Family Forum / Pregnancy / Pregnancy / July 2004

Kay never had bloody stools, but she did have horrible gas, diarrhea and
discomfort when I drank milk, so I cut way back and started using soymilk.
She's much better now, and I can have normal milk on my cereal again!  

If you're cutting back on dairy, don't forget to supplement your calcium--
we used calcium antacids.

I haven't heard of that...maybe you'd be better posting to MKB? My daughter
is happy, healthy and gaining well and I buy milk in four litre containers,
most of which I drink myself.
She could have an allergy to cows' milk protein, but I wouldn't have thought
that would be excreted in breastmilk, I would think that your body breaks it
down. Maybe someone else can better answer that one. True primary lactose
intolerance, often confused with cows' milk protein allergy, is unusual.
Besides, breastmilk is full of lactose.
How are your nipples? My MIL had a problem early on with her son spilling up
breastmilk with blood in it, but it was because he'd chewed her nipples raw.
Then again, I wouldn't think it would make it as far as her nappy.
Anything could irritate her gut lining, causing a temporary intolerance to
the lactose naturally present in your own breastmilk, and not affected by
whether or not you drink milk - not a reason to stop BF BTW!
A lot of people have a problem with large amounts of citrus, which tends to
give some babies diarreah and nappy rash. I would go through everything you
eat and try cutting down on things that you consume in excess that could be
causing a problem.

My DD was allergic to cow's milk in my diet.  I strongly, strongly recommend
that you ruthlessly eliminate all traces of dairy products
(http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html is a great starting place) from
your diet for at least 2 weeks before you consider re-introducing dairy.  It
would be a shame to cut out obvious dairy and see no improvement because
your DD reacts to the trace amounts in almost anything.

I will add to Beth's wonderful information that Junior Mints are no longer
milk-free.  They're run on the same lines as some new caramel-filled
candies, and have enough cross-contamination that some kids have reacted.

The good news is that the vast majority of kids will outgrow a milk allergy,
and reacting through breastmilk doesn't mean they'll take longer to outgrow.
By the time I got up my nerve to try Caterpillar on dairy products (at a bit
past 12 months, at her pediatrician's behest), she had no reaction
whatsoever.

Phoebe :)
--
yahoo address is unread; substitute mailbolt

Yes.  Baby J had blood in his stool at 4 months.  I eliminated all traces of
dairy in my diet and the bleeding cleared up.  Our pediatrician had us
collecting those little "poop cards" every 3 days to test over a three week
period - two weeks off milk, then adding it back in.  Bleeding started back
up, so I've been off dairy since.  This is a reaction to the casein
(protein) in the milk - not lactose.  Come over to misc.kids.breastfeeding
for more help!  This is a relatively common problem.
For future reference, I would follow a allergic sequence when introducing
solid foods to your baby.  Try a schedule similar to Hall's:
http://www.hallpublications.com/title2_sample2.html
Even following an allergic schedule, my baby has had awful reactions to the
introduction of solid foods.  I am so thankful to have a pediatrician who
recognized his casein allergy and made appropriate suggestions, instead of
pushing formula.  Hooray for breastmilk!
Hannah
and Jasper, 7 mo

Yes.

My daughter had little dots of red mucusy stuff in her diaper when she
was about 4 months old.  I had been off most milk since she was a
couple of weeks old, but we were on vacation, and I was eating a lot
of pancakes and stuff, and other stuff with milk, MUCH more than
usual, and it happened then.  As soon as I went back off milk, it went
away, and when I started having dairy again 2 months later, it didn't
reappear.  I knew what to watch for, because my doctor's daughter had
had the same thing, and I have a history of milk allergy in myself and
family.

The thing to remember is that the gut achieves closure (not blockage)
- in that it stops allowing EVERYTHING through - when the child is
between 4 and 6 months of age.  So the cows milk proteins quit being
absorbed via the breastmilk by that time, so it no longer mattered
what I consumed after that.  I kept her off milk products, though,
until she was past one year.

So, if you have to go off milk, it's likely to be necessary for only a
few months.  Also, remember that you need to wait two weeks for the
proteins to disapppear from your milk entirely, so don't be alarmed if
it keeps happening for a while after your quit drinking milk.  If
you've been off milk for 3-4 weeks and it's still happening, then it's
time to look for other allergens in your diet.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01

My daughter developed a milk allergy, although I don't know that she ever
reacted to it *in* my milk, by the time she was three, I'd discovered that I
had a milk allergy too, and probably had had for years.

So we've been milk-free completely for years, and it's just not all that
hard once you're used to it. I don't cook with butter (we use olive oil or
non-hydrogenated shortening instead). We use apple juice or rice milk (dd is
allergic to soy too) for pancakes. We don't use cheese (and most pizza is
*fine* without cheese, a lot healthier too!). We read labels on everything!

The usual things people have a hard time giving up:
Ice cream: We *love* rice dream bars and sandwiches. They're astonishing--no
sucrose, dairy, chocolate (if you get the carob ones), etc. but taste like
milk and sugar and chocolate. Love those...

Milk in cereal: Silk soymilk (vanilla) is oustanding on cereal, and vanilla
ricemilk works fine.

Cheese: Better-than-cream-cheese is tasty, but contains hydrogenated fats
and soy, so I use it sparingly. Most soy cheese contains casienate, which is
a milk protein! We've found few real cheese substitutes worth eating, and
mostly skip those. Mostly on bread we use olive oil with a little salt
(mmmmmm.... the Bertolli extra-light olive oil has a very "buttery" taste
and is much better for you than butter or margarine.) On pizza we have them
put on extra toppings (sausage, mushrooms, etc.) and it's fine that way.
Trader Joe's has Mitzi's Blintzes which are wonderful and dairy-free and
taste right.

The things you *really* have to watch for are added whey (found it in a
grocery store rotisserie chicken most recently, and in some box cereals) and
sodium casienate (a favorite for so-called "non-dairy" products like creamer
or cool-whip.) Sometimes weird things, like tuna, will have milk protein.

I would avoid substituting soy for dairy wholesale, though it is certainly
possible. Soy is fine, IMO, in moderation, but less than idea for a nursing
mother in large quantity, plus soy and dairy often have a crossover allergy
effect.

Jenrose