Heather,
>Personally - and this is very personal and very UK-ish! -  I wouldn't even
>bother with the dairy-free diet for the mother. Just let her eat and drink
>what she wants. Try and enjoy life, and get over this bad experience.  She
>has a spitty, fussy baby. He will get better in time, and she will learn
>better to cope.....
>
>I'd love to hear other thoughts on this. Am I being *too relaxed* about
>this, then?

I agreed with all of your post up until this point :-)

I do think dairy sensitivity is a very real and genuine problem in some
breastfed babies, and if your baby is screaming and unhappy all the
time, going off dairy for a couple of weeks can be a useful experiment.
Incidently, it is impossible to enjoy anything if your baby is like
this.

I would recommmend Dr William Sear's book "The Fussy Baby" - I found it
such a relief to read myself and it has a lot of good information in it.
UK people can easily get it from Amazon.

I tried going dairy-free with my third baby - not only his "colic" and
fussy behavior greatly improved, but the eczema that was appearing on
his face and bottom disappeared. And all within about 3 days! I hear
similar reports of miraculous cures from other mothers. I read somewhere
that 60% of colicky, breastfed babies improve with the mothers going
dairy-free. If it doesn't work, what have you lost? Nothing.

Btw, I think formula is the *last* thing that should be given to a baby
that's having enough difficulty digesting nature's best (I'm sure I
won't get any arguments here). It could easily turn a slow gaining,
breastfed baby into a FTT formula-fed one. I've seen it happen.
--
Anna H.
mailto: [log in to unmask]
http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna/

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