>Baby boy, normal birth weight, good weight gain up to now (4 mos.). Mom
>describes first 6 weeks of trying to breastfeed as a "nightmare".  One
>thing after another--sleepy baby, weak suck, low milk supply, sore
>nipples, very fussy baby. <snip>

Andrea,
This story definitely sounds like it could be food intolerance. Might be
something other than dairy (although statistically this is the most
likely). This is where it gets tricky - trying to find this out.

Reactions may be delayed in baby - which makes it even harder to trace to a
particular food.

 Said she had tried
>once, and he actually seemed to latch on pretty well, but wouldn't nurse
>long enough to inspire a let-down.  Praised both to high heaven for this
>step!!

This is great! I would suggest she spend some time (as much as possible)
with him skin-to-skin, giving him a chance to latch on if he wants to, but
not really expecting him to. If he does, it's a bonus, and the cuddling
will be enjoyable for both anyway.

Now my questions: With all the history of nursing problems, what
>is the likelihood this little guy will go back to the breast?

Sounds like quite a good chance. Particularly if mum can avoid whatever was
causing food intolerance symptoms.

Obviously
>if he doesn't, mom will continue to provide her milk, gratefully, any
>way she can.  She says it takes him about an *hour* to drink a bottle.
>She wonders if there is something else in her milk that could be making
>him so "gassy".

This, coupled with early problems, also tends to point to a possible
attachment problem (even to the bottle!). Would be worth someone watching
what this baby does on the breast, but also on the bottle.

She has eliminated just about everything obvious, but
>did ask if beans could be a culprit. And she does eat beef. One thing
>that struck me was that she said he often begins to scream hours after a
>bottle of ABM (and often has had a feed or two of milk in the
>meantime).  Does this mean anything or is this common in allergic
>babies?

Yes, consistent with what happens with allergic babies.

What is the likelihood she will be able to maintain the
>necessary volume of milk as he grows by hand expressing?

Hopefully he will go back to the breast and she won't need to, but it is
useful to remember that between 1 and 6 months, breastfed babies don't
actually increase their daily intake (except maybe at growth spurt stages
after which they drop back again). So she will not be having to keep
increasing her supply continuously.

I think it is great that she is so efficient at hand expressing. I wonder
if you could use her for a demo at a LLL meeting or antenatal class, etc. I
think the skill is just so valuable that any opportunity we get to teach it
to other mums should be utilised if at all possible. Even better than a
video!

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Joy Anderson B.Sc. Dip.Ed. Grad.Dip.Med.Tech. IBCLC
Nursing Mothers' Association of Australia Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia.   mailto:[log in to unmask]
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