Allergies?

[penelopejones]

So, my LO is 8 weeks old and has had a tough time of it. He was born at 37 weeks and was a slow gainer at first, very sleepy at the breast. Once he got over that, he started having reflux, gas, and colic type symptoms. This was getting progressively worse--he started eating more frequently but spitting up and vomiting after almost every feed. A few days ago we got his tongue and lip tie released, as I'd been reading about how that can contribute to those symptoms. But 3 days later he is still spitting up a lot and screaming after eating. I'm thinking maybe there are also allergies at play.

I'm already gluten free (have been for years) and cut dairy a few weeks ago. Should I try a total elimination diet? Or just keep eliminating things one by one to see what might be a trigger? Right know I'm thinking maybe soy, eggs, or chocolate might be problems.

Or is the continued spitting up and screaming to be expected after a tongue/lip tie release?

 

[jessmke]

I'm by no means an expert on this, but I can't see why releasing a tongue/lip tie would help with reflux. It would definitely help him latch better while feeding, but reflux is caused by poor tone to the sphincter where the esophagus meets the stomach. I'm not sure how the two conditions could be related. Has your LO been prescribed any medications for his reflux? Have you been keeping him upright during and after feeds and have the head of his bed elevated? His behaviour could be related to allergies, but since he already has reflux I would be inclined to explore treating that more fully and then investigate possibly allergies if reflux treatment doesn't help.

 

[noon_child]

Ties can contribute to trapped wind, which sometimes causes pain and burping more means more likelihood of bringing milk with it. However I agree with pp that if he has actual reflux it is likely that being able to drink more may mean more comes back up. I'd progress down the road of treating reflux first, then if no improvement you can look at allergies. An elimination diet is quite extreme and will take a fair bit of time to show results.

 

[loeylo]

In all honesty I would speak to a professional (either a dietician or a paediatrician) before eliminating things from your diet. My wee one has an allergy to the proteins in cows milk, and now is starting to show allergies to other foods since weaning. You really want to get them professionally evaluated before weaning as its really difficult for us now, every time we introduce a new food we wonder if it will cause a reaction. Its not nice!

Good luck.

 

[penelopejones]

Thanks everyone! Yeah, I think I'm going to focus on the reflux first. I'm now thinking it may have to do with lactose overload (https://www.babycareadvice.com/babycare/general_help/article.php?id=18#64), which is related to the tongue tie (not draining the breast effectively and therefore not getting enough hind milk). I'm going to concentrate on adding more healthy fats to my diet before resorting to the elimination diet. AS you say, it's pretty extreme and not very fun!

 

[noon_child]

Thanks everyone! Yeah, I think I'm going to focus on the reflux first. I'm now thinking it may have to do with lactose overload (https://www.babycareadvice.com/babycare/general_help/article.php?id=18#64), which is related to the tongue tie (not draining the breast effectively and therefore not getting enough hind milk). I'm going to concentrate on adding more healthy fats to my diet before resorting to the elimination diet. AS you say, it's pretty extreme and not very fun!

There is no evidence that eating more fat makes your milk more calorific. Your body will put the right amount of fat in to your milk regardless of what you eat (unless you are on a very restricted diet that puts you at risk of malnutrition/starvation). Obviously if you are needing those fats yourself due to weightloss that you are not happy with or whatever we, then it's a great idea, but a good diet during breastfeeding is about protecting mum's health not baby's.

 

[penelopejones]

My lactation consutant pointed me to this: https://www.drbriffa.com/2009/05/08...enefits-for-nursing-mothers-and-their-babies/

So a low vs. high fat diet can affect breast milk content.

 

[noon_child]

My lactation consutant pointed me to this: https://www.drbriffa.com/2009/05/08...enefits-for-nursing-mothers-and-their-babies/

So a low vs. high fat diet can affect breast milk content.

Oooh always interesting to read about different research. I've always been told the following: https://kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/change-milkfat/

 

[penelopejones]

I know - that's what I thought too. I was looking up some research on lactose overload and found some mentions of fat content. Maybe it doesn't normally matter that much. Here's where I first saw it mentioned (https://www.health-e-learning.com/articles/Lactose.pdf) and it rang a bell because I've been grabbing a lot of low fat - high carb snacks out of convenience.

 

[penelopejones]

The bit I found interesting was on page 7: "Assessment of the mother’s diet is a relevant consideration. Some mothers are having minimal fat / high sugar intakes. Other mothers are simply eating very little and very infrequently because they are stressed or “too busy”. Breakfast and lunch are commonly inadequate meals. There are also mothers who severely restrict their fat intakes to quickly lose weight gained in pregnancy. All of these situations are undesirable for the mothers as much as for their breastfed babies.An inadequate fat intake in the maternal diet appears to make a direct contribution to the intensity of lactose overload symptoms, resulting in lower fat and higher lactose levels in their breast milk. (12,13,14)"

 

[noon_child]

I posted the drbriffa link to my be support group to see what they thought. One woman pointed out that the study was only conducted on 7 women, which isn't large enough to conclude anything scientifically.

In my opinion it's worth trying to increase fat intake (unless you have a medical reason not to) but I'd hate anyone thinking "I can't breastfeed because I don't eat the right food/ I never find time to eat" when actually that may have no effect at all. Globally a large percentage of breastfeeding women will be subsisting on a diet of rice or millet topped up with a bit of veg and occasionally meat (I assume many also have access to full fat milk from dairy animals too).

Fat content varies throughout the day and depending on emptiness/fullness of breasts (feeding regularily from empty breasts = fattier milk) so I'd like to see a study where there were enough women to rule out these variables.

 

[penelopejones]

Good point. I do think that the push for low fat diets (and low fat dairy) has been detrimental and current research seems to support a higher fat diet in general.

 

[noon_child]

Good point. I do think that the push for low fat diets (and low fat dairy) has been detrimental and current research seems to support a higher fat diet in general.

I was lucky enough to never feel the pressure of being told to change my diet during pregnancy or breastfeeding and was told if the only thing I can eat for lunch is a drive through because it's the only place baby will sleep then to go ahead and do it! I don't really believe in rules during early parenting - just do whatever it takes to get by!