Dr. wants to put DD on formula :( Tried cutting out dairy already-help please!

[Rachel789]

I have had a really rough time so far with breastfeeding. DD was 9 lbs 3 oz when she was born and when we took her to the dr. when she was 4 days old she was down to 8 lbs 3 oz so the dr. immediately had me supplement with formula. I called a LC and had her come out the next day to help me figure out what was wrong. It turned out I was producing barely any milk. So I started pumping around the clock for a few days and finally on day 8 my milk really came in and I was able to cut out the formula and just breastfeed again.

Fast forward to when DD was about 5 weeks old and she started having really watery stools that I would definitely consider diarrhea, it has varied in color from yellow to green to brownish and has mucous in it. She has no fever but she is very gassy and spits up a lot. But overall she is still a happy baby. There are no food allergies on either side of the family. After she had this for three days I took a sample to the dr. to get tested and there was blood present so the dr. suggested I cut out dairy and also limited any soy. The only soy is in my diet is very small amounts that are in some processed foods I eat. I took her back to the dr. a few days later and they tested the stool again and the blood was gone. They also sent away a sample and it was negative for any bacteria. Today is day 10 and there is no improvement on the diarrhea. So the dr. suggested I stop breastfeeding and put her on a hypoallergenic formula for five days and see if there is an improvement and pump in the meantime. I really don't want to stop breastfeeding and this is really upsetting me

Does anyone have any input as to what might be going on? Is it possible we still need more time on the dairy free diet to see improvement (it has been one week since I stopped dairy)?

Something else that I have going on that I am wondering if it is possibly a culprit to the problem is that I have an over active let down/over supply issues.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, I am so stressed out and don't know what to do

 

[summer rain]

It takes at least 2-3 weeks for dairy and soy to get out of your system, I would give it at least that long. From personal experience breastfeeding while eliminating foods is far easier than switching to formula and long term, baby is less likely to have longer lasting allergy issues xx

 

[MissCurly]

My lil boy has very wet dirty nappies- and only now as he is slowly being introduced to solids is his poop getting slightly thicker.

(trust me, the number of leaks we have had because of his watery poop has been way more than i would like to think about!).

Personally, if you're babe is happy, i can't imagine why formula would be a better replacement for your breastmilk?

 

[Rachel789]

She is still gaining weight well, about an ounce a day. I am just concerned she isn't getting the right absorption of nutrients with the diarrhea.

She had normal yellow seedy apple sauce type consistency stools before this. Now they are very watery with little to no consistency and it smells bad which it didn't before. And she is very gassy and spits up a lot.

I am hoping the dairy just hasn't left my body yet and things will change. I just would have thought I would have seen some sort of improvement by now?

 

[summer rain]

As long as baby is gaining weight it's fine. My second youngest we eliminates all kinds of stuff from my diet and it helped for a bit but then he'd start reacting to something else but just with green, mucusy stool with blood spots in, no other symptoms. My doctor said even with this BF was still the better option and long term it would do no harm especially as once we had got the main culprits out of my system, it happened only occasionally. By five months he had outgrown it completely and he is still BF now. My middle son had really had diarrhoea as you describe but in his case he was not absorbing anything and was becoming dehydrated and only gaining 1oz a week because of it and then lost 8oz over the space of a few days, I did switch him to formula then but wish I would have had the support to continue BF. I planned for the formula switch to be temporary and I found if I only BF at night he was ok-but he started sleeping through and my supply completely dried up within the space of a few days and I could never get him to latch again after that xx

 

[rmsh1]

Just read your post and see that it is diarrhea, not just runny poop like I mentioned in the other thread

I have no experience, but I am with the others, if she is still a happy baby, gaining weight, then she is getting what she needs! I would give it a few weeks more for the dairy to leave your system, and also look at anything else you are eating that might cause it. Something you are eating every day

 

[Matilda85]

I don't think it's been long enough for dairy yet. I just got back from the doctors as my little man has mild eczema. She suggested I could try an elimination diet as dairy allergy is often a cause. She said I would need to do it for 3tto 4 weeks to see a difference. If your lo is happy I would give it a few more weeks before making the switch.

 

[Rachel789]

Thank you everyone for your input, I really appreciate it!

I took another stool sample to the dr. today and had her weighed to make sure she is gaining weight well. The stool sample was negative for blood again where a week ago it was positive so the dr. said that is a good sign that dairy was causing issues and since I stopped dairy the blood left the stool. When I had her weighed the first day the diarrhea started which was 11 days ago she was 10 lbs 15 oz and today she was 11 lbs 12 oz so she is gaining weight very well and is in the 92nd percentile! So even with the diarrhea she is still thriving which is great news. The dr. was ok with me waiting longer to see if maybe the dairy is still having an effect on her stools. She suggested maybe giving her the formula once a day to see if that makes a difference in her stools and to help things along. I may try that, I don't think once a day can hurt.

I am glad to hear all of you say I haven't given the non dairy diet long enough. I didn't realize it can take 2-3 weeks for a difference to be made.

 

[confused87com]

my daughter had the v watery non seedy poops, could be up to 20 a day, she had nappy rash and eczema. i noticed an initial improvement the poops reduced in number but only now am i really noticing a real change, it must be burning her less as she has no nappy rash now, its still watery but not any where near as bad. Its been 3 weeks dairy and soy free. I would keep trying for longer, it may work

 

[Glorycoree]

Rachel,

I'm in the exact situation right now. Our stories are identical. My daughters poops are very mucusey and she has bad gas. She's such a happy baby normally, however, the gas is really disturbing her and the poops are really making me lose it. First I had an over supply which caused green, frothy poops and after I did block feeding we had the yellow poops again, but this time with small amounts of mucous. I quit eating and drinking dairy two weeks ago, yet again.. We had some green poops and my supply started to over produce again- I think becaus she started sleeping longer at night. I got the poops back to yellow and the mucous was unbelievable. Today I took her to the doctor and he gave me similar allimintum (hypoallergenic formula) and wanted me to give her the formula every other feeding. I did this twice, however, my friends are all saying not to do this and that my supply will disappear. I'm very interested to know how you handled this and what came of it? Everyone is saying that this will work itself out. I hope that's true because I really want to breast feed and this is breaking me down. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[noon_child]

My LO sometimes got foul smelling (vinegary) greeny mucus poos. Sometimes it went on for a few weeks sometimes a day. When I mentioned it to the nurse she said if it isn't getting worse and she's gaining weight etc. then it can't be anything serious - they wouldn't even think it was worth testing her poop as LO was fine in herself and gaining (in her own way).

I worked out in the end that it must be something to do with her fighting off viruses.

 

[Rachel789]

Rachel,

I'm in the exact situation right now. Our stories are identical. My daughters poops are very mucusey and she has bad gas. She's such a happy baby normally, however, the gas is really disturbing her and the poops are really making me lose it. First I had an over supply which caused green, frothy poops and after I did block feeding we had the yellow poops again, but this time with small amounts of mucous. I quit eating and drinking dairy two weeks ago, yet again.. We had some green poops and my supply started to over produce again- I think becaus she started sleeping longer at night. I got the poops back to yellow and the mucous was unbelievable. Today I took her to the doctor and he gave me similar allimintum (hypoallergenic formula) and wanted me to give her the formula every other feeding. I did this twice, however, my friends are all saying not to do this and that my supply will disappear. I'm very interested to know how you handled this and what came of it? Everyone is saying that this will work itself out. I hope that's true because I really want to breast feed and this is breaking me down. Thanks for sharing!!

I never put her on formula instead I cut out soy as well since a lot of babies with dairy issues have a problem with soy as well and from the time I originally quit dairy it took about 2.5 months for her poop to return to normal. She started only going every few days and it had a normal consistency. Then after about a month of normal poop she got the green mucus diarrhea again for a few weeks then it returned to normal again. Not sure what caused it to happen again as I am strict with my diet but maybe when I ordered food out something was in there that I didn't notice or it may have been a reaction to vaccines as it happened a few days after she had her vaccines. I guess I will never know. The dr tells me the fact that she had blood in her stools and a few days after I quit dairy the blood was gone that indicates it is a dairy intolerance. I still am not 100% convinced but I have been dairy and soy free for 4 months to be safe. I may trial dairy back in my diet at some point in the future and hope she has outgrown it.

Hang in there I know how stressful this is but I think you need to give being off dairy more time and maybe consider stopping soy ( I am still able to eat things with soybean oil in them as it typically isn't an allergen). From my research I have read it can take up to a couple months of being off it for the poops to go back to normal as it takes time for the gut to heal. DD's poop is normal again but she is still quite gassy. I don't know why but she is a very happy baby and doesn't seem bothered by it for the most part so I am hoping she will just outgrow it.