STop breastfeeding due to Reflux?

[Rainbows&Roses]

A two month old baby has been diagnosed with reflux and the ped has advised the mom to stop breastfeeding and start using formula that has no dairy. This advice just sounds off to me.

[jennilynn]

First, do you know if it's actual reflux or just spitting up? Kellymom has a good explanation of the difference: http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/reflux/
She does say up to half of all GERD cases are caused by a dairy allergy. But maybe the formula exacerbates it more than the breastmilk? Since she's combining the two it would be hard to know. I'd try just about anything before giving up breastfeeding, but that's me.

[petesgirl]

My DS had both reflux and a supposed dairy allergy. It was weird because I knew he was very fussy, spitty, and gassy when I had dairy then nursed him. Going dairy-free helped a little but putting him on dairy-free formula helped A LOT. So ultimately, I did stop nursing (at 9 months) and just did formula, although he was on formula for about 50% of feedings before that. I toyed around with soy, eggs, wheat and a bunch of other things in my diet but nothing seemed to improve his behavior/symptoms the way that formula did. But even on the formula, he didn't start sleeping through the night until we got him on the right reflux meds around 15 months. So I think he did have dairy sensitivity and reflux but not sure they were related. I know the benefits of breastfeeding but at the end of the day I think it boils down to two things: Is mom happy with nursing and is baby happy with nursing? I learned early on that my DS was SOO much more mellow and slept better and overall happier when he was on formula, no matter what my diet consisted of. But I kept nursing him because I felt like stopping would mean I was a bad mom. Then I would nurse him and he would cry for 3 hrs straight and I would feel guilty that I had nursed him instead of just giving him formula when I knew he could tolerate it better. As a result, I hated nursing and have very bad memories of it. Long story short.....Do what makes mom and baby both feel the best regardless of everyone else's opinion.

Now, after re-reading the OP it is definitely worth it try eliminating the dairy from mom's diet to see if that helps the reflux.

[Rainbows&Roses]

Thanks. I did some research on my own after posting too. The combination of the bf + dairy allergy thing kind of confused me because I know a bit about dairy allergies and less about reflux, but I thought they were really two separate things. I have not heard at all that this baby was spitting up which is why I thought the sudden reflux diagnosis was odd and that all of this was quite sudden. What I read was that BM was actually better for reflux than formula anyway. Maybe they are trying to attack all fronts at once. Anyway thanks for your opinions. She really is not asking for my advice and I think wants to be done with BF anyway, but the ped's advice just bothered me.

[BunnyBee]

Thanks. I did some research on my own after posting too. The combination of the bf + dairy allergy thing kind of confused me because I know a bit about dairy allergies and less about reflux, but I thought they were really two separate things. I have not heard at all that this baby was spitting up which is why I thought the sudden reflux diagnosis was odd and that all of this was quite sudden. What I read was that BM was actually better for reflux than formula anyway. Maybe they are trying to attack all fronts at once. Anyway thanks for your opinions. She really is not asking for my advice and I think wants to be done with BF anyway, but the ped's advice just bothered me.

Then that might not have been the ped's actual advice. It could be what she's telling you. I'd just nod and smile unless she's asking for help. (If it's the real advice, then yes, it's not good advice and shows the ped is not knowledgeable about breastfeeding.)

[petesgirl]

Well if the ped thinks the baby has a dairy allergy and the mom isn't willing to eliminate dairy from her diet then the best advice probably is to stop breastfeeding so the baby doesn't develop other problems from exposure to those proteins. My ped was all for breast milk but also was very adamant that I find out what food I was eating that was upsetting my baby's digestion.

[Rainbows&Roses]

Then that might not have been the ped's actual advice. It could be what she's telling you. I'd just nod and smile unless she's asking for help. (If it's the real advice, then yes, it's not good advice and shows the ped is not knowledgeable about breastfeeding.)

I don't think she is lying, but potentially doesn't want to go through any more trouble for BF. I don't know. The whole thing really bothers me because I don't think the reflux symptoms are there from all that she has told me and I have an inherent distrust of drs, especially peds after bad advice. I don't like when people blindly trust their drs - my DH is a perfect example. Whatever the dr says is gospel.

Anyway, thanks again.

[Simon]

Well if the person thinks the baby has a dairy allergy and the mom isn't willing to eliminate dairy from her diet then the best advice probably is to stop breastfeeding so the baby doesn't develop other problems from exposure to those proteins.
:yeah that
She may also know that you disapprove of using formula and not want to tell you she just plain wants to stop breastfeeding.

[BabyBearsMom]

:yeah that
She may also know that you disapprove of using formula and not want to tell you she just plain wants to stop breastfeeding.

:yeahthat: I think there is a lot of judgement of women who choose to stop breastfeeding and sometimes it is easier to tell people "Oh I discussed it with the doctor and this is what we decided was best" so that you don't have to hear someone yammering at you about how breast is best etc. etc.

Or there could be more to the story that she might not be telling you. Maybe she needs to eliminate dairy from her diet for the baby but she can't because of her own dietary issues.

[AnnieW625]

I agree with Simon and Baby Bear's Mom. If she doesn't want to breast feed that is her choice and no one else's. Some peds. do have some funky advice, but if otherwise she likes her ped. it is her job to distrust the ped., and not yours. It's different strokes for different folks really.

DD2 had really bad reflux from birth, I picked up on it when she was 3 days old. She was in pain that I eliminated dairy for 3 weeks (I went back in then and demanded the meds for her, even though the ped. wanted to wait until she was a month old to actually rule out GERD vs. just colic), but it still didn't help. DD2 was on Zantac from 3 weeks until 15 months old. The ped. didn't think it was dairy allergy as she spit up a lot no matter what I ate (I purposely waited to breast feed until I was in the doctor's office so we'd get some spit up action out of her) I weaned my daughter at 4 months old because I didn't have enough of a supply to make pumping at work worth it to me. Chosing a formula wasn't the easiest thing, but we ended up finding that Similac Sensitive worked the best for her (although people here told me it was a marketing ploy because babies aren't lactose intolerant) and then a few months later found the Playtex Drop In bottles and the spit up finally stopped. We kept her on the Zantac for a few months longer to make sure she was happy after eating.

Funny thing with DD2 I do suspect she has some sort of milk protein allergy though because anytime she drinks a full cup (6 to 8 oz.) of regular milk she stinks and her poop gets really green and gross looking so she drinks lactose free milk instead. She has no other issues processing dairy although we do limit ice cream to a small scoop.

[Rainbows&Roses]

:yeah that
She may also know that you disapprove of using formula and not want to tell you she just plain wants to stop breastfeeding.

I actually don't disapprove of using formula as I have used it for my son and she knows that. I am purposely being really vague and am not going to even address a few comments up-thread because I don't know if she reads this board or not as I have sent her here a few times when she has had issues/questions.

Thanks to those who clarified a few things about reflux.