>Here is a question from a pediatrician about nursing and colic.  How would the
>2000 wise people on LACTNET answer him?
>
>Linda L. Shaw MD FAAP
>
><< So here are two questions:
>
> When faced with a "typical" colicky baby (2-4 week old onset, worse at
> night, somewhat better with comfort and motion, etc.) and the mom is
> exclusively nursing, what dietary suggestions, if any, do the providers out
> there make?
>
> Approximately how long do you tell mothers it takes for a food to possibly
> affect the baby after the mother's ingested it?
>  >>

I would first of all look at whether there is an oversupply of breastmilk -
ie more than 10 wet nappies per 24 hours, lots of dirty ones, good weight
gain, etc. If so, straight management of oversupply/overactive letdown may
be enough without resorting to dietary modifications.

If this is eliminated as a cause, I would then ask mother about any foods
in her, or her family or baby's father's family that might have caused any
problems in the past or present. This includes food they eat but don't like
much, especially dairy products. Or her favourite food that 'she can't live
without' (eg chocolate for some!) Sometimes they have to think hard about
this, as the initial response in most cases, is nothing they know of - but
once they really think hard about it, they often come up with something.

With regard to time from eating food to reaction in baby, mostly it is the
next day from mum's evening dinner - so about 12 hours or so, but this can
vary enormously. In my own case with my first baby, it was 30 hours from me
eating the food to the worst of the colic in the baby.

The other direction to explore is any other signs in the baby of
intolerance, other than the colic, to help confirm that it is the food that
is causing it - eg rashes, constant snuffly nose, vomiting, excessively dry
skin, cradle cap, mucus and/or blood in the stools, green stools,
persistent nappy rash, frequent hiccups, thrush.

The other main avenue I ask about in cases of colic is what sort of birth
the baby had. In cases where baby was pulled quite firmly by the head (eg
vacuum extraction or caesarean section, but can be 'normal' delivery as
well) he may have his neck vertebrae out of alignment. This can cause
colicky behaviour, and can be fixed by chiropractic adjustments.

So my main message is that it *could* be food, but it might not be - the
whole picture needs to be looked at with colicky babies.

******************************************************************
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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