Milk allergy?

[Liea]

Not sure where to post this exactly...

My 6 week old breastfed baby has been congested for 4 weeks now. She definitely had a cold during the second week of her congestion, but that resolved and we're left with this "stuffiness" again. She's fussy in the evenings, but I don't think it's that out of the ordinary after reading on kellymom.com. She does have diaper irritation that has been ongoing. It will get better then worse then better.

I cut out dairy this past weekend, but had a few mishaps where I ate a bit of cheese. The last time I had dairy was Tuesday night. I was going to switch courses this weekend and try eliminating grains (my dad just found out he's sensitive to grains... not sure if it's just gluten or what yet) but now reading more, it looks like I should wait at least 2 weeks before trying something else since it takes so long for dairy to leave your system and baby's.

What would you do? The congestion isn't horrible. I'd like to believe that it's gotten a tiny bit better this week but it's so hard to tell.

My mom is convinced it's our dogs or dust or something, but I know that doesn't really show up this early.

I feel like a bad mom if I don't keep trying to figure out if it's something in my diet. Every time I eat something I wonder if it's affecting her somehow.

[mtn.mama]

I wouldn't back off on the milk just yet. It IS the number one pedi allergy... I would continue on the dairy free path for six weeks before trying to add it back in. Start keeping a food journal to try and figure out what is going on. Its not wise to quit grains just in case (though wheat is a very common allergy, and gluten just isn't good for you anyway). You don't want to limit your diet unnecessarily. Good luck!

[nalo]

I agree - keep out all dairy for at least 6 weeks before making any decisions about it (and no slip-ups or you're back to square one with the timeline). I had dairy out of my diet for 8 weeks before DD's main symptom resolved. You'll need to be digilent and read labels on everything so you avoid all the hidden dairy ingredients in things.

[Astromom]

Yeah, too early to tell if it's dairy related. (But in my opinion, it really could be the dust or dogs or something.) Whatever it ends up being, you're on the right track.

Also wanted to give a tip that might help her breathe better in the meantime. My DS suffered from really bad congestion in his first several months. I would take expressed milk in a dropper and cradle him in my arms and let a couple drops go into each nostril. Then I would suction him out with one of those blue sucker things. Torture-sounding, I know- but it really helped. If I didn't do it, he could not sleep at all due to the stuffiness.