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Subject:
From:
Patricia P Coleman <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 13 Oct 2001 20:54:50 -0500
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This is the original message (June '01) from a friend that is nursing her
(then) 11 month old.
After this "diagnosis" Rachel (the mom) continued nursing as before, just
added more veggie and fruit to the diet, mixing it with Milk of Magnesia.
Today, October 13, you'll see her message as to where her now 15 month
old is doing.  (Still nursing as before)


----- Original Message -----
From: Rachel Lilly
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2001 3:45 PM
To: Patricia P Coleman
Subject:

Patti,

I would really appreciate any suggestions you have about a problem Sarah
James has been having. She has had firm (not hard, just firm) stools that
are very large (diameter-wise) and very painful to pass.

I took SJ to the doctor about it three weeks ago and he said that it was
b/c I'd only been feeding her solids once a day. I didn't think that made
sense, but I figured that feeding her solids more frequently wouldn't
hurt anything.

Feeding several times a day and pushing juice on her has not helped any.
After another of SJ's painful BMs yesterday, I noticed that her perineum
was swollen and red. The tissue around her anus looked very traumatized
and I had seen a bit of blood on her stool. Her perineum looked even
worse today after a BM. I decided that I'd best have the doctor look at
her bottom to see if she was getting a hemorrhoid (I have no idea how
that is supposed to be spelled) or something...

So, I took her to the doctor and was asked the same questions as last
time: what is she eating, how much is she eating, how often is she
breastfeeding, etc. When I said that she is breastfeeding at night the
doctor had quite the funny look on his face. When I told him how often
his expression got worse, even though I explained that it doesn't bother
me and that much of the time she is just comforting herself rather than
eating.

Long story short: he had the nerve to tell me that the breastmilk was
causing her problem. He said that I could either stop night nursing or I
could use medication to solve her problem. I flatly told him that I would
not be night weaning. He said that meant that she would have to take
something to solve the problem. He said that her excess "dairy"
consumption was causing hard stools. CAN YOU BELIEVE HE ACTUALLY CALLED
MY BREASTMILK "DAIRY"?!!! I was beyond stunned.

He then proceeded to tell me that she wasn't drinking enough based on the
juice and water consumption rate I'd told him. (Despite her young age,
he'd had me start giving her juice when I originally went to him for this
problem.) I asked, "So you aren't counting breastmilk as a clear liquid?"
He said, "No, it's not a clear liquid, it's dairy." I sat there
completely stupefied.

The worst thing is that I felt so helpless and unsure of myself when I
left the doctor. I was SO mad. I wasn't sure if I was more mad at him for
being so ignorant or at myself for allowing his ignorant statements to
make me feel bad about the good things I'm doing for SJ. I came home and
immediately tried to call you. I couldn't get you, so I called my mom.

Mom and I brainstormed and decided that rather than beginning to give my
precious baby Milk of Magnesia (can you imagine?), that I should try a
totally-veggie diet for her for a week. I'm just going to do adult
veggies prepared in ways that she can eat them: spinach, peas, broccoli,
carrots, beans. I'll probably do some of the classic fruits for this
problem too: pears, prunes, peaches. We figured that if she continues to
have problems even on this type of diet that we could determine that the
problem is physiologic rather than dietary.

What is your opinion? Don't you think that a strictly veggie/fruit diet
should be totally easy for SJ to pass? (You realize, of course, that when
I say "strictly" that I don't mean that I'm planning to stop nursing... I
plan on doing that as much as ever.)


Thanks for listening. Hope you are doing well,

Rach



From: "Rachel Lilly" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Patricia P Coleman" <[log in to unmask]>, <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 19:59:23 -0500
Subject: dairy
Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>

Patti,

SJ is still on the Milk Of Magnesia (MOM). She was on it for about a
month, and I began to wean her from it slowly. She was fine with a
SIGNIFICANTLY reduced dosage until about three weeks ago. There had been
no change in her diet that I could pinpoint, but her stool became firmer
and she got an anal fissure. So, we're back on the MOM at
original-strength until she heals. I really don't know what the future
holds, b/c she eats very healthily and still has problems without the
MOM. A couple of people have suggested that I give her Acidopholus in
tablet form, but I have not yet tried this.

And just to re-confirm that I didn't misunderstand what Dr. C was saying,
he called breastmilk "dairy" three times at two different intervals
during the visit. And, b/c SJ wasn't (and still isn't) consuming
true-dairy in any form, it's not as if there could really be a
misunderstanding about what her "dairy" consumption is. (Also, as a point
of reference, SJ was not quite 11 months old at the time)

I would be very interested to hear what your fellow Lactnetters have to
say! Please forward any postings.

Rach

Thanks for reading this.  I was hoping the wisdom from around the world
could help us solve this "dairy" problem!
Patti Coleman, IBCLC

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