The
Pediatrician thinks my 8-week-old daughter may have a cows milk
allergy. They told me to pump for the next week.
I'm afraid they are going to tell me that I have to stop
nursing. The reason they think she has the allergy is that she
has all of the colic symptoms, and as of Sunday morning, has
blood in her stools. I need to know if its possible to become
dairy free quick enough to resume nursing soon!
Cows
milk is probably the most common link to fussiness in a
breastfed baby. Most women will begin to see symptoms
subsiding in about a week, but it can take 10-14 days to totally
eliminate the cow's milk protein from your body.
This is not, however, a reason to wean!! If you are not
happy with the advice you are given by your doctor, you always
have the right to a second opinion. Call and see if you can find
a more "breastfeeding-
friendly" doctor. It would be helpful for you to find a
local lactation consultant (try 1-800-TELL YOU) or a La Leche
League Group (1-800-LALECHE). Either may be able to
recommend doctors that would be more knowledgeable.
Dr. Jack Newman, a pediatrician and breastfeeding expert, has
written many articles about breastfeeding. One is about "How
to Know if a Health Professional is not Supportive of
Breastfeeding." There is also information about colic
as well as many other topics. He gives permission for anyone to
print out his articles. I believe you may find information at
this site that can be helpful to you http://www.erols.com/cindyrn/drjack0.htm
I have heard Dr. Newman speak about the issue of blood in the
stool. He feels that often this is due to irritation from
lactose malabsorption. It is his belief that slowing down
gastric emptying results in the lactose being better absorbed.
This means getting more hind-milk into the baby. Hind milk is
higher in fat. He encourages doing "breast
compressions" to get more fat into the baby. He also says
he has "cured" many problems just by getting a mother
to do compressions. You can read about breast compression
at the above site. If a mother has a really abundant milk
supply, the baby may not be getting enough fat. Judging from
Olivia's weight gain during the first two months, this would
seem very likely. Changing the way you feed to only offering one
breast per feeding is often helpful for this problem. Please
let me know how things go. I would be happy to help
further if needed.
Cher Sealy RN, BSN, IBCLC, LLLL
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