Off Dairy and Breast Feeding

Updated on December 06, 2013
J.M. asks from Melrose, MA
9 answers

I have been off obvious dairy(not every drop) for a week and it has helped 5 month olds green, stinky poops. This was only symptom. No fussiness or other related issues. Has anyone been through this and did baby outgrow it or was it a true issue? I already block feed, so I don't think it was a foremilk issue. Thx!!

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M.O.

answers from New York on

I did that with my son, and he never fully outgrew his dairy sensitivity. Even trace amounts of dairy triggered all kind of reactions (chronic [i.e., constant] ear infections, preschool-style clinical depression). Off dairy, however, he's a gifted, joyful, confident kid. Just about never gets sick. The only difference is I did get every single drop of dairy out of my diet. It was 100% worth it, and really healthy for me too.

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J.H.

answers from New York on

I did it years ago for my daughter (11 years to be exact, so I might not remember all the details). I had been on a girls weekend so my daughter was in a pack and play next to my bed, and I discovered that every night she was waking up and lifting her feet and dropping them on the bed over and over. I finally realized she had really bad gas. Went dairy free and she did fine. I'd never realized she had the problem because she normally slept in another room.

I can't remember if I stayed dairy free throughout breast feeding (because I did it almost through 2 years), but I can tell you she has absolutely no problem with dairy now and milk is one of her favorite drinks. And I didn't hold back when she hit the developmental point to start drinking it out of a sippy cup. I think it was truly something her little body just needed to develop a bit more to handle.

But to this day I still prefer vanilla soy milk on my Cheerios and in my oatmeal!

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K.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Most babies will outgrow it, but some (like my son) don't. The fact that you haven't removed 100% of the dairy from your diet but have seen improvement is a really good sign. Typically, with a bad dairy allergy, if you're continuing to ingest even small amounts, you'll still notice that your baby has trouble with digesting.

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D.M.

answers from Denver on

My son had a milk protien allergy and did outgrow it by 3. I am curious though, why are green poops a sign of milk allergy. My son's symtoms were severe discomfort (colicy) and mucusy, bloody poops. Having said all of that - it's probably healthiest for all of us to skip the milk! Good luck.

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D.D.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Yes, I did it with both mine.
Child #1 - Outgrew it by age 1, and I could switch him to regular cow's milk when he weaned.

Child #2 - Is 3 and has not yet outgrown it.

I have to say though, that this was somewhat predictable. With Child #1, as long as I was off obvious dairy (didn't drink a glass of milk or eat yogurt or ice cream), he was fine. It didn't bother him if I had a slice of cheese on a sandwich or if I used milk in cooking. With Child #2, I had to cut out every last drop. I had to search ingredient lists for casein. If I had any cow's milk protein in my diet at all, he was miserable. So clearly, from the very beginning, child #2's was much more sensitive to dairy than child #1. And now that #2 is older, we are noticing sensitivities to other foods as well.

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J.G.

answers from Chicago on

My son was actually allergic to dairy, but he had no problems when I breastfeed him. It was only when I went to wean him to cow's milk that we discovered the allergy. he outgrew the allergy quickly, within 6 months, but he switched it for peanuts.

My youngest daughter had awful stinky green poop. I did not take myself off of dairy because the Doctor said that since it had always been green, it was FINE. I'm a vegetarian, so taking myself off of dairy would be like slowly killing myself. It is a necessary staple in my diet, and since baby wasn't fussy and was perfectly happy, Dr said she was FINE. It fixed itself around 8.5 months. She has no problem with yogurt, and has been able to eat basically everything thus far.

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M.C.

answers from Chattanooga on

My daughter outgrew it around 9 months.

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A.L.

answers from Seattle on

My DD has always had the green, stinky poops while breastfed. My doc said it wasn't anything to worry about as long as she was growing/gaining fine and had no other issues (she was never fussy or anything). Never went off dairy or anything else, kid grew just fine, stinky green poops stopped at 6 months when we started solids.
People may way too much of a fuss about baby poop. That's what my ped said.
Good luck.

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E.R.

answers from Boston on

If your baby is otherwise happy, healthy and thriving, why would you be concerned that the poop is green? Normal infant poop for BF babies runs the gamut from yellowish to greenish. And to be honest, while it does get stinkier as they eat solids, it never smells like roses. Unless you have other kids that had issues or you yourself want to be off dairy, I wouldn't bother.

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