Hello everybody,
It is with great remorse (I take this very personally) that the mother who
I've been trying to help has given up totally on breastfeeding. After two
weeks of persistent corrections for foremilk-hindmilk imbalance - the mother
is throwing in the towel. In fact, she is so convinced that her milk is
causing her baby's pain that she has no regrets switching to ABM. The Dr.
agrees with her totally. It's very hard for me to accept this mother's
choice - yet I know it is her choice to make.
A nursing session would go as follows: mother would put baby to breast for a
short 3-5 minute session and each time her baby would nurse, act content and
smilely, and then start to scream within 10 minutes and it continues on for
2 hours! The baby is in agony according to the mother. Stools tests show
that there is blood, lactose, and fats present. When the baby uses formula
only, stool test is normal and baby is comfortable. Mom says baby has
reflux episodes but she's OK with this - better than screaming. The mom has
been pumping during this time and her supply has greatly dwindled. To date,
our plan has been to rule-out food allergens by eliminating offending foods
(dairy, eggs, peanuts, cole crops, coffee, wheat, citrus), to reduce the
amount of lactose baby is receiving by having mom nurse on one breast ,
eliminating vitamin supplements in mother, and encouraging frequent small
feeds as opposed to more lengthy feeds where baby would possibly be ravenous
and ingest large quantities of foremilk. The only thing we haven't
discussed is environmental issues!
Does anyone think that the mother is not telling the whole story? I have
not talked with the doc. as the doctor has little respect for LLL and would
probably not even reply. The fact that I'm an IBCLC would have little
influence.
Thanks to all who have replied to my fist request for help. Arly, my hubby
can't add my name to his address unfortunately - it's the government you
know - they're picky about those kind of things! Lisa and Diane, thanks for
your replies - I really wish it was lactose overload - it would be solved by
now!
Depressed in Suquamish, Nancy Ferland, IBCLC, LLLL blah blah blah
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