help needed for friend please

Hi -

Two suggestions for your friend:

1. Let the baby nurse on just one breast at a time. He may be getting
too much foremilk and not enough of the fat-rich hindmilk. This can
be alleviated by nursing at just one breast for at LEAST one feed,
and preferably a couple of feeds in a row. (The foremilk is more
watery, less filling, and higher in lactose.)

2. If that doesn't work, have mom stop consuming dairy products (all
milk proteins) for a few days. Also, she could keep a food diary to
see if there's a dietary intolerance on the baby's part. This
strikes me as less likely than the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, but
is still a possibility.

Good luck,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

"Beth Kevles" wrote in message
...

Hi -

Two suggestions for your friend:

1. Let the baby nurse on just one breast at a time. He may be getting
too much foremilk and not enough of the fat-rich hindmilk. This can
be alleviated by nursing at just one breast for at LEAST one feed,
and preferably a couple of feeds in a row. (The foremilk is more
watery, less filling, and higher in lactose.)

2. If that doesn't work, have mom stop consuming dairy products (all
milk proteins) for a few days. Also, she could keep a food diary to
see if there's a dietary intolerance on the baby's part. This
strikes me as less likely than the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, but
is still a possibility.


thanks beth. i'll pass on the info.
--
elizabeth (in australia)
DS - born 20-aug-02

elizabeth emerald wrote:

* a main problem is that the baby is very fussy after 5 minutes on the
breast. he is even more fussy in the evening and will refuse to feed
from the breast. she or her husband will give him a bottle of ebm at
this time.

I would definately knock off the bottles. This particular problem is
similar to one Luke went through when he started daycare and received more
bottles. It wasn't nipple confusion (latched fine and extracted milk fine)
but bottle preference in his case. He did not want to nurse (he *was*
hungry) when he got home. Just fussed and fussed. I refused to give a
bottle and he got over that in 10-14 days. He went back to nursing as usual
then. That wasn't even me giving bottles but the child care provider in a
different house. Since they have been giving the bottles regularly her
supply might be low in the evenings. It would take a few days to get this
back up to where it needs to be. Drink plenty of water in the late
afternoon and rest if possible. Eat oatmeal. I would imagine it will be a
long week or so if they quit the bottles and just forced the baby to nurse
and up her supply. They would need to be mentally prepared for one fussy
baby. If they are giving more then one bottle then they might need a more
thought out approach as to how to gradually reduce the supplement.

* he has a dummy for sleeping.

Since his weight gain is low I'd probably quit this and nurse when he wakes
up. Hard to do though since he is sleeping so well!! Do they co-sleep?
I'm guessing not or he would probably be nursing more then that at night.
I'm not very familiar with weight gain patterns. Others more familiar might
have better input then me!

he only
sleeps for apprx 45 mins during the day at a time no matter how much
he is resettled. he will not sleep in the car.

Certainly have all health things checked out but I'm not sure how to correct
this, or if it is even a problem. Hunter was like this unless he was being
held, then he'd sleep longer (2-3 hours) but I almost always nursed him
during the nap. He was less fussy after such a long nap.

* he did not have any noticeable growth spurts when he was younger.
this fussiness problem has been going on for a month but has been
noticeably worse over the past week.

Luke had a growth spurt at 4 months. If she is regularly giving bottles her
body isn't going to increase the milk for a grwoing baby like it should,
unless maybe she pumped at the same time the baby got the bottle. I just
can't see the benifit of that.

I'm certainly no expert! Just one more opinion so throw it to the wind if
you want ;-)

--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

Beth Kevles writes:

: 2. If that doesn't work, have mom stop consuming dairy products (all
: milk proteins) for a few days. Also, she could keep a food diary to
: see if there's a dietary intolerance on the baby's part. This
: strikes me as less likely than the foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, but
: is still a possibility.

I'll take this a little bit farther. His fussiness and poor weight gain
really sound like he is sensitive to something that his mother is eating.
It could be dairy, it could be wheat, it could be something else. I think
she should spend a LOT of energy over the next few weeks trying to find
out if there is something he is allergic to. I think this should be her
first priority.

Larry