[normajean]

Hello ladies! I've been at MDC for a while, but I've never ventured over here.

I'm expecting #2 in October. I wanted to BF my son, but was unable to due to a myriad of problems. Since I want the best possible answers, bear with me for my long story.

My mom BF all her kids, so I just grew up believing BF was the way to go. It never occured to me that I would have a problem.

Prior to his birth, I took breastfeeding preparation classes from a certified lactation consultant. I also had a lactation consultant at the hospital as well as the nurses there were very pro-BF and helpful.

My son was born 9 lbs, 9oz. He roomed in with me, and the schedule was BF on demand. According to everyone who looked (lactation consultants, my pro-BF OB/GYN, nurses, and my mother who BF'ed 6 kids) he had a great latch.

We left the hospital and 2 days later had a home visit with a RN who also said he had a great latch but she was mildy concerned about his weight regain was not where it should be for a 4 day old infant. SHe said not to be concerned, that if there was a problem there would be plenty of time by his 3 week checkup, and that this was common in large babies.

My milk had not come in yet, but she assured me to keep nursing and it would.

My baby however was hungry, and was rooting around looking to nurse and fussing when he wasn't nursing. He wanted to nurse 45 minutes, and then would be satiated for 15 minutes before wanting to nurse again. This went on 24 hours a day. Basically I nursed and did nothing else. My mom brought me my meals and fed them to me so I wouldn't have to stop nursing. He was never content and was getting frustrated with the lack of anythting coming from my breasts.

I had colostrum leaking from 20 weeks on (i'm at 20 weeks now with this pregnancy and also have colostrum now) and it never occured to me I would not have enought milk.

At 3 weeks old he had not regained his birthweight and the pediatrician was concerned. At this point he was also "spitting up" what little milk he did get which I now recognize was not spitting but projectile vomiting. She suggested supplementing with formula through a medicine dropper (to prevent nipple confusion) so both he and I could get some rest between feedings. I was to do this just after each feeding, and no more than 1/2 an ounce of formula per feeding.

We did this for 3 weeks and he started gaining weight, and I had to stop nursing at 6 weeks because of a breast biopsy that made it too painful to continue.

A few weeks later we found out by accident that he was lactose intolerant. I just thought babies cry & spit up a lot. I was out of formula except a sample of Lactofree, which calmed him down immediately and he has since been diagnosed with lactose intolerance by his pediatrician.

So my questions are--

What can I do to prevent similar problems the second time around? I Have heard of Mothers Milk Tea to help with milk production, as well as wheat germ.

Is it true that if this baby is lactose intolerant I can remove lactose from my diet and the baby will digest my milk easier?

What do you suggest for me?

 

[stafl]

A very few babies are born with actual lactose intolerance, and they react to the lactose in mother's milk as well as cow milk. This is not the same as a milk allergy. Eliminating dairy from mother's diet will not get rid of the lactose in her milk, but it will get rid of the cow's milk proteins which cause an allergic reaction.
My DD is allergic to dairy, even the lacto-free formula caused her problems because it is still based on cow milk.

Try kellymom.com for more information.

 

[Quirky]

When babies are truly lactose intolerant, they have galactosemia, which is diagnosed from a blood test - usually done at birth (the PKU test). Otherwise as stafl said they may be sensitive to the proteins in other animals' milk and an elimination diet will take care of that.

Now, of course, older children and adults can become lactose intolerant, but infants are not unless they have galactosemia. So your ds could very well be lactose intolerant now but that doesn't mean he was when he was born.

From your story, it also sounds like you had low supply issues. Whether because your baby was not nursing effectively or some other reason, I don't know. I would find an IBCLC (board certified lactation consultant) this time around and have her come over until it is clear beyond a doubt that nursing is well established, you don't have supply problems, baby is gaining well, etc. (You can rent a baby scale for the last one to see how things are going for yourself).

Kellymom is one-stop shopping for all this information - I would take the time now to surf around there, read up on latching, supply, dietary intolerances, etc. She has links there for getting help from IBCLCs, LLL, etc.

Good luck, mama!