Sharon,

A couple quick thoughts based on a couple things in your post---though
there may be more to the whole picture.

In my humble opinion and experience, If a baby is having an allergic
reaction in the classic definition of such, and if it is related to an
allergen coming through breastmilk like cow's milk, elimination of ALL
the food and drink containing milk & milk derivatives is needed to clear
the frequent sinus congestion, related rash, and colic type fussiness.
With intolerances, reducing the load and not worrying about 100%
elimination seems to be enough to reduce symptoms.  Maureen Minchin's
book, FOOD FOR THOUGHT is a good resource I think and in the LLL library.

The Lactation Institute's forms book indicates that "clicking" sometimes
clears up with the removal of an allergen in the maternal diet.  (they
theorize it is related to the allergic symptom of itchy palate.)  In this
baby's case, positioning does seem to be a factor too and I very much
appreciated the other post on seal and release of suction which it also
easily could be.......It might be worth experimenting with pillows in
various places supporting the breast and/or baby  and testing baby in
different angles/positions for lying down......

What a challenging case with all of the issues going on at once.  Best to
you as you support mom and help her decide the difficulty-possible
benefit of more intervention than you are already doing.  Keep us posted
as you learn more!

Natalie Shenk BS IBCLC
private practice Findlay Ohio USA

n Tue, 3 Dec 1996 21:14:14 EST Sharon Starkston
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
............>Baby had a cold last week and I observed her to be snuffly
when
>nursing.................
.........>She experiences some nipple soreness on the days when baby
nurses a
>lot. Her>nipples look fine and she is using Lansinoh now.............
...........>Baby nurses for relatively short feedings (10-15 minutes per
side) but
>stools>sound fine in terms of consistency and color. ..........
.......>When baby>is gassy she tends to arch backwards and stretch her
legs out. Mom has>eliminated many foods from her diet, including major
sources of dairy
>(not>reading labels for small additions of whey, casein, etc). Baby
rarely
>burps.>Mom is sometimes giving homeopathic colic tablets or Mylecon
drops........
.......>I counseled her on general fussy baby management issues, since
baby is
>having>almost nightly fussy times and is awake a lot at night.
..........
..........>My goal is to identify a reason for smacking and to enable mom
to
>nurse lying>down. Is the smacking and frequent lack of strong
suction/attachment a
>variation>of normal in light of good weight gain. I understand that
positioning
>lying down>is not always easy with a newborn but it nags at me that the
smacking
>is present>in that position............