allergic to breastmilk?????

[Plissken]

I was talking to a friend and she said that her SIL has a very colicky baby
(3.5 months) and hasn't been getting much sleep at all. Her SIL was
breastfeeding and recently decided to switch to formula. Well, as soon as
she switched to formula her DS has not been crying and is sleeping much
better. My friend said that she has heard that "some babies can be allergic
to breastmilk", WTF??? This can't be true can it? This woman had eliminated
just about everything from her diet but nothing had worked. Maybe it was
just coincidence and her DS was starting to get over his colic? Not that
it's any of my business what this woman does but I was just curious as to
what you all think of the situation.

Nadene

[Clare L]

Colic - rule of thumb, starts at 3 weeks, ends at 3 months, feels like it
lasts forever

--
Clare L


"Plissken" > wrote in message
news:pOxub.427394$pl3.181333@pd7tw3no...
> I was talking to a friend and she said that her SIL has a very colicky
baby
> (3.5 months) and hasn't been getting much sleep at all. Her SIL was
> breastfeeding and recently decided to switch to formula. Well, as soon as
> she switched to formula her DS has not been crying and is sleeping much
> better. My friend said that she has heard that "some babies can be
allergic
> to breastmilk", WTF??? This can't be true can it? This woman had
eliminated
> just about everything from her diet but nothing had worked. Maybe it was
> just coincidence and her DS was starting to get over his colic? Not that
> it's any of my business what this woman does but I was just curious as to
> what you all think of the situation.
>
> Nadene
>
>

[Phoebe & Allyson]

Plissken wrote:

> My friend said that she has heard that "some babies can be allergic
> to breastmilk", WTF??? This can't be true can it?

Sounds to me like the woman who told me her baby was lactose
intolerant. As soon as mom switched to lactose-free milk,
the baby was fine. I gave up trying to explain the
biological impossibility of that after the 3rd try -- it's
really hard to argue with "I did A and B stopped, therefore
not-A must have caused B."

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

[New York Jen]

"Plissken" > wrote in message
news:pOxub.427394$pl3.181333@pd7tw3no...
> I was talking to a friend and she said that her SIL has a very colicky
baby
> (3.5 months) and hasn't been getting much sleep at all. Her SIL was
> breastfeeding and recently decided to switch to formula. Well, as soon as
> she switched to formula her DS has not been crying and is sleeping much
> better. My friend said that she has heard that "some babies can be
allergic
> to breastmilk", WTF??? This can't be true can it? This woman had
eliminated
> just about everything from her diet but nothing had worked. Maybe it was
> just coincidence and her DS was starting to get over his colic? Not that
> it's any of my business what this woman does but I was just curious as to
> what you all think of the situation.
>
> Nadene

My good friend has celiac disease and many other auto immune issues. She
had intended to breastfeed her daughter exclusively for a year because there
are many studies showing that the incidents of celiac are greatly reduced if
the mom nurses. The baby had blood in her stool just about from the very
beginning. My friend cut EVERYTHING out of her diet...I mean, she was
eating rice and chicken (plain) and that was it, for weeks. She was
miserable, but wanted what was best for her baby...who by the way, didn't
stop bleeding until they switched to special formula. She's on something
called Neocate, which is really expensive and supposedly very
hypoallergenic. As of now her daughter's doing fine, she'll be a year in
January. She nursed until about 4 months, so she got some benefits.

I think that cases like this are extremely rare and that it's more likely
that the woman you spoke to just got poor advice.

- Jen

[Leslie]

I have a friend whose baby has a very rare disease--I cannot remember the name
of it but I believe only about 400 people in the US have it. He cannot
tolerate breastmilk or any other food except for a special formula that comes
from England. He was bleeding inside from the breastmilk.

Obviously, though, this kind of thing is extremely rare. Dollars to doughnuts
your friend got bad advice/information.

Leslie

[Plissken]

"Leslie" > wrote in message
...
> I have a friend whose baby has a very rare disease--I cannot remember the
name
> of it but I believe only about 400 people in the US have it. He cannot
> tolerate breastmilk or any other food except for a special formula that
comes
> from England. He was bleeding inside from the breastmilk.
>
> Obviously, though, this kind of thing is extremely rare. Dollars to
doughnuts
> your friend got bad advice/information.

I think she did either get poor advice or is uniformed (I'm not sure she
consulted with anyone before switching to formula) because she is not
feeding her baby special formula just regular cow's milk formula.

N

[iphigenia]

Plissken wrote:
>Not that it's any of my business
> what this woman does but I was just curious as to what you all think
> of the situation.

There's a condition called galactosemia. It's very rare. If the baby was
galactosemic, it wouldn't have just been fussy on breastmilk:

"Primary lactose intolerance in a baby is very rare and is caused by a
metabolic disorder (primary lactase deficiency or galactosemia). This
disorder is immediately apparent and characterized by profuse diarrhea and
vomiting from the time the mother's milk comes in. Baby will fail to thrive
from birth (i.e., not even start to gain weight), and show obvious symptoms
of malabsorption and dehydration. This is a medical emergency, and baby will
need a special lactose-free formula from soon after birth." - kellymom.com

Kinda doubt that was the problem ; )

More likely, the baby a: was just colicky and the introduction of formula
coincided with the outgrowing of colickiness, or b: the baby didn't tolerate
something, probably dairy, in the mother's diet.

--
tristyn
www.tristyn.net
"i have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
i do not think that they will sing to me."

[Herself]

New York Jen > wrote:

> She was
> miserable, but wanted what was best for her baby...who by the way, didn't
> stop bleeding until they switched to special formula. She's on something
> called Neocate, which is really expensive and supposedly very
> hypoallergenic. As of now her daughter's doing fine, she'll be a year in
> January. She nursed until about 4 months, so she got some benefits.

Yep, Neocate is one of the formulas that dairy-allergic babies are put
on. Super expensive, from what I've heard.

And again, why there is formula in the world is for your friend. And
props to her for nursing for 4 months!
--
'Tis Herself

[Anne Rogers]

> I think she did either get poor advice or is uniformed (I'm not sure she
> consulted with anyone before switching to formula) because she is not
> feeding her baby special formula just regular cow's milk formula.

yikes, you say the baby is 3.5 months, you really should say something,
the baby just won't be getting the right nutrition on cows milk at this
age.

[Anne Rogers]

> I have a friend whose baby has a very rare disease--I cannot remember the name
> of it but I believe only about 400 people in the US have it. He cannot
> tolerate breastmilk or any other food except for a special formula that comes
> from England. He was bleeding inside from the breastmilk.
>
> Obviously, though, this kind of thing is extremely rare. Dollars to doughnuts
> your friend got bad advice/information.

could be PKU (phenylketonuria I think) very rare, but babies with this
can't digest protein at all (or maybe only in some very uncommon forms),
adults with it have to get all there food on prescription. It's tested for
with the heel prick/guthrie test at around a week old in the UK.

[Lara]

iphigenia > wrote (and quoted from
kellymom):

> There's a condition called galactosemia. It's very rare. If the baby was
> galactosemic, it wouldn't have just been fussy on breastmilk:
>
> "Primary lactose intolerance in a baby is very rare and is caused by a
> metabolic disorder (primary lactase deficiency or galactosemia).

Just to be clear - lactase deficiency and galactosemia are not the same
thing.

For a baby with congenital lactase deficiency, you could theoretically
add enough lactase enzyme to breastmilk (this breaks the lactose down
into glucose and galactose), and this milk would then be fine to feed.
This page says that fewer than 50 cases of congenital lactase deficiency
have been described.
http://www.allergyclinic.co.nz/guides/21.html

With galactosemia, the baby has lactase that works just fine - but the
baby is unable to break down the galactose (no galactose-1-phosphate
uridyl transferase enzyme). Galactose builds up and poisons the
galactosemic baby. They don't just get diarrhea, they get liver failure,
kidney failure, bleeding, infection, cataracts, developmental delay,
intellectual handicap. There is no way at the moment to make breastmilk
safe for a galactosemic baby.

Lara

[Leslie]

>could be PKU (phenylketonuria I think) very rare, but babies with this
>can't digest protein at all

Nope--that one I've heard of! :-) I think it begins with an "A"--I've asked
her a couple of times but it just won't stick in my head.

He is about 14 months old and is getting to start solid food right about
now--something bland like rice cereal.

Leslie

[Vicki S]

Anne Rogers > wrote:

> > . . . she is not
> > feeding her baby special formula just regular cow's milk formula.
>
> yikes, you say the baby is 3.5 months, you really should say something,
> the baby just won't be getting the right nutrition on cows milk at this
> age.

she said "regular cow's milk formula", not plain cow's milk. she meant,
formula -- not soy formula or special hypo-allergenic formula.

--
-- Vicki
Married DH May 21, 1995
Ima shel DS, born 11/16/99; and DD, born 5/19/02.
"Stay-at-home" Ima since October 2002.
An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. -Spanish proverb
I may not currently be pregnant, but I look pregnant, does that count?

[Shannon]

That is one of the best descriptions of colic I've seen yet - esp. the
"feels like it lasts forever" part! I'll have to remember that.

Except DS started at three days. Oh well.

-Shannon
"Clare L" > wrote in message
...
> Colic - rule of thumb, starts at 3 weeks, ends at 3 months, feels like it
> lasts forever
>
> --
> Clare L
>
>
> "Plissken" > wrote in message
> news:pOxub.427394$pl3.181333@pd7tw3no...
> > I was talking to a friend and she said that her SIL has a very colicky
> baby
> > (3.5 months) and hasn't been getting much sleep at all. Her SIL was
> > breastfeeding and recently decided to switch to formula. Well, as soon
as
> > she switched to formula her DS has not been crying and is sleeping much
> > better. My friend said that she has heard that "some babies can be
> allergic
> > to breastmilk", WTF??? This can't be true can it? This woman had
> eliminated
> > just about everything from her diet but nothing had worked. Maybe it was
> > just coincidence and her DS was starting to get over his colic? Not that
> > it's any of my business what this woman does but I was just curious as
to
> > what you all think of the situation.
> >
> > Nadene
> >
> >
>
>

[Shannon]

I think it's more likely that the kid outgrew the colic just at the time the
mom switched to formula, and that the two events were coincidental but
unrelated. I breastfed my son, and he outgrew colic at three months too,
and I didn't switch to formula. It's kind of the way colic works.

Babies can be sensitive to things that the mom eats or drinks, but I'm
suspicious of blaming colic on breastmilk. Colic is colic - nobody is
really sure what causes it, but they are sure that babies typically outgrow
it around three months.

Just my $.02.

-Shannon
"Plissken" > wrote in message
news:pOxub.427394$pl3.181333@pd7tw3no...
> I was talking to a friend and she said that her SIL has a very colicky
baby
> (3.5 months) and hasn't been getting much sleep at all. Her SIL was
> breastfeeding and recently decided to switch to formula. Well, as soon as
> she switched to formula her DS has not been crying and is sleeping much
> better. My friend said that she has heard that "some babies can be
allergic
> to breastmilk", WTF??? This can't be true can it? This woman had
eliminated
> just about everything from her diet but nothing had worked. Maybe it was
> just coincidence and her DS was starting to get over his colic? Not that
> it's any of my business what this woman does but I was just curious as to
> what you all think of the situation.
>
> Nadene
>
>

[Melissa]

"Clare L" > wrote
> Colic - rule of thumb, starts at 3 weeks, ends at 3 months, feels like it
> lasts forever

I wish you'd been at my house at 4-6 months. Although the average child's
colic ends at three months, dd kept it up (although to a lesser extent)
until about six months. She'd howl for a few hours for no reason and
couldn't be consoled. We'd hold and jiggle her to keep her less unhappy, but
it was only for a few hours every day unlike when she was younger when it
was all day.
--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03

[Clare L]

At six months we were finally realising that we had a baby who was allergic
to the dairy in my diet and that was why the poor little thing would feed
all the time and yet wasn't growing!

Still at least nursing him soothed him unlike his big sister who just
couldn't be consoled when she did the colic thing

--
Clare L


"Melissa" > wrote in message
news:aW5vb.255088$HS4.2300974@attbi_s01...
> "Clare L" > wrote
> > Colic - rule of thumb, starts at 3 weeks, ends at 3 months, feels like
it
> > lasts forever
>
> I wish you'd been at my house at 4-6 months. Although the average child's
> colic ends at three months, dd kept it up (although to a lesser extent)
> until about six months. She'd howl for a few hours for no reason and
> couldn't be consoled. We'd hold and jiggle her to keep her less unhappy,
but
> it was only for a few hours every day unlike when she was younger when it
> was all day.
> --
> Melissa (in Los Angeles)
> Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03
>
>
>

[Tina]

"New York Jen" > wrote in message >...
> "Plissken" > wrote in message
> news:pOxub.427394$pl3.181333@pd7tw3no...
> > I was talking to a friend and she said that her SIL has a very colicky
> baby
> > (3.5 months) and hasn't been getting much sleep at all. Her SIL was
> > breastfeeding and recently decided to switch to formula. Well, as soon as
> > she switched to formula her DS has not been crying and is sleeping much
> > better. My friend said that she has heard that "some babies can be
> allergic
> > to breastmilk", WTF??? This can't be true can it? This woman had
> eliminated
> > just about everything from her diet but nothing had worked. Maybe it was
> > just coincidence and her DS was starting to get over his colic? Not that
> > it's any of my business what this woman does but I was just curious as to
> > what you all think of the situation.
> >
> > Nadene
>
> My good friend has celiac disease and many other auto immune issues. She
> had intended to breastfeed her daughter exclusively for a year because there
> are many studies showing that the incidents of celiac are greatly reduced if
> the mom nurses. The baby had blood in her stool just about from the very
> beginning. My friend cut EVERYTHING out of her diet...I mean, she was
> eating rice and chicken (plain) and that was it, for weeks. She was
> miserable, but wanted what was best for her baby...who by the way, didn't
> stop bleeding until they switched to special formula. She's on something
> called Neocate, which is really expensive and supposedly very
> hypoallergenic. As of now her daughter's doing fine, she'll be a year in
> January. She nursed until about 4 months, so she got some benefits.
>
> I think that cases like this are extremely rare and that it's more likely
> that the woman you spoke to just got poor advice.
>

I agree that it's very rare to be allergic to breastmilk or have such
serious issues as continued blood in diapers, but I wanted to comment
on the Neocate. That's what my daughter was on for several months (in
addition to nursing and eating solids), and it is very expensive -- it
cost us about $125/week to give her 12 oz. a day. Apparently the
amino acids are all broken down into single chains, and that's very
low allergy. Plus it's egg free and milk free. And it's flavor free,
too, which makes it not too unreasonable to give.

But it's only necessary in a fairly few cases.

And I did the plain diet for a long time, too -- it's not so fun.
Your friend did a great thing by nursing for as long as she did, and I
wish her luck. Anyone who has to do the Neocate is really working to
get to the bottom of things, I think (I know we were!).

Tina.