Apologies for the long posting. But I am in desperate need of some support/help/comments -- if anyone out there has had a similar experience, please write me!
I have two sons, DD1 is now three and a half. He had trouble breastfeeding from week 2 and I had no idea what it was. By week 6 he was having bloody stools, and by week ten, I had tried two weeks on an elimination diet (no dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts, citrus -- I am a veggie, so I didn't have meat anyway). Nothing worked. I was basically on oatmeal, rice, and veggies (and continued to drink my one cup of coffee). Whenever we tried to reintrodue my milk, my son would writhe in pain after a few minutes. We kept trying to reintroduce my breastmilk for about three more weeks, but he never could take it.
DD1 ended up on Neocate and stayed on this until he turned one. By then he had outgrown whatever it was, and today he does not have ANY allergies or food intolerances. My husband and I do not have a family history of allergies.
I am now 12 weeks postpartum with DD2. My ped with DD1 did not tell me that there was a high likelihood I would have a similar experience with DD2. So I didn't expect that the same thing would happen. Breastfeeding was also difficult with DD2 from the beginning, but I kept thinking (or hoping?) it was just the usual difficulties. He had difficulty staying on the breast and he would cry in pain WHILE EATING. At around 5 weeks things deteriorated quickly, and I began to understand that this was indeed the same issue that we had had with DD1. So my ped suggested I go on a dairy free diet, which I did. Things went from bad to worse, so bad that one day the baby simply refused to eat. I was so upset that I agreed to put him on Nutramigen for a few days, while I went off soy and eggs. After 5 days off of soy and eggs, and two weeks off dairy, I reintrodued my breastmilk. It was disastrous. After one feeding, the baby had mucousy stools, was crying in pain on and off the breast. So we had to put him back on Nutramigen.
My husband is against experimenting on DD2, though I have been desperate to try to breastfeed again. We saw an allergist who said that my sons have multiple protein intolerance not allergies, and that no diet would help, since the protein intolerance could be to anything. Both my ped and my allergist said that the chances of finding out what is causing the intolerance are incredibly slim. I tried to breastfeed just once a day for a week, to see if the baby could tolerate just a little breast milk, but that, too, was disastrous. I feel so guilty.
I stopped pumping two weeks ago, and my supply is almost gone. Although I am not a diehard believer in breastfeeding, I would so much liked to have breastfed my child. Has anyone "solved" the multiple protein intolerance problem with breastfeeding? Is there a diet that works? Has anyone gone through a similar experience? Could I relactate? Please, please give me some advice!
Noosh
I have two sons, DD1 is now three and a half. He had trouble breastfeeding from week 2 and I had no idea what it was. By week 6 he was having bloody stools, and by week ten, I had tried two weeks on an elimination diet (no dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts, citrus -- I am a veggie, so I didn't have meat anyway). Nothing worked. I was basically on oatmeal, rice, and veggies (and continued to drink my one cup of coffee). Whenever we tried to reintrodue my milk, my son would writhe in pain after a few minutes. We kept trying to reintroduce my breastmilk for about three more weeks, but he never could take it.
DD1 ended up on Neocate and stayed on this until he turned one. By then he had outgrown whatever it was, and today he does not have ANY allergies or food intolerances. My husband and I do not have a family history of allergies.
I am now 12 weeks postpartum with DD2. My ped with DD1 did not tell me that there was a high likelihood I would have a similar experience with DD2. So I didn't expect that the same thing would happen. Breastfeeding was also difficult with DD2 from the beginning, but I kept thinking (or hoping?) it was just the usual difficulties. He had difficulty staying on the breast and he would cry in pain WHILE EATING. At around 5 weeks things deteriorated quickly, and I began to understand that this was indeed the same issue that we had had with DD1. So my ped suggested I go on a dairy free diet, which I did. Things went from bad to worse, so bad that one day the baby simply refused to eat. I was so upset that I agreed to put him on Nutramigen for a few days, while I went off soy and eggs. After 5 days off of soy and eggs, and two weeks off dairy, I reintrodued my breastmilk. It was disastrous. After one feeding, the baby had mucousy stools, was crying in pain on and off the breast. So we had to put him back on Nutramigen.
My husband is against experimenting on DD2, though I have been desperate to try to breastfeed again. We saw an allergist who said that my sons have multiple protein intolerance not allergies, and that no diet would help, since the protein intolerance could be to anything. Both my ped and my allergist said that the chances of finding out what is causing the intolerance are incredibly slim. I tried to breastfeed just once a day for a week, to see if the baby could tolerate just a little breast milk, but that, too, was disastrous. I feel so guilty.
I stopped pumping two weeks ago, and my supply is almost gone. Although I am not a diehard believer in breastfeeding, I would so much liked to have breastfed my child. Has anyone "solved" the multiple protein intolerance problem with breastfeeding? Is there a diet that works? Has anyone gone through a similar experience? Could I relactate? Please, please give me some advice!
Noosh
