Anne M. says:
"It seems v. trendy to suggest dairy allergies at
the moment and stopping dairy really is a major intervention for Moms."

"trendy..." There are a number of things that seem to be "trendy" these
days, such as yeast overgrowth, insufficient milk supply, URI, juvinile
diabetes, excema, post-partum depression, allergies to many substances,
colic, ear infections, GER, colitis... Sometimes things become trendy
because there is a trend.

Several of these *can* be directly related to dairy sensitivity and, even
though eliminating dairy is a "major intervention for moms", we would be
remiss not to recommend a trial period of dairy elimination when the
breastfeeding relationship is threatened as well as the infant's ( and
mom's) well being. There are certain symptoms that, I believe, call for an
exploration of dairy as the cause.

I begin with dairy because of the infant-feeding practices of our culture.
I have come to this position from countless cases that have been resolved by
this challenging, but do-able, trial period. (Actually, I did "count" them
one year and found that with colic symptoms, 88% were totally resolved by
strict elimination of dairy.) The babies that we are working with are paying
the price for 2 1/2 generations of feeding our infants the milk of another
species.

I don't suggest a mom eliminate dairy from her diet because other LCs are
suggesting it, and I don't need figures to prove that I should make this
recommendation. The babies who are in pain now from severe gas or ear
infection can't wait for the studies to be done. The 2-year-old who was
ready for tubes in his ears after so many ear infections, was well served by
his mom's eliminating ALL dairy from her and his diet, after which he has
had no ear infections for the past 2 years. Then there was the dad who
called me at 6:30 one morning to thank me for the first night of sleep the
family had had for 2 months. Mom had gone off all dairy.

Is it always dairy?  No. Sometimes it is another food or supplement, or
perhaps it is structural, calling for cranio-sacral or chiropractic
treatments. But I work from the premise that a baby in pain needs for
someone to find the cause of that pain, and to relieve it. Babies cry
because something is wrong. Sometimes we can't find out the cause, but we
can certainly try.

Little baby Sarah (4th baby) was irritable and fussy all day and night.
Friends and relatives told her mother that it was temperament and she must
establish control or there would be big trouble.  Mother looked at Sarah and
saw *pain.*  She began by eliminating dairy and there was improvement.
Within 2 months of exploring one thing after another, Mother finally
eliminated all of the offending foods and Little Sarah steadily became the
happy baby that her mother knew she was.  Was it a hardship to work on the
mother's diet and tune it to Sarah's tolerances?  You bet it was.  I was her
cheer leader through it all, and this mother is one of those on my list of
heroes.

No new mother (or "old" mother) wants to have to begin changing her diet,
particularly giving up "comfort foods", as she is adjusting to motherhood.
But lack of a family history of dairy sensitivity is no assurance that it is
not the cause of the problem in *this* mom and baby. I don't even ask about
family history any more. So many of the moms we are seeing were introduced
to dairy early in their infancy--some at day 1--which is why there is so
much sensitivity to it--a trend, if you wish. This sensitivity can go on to
cause problems in their infant.  We, and they, don't *want* it to be so, but
often it *is* so.

As Maureen Minchen wrote in her post of December 2, '97:"Babies are around
for nine months before they get a sip of milk. If they are being gestated by
a mother who was herself artificially-fed, they are very likely to be
sensitised in utero,
expecially if that mother takes notice of dietary advice to increase her
milk/cheese/etc intake." (It's a good post.  Look in the Archives, Dec 2,
under "Re: Allergies and Breastmilk.)

I do suggest a trial dairy elimination diet for painful gas, anxiously going
off and on the breast, and fretful feeding. I also recommend eliminating
supplemental iron and aspertame (Nutra Sweet).  Mom can reintroduce the
eliminated items after a good 3+ week trial if she chooses.  And I always
help Mom find foods that she likes that avoid these frequent offenders.  I
suggest that she get a good supply of quick, favorable foods into the house
so that she doesn't feel deprived.

I am most empathetic with these mothers, as I had to eliminate dairy from my
diet for the health of my baby.  I had been fed cows milk as an infant and
had continued using dairy products, not aware of any sensitivity.  Baby #1
was severly colicky for 3+ months. When baby #2 began the same symptoms, my
pediatrician suggested eliminating all dairy. (this was 25 years ago!)
Within a week I had a peaceful baby without pain. It was hard to change my
diet, but a happy baby makes it a lot easier.

Anne says, "But it is still a major hassle for a tired Mom." Yes it
certainly is.  But, from experience, I know that she will be much less tired
when baby is crying less.  I have even had moms tell me that once they went
off the dairy for the babies, they had more energy and generally felt better
than they had for years. One was able to lose excessive weight because she
didn't have that constant gnawing feeling in her stomach.

"I'm particularly curious as to whether dairy allergy is so often considered
among non US IBCLCs as it is here."

I think it is dependent on what that culture's infant feeding practices have
been.  Another factor is how dependent that culture is on dairy products for
its calcium intake.  In the US we consume a lot of dairy, considering it the
"perfect food" and most of us seldom go a full day without some dairy.
Promotion of it has been quite successful and many people have no idea that
a person can be healthy without it, not considering that most adults in the
world consume no dairy and if they do it is not a central focus of their diet.

Anne, if you are not convinced that dairy sensitivities are a factor in
colic or ear infections or URIs then you will probably feel more comfortable
not recommending it to your clients.  I surely wouldn't recommend something
that I didn't believe would be of benefit to my client, even if every LC in
ILCA thought it was a good idea. I recommend dairy elimination because I
KNOW that it is helpful for a large majority of mothers and babies. For 28
years I have seen it resolve a number of health problems.

It's good that you brought this up--for several reasons.  You need to
express your opinion, and we always learn from the responses on Lactnet.
Also, those of us who look at food allergies with regard to the well-being
of the babies we work with, get an opportunity to clarify for ourselves why
we are doing what we are doing.

As usual, my post is much longer than I had planned for it to be.  I have
enjoyed the other posts on this topic, particularly Carol B's confessing to
suggesting dairy elimination for baldness and insomnia.

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee




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