Human milk is best for babies. The thing is, sometimes we face challenges that can make offering human milk hard or even impossible. We would like to share the story of Ashley, a first-time mom, and her journey with breastfeeding.
She had read a lot about breastfeeding and planned on feeding her baby human milk. Her biggest concern was her baby might have a hard time latching on. However, right after birth, with a little help from the lactation consultant, her daughter Isabella latched right on!
When Isabella was a month old she became fussy and would scream and cry as if she was in a lot of pain. Nothing seemed to comfort her. At six weeks of age, Isabella developed a rash on her face. Ashley heard from a friend that a dairy-free diet seemed to help her child. Ashley asked about this idea with her lactation consultant, who instead suggested she try other ideas like switching nursing positions, but nothing seemed to help.
This was a big change in her diet. Not only did it mean no milk, yogurt, ice cream and cheese, but it also meant reading food labels to avoid all whey, casein and other traces of milk. However, this change paid off. Soon after Ashley went dairy-free, Isabella seemed to do much better. She was not waking up screaming in pain anymore and her skin rash also cleared up.
A few weeks later, Ashley noticed Isabella was having blood in her stools. She immediately called her pediatrician who said Isabella might be allergic to dairy and soy! So, Ashley removed soy from her diet too, which is in almost everything! Isabella continued to have bloody stools. At this point, the pediatrician suggested Ashley stop breastfeeding and give Isabella a special formula. Ashley really wanted to stick with human milk, but she was willing to try formula if it helped her baby. Isabella didn’t tolerate the formula and kept spitting up, so Ashley stopped the formula after just half a day. Now, Ashley focused even more on changing her lifestyle and diet to avoid foods that made Isabella uncomfortable. She read all food labels carefully, made all her food at home, stopped eating out and gave up some of the foods she loved.
the positive benefits of breastfeeding your child are amazing.”
Babies can have problems digesting some proteins found in both human milk and formula. Babies may be more likely to have an allergy if either parent has allergies. Offering human milk exclusively for 6 months reduces the risk and severity of allergy, and so does waiting to start solid foods until at least 4-6 months.
Although rare, babies can be sensitive to foods a mom eats. The most common foods that cause allergies in infants and children are:
There is no cure for allergies, but children often outgrow milk, egg and soy allergies. Look for these signs of allergy and call your healthcare provider if your baby shows:
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