[umsami]

I've exclusively breastfed all of my kids... and am having trouble with my youngest daughter who is 11 weeks or so. (Bad Mom, I'm not keeping track.) Anyway, She's very sensitive to milk protein... so I've tried to cut it out as best I can from my diet. It's helped some, but she still is a miserable little girl a lot of the time with gas issues. We're also doing probiotics and simethicon as needed. As much as I believe in breastfeeding, I'm beginning to consider trying her on one of the hypoallergenic formulas when she hits six months if things don't improve. She's just so miserable. I'm not sure how much more I can handle cutting out of my diet as I have my own dietary issues. Dairy used to be my main source of protein other than legumes (which I've tried to limit with her due to gas). I'm just so frustrated and sad. I love nursing. I can't imagine going through the hassles of bottle feeding.

:

 

[milansmommy]

I feel your pain, but hang in there momma! My ds is extremely sensitive to dairy and I had to eliminate all dairy from my diet, which was also a huge part of my diet. It took two weeks to see a difference in ds and I tried to reintroduce dairy back in when he was about 8 months and we had major issues. He's 13 months now, still nursing and we're still dairy free. It does get easier once you get used to the new diet. You may also be able to eat legumes without issues, ds never had a problem with those. What about tofu?

 

[brdudeon]

I know you are frustrated. I'm so sorry. My lo is dairy sensitive and also soy sensitive. In my web searching, I found that is true of many babies. The proteins are apparently very similar so many babies are sensitive to both. If you've cut out dairy, you've probably increased you soy intake as a replacement. Could you try cutting out the soy also for a week or so to see if it helps?

I noticed an improvement in my little guy within 48 hours of cutting both out. On soy latte from Starbucks will have me reaching for the simethicone for him within a few hours.

FYI - If you eat many processed foods, there is soy in everything, so you are probably getting alot more of it than you realize.

I hope you are able to figure it out soon.

 

[carmel23]

My baby is the same... she had colitis, so I had to cut all dairy and soy.

It has been really hard, but I think I'm in a place now where I avoid all dairy and most soy.

I just eat real basic, whole foods (with the exception of rice or almond milk): sourdough bread, hummus, veggies (sqaush is real "meaty", nut butters, some meats, mushrooms, fruits, avocados, quinoa, coconut sorbet...) And no processed junk foods at all since they all seem to have soy or some form of milk. Basically anything with more than 5 ingredients is out.

I don't really eat out anymore... but have a few places I can count on not having dairy/soy in them.

I think it does get easier when you get used to it. See if you can spend an afternoon without kids in the grocery store (try a trader joe's and a health food/natural foods store if there is one near) and just go through the isles reading the labels looking for stuff without dairy. Kellymom dot com has an excellent list...

it does get easier....

 

[CathMac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brdudeon I know you are frustrated. I'm so sorry. My lo is dairy sensitive and also soy sensitive. In my web searching, I found that is true of many babies. The proteins are apparently very similar so many babies are sensitive to both. If you've cut out dairy, you've probably increased you soy intake as a replacement. Could you try cutting out the soy also for a week or so to see if it helps? ...

umsami,
I went through the same thing with DD1. I was fortunate in that I didn't absolutely need to be obsessive about "hidden" dairy but I did avoid anything obvious with eggs, milk, cheese and "non-dairy" with obvious large amounts of milk components (e.g.: "non-dairy creamer" with casein &/or whey). Additionally, I avoided obvious soy since about 30% of people with dairy intolerance have soy intolerance. I don't have my own dietary restrictions but I do know how hard it was to give up egg and cheese. However, I accidentally learned DD1 could tolerate it when I ate mozzarella cheese which meant I could have Italian food. Apparently, some dairy intolerant people can tolerate certain hard cheeses (I think the aging process breaks the protein down). Once your system is clear you might try experimenting with small amounts of various hard cheeses.

Also, although I didn't avoid hidden problem ingredients I might have had greater success if I had. DD1 was still somewhat colicky --although the symptoms were more bearable-- until she was about 15 months old.

You might try various kinds of beans for protein. I would suggest using Beano if you do to avoid or minimize gassiness and gas related discomfort for DC.

Good luck, ~Cath

 

[umsami]

Thanks all. I think she may be soy sensitive as well... which means bye-bye Silk. I made some tofu and spinach stuffed shells a few days ago, and she was positively miserable. I was trying to figure out what dairy I had that day and couldn't...so I think it was probably the tofu.

I haven't had almond or rice milk in about twenty years... I hope they've improved the taste.

I'm going to try and be super-vigilant with no soy and dairy (both hidden and obvious) for the next week or two and see what happens. It doesn't help that DH thinks I'm whacky for doing this. Well, at least I know tonight's dinner is safe.

One meal at a time, is going to have to be my mantra.

MMmmmm... coconut sorbet.

Yummy!

 

[RoadWorkAhead]

If it'll help your DH, about 30% of dairy/soy intolerant kids don't tolerate normal hypoallerginic formula and require amino acid formula at like 35$ a can....I know the cost alone helped us stay on our darn near every dfood free diet until recently!

 

[Electra375]

The powdered hypoallergenic formulas still contain corn, a major allergen these days. Additionally, the hypoallergenic formulas are nothing more than broken down dairy proteins (Progestimil, Nutramigin, Alimentum).

The Elemental formulas (strictly amino acids), in some states require a prescription, I know Neocate does when you call their company. The pharmacist said EleCare was not a script but I had to buy an entire case they would order it in. I ordered some from E-bay to try.

Try taking out Gluten (wheat, barley, rye and oats) continue w the no dairy proteins. I know it is hard, trust me, I do it every day. I also did take out corn for a while, I was at my wits end. I do eat meat though, but I find most of my lunch meals are GF DF by AMY's in the frozen food section and they are vegan (they contain soy though and some dairy sensitive are not tolerant of soy either).

I thought the Semi-Elemental or Elemental formula would be an option, it was not. Progestimil is semi-elemental, taste bitter and gross (breast milk is sweet) my baby would not take it. Alimentum is also a semi-elemental and it is equally as gross, but not as bitter. I bought some of that when the doc said it was tolerated better - hah. Again he would not take it. The liquid Alimentum is corn free from what I understand, but taste no better. The EleCare is sort of tasteless, I've been using this to fortify my bm for a Failure to Thrive baby. NeoCate is also sort of tasteless and again I use it for fortifying. These two elemental formulas alone are not tolerated by my baby, he won't drink them, only when breastmilk makes up the main component of the feeding.

I take it 1 day at a time, he is now 8 mo old. He can tolerate small amounts of dairy, but I don't push my limits. I remain Gluten Free (GF).

Raw dairy in general is better tolerated than pasteurized. I have raw dairy for my other kids to use in their cereal, I might try this guy out on some raw dairy goats milk in a few months. A friend of mine just told me she has goats milk now.

So what do we eat - green stuffs, fresh stuffs, some GF cereals, raw dairy, homemade stuffs, GFDF frozen food items, GFDF cookies, regular chips, ice tea is a favorite, I still have my coffee and I still have chocolate. It's all okay. It's healthy, it's whole foods, it's an adventure. Postivie attitude helps and a bad day can really just be miserable.

For your dd, try GF along with DF, results may take up to 2 weeks, but I suspect 2 to 3 days if Gluten is the problem. Also, remove soy. Your Legumes will probably be fine once her system settles down. Quinoa can be a replacement protein, it is also a Gluten Free grain.

 

[In Exile]

Oh Man, I hear you!

On top of having a VERY highneeds baby that never sleeps during the daytime, wakes up every.damn.20.minutes. at night- I have REALLY hard time with starvation on top of that.

I (was) trying to cut out dairy, soy, nuts, shellfish, gluten, corn, eggs- this SUCKS!

If you are already sleep deprived (sleeping 10 minutes at a time, only to be woken up yet again)- add the eating thing and I am ready to go crazy.

I can't even put my baby down to take a shower, get a glass of water, not to mention make something to eat- and if you limited to a bunch of veggies, ricemilk and millet- that's not fun at all. I can see that it is easier if you actually get a break here and there and are ABLE to make yourself something to eat- but on that kind of diet with literally no time it is impossible.

I had 3 attempts of elimination diet and it just sucks to not be able to eat anything.

 

[Electra375]

From my experience w a screaming baby, no naps, 20min sleeping cycles if being held, etc. I HAD to just put him down and take care of myself. I'm no good to him or my other child at the time, if I'm not fed at a bare minimum.
I found he would tolerate the swing on HIGH for about 15 minutes, if he could see me. It sat in my kitchen. I found he loved to be slinged, so he was worn a lot - bathroom, shower, laundry, dishes, fixing food even. But there were times where I just wanted to poop in peace... Never happened.
I could hear him screaming in my mind. If he was sleeping I could still hear him, he screamed so much I never got away from it. I dreamed him screaming, so I slept little, even when he did sleep.
I did discover later on that he was over stimulated and would scream as well, so sometimes putting him down calmed him down and picking him back up made him scream. It was backwards to me, but it worked. It was hard at first to tell if he was over stimulated or needing something else.

Sometimes there just is no other choice but to put baby down in a safe place and take care of yourself. I've not taken care of myself and found myself not any use to any one and very depressed in my PJs for days, no shower, no food, no sleep and in a very black place which I never want to return to. I'm not a proponant of CIO and would never suggest that sort of philosophy. What I am saying it is okay for the baby to cry while you take care of yourself for a moment -- you've fed, changed, checked, tried and tried and you need something to eat or drink -- please go and get that meal or drink of water, then return to baby refreshed and able to cope just a bit better. Now, if baby likes to be on your back and you are up to it, just put him on your back and fix yourself something to eat, but if he is going to cry whether or not you are holding him, then it's nothing you can "fix" and you need to most definitely take care of yourself so you can continue to take care of his needs.

As for food, try to fix a little more at a time, so you can snack throughout the day. Quinoa might be doable too for variety - Quinoa spaggetti is straight Quinoa (some are blends). Rice pasta also exist and is good. You can purchase breads made from non-gluten grains which are often times free of other stuff, the more free of, the worse it taste, but toasted it's tolerable (fruit spread or something that is "safe") makes it go down better. Enjoy Life has several cookie snacks and are free of a lot of things. EngerG breads are DFGF (most types, if not all, egg free to I believe). HFS time for "convienence".

Something else that really seems to work is Enzymes and Probiotics, the adult kind, just take the powder out, a little on your finger into babies mouth before eating. Mom takes them too.

Another thing, all of this can be too much for some moms. Not every mom is able to cope with this sort of challenge, especially without support. If you have support, call it in. Even then, it might be too much.

I'm going to share the following with caution. I fully support bfing, even through challenges, I'm here, I'm bfing, I'm dealing with challenges. Every day is a decision to continue bfing. Last night I gave my ds a bottle of dairy formula, thinking he might be getting over his intolerance -- he threw it up, all of it. So, I'm in a spot where I do not produce enough to supply his needs, I'm on DOM, I'm doing everything I can do given my limits of having a house, 3 other children and a dh. I can not keep up this pace, everything is falling apart (the kids school work, the house, the laundry, it's a lot to deal with), so I plan on moving him over to formula, slowly and be there by December. Well, as life would have it, he does not tolerate dairy forumla and the others taste so bad he isn't all that interested, although I got 3oz of Alimentum down him mid-moring after a nursing session. So, I'm nursing and nursing and nursing. However, if he were younger he would probably take to the Alimentum

***and this is what I have to say about that -- if you need to put your baby on formula to have a happy baby, then do it. I listened to my 2nd child scream for the first year plus of his life, it has traumatized him, he has behavior problems which do come from his rough start, he is not 100%. His verbal skills and find motor skills are delayed, probably due to all the pain he was in.

I have a 4th baby now who is not meeting milestones at 8 mo old (not sitting, not crawling, not doing a lot of things one might expect and he is small) b/c I was bfing him eating gluten. He lost 10% of his body weight and was miserable some of the time. If I had to do it all over again, I supposed I'd like to have known about gluten in 2002, but I didn't learn about it until 2005.

I'm not sure I would have gone the route I took had I a chance to do my children all over again. I do think I was too subborn to listen to anyone about giving formula to my 2nd child since I was unable to breastfeed my first, but 5 years later, I must saddly admit, it was not worth the pain it caused my son to torture him with every breastfeeding session, every meal, I did this to him, me and what I didn't know then, that I know now (which I can't blame myself for not knowing, I was searching). And now he pays a dear price of being delayed in key skill sets which I am firmly attaching to his rough start in life filled with pain, the psychologist affirmed that belief in his write up of all the testing we did this summer.

There are so many more formula's on the market today and some have a place. The orginal formula was developed for Mead Johnson's son who was Failure to Thrive and doctors pronouncing he would die. The orgins of formula are genuine to saving lives. Elemental Formulas have no allergens EleCare and NeoCate, my son tolerates these, but they are $35 - $40 per can, I have a script for either. They have no real taste. I add them to his food for calories. Semi-Elemental have broken down dairy protein in them Alimentum and Pregestimil and Nutramigen. Alimentum in the liquid is corn free. I received a case of liquid through my Pedi GI docs office representative. Then there are the dairy based, organic even (which I find sort of funny), including lactose free (which does not solve the protein intolerance or allergy) and finally soy based. My first baby was on soy, he was also intolerant of dairy, but they didn't have these other types out then, the lactose free came out during his first year of life and it 1)bubbled up like soap and 2) didn't ease his problem w dairy.

My own views of breast feeding and formula have changed dramatically in the last 8 months. I know there are times when formula is "needed" and not just done out of "ease" or "not knowing better". And I'm saying as a fellow mother of 2 children who were intolerant to my diet, changing the diet can be difficult and sometimes it still does not make the baby better. If anything I've said has you wondering, here is a test without loosing your milk supply. Every mom wants to do their best and have a baby who is content, I'm saying it's okay to try formula when nothing else seems to help.

1) give a feeding of a specialty formula, see how baby reacts
2) pump, so you don't loose your supply
3) repeat to ensure reactions are not from any built up proteins causing baby's reactions
4) continue to pump
5) what was the result?

It won't hurt to do this for a day, even nurse baby in the morning and at night or just at night.

Knowing how much pain my ds2 was in as a baby and that scream, I just wish I had someone tell me it was okay to try formula, he probably would have been a much happier baby and healthier today.

 

[alaskaberry]

My ds is also intolerant of milk protein. I cut out dairy, and when that didn't work, I also cut out corn & eggs. Those were our main problems. You could also try cutting out gluten. Or just cut out the main ones and then gradually add the others back in (except for dairy) to see what else is upsetting her tummy. I don't know anything about formulas so I can't advise you on that. You could try drinking goat's milk instead of cow's milk, and also raw milk instead of pasteurized. My ds is 17m now and he is still intolerant of milk proteins (breaks out in an eczema rash). It will get better...Supposedly they "outgrow" it but I'm not too into cow's milk anyway so I don't care. But I miss cheese!

 

[sparkprincess]

Quote:

Originally Posted by umsami Thanks all. I think she may be soy sensitive as well... which means bye-bye Silk. I made some tofu and spinach stuffed shells a few days ago, and she was positively miserable. I was trying to figure out what dairy I had that day and couldn't...so I think it was probably the tofu. I haven't had almond or rice milk in about twenty years... I hope they've improved the taste. I'm going to try and be super-vigilant with no soy and dairy (both hidden and obvious) for the next week or two and see what happens. It doesn't help that DH thinks I'm whacky for doing this. Well, at least I know tonight's dinner is safe. One meal at a time, is going to have to be my mantra. MMmmmm... coconut sorbet. Yummy!

Good for you!!

I can relate on how difficult this is. I'm currently nursing my 2nd dairy-sensitive baby. It's hard!! I've sometimes felt downright ANGRY that I can't eat what I want. Hard to deal with. I can say without hesitation though that it's worth it - and I breastfed number 1 for 2 1/2 years! I did the total elimination diet this time around and that helped a lot, too!

At the same time, please don't forget to take care of yourself and your health needs. I ignorantly didn't supplement calcium and have had to have some serious dental work done. I really, truly believe that if I had supplemented I would not have had so much damage! Please take care of yourself!

 

[RoadWorkAhead]

SOunds like its time for an Eliminating foods Tribe now, but a couple other thoughts.

1) Elemntals are not allergen free, the allergens are just even more broken down to free amino acids- WHy do I know? DD is allergic to Neocate and we're now looking at Elecare but very realistically, I will have to live on a TED longterm. SO as someone told me, don't give up pumping and BFing until you are sure if you go the formula route

2) Goats milk is only tolerated by 8% of dairy allergic/intolerant kids so YMMV. Its not a risk I would take at current, particularly since milk from any species other than my own is unnecessary. I will sit down to a nice glass of pumped milk if I get desperate though

And now off to go see about a tribe. OUr numbers around here seem to be expanding

 

[thepeach80]

Elemental formula is tolerated by almost everyone, but like was mentioned, some can't. I have a good friend who had to ep for over a year b/c her dd just couldn't tolerate those formulas for some reason so she HAD to keep bfing, there were no other options. They think it was b/c of her severe corn sensitivity. Ilana just stopped tolerating the Elecare she was on, but is doing fine on Neocate thankfully.

Here's a list of ingredients for dairy and soy. All of my kids have been dairy, soy, and egg intolerant/allergic w/ Evan being the one that I ended up eating only 4 foods w/ b/c he was intolerant to the world. I have a shopping list of foods that are free of these as well if you need it.

List of Soy Derivatives:
Gum arabic (not soy, but some can react)
Bulking agent
Carob
Emulsifier
Guar gum (not soy, but some can react)
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
Lecithin* (not considered an allergen in most as it's soy protein free)
Miso
MSG (Monosodium glutamate) !
Protein
Protein extender
Soy Flour
Soy nuts
Soy panthenol
Soy protein
Soy protein isolate or concentrate
Soy sauce
Soybean
Soybean oil (not considered an allergen in most as it's soy protein free)
Stabilizer
Starch
Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
Thickener
Tofu
Vegetable broth
Vegetable gum
Vegetable starch
Dairy Derivatives:
artificial butter flavor
butter
butter fat
butter oil
buttermilk
casein (casein hydrosylate)
Caseinates (in all forms)
Cheese
Cream
Cottage cheese
Curds
Custard
Ghee
Half & Half
LactalbuminLactalbumin phosphate
Lactoferrin
Lactulose
Milk (in all forms including condensed, derivative, dry, evaporated, goat'smilk, and milk for other animals, low-fat, malted, milkfat, non-fat, powder, protein, skimmed, solids, whole).
Nougat
Naturlose (sweetener derived from whey)
Pudding
Rennet casein
Sour cream
Sour cream solids
Sour milk solids
Tagatose (sweetener derived from whey)
Whey (in all forms)
Yogurt

According to FAAN, These products DO NOT contain milk:
Calcium Lactate
Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate
Cocoa Butter
Cream of Tarter
Lactic Acid (however, lactic acid starter culture may contain milk)
Oleoresin
Sodium lactate
Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate

 

[In Exile]

Peach, show me the shopping list, I bet that's a lot shorter...

 

[thepeach80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by In Exile Peach, show me the shopping list, I bet that's a lot shorter...

I'm pm you b/c it's not.

What are you eliminating now? I saw gluten was one thing, keep in mind that Rice Dream products have gluten in them if you're drinking that. We went through all that w/ Evan, it was no fun.

 

[angelamclamb]

FYI, from what I read about the hypoallergenic formulas are they contain the highest amounts of Neurotoxins. It's sad that infant formula is the least regulated by the FDA!!!

: My 5yr old was dairy intolerant so once we realized that he had GERD and dairy/soy issues we switched him to Nutramigen at 2mths old (smells like cheap canned dog food) but it was so costly at $23.00 a can or so and he would go through one can every day and a half!!! So we switched to goats milk and he stayed on it until he was about 2 as we slowly introduced cows milk. He did great on the goats milk!!! We are currently trying to get some for our dd who is having the same issues.

 

[timneh_mom]

Umsami... I've got a few friends that have to be dairy/soy free for their babies... it's in everything and if you can figure out what doesn't have it, once you get that straightened out, it should get easier... one day at a time!!

 

[Margot Adler]

and the difference is huge. you can try hemp milk as well, it seems to be more nutritionally dense than rice milk.
good luck mamma!

 

[prettymom]

We also have to be really strict about no dairy. Even a little slip shows in a big way.