Today I have been breastfeeding my youngest for 1 year 2 months and 1 day. I can not say it has been an easy time but I am SO proud that we have been able to make it here. It was important for me to make it to 6 months, then I changed the goal to 1 year and now I am just hoping to continue as long as she wants to. Not every breastfeeding journey is simple. It can take a lot of patience and sacrifice and I had a quick lesson in that.
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| Daughter only an hour old after we first nursed |
About 10 days after I brought my daughter home from the hospital I noticed she was acting typically ‘colic‘. My other two children did not just scream for any unknown reason so I knew something was off with Baby E. When my son was a newborn he was only breastfed for 6 weeks and then he was on hypo-allergenic formula because he had a lot of digestive troubles. My first daughter was breastfeed for almost 4 months when I had to stop for medical reasons for myself. So, I did not have a lot of experience with colic and the breastfed baby.
All I did know was that I did not have time for it. I know that sounds awful, but it’s true. I had a 3 year old and a 2 year old at home with me who also needed my attention and support and it was noisy enough. I had to get to the bottom of why this 10 day old baby was just crying.
Baby E was constantly crying (like blood curdling cries), jerking her knees up to her stomach, puking after eating (like PUKE not baby spit up) and she started to develop a rash all over her body Something in the back of my head told me that this is dairy. I have to cut lactose out of my diet since I am breastfeeding and see if that helps her.
So I was now eating gluten free (because of my Celiac Disease) and lactose free. I gave it a few days and while the symptoms did get a bit better in Baby E, they were still not completely gone – so I waited another week with out having any lactose. Her symptoms were still not completely gone yet and I knew that since they were getting better – I was on to something.
After a bit of research I discovered Casein. I had heard of the casein free diet through Autism information and decided to look more into it. Casein is the main protein in cows milk and is found in ingredients like whey & casienate as well as any dairy products (and gasp … chocolate!).
I decided to give up all dairy including casein and see how that affected Baby E. Since I was already eating gluten free I was an ‘expert’ at scouring food labeling to peg out the ingredients that contained casein. Seriously within the week she was a WHOLE. NEW. BABY!! Her rash was gone, her screaming was gone, there was no knee jerking and no more throwing up. It was a miracle.
After talking with our doctor he suggested I stayed off all forms of casein for at least 9 months and then to slowly start to incorporate it back into my diet and to keep her off it for at least a year. Baby E was exclusively breast feed for her first 9 months before she started to receive anything other then breast milk. I was eating casein free that entire time (I MISSED MY CHOCOLATE!!) and it was so worth it.
Was the diet hard? Absolutely! What made it so worth it was the happy baby I got to enjoy instead of the super-cranky-can’t-keep-anything-down baby I could have had. After about a year I slowly started to bring casein back in my diet. I started eating lactose free and see how she tolerated that and was introducing yogurt and hard cheese into her diet. She seemed to be doing just fine so we stayed with that for a while.
1 year 2 months and 1 day later I am pretty much able to eat what I want again (hello chocolate!). Baby E is still not having any dairy other then yogurt and cheese and she seems to tolerate both of us having dairy to a moderate level. If I over do it – it becomes apparent right away – the puking, the rash, the screaming all come back.
If you are at home with a screaming colicky baby I suggest you talk to your baby’s pediatrician about a possible dairy, lactose or casein sensitivity. From what my doctor told me, most babies digestive system can start to tolerate it around 9-12 months so it is not something they will normally live with for a long period of time.
Do you have any experience eating casein free? What about advice for other families dealing with a baby who has colic?
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You should be very proud. So many give up too soon. What a trooper you are. Lucky daughter.
Mary
Mary
Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such a nice message! I am very proud that I have been able to breastfeed through food intolerance! Thank you for your support!
I am very happy that you that you worked really hard to feed your baby. It is so important. I have 9 children and 5 were very hard to nurse for various reasons. I did and they are happy well adjusted kids. People could not understand why I went through all the work. I know that you understand.. God is blessing you in your efforts.
http://debbiellbriskincare.blogspot.com/
MBC
Thank you Debbie! I do understand the struggles – congrats on bfing! Hope you are having a wonderful day!! ♥
With my first son he developed the rash and sensitivity to dairy or I guess it was the casein. I love cheese, yogurt and chocolate! But I was determined to breastfeed. I cut it our of my diet and he did very well. He is now 3.5 yrs old and able to eat dairy no problem. My second son was fine with dairy, but he was very gassy and had acid reflux. A whole different ball game but a very fussy baby for 2 months. My second son loved to nurse and never took well to a bottle even when I pumped. He would have nursed forever but I got salmonella and had to stop. It was sad for him since it was not his choice.
Anyways, thanks for telling your story!
I do not have any help on this subject but Congratulations on the nursing! We are 6 months strong right now and I really feel that we have made it to a good spot, of course I want to continue as long as we can! My journey was a struggle for the first couple days as she was in the NICU and they gave her formula….ugh!
Just read your post and I am proud of you, that's not easy, but you've passed with flying colors. (((hugs)))) Hope you will continue to hang with us even though we're not on TMB anymore- I'll continue to vote for you girl!
<3 country mom
Cindy – thank you! Congrats on getting to 6mo. I am sorry to hear the hospital gave your daughter formula w/o your permission. I was luckily in a very pro-breastfeeding hospital and never encountered that.
Carrie – Aw – thank you!! Of COURSE i will continue to hang with you ladies ♥ I appreciate your votes and your friendship!
You are NOT ALONE! I have been off dairy, soy, wheat, eggs and nuts for almost 14 months so I could nurse my youngest. My other two I had to wean because the elimination diet wasn't working. My oldest is fine – except for peanut/treenut allergy, which is awful, but at least he can eat everything else. My daughter had to be weaned at 2 months and she has absolutely no food allergies. We just had the baby tested and he's allergic to eggs, but possibly sensitive to milk and soy. I'm trying to see how he does with milk at the moment. I don't have any food allergies or sensitivities so this has been a VERY tough year for me! But so worth it!
Amazing what you have done.. My son too had dairy issues and at 3 still does. He also had gluten issues that since have not been an issue. THanks for sharing this.
I'm a little late in commenting, but I've just found this site! I'm currently breastfeeding my almost 9 month old son. He's my fourth and the only one who has allergies. He's allergic to casein, wheat, eggs, corn, and pork – and has sensitivities to soy, peppers, and legumes. He presented initially with bloody stools
I have a very restricted diet in the mainstream sense…like going out to eat or shopping in a normal grocery store since just about everything prepackaged has some form of wheat, soy, or corn in it. But in a non-mainstream way I've been very inventive and have found some truly amazing products (Enjoy Life Foods)and new foods. It has been a wonderful learning experience, eating this way. AND I've dropped over 20 lbs since January!!
I’m doing the same right now! My daughter is almost 9 months now. I think this truely shows what kind of mom a person is. Sacrificing eating! I live by some realllllllly good Mexican restaurants and I miss it o much. But to see such a happy baby is more than worth it. I didn’t know what was wrong with my first daughter – she cried all the time and was in pain, would wake up 4 or 5 time a night until she was one. I spoke with our new doctor (who was a god send!) About how my 1st was when I was preggo with #2. She told me about casein and the affects, no one had EVER mentioned it to me. And it gets pasted down, my husband and his sister both had it. So for the last 9 months I have been living on turkey and rice pretty much. I do sneak some M&M every once in a while now and she seems fine. I just want to say kuddos to you and being such a great mom. I think the casein intolerance should be more well known. I think of all those babies on formula and how miserable they must be….
Thank you for sharing
Thanks for posting! I have been eating (or TRYING to, at least!!) casein and dairy free for my 5 month old, who had all the same symptoms, minus the rash…
Great work – IT IS HARD!!! And, thanks for the encouragement. I won’t have to be chocolate (and cheese, and yogurt)- free forever! (because coconut “yogurt” is just not the same!!)
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