Going Dairy-Free for My Baby: Guest Post from Vanessa
Vanessa is the mother of two children, a boy and a girl. I’ve known her for 8 years and I find her fascinating, talented, and devoted to everything she loves. You can catch more of her stories on motherhood at It’s Called Guilt.
“I’d do anything for my kids!” We repeat this motherhood mantra over and over. For some of us, it’ll mean giving up a much-needed vacation so Junior can go to soccer camp. For others, it’ll be piano lessons instead of a plasma TV. Whatever the sacrifice, we’re glad to do it…mostly.
My turn at sacrificing came in December when my daughter was just three months old. Our little one had had troubles from early on. She continued to plateau on her weight even after we remedied tongue-tie, colic, and an oversupply of breastmilk. One poopy diaper revealed the harsh truth: baby girl is allergic to milk (and possibly soy) protein. The pediatrician came in with the news and my alternatives — put baby on formula or start a dairy-free, soy-free diet.
My first reaction was, “Okay! Bring on the formula!” But the more I thought about it, the more the mantra replayed itself in my mind. I knew I had to give this new meal plan a try. That first day I hunted around my house, looking for something, ANYTHING I could eat. I didn’t come up with much.
But for the last three months, I’ve devoted myself to learning about “hidden dairy” ingredients, finding new recipes, and investigating every morsel of food that touches my lips. I can’t say it’s been easy. I have dreams about accidentally ingesting ‘contaminated’ bread. I go to restaurants only to learn I can order a garden salad with no croutons and oil & vinegar for dressing, or else mandarin orange slices. That’s all.
I miss cheesecake. And ice cream. And getting to eat whatever I want without thinking about it. But I’ve learned discipline through it all. I don’t think I ever could have done this just for me. But for my baby? That’s another story altogether.
By Christmas everyone said she was a different baby. Gone were the days of one hour fine, one hour in pain, one hour of sleep, and repeat. Her smile now lasts throughout the day. That’s the silver lining in all of this. That and the weight that’s just sliding off. Hey – it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.
How have allergies affected your family? Have there been other sacrifices you’ve had to make as a mom?
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Wow. I am really impressed. Did the doctor even suggest that you could go on the diet in order to continue breast-feeding or did you figure that out yourself? Way to go, Mom!
I don’t think many moms could do that. Good job!! I had to go on a super strict diabetic diet when I was pregnant with my first. That was a sacrifice that I had to do or get on insulin.
You mentioned remedying an over-supply of breastmilk? What is that? Is that being engorged? Or you let down a lot really fast and they can’t drink it all? just wondering…
Deborah –
The doctor basically said that I could give up dairy, but that she could never do it herself. I later found out that I needed to give up soy too – we found that out when we went to a GI specialist. Turns out most babies allergic to milk are also allergic to soy. To play it safe, soy got crossed off the list too. Honestly, the hardest part is that you can’t just look for milk and soy ingredients – it’s all the hidden ones too like whey and tofu. But I feel really strongly about giving my daughter the very best chance at being healthy, so I wanted to continue breastfeeding. The pediatrician highly recommended formula (and the nurse said “push it as hard as you can!”), but I know that breastfeeding her may lessen her chances of more allergies later on. Thanks for the encouragement!
Amanda-
An oversupply of milk is basically that you have too much milk for your baby. In theory it sounds like it shouldn’t be an issue, and I think I’d prefer it over not having enough milk, but it can cause a lot of issues for your little one. Practically speaking, it looks like this: your breasts tend to fill very quickly, so you let down often – for me it was every two hours like clockwork. My daughter barely had to latch on and the milk would start flowing. Sometimes she didn’t even have to be on! Because there’s so much milk, it pours out and the baby winds up gagging and choking and taking in lots of air. This is also the foremilk which tends to cause gassiness (and fussiness!) as well. Because there’s so much foremilk, the baby fills up on that, without getting to the richer hindmilk. Babies have a harder time gaining weight, usually have explosive bowel movements, suffer from severe gas pain, and may projectile vomit regularly. Thankfully, there are a few tricks out there to help with the issue, and mom and baby adjust fairly quickly.
I’m curious — is this a temporary diet? I know this is a different situation, but I’ve had friends with children that had moderate to severe GERD, and the babies were on medication (since they couldn’t drink any form of breastmilk or formula w/o problems), but many of the kids outgrew it and are fine with dairy now, without meds.
Sharon-
For me, this diet can continue as long as I’d like. I will nurse my daughter through her first year and will continue to be dairy & soy free for her. After that the choice is mine…and I’m not sure yet what I will choose! I’m certainly eating healthier now, but I do miss that cheesecake! As for my daughter, only time will tell. Most babies DO eventually outgrow their dairy allergy, but not all. And given that we recently learned my son also has a milk allergy, I’m thinking it may be something she deals with for a long time.
Vanessa – Thanks for sharing in so much detail. I can see how that would be a problem. I know when I am really full and I am letting down really fast its hard for my 1 month old baby to latch. It gets all over his face and everything. It doesn’t happen every time and he doesn’t have explosive poo or too much gas. But I am more informed to be aware to make sure he gets some hind milk after that. And to keep in mind after a full boob to make sure he burps. Luckily he is a good burper, unlike my first. Thanks again for sharing your experience!
I think this is wonderful for both you and your baby
. I went dairy free for allergies and it was amazing how much better I felt. Originally I thought I could never give up cheese but once I stopped it wasn’t that bad, it’s just a bit more expensive to find alternatives.
Just 2 days ago I found coconut milk ice cream, and let me just tell you – I am a happy woman!
My son had a milk sensitivity, so I also avoided milk while nursing. I reintroduced it around 10 months, and he was able to tolerate it! He outgrew the problem, mostly–but now is on 1/2 soy milk 1/2 regular milk.
I too have a son with multiple food allergies-dairy, peanut, tree nuts and egg. So when I was pregnant with our second son I was very careful about what I ate-no peanut butter
When he was first born he had problems spitting up a lot, very gassy and miserable, lots of baby acne. From what I had been reading I suspected dairy so I decided to give it up completely. Our home was already mostly dairy-free because of our older son, but we still had cow milk in the fridge and on occasion I might have a scoop of ice cream. Well long story short he improved when I cut out dairy and now at 9 months I have begun to eat/drink dairy products again. Just an FYI without TMI I ended up with a yeast infection because I eliminated all the dairy from my diet. Apparently when you do that, it can cause the bacteria to get out of whack. Three months and nine prescriptions later I’m back to normal. That is the reason I had to start incorporating dairy again. I needed the acidophilis that is in yogurt. I also take it in pill form. Just wanted to let you know so you could be aware of what might happen. I wish some one would have told me and saved me all those months of misery!
When he was about 3 months old, my happy, mellow little baby became very fussy after eating and not sleeping more than a couple of hours at time. It eventually escalated to his crying while he ate – it was heartbreaking! EVERYONE told us he was allergic to my milk and to switch him to formula. But I just knew that wasn’t the answer. I did some research online and found suggestions of food to eliminate from my diet. Turns out he’s sensitive to dairy and peanuts. Now he’s back to his happy self. He’s almost 6 months now, and though I miss dairy, I am glad to give it up to keep him on breastmilk.