hardest by far was my first, b/c he was in pain and discomfort and never got good at settling and soothing himself.  but that was partly due to a long hospitalization at birth.  

I'll be doing it too (and i'm eating homemade ice cream courtesy of Josie every night right now!) come the end of january.  so keep me posted if you're still thinking about it and we can face the challenge together.

Blessings-

[LadyCatherine185]

thanks so much for all the info! yes I am definitely planning to do it! amazingly for my mom and mother-in-law none of their kids had issues with anything they ate! I definitely see personality being part of why they were both difficult babies as well. DS1 (4 yo) is VERY outgoing and needs a lot of attention and stimulation.. he also has a really hard time shutting off (he screamed to sleep every night for the first 9 months as I held and rocked him) so that was definitely part of it! and DS2 (almost 2 yo) is very clingy even now, and needs a lot of snuggling and he is very sensitive to being hurt/in discomfort, etc. He throws very explosive, dramatic tantrums.. He had true "colic" where he would scream for hours straight every night. Thankfully going off of dairy and having him on zantac stopped the "colic" but he always seemed to have an upset tummy (stinky gas, spitting up, etc) and I never quite figured out all of his food triggers. Neither one of them sleeps through the night even now, and as babies like I said in my OP their sleep was horrendous. I am really hoping to at least cut out ONE aspect of newborn/baby difficulties in cutting the dairy. If baby3 has a difficult personality like his brothers did (chances are he will be more laid back, right????) at least I will know that either a) it is personality, not diet or b) if it is diet, it isn't dairy, so I need to dig further... *sigh*

[HouseofPeace]

Originally Posted by LadyCatherine185 

thanks so much for all the info! yes I am definitely planning to do it! amazingly for my mom and mother-in-law none of their kids had issues with anything they ate! I definitely see personality being part of why they were both difficult babies as well. DS1 (4 yo) is VERY outgoing and needs a lot of attention and stimulation.. he also has a really hard time shutting off (he screamed to sleep every night for the first 9 months as I held and rocked him) so that was definitely part of it! and DS2 (almost 2 yo) is very clingy even now, and needs a lot of snuggling and he is very sensitive to being hurt/in discomfort, etc. He throws very explosive, dramatic tantrums.. He had true "colic" where he would scream for hours straight every night. Thankfully going off of dairy and having him on zantac stopped the "colic" but he always seemed to have an upset tummy (stinky gas, spitting up, etc) and I never quite figured out all of his food triggers. Neither one of them sleeps through the night even now, and as babies like I said in my OP their sleep was horrendous. I am really hoping to at least cut out ONE aspect of newborn/baby difficulties in cutting the dairy. If baby3 has a difficult personality like his brothers did (chances are he will be more laid back, right????) at least I will know that either a) it is personality, not diet or b) if it is diet, it isn't dairy, so I need to dig further... *sigh*

LOL!!!  i have 2 outgoing children, and 2 more introverted ones, and the outgoing ones were so challenging for me!  DS1 is cut out of the same cloth as yours!  my mother-in-law never met a baby she couldn't soothe to sleep (and i in my idealistic co-sleeping fantasies never foresaw this challenge) but even with her, he would scream down.  i learned to work with his moods and to also walk away at a certain sound of cry b/c he would pass out mid-scream.  like, horrendous massacre happening scream, and he would have about 3 of those and mid scream would go silent.  and he was asleep.  AAAAAGH!  my next 2 were gentler, they would just snuggle down, co-slept, and were great sleepers.  then number 4 came along, and she would fuss down, and even just doze in people's arms to screech at them when they attempted to put her down (grandmas again).  but she's also very very outgoing and i think that the more outgoing kids need to process all the stimulation that they experience in different ways.  Verbal ways.  sometimes super loud verbal ways.  but i did find that the dairy was linked to the gas/colic and pain and spitting up.  

here's some encouragement- around 5 my oldest became the best sleeper in our house.  he goes down and sleeps like a log for 9-10 hours now.  my husband and i were just trying to figure out WHEN that happened..(around the time he started doing math?) but have just decided we'll accept it and move on.  my great-cosleeping 4 1/2 year old?  yeah, she's up all night making weird thumping noises.  go figure.

number 3 (DD2) was the charm for me- even in my belly she was CHILL.  4 weeks late chill, but she's the most laid-back kid i can imagine.  this one is already more chill in the belly than DD3. DD3 was moving from very early in pregnancy and from 12 weeks on it felt like i had a goldfish flopping around in my belly- and she never stopped.  she was born wriggling and trying to crawl.  she's still like that!!!  So here's for the number 3 magic to work!!!  and for it to be simple!!!  i

my hubby and i are also rooting for another more chill one....

[LadyCatherine185]

yes I should also mention they are both super active, and were early on everything. Both crawled at 6 months, both walked at 9 months. Both early talkers. I suspect DS1 is probably "gifted" (and both DH and I were labelled gifted) so that also plays into it. He is very athletic (can pick up any sport very easily, rides a bike with no training wheels, etc) and he is very articulate in his speech and surprises most adults.. They just aren't your run-of-the-mill laid back kids! ha! But you know I am so blessed and honored that they are my sons, and so proud of them. (sorry for the mama brag moment!) ;)

They just make for very challenging babies. ;)

[etsdtm99]

I have had 3 now with dairy  issues (3 out of 3 :P )   my first, i had no idea - she is 6 now and we were still having issues (though she i has always been a 'challenging' kid, had colic, very smart, sleep issues until 4-5 yrs old etc)  the chiropractor really helped her when i started taking her at 4, but something was still off, we cut out dairy and gluten at home last winter (for DH) and it really helped the 2 younger kids to be almost completely off dairy - but it didn't help my oldest much , we recently added eggs after some testing suggested it and BAM its been a month and she is a different kid .. anyway, i feel deep down that her issues come from damage and that with time she'll be able to eat more foods but right now we're strictly avoiding gluten, dairy and eggs for her..  (and she is gaining weight, 2lbs this month, which also tells me those foods were causing gut issues) 

anyway, enough of that, with my other 2 i cut out dairy when they were a few weeks old and they got better - with my son he handled it well when i ate it starting around 4 months, but when he was about 3.5 yrs old we realized it was causing constipation, potty training pee issues, and mystery tummy aches that left him sluggish..  so we cut it out again.. i was already off dairy for DD2, and that was about the time we just cut it out of our home..  .. soooo... this pregnancy  I'm off dairy (and gluten) unless i happen to eat a piece of buttered bread while i'm out and hoping this baby will be better.. at this point, if i try to eat anything more than a little butter or milk cooked into bread or something (like, a slice of cheese on a sandwich) i spent the rest of the afternoon running to the bathroom, have horrible cramping, and feel like someone sucked all the life out of me for the rest of the day..  i crave it like crazy, but i just can't bring myself to do it (I've been told that cutting it out probably made me more sensitive to it because i probably already had an issue) .. plus i feel like it will be better for the baby if i don't eat it ..  i've been thinking about being more strict with it in the weeks leading up to birth but i don't really want to do that and then be afraid to eat tiny amounts of dairy after the baby is born..