Dear Amy,

you wrote:

< She has omitted all dairy =
products in her diet for 1 week still no improvement. >

The information I have suggests that when omitting dairy, you must wait two
weeks before all of the allergens from the cow's milk proteins are not
present in the mother's body.  Then, in the third week you can measure
baby's reactions after breastfeeding.  In the fourth week, you can start to
reintroduce dairy beginning with hard cheeses only for two or three days,
then soft cheeses, then yogurt, then cow's milk.  With each addition over
the three days, you check baby's reaction.

If your mom were to completely eliminate dairy, including hidden dairy on
ingredient labels (casein and whey) by the time the third week came around,
the baby would probably already be out of it's "colicky phase" and not so
gassy, unless, of course, it is a true dairy allergy and this would
probably show up in the fourth week when mom re-introduces hard cheeses
into her body.

you then write:

< I suggested that =
she either breastfeed on one breast per feeding or to pump times 5 minute=
s then put the infant to the breast  to see if there is a lactose intoler=
ence problem, because there is more lactose in the foremilk. >

My understanding is that since breastmilk is high in lactose that the baby
would have immediately shown a reaction in the early days.  Babies are not
usually allergic to their own mother's milk.  Those that are truly lactose
intolerant may be diagnosed with a condition called "galactosemia" and this
is the only case, that I understand,  where a baby cannot be breastfed.  I
get concerned when I hear that someone suspects lactose intolerance.  I've
read where this condition is more common after the age of 4 years old. 
Babies need the lactose in their mother's milk!

< The infant =
is bf every 2 to 3 hrs and is gaining wt. well.   Hope I am on the right =
track.  Please HELP?  Does anyone have any suggestions?  Also the infant =
is having a sufficient amt. of stools and urine.  The color of the stools=
 are the normal color of yellow.>

Sounds like everything is checking out.  Weight gain of 4 to 8 ounces per
week? (New info in the 1997 Breastfeeding Answer Book by LLLI)  Sufficient
stools and urine and the normal yellow color sound okay.  If the baby were
getting "too much foremilk" the stools would be more green in color.  This
sounds like an over-concerned new mother who needs more basic, "what is
normal" information.  Someone (perhaps a MIL or grandma) is giving her
misinformation and is causing this mother to doubt her abilities?  Amy, you
are doing a great job helping this mother to "trouble-shoot" her perceived
problems. 

Hope this helps!

Susan Condon, BA, CLC, San Francisco, CA