Milk protein sensitivity

In general Mila has been an easier baby then Hudson was.  Anybody who knew Hudson as an infant would probably describe him as an intense baby.  He would eat every 1-2 hours during the day and 2-3 hours at night.  During the day he would go hours without sleeping. When he did sleep, he liked to be held and he liked to be moving.  The baby bjorn quickly became my best friend with him :). But I can't complain as now he goes down for nap & bed without a fight.  He is content entertaining himself. He's a pretty good little toddler.

As for Mila, in the beginning I had to wake her every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night to feed.  Now she generally goes about every 2-3 hours during the day between feedings and wakes only once or twice at night.  Her biggest issue has been some intermittent fussiness and gas.  At about 3 weeks I cut out all dairy and soy from my diet and this seemed to help.  Then at about 5 weeks she started having these episodes where she would start to eat, then pull off screaming in pain. This gradually got worse, having more episodes each day, lasting up to an hour.  We thought it might be reflex related, so the pediatrician recommended I give her some Mylanta before every feeding.   This made it significantly worse.  Back to the internet I went where I started researching her symptoms of fussiness, bouts of pain, gas issues, and green mucousy stools.  One diagnosis was a milk protein sensitivity.  I took her in to the pediatrician and luckily she had an episode while I was there so he was able to see how much pain she was in.  He was pretty positive this was a milk protein sensitivity as well.

So what does this mean......  I had two options, switch her to a hypoallergenic formula which is about 8 times the cost of regular formula or I could cut out all milk protein from my diet and continue to nurse.  I decided to give that a try.

Do you realize how many foods contain milk products or milk protein.....

1.  The obvious cheese, yogurt, ice cream, etc.
2.  Bread products
3.  Crackers and chips
4.  Some cereals
5.  Cereal bars, granola bars
6.  Store bought cookies, cakes, etc.
7.  Pasta sauces
8.  Some deli meats

There is really good list at http://www.thefussybabysite.com/coping/non-dairy-diet-and-breastfeeding/

To Trader Joe's I went to try and find non milk food products and non soy products as they can have sensitivities for both.  
So far my diet mainly consists of eggs, almond milk, special bread, fruits, vegetables, meat, panko breaded fish.  
I am hoping as I get more comfortable with this I can modify some of our favorite recipes to be milk protein free.  
I have figured out a way to continue to have my caribou drinks :)  Since MN is not yet on the almond milk bandwagon, I bring my own 
and order a large cold glass with espresso, half shot of caramel, and some ice then add the almond milk.  Delicious!

The pediatrician would like me to continue this until she is 12 months and then at that time we will see how she handles milk proteins.  
In the few short days I have been doing this I have already noticed a significant difference in her! 

 

Happy girl!