Allergies, Reflux and Medications & Breastfeeding

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ALLERGIES

Dairy: This is the most common food allergy, with the most obvious symptoms. Doctors frequently misdiagnose milk protein allergies as lactose intolerance, which is a completely different problem entirely (and virtually nonexistant in children under age 4).
Symptoms of milk protein allergy include eczema, rough, patchy rashes, contact rash, mucus in stool, constant runny nose, wheezing, diaper rash with fine, red bumps, nausea, painful gas, and vomiting.

Soy: 40% of babies with a milk protein allergy also have a problem with soy, so it can be a good idea to cut both out when doing an elimination diet.
Symptomsinclude sudden, hives-like contact rash, gas, loose stool, and vomiting.

Egg: Egg was Jamie's worst allergy, and even a tiny bit of it in my diet was
enough to cause troubles for him. Egg is also contained within some vaccines.
Symptoms include rash, eczema, painful gas, loose stool, vomiting, and sudden, itchy contact rash.

Wheat: Signs of wheat allergy usually include eczema with a flat, red dotted rash and runny nose. If baby has a runny nose when dairy has been eliminated for >2 weeks, there's a good chance of wheat allergy.

Corn: Corn allergies can be extremely hard to diagnose (or eliminate once a diagnosis has been made) since it's in every-freaking-thing. Watch for corn syrup, HFCS, corn oil, etc. Symptoms include vomiting (either suddenly or delayed by up to an hour), contact rash, and eczema. Vomiting is the big one to look for.

Care needs to be taken when eliminating these foods from your diet, as they can be well hidden under other names (Whey and Casein also carry dairy) or could be well hidden in a food (i.e. something fried in butter, or brushed with egg)

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REFLUX

Symptoms:

*Frequent spit up, more than two tablespoons, most happening at least an hour following a feeding (beware that spitup looks more than it is...try spilling a tablespoon of coloured juice on a cloth and see how far it goes to get an idea how much the spitup is)

*Arching back and neck during or after a feed

*Crying in pain while burping or spitting up

*Lack of weight gain, slow weight gain, or loss of weight

*Frequent hiccups

*Hearing a wet burp, meaning that you hear something come up, but baby swallows it before it comes up

*Sudden cry - the cry is often higher pitched than babe's normal cry because it stems from pain

*Coughing and nasal congestion

*Acidic smelling breath

There are more, but those are the most prominent. Not all these signs mean definate reflux, but should your baby exhibit more than just 1-2 signs, its worth having it checked out.

Something worth remembering, is that nearly 40% of reflux is caused by food allergies and intollerances. And overr 50% of diagnosed reflux isnt actually reflux.

If you think your little one has reflux, here are some suggestions.

-Keep baby propped for at least 30 minutes after a feeding at a 45 degree angle. A wedge can be used in the baby's bed to keep them on an angle (rather than flat) all the time.

-When you burp baby, place them on your shoulder and rub their back in a clockwise motion instead of patting. It will bring up the gas with minimal milk.

-When you feed baby, lean back or to the opposite side. This will allow gravity to slow your milk flow down. It also will cause the milk to hit the roof of the mouth instead of the back of the throat, causing less gas, which causes less spit up

-Get all the gas out of that baby's belly!! The more gas that's in there, the fussier he will be and the more he'll spit up.

-If you think you may have a fast let down, unlatch baby as soon as the letdown starts and either catch the milk in a burp cloth or in a cup. I highly advise NOT pumping as this will increase your supply and therefore make matters worse in the long run.

-Burp more frequently during a feed

-Wear your baby. This has been shown to help lessen the reflux.

-If your baby will take one and is at least six weeks (lessens the chance of nipple confusion), offer a pacifier. It will help soothe his belly and also can help keep the milk down.

Informative sites:
http://www.infantrefluxdisease.com/i...x-symptoms.php
http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz

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MEDICATIONS

These links will give you some information regarding what medications and herbs are and aren't safe for mom to take during breastfeeding years.

http://neonatal.ama.ttuhsc.edu/cgi-b...s&access=guest
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT
http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/...oved-meds.html
http://kellymom.com/herbal/index.html

[flatoutgallop]

Right, Done ...I'll leave a couple more posts of mine, incase anything else needs adding - then I have space to do it

[flatoutgallop]

last one...promise....its just a space keeper.

[Irish-Eyes]

Here's a list of meds while breastfeeing: http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/...oved-meds.html

And herbs while bfing: http://kellymom.com/herbal/index.html

[flatoutgallop]

excellent, I'll add them!

I've asked for this to be stickied..

If anyone has more info to add onto this - just post or pm me, and I'll add it on when I get a chance - the more info it has, the better!

[MommaBear]

Nice. Thanks for consolidating this, Megan.

[cheeksy]

Thanks for doing this!!!

[ninnyg]

This may be a dumb question... but can taking allergy medication dry up your supply?

[sartre]

This may be a dumb question... but can taking allergy medication dry up your supply?

Yes it can. If you are taking for seasonal allergies, you can try using stinging nettle instead. It has an antihistamine effect, but doesn't have intense drying out effect and shouldn't effect supply.

[i.<3.cheesysmiles]

So, DS has been having diarrhea over the last week. We went to the doc and she suggested eliminating dairy. DS is 8 months old and I have done nothing different in my diet. Anyone know if it is possible for a baby to all of a sudden develop a milk allergy after 8 months?

[MommaBear]

Unlikely. It's more likely that it's from teething/excess drool, or some sort of virus.

[Leanna]

Is this if the baby eats this stuff (when eating solids) or can this include me eating it while BFing? I was jumping on to ask about me drinking cows milk. I heard from some people it was bad to drink while BFing and from others that it was fine. What's the deal? I love milk but if I shouldn't be drinking it then of course I will not.

[niamhovaprilbaby]

This is a useful link about "lactose" problems

http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/lactose.html

[gottbaby]

When my DD was almost 3 months old, she started having blood in her stools. We took her to the pediatrician (but it wasn't her usual dr.), and he said she had a dairy allergy and I would need to cut out all dairy to continue breastfeeding, or she would have to go on a special formula (Alimentum or Nutramigen) because of the likelihood she could also develop a soy allergy. I went ahead and cut out all dairy. Well, at her 4 month appointment a week and a half ago, we saw her regular pediatrician that said, "Well, it's really not an allergy, it's more of a sensitivity, and I don't worry about it too much unless the baby's not gaining weight, is losing a lot of blood, or it seems to be causing her discomfort." So, she said it would be OK to add some dairy back in. This is consistent with things I've read on here, as well as other places. Now, I ate a LOT of dairy before (drank milk, ate cheese, yogurt, and ice cream regularly, then hidden dairy as well). I've only added back in a bit of cheese, but so far--no problems. I'm not planning to go back to eating as much dairy as I did, but I think we can find a balance until her system matures enough to handle it (or until I stop BFing her). On a positive not--it's helping me lose weight!

[luvtoteachlaw]

I wanted to post this GREAT website that really explains the meds used for reflux in kids. It helped me understand how to administer the medication so that it was most effective:

http://www.marci-kids.com/medications.html#h2blockers

[SingleMommy]

As a former lactation counselor for WIC and La Leche League and with grown breastfed children of my own (one BF 5 years, one BF 3 years - 2 years tandem), it is good to see such accurate information here. Also, do not forget about nut allergies, especially peanuts. I have worked with babies with blood in their stools due to allergies as well as GERD, including my children, and the above information is true. There is no need to discontinue breastfeeding for food allergies. You can eliminate those foods from your diet if the baby's health is being affected. Please feel free to PM me if I can answer any questions.

[babypayne]

I wanted to post this GREAT website that really explains the meds used for reflux in kids. It helped me understand how to administer the medication so that it was most effective:

http://www.marci-kids.com/medications.html#h2blockers

This was very helpful. Thank you!!