Milk- cow, human and otherwise

With a new baby, a lot of thought is about milk. Milkies. On one hand, I have been very lucky and breastfeeding Joaquin started smooth and continues to be delightful. He demonstrated his excellent nursing ability when he latched on and started drinking from my right breast at age 45 minutes. Funny thing is the right side continues to be his favorite. He likes to nurse from only the right when he is feeling particularly out of sorts. And out of sorts he was for several weeks because Joaquin is quasi-allergic, more accurately sensitive, to cow's milk protein in breast milk.

How did I know? After a few weeks of life, Joaquin proved himself to be a tremendous spitter. He spit up milk on my shirt. He spit up milk in my bed. He barfed curdled milk onto the sofa. He barfed on to my future sister-in-law's sweater. He was a fountain of aged milk. His sleepers were saturated daily and he reeked of old milk, hence the cat stalking. But spitting up is normal if a baby is gaining weight. And Joaquin AKA Biggie is no peanut. As Dr. Sears says "you have a laundry problem, not a spit-up problem".

However, placid Joaquin started to cry and fuss while nursing. He wasn't enjoying feedings but crying through and right after them. This was a bit confused with him arriving at 7 weeks when babies are known to be at peak fussiness. A few internet searches all turned over the same thing- spit-up is gastrointestinal reflux. The valve between the esophagus and the stomach that keeps stomach contents where they belong is immature in infants. However a known culprit of aggravating reflux in infants is cow milk protein in human breastmilk.

I don't drink milk, it makes my stomach hurt. But I do love ice cream and, as a vegetarian, cheese is a big part of my diet. The connection between Joaquin's spitting up and my milk consumption became clear after a projectile vomit spewed like a geyser from the baby following a very large vanilla milkshake. It took me another few weeks, another few incidents of barf and hard crying to really give all milk products up. Our former pediatrician at Kaiser prescribed Zantac to reduce Joaquin's stomach acid and reduce the burning that is the cause of the crying. Daniel filled the prescription but after getting home, we decided I should try a strict no dairy diet first.
The no dairy diet is working. Joaquin no longer spits up. Lots of drool and spit, yes but bellyfulls of digested milk, no.
Milk, human, cow and otherwise get a lot of thought around here. Only Joaquin is getting any at the moment. I am surviving on eggs, smoked peppercorn salmon, avocados and Coconut Bliss ice cream. The difference in Joaquin is worth it. The joy of breastfeeding is way diminished when my sweet little boy cries through it. Most babies outgrow this sensitivity between 6 months and 2 years.