Re Sharon Lemon's "lactose intolerance case", I agree with Paul Fleiss,
that this is *not* lactose intolerance. This is one of my soapboxes - the
way people confuse lactose intolerance with cow's milk protein intolerance.
This case may well be the latter. If so, mum would need to exclude *all*
dairy products and foods containing milk products, like cakes, most breads,
etc and most margarines for a few days, to really test out the theory. I
suspect the "lactose intolerance" of the father was more likely cow's milk
intolerance as well. True lactose intolerance is genetic and *very* rare
(there is one family in Western Australia though) and results in serious
failure-to-thrive, copious diarrhoea, etc and is not easily missed! If a
baby is gaining weight, it is not lactose intolerant. Secondary (ie
temporary) lactose intolerance may follow injury to the gut lining, from
gastroenteritris or from a severe food intolerance such as cow's milk
(hence the confusion).

The formula the mum gave this baby probably settled him for longer than
breastmilk, partly because of the extra time needed to digest it - stays in
stomach longer and gives baby full feeling for longer (the reason bottlefed
babies usually sleep longer between feeds).

My opinion is that this is a colicky but otherwise normal baby. Check out
the possible cow's milk intolerance but definitely continue to breastfeed.
Increasing feedings to both breasts per feed may help, but watch that baby
is not getting oversupply, particularly a lot of low-fat foremilk (which
can cause colicky symptoms in itself). In oversupply, baby has >10 wet
nappies per day, and usually lots of dirty + lots of wind in the bowel and
fussiness. They invariably gain weight well but are miserable, and want to
feed frequently (for the sucking comfort) which tends to compound the
oversupply. Fortunately, they tend to grow out of this phase by themselves
by about 3 months and seem none the worse for wear (although the parents
have usually taken a beating! - personal experience here).

It is often difficult to work out exactly what is going on from limited
info we can get about cases on Lactnet, but I hope some of our suggestions
can help, and at least give ideas to consider.

Joy Anderson, IBCLC in Private Practice, and NMAA Breastfeeding Counsellor
Western Australia, wife of Keith (my Internet expert), mother of Craig
nearly 11, Keryn 8, Gina (beagle dog) and assorted bugs from the garden
(for daughter's school project).