Help with Dairy Free Diet

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mistyjr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2009
Messages
3,907
Reaction score
3
Location
, Michigan, USA
The heart doctor told me that I need to get on a No Dairy Diet until I stop breast feeding the baby. They think she's lactose intolerant.

So, Here is my question, What can I do?

:( I love my milk but the baby is more important....
 
Sorry to hear that, lactose intolerance is a hard one...
You could try replacing milk and milk products with soy milk and things made with that. You should ask the doctor, though... some people are allergic to soy.
There's also rice milk, which I think is less comon to be allergic to, or almond milk, but that's a nut, so you might want to check for nut allergy too.

You'll have to get used to the taste of them though. I got to like soy milk, but only the Vanilla or chocolate flavoured ones. Rice milk is pretty good too, I like the icecream made with that better than soy icecream.

There are some websites out there with good advice, like this one: http://www.thefussybabysite.com/coping/non-dairy-diet-and-breastfeeding and this one: http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/food-sensitivity.html (very informative! you may want to discuss with your doctor).

Another good one is http://www.nomilk.com/

Good luck with your new diet, and the baby! Hopefully she'll grow out of her dairy intolerance.
 
I love the vanilla soy milk by Silk. It's yummy!!

Hilde makes a good point about the soy and nut allergies, though. I thought that it was advised to stay away from nuts until the baby was a year old, but we don't have any kids yet, so I don't know this for sure!
 
Thanks you 2... Its just for this week, To see if she is really allergies to milk or not.
 
I really like the Silk soymilk, especially vanilla and chocolate. I haven't tried the plain one. I have tried a couple other brands, but I think they're nasty, I only like Silk.

The big thing, though, is to avoid processed foods milk ingredients. If you switch to soy milk and aviod cheese, but eat anything with milk ingredients, it won't really help. Look for things like "whey protein" or "whey powder" in the ingredients list. Americans are so obsessed with protein, whey (and other milk ingredients) are added to TONS of things to up the protein content.

If you cook from scratch, you shouldn't have much difficulties with this.
 
Hope you get to the bottom of what is wrong. Human milk actually has more lactose than cow's milk. A more common problem is an allergy to the proteins in cow's milk (the allergy my son had). However, it was not a problem for me to take in dairy products and still nurse him.
 
Yeah, They told me i need to stop eatting and drinking dairy because the baby is getting it. They think she is because when I feed her. She cries and screams the whole time and wont settle down. But when my hubby feed her some pudding, she ate the whole thing and didnt have no problems. This is what the heart doctor told me.
 
Hi Misty, the second site I mentioned (kellymom.com ) has lots of information, not only on no-milk diets, but on fussy babies and food allergies in general. Might be a good idea to read it, print it out for your doctor, and discuss it with him.

I don't think 1 week without dairy will be enough though. Usually an "elimination diet" (which is what you are doing) lasts for at least 2-3 weeks, more often a month.
This is what it says on the website:

"If you think your baby is reacting to a particular food, then eliminate that food from your diet for 2-3 weeks to see if baby’s symptoms improve. If baby’s symptoms do improve, then this food may be a problem for your baby. Eliminating a food for less than 2-3 weeks may not be effective—cow’s milk protein, for example, can persist in mom’s body for 1½ - 2 weeks, and it may be another 1½ - 2 weeks before the protein is out of baby's system."

"Breastfed babies who are sensitive to dairy in mom's diet are sensitive to specific cow's milk antibodies, in the form of proteins (not lactose), which pass into the mother's milk. Cow's milk (either in the mother's diet or engineered into formula) is a common source of food sensitivity in babies. Cow's milk sensitivity or allergy can cause colic-like symptoms, eczema, wheezing, vomiting, diarrhea (including bloody diarrhea), constipation, hives, and/or a stuffy, itchy nose.

If your baby is sensitive to dairy in your diet, it will not help to switch to lactose-free dairy products. The problem is the cow’s milk proteins, not the lactose. Cooking dairy products may reduce but will not eliminate the allergens.

A significant percentage of babies with cow's milk protein allergy will also react to soy. Most dairy-allergic babies will also react to goat's milk or sheep’s milk. Some will also react to beef.

If you think that your baby may be sensitive to dairy products in your diet, remember that it can take 10 days to 3 weeks to eliminate cow's milk protein from your system—allow a full 2-3 weeks of dairy elimination before evaluating the results.

If your baby is only a little sensitive to dairy proteins, you may be able to relieve baby’s symptoms by eliminating only the obvious sources of dairy (milk, cream, yogurt, butter, cheese, sour cream, ice cream, cottage cheese, etc.); you may even be able to eat small amounts of dairy without it affecting baby.

If your baby is highly allergic, it will be necessary to eliminate all sources of dairy proteins, which requires a careful reading of food labels. See the Hidden Dairy "Cheat Sheet" ().

If you've cut out dairy because your breastfed baby is sensitive to cow’s milk proteins, you may be able to phase it back in after a few months. Many dairy-sensitive babies outgrow their sensitivity by 6-18 months, and most outgrow it by 3 years."

I hope you and your doctor figure out soon what the problem is.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top