You can go dairy free!

Thank you to Lauren for guest posting. This information can be very useful for someone needing to go dairy free because your baby has allergic signs or reflux. Not every nursing mother will have issues with dairy.


**Disclaimer...I am not a medical professional or a LLL leader. This is info I gathered through my own research (on the internet, talking to other mamas, Lactation Consultants, our pediatrician, etc). Please do your own research, contact professionals, and use common sense when it comes to your health and the health of your child!**

When Crawford was born, I was speaking with the LC one day and mentioned that I hadn't breastfed Wesley for very long, and that he had been labeled a "happy spitter" until I switched him from milk-based formula to soy formula. She suggested I go ahead and limit the amount of milk/dairy in my diet, as it sounded like he may have had an intolerance and Crawford likely would too. She gave me a few handouts on "hidden dairy" which I glanced over, then promptly forgot about.
Well, by the time C was between 10 days and 2 weeks old, it was obvious that there was some kind of problem. She was having an excessive number of dirty diapers a day, which were very runny, mucoussy, green and extremely smelly. She was generally a very happy, content baby, but she would suddenly scream out in pain and tense up whenever she was about to pass gas or had a bowel movement--this would even happen when she was in a deep sleep. She spit up often (although not as much as W had!), almost always had a red bottom, and had some dry patches appearing on her skin. The conversation with the hospital LC started ringing in my head. I went ahead and cut out all obvious sources of dairy and planned on speaking with our pedi at C's check-up the next day. Maybe it was my imagination, but I swear she seemed to be more comfortable even just 24 hours after I eliminated the multiple glasses of milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. out of my daily diet.
I spoke with the pediatrician about what I was observing, and he agreed that it sounded like a milk protein intolerance. He was a bit worried about an elimination diet because (as he said) if I don't eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, my child won't, and also because I was recovering from major surgery (c-section). I decided, though, that I was willing to really monitor my diet to ensure that I stayed healthy, while also ensuring the health of my child. For the next week, I cut out all obvious and hidden sources of dairy, and saw a marked change in Crawford...she was more comfortable, her stools were less frequent and a bit more normal, the dry patches on her skin were smaller. I had read a statistic, though, that the majority of babies who have a milk-protein intolerance also had soy-protein intolerance, so I realized that I needed to go ahead and "bite the bullet" and cut out soy as well. Also, proteins can stay in mom's system for about a week and a half, and in baby's system for another week an a half, so it takes up to 3 weeks to really see if there is a dramatic change with an elimination diet. I felt like I should go ahead and cut out the two suspected sources, and see how she did.
Fast forward a few weeks, and WOW, what a change! Normal stools, no more tense, screaming baby, no more diaper rash, no more rough spots on her skin. I remained dairy and soy free until Crawford was around 8 months old ("testing" every month to six weeks or so with a small amount of milk or cheese...and seeing the negative reactions very quickly) at which point she was able to handle small amounts of dairy and soy in my diet.
Here is some information and websites that I found very helpful in the months I was dairy and soy free.
• There is no simple test to determine a MSPI, nor is there a "quick fix" or medication for it. The way to test and to treat is to eliminate the suspected cause. Your pediatrician may want you to bring in a stool sample to test for blood (mine did) as this can be an indicator of a MSPI.
• MSPI is NOT the same as an allergy, and is not the same as being "lactose intolerant". Most MSPIs are outgrown by baby's first birthday.
• One important thing to remember is that labels won't just include the words "milk" or "soy"...there are so many different names for milk-based and soy-based ingredients.
Dairy ingredients: http://www.kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/hidden-dairy01.pdf.
Soy ingredients: http://foodallergies.about.com/od/soyallergies/a/List-Of-Soy-Ingredients-To-Avoid-When-Following-A-Soy-Free-Diet.htm
• I found conflicting information on butter and also soy lecithin. Some sources said they were fine because they are fats not protein, some sources I found said that they should be avoided because they were made from dairy/soy. Personally, I was able to have *small* amounts of both without Crawford showing any adverse reactions.
• Milk-Free Mama (http://milkfreemama.blogspot.com/) is a personal blog that appears to have lots of good information.
• Bean Mom (http://www.beanmom.com/nomilk.html) has a great list of resources, although some of the links appear to be outdated.
• MSPI Guide (http://www.mspiguide.com/helpfulinfo1.cfm) has quite a bit of helpful info, as well as a cookbook that can be purchased (I didn't purchase it so I can't speak for it's helpfulness)
• The No Milk Page is a great resource (http://nomilk.com/)
• Someone suggested (why didn't I think of this?!) that when you're out to eat, make sure to tell the waiter that you're allergic to milk and soy, and have them help you and/or speak with the chef about what is safe for you to eat. For me, I basically stopped eating out at all, or would get something like a salad with no cheese, no creamy dressings, etc.
• I didn't know how I would survive without my morning cup of coffee and my (way too often) evening bowl of ice cream. I found that for coffee, heating a mug of vanilla rice milk and then adding a generous spoonful of instant coffee was a good substitute. For ice cream, I preferred rice-milk desserts rather than the coconut ones.
• Just because something says "non-dairy" (like coffee creamer) does not mean it's dairy free.
• Eating a dairy and soy free diet actually helped me cut out many of the processed and/or pre-prepared foods I had gotten used to eating. I made basically everything I ate from scratch...and we had many, many, many meals of grilled/roasted chicken, grilled/steamed/roasted veggies, and whole wheat pasta or rice. I'm sure you can get much more creative than I did :)
• Many chain type restaurants have allergy info on their websites that you can consult before dining out.
• Once C was able to tolerate me eating milk/soy ingredients for a few months, I began to slowly introduce milk/soy into her (solids) diet. Unfortunately, it did NOT go well. Many of the same symptoms from those first weeks were cropping up, although they weren't nearly as severe. Now at 15 months old, she can handle very small amounts of dairy/soy ingredients (ex. a small sprinkle of Parmesan on pasta, soy sauce used in a marinade on meat/chicken, etc) but cannot eat large amounts of yogurt/cheese/milk/edamame, etc. Our pediatrician feels that she will outgrow this by 18-24 months old.
I hope that this information has been helpful. I promise, if your child has MSPI, going dairy and soy free is not nearly as hard as it seems in the beginning. And, it's all worth it to have a happy, healthy, thriving nursling!!
~Lauren