Conference moira::parenting

    My son also had an intolerance for breastmilk, but neither could he
    tolerate regular soy formulas, so he had to be put on Pregestimil
    which is basically milk broken down into its elements so that the
    digestive process will be easier.  I never felt guilty about it since
    he never nursed anyhow as he was in the NICU for so ong.  His feedings
    on breastmilk were by tube.  However, I hated breastfeeding since all
    my nursing was done via a pump with the milk then fed by tube and then
    bottle (to my daughter), so I was sort of like the cow in the dairy
    that gives us milk which we get out of the carton in the refrigerator.
    
    I think because I hated it so much, I was actually relieved when I
    could eventually stop it, though I have to say the Pregestimil (more
    affectionately known as projectimil in our house due to reflux) was no
    picnic either.
    
    I gathered from the nurses that an allergy of this type is not rare,
    but it is unusual.  There's not much you can do about it, and it's not
    your fault or anything you did that is causing this particular allergy. 
    You might try extra cuddling with him at feeding time so that you both
    still get that nice, close feeling.
    
    Cathy

    Thank you for your input Cindy, every little bit helps.
    
    One thing that I do is I take one of my old satiny feeling nightgowns
    and put it against his face when I give him his bottle. He loved to
    burrow in it when I was breastfeeding and that seems to help alot.
    
    Sherry

    Sherry,
    
    I went through about the same scenario as you.
    
    For the first three weeks after my son, Michael was born, he
    experienced bowel movements about every five days. Then the 
    diarrhea began. He also looked very "yellow". I attributed
    the diarrhea to oral meds he was taking for thrush. And the
    perceived 'yellow cast' to new mother insecurities and heritage
    (part Eskimo and Spanish=olive complextion). One day, when 
    Michael was five weeks, a friend remarked that Michael looked 
    kinda yellow. I'd been communicating with my pediatrician
    over the phone about the diarrhea, but since it looked like
    something else was going on, I took my son to see the doctor.
    
    A bilirubin (jaundice) test was done and it showed that Michael,
    at 5 weeks was still jaundiced (he was at birth, as are many newborns).
    I had been placing him in a sunny window three times a day since
    we brought him home from the hospital but the jaundice appeared 
    to be getting worse, not better. Sunlight (or bili lights) is 
    supposed to clear up most cases of newborn jaundice.
     
    After *many* blood tests at the best children's hospital in the 
    county, it was determined that Michael was allergic to breast milk,
    otherwise known as "Breastmilk Jaundice".  I was ordered to stop 
    breastfeeding immediately (where upon I immediately developed a 
    nasty breast infection). Michael's diarrhea stopped and his natural 
    color began to show. 
    
    Jodi-

    My younger sister's first child has this also.  She too had to stop
    breastfeeidng her daughter early on.  Seems to be more common than I
    thought.
    
    -sandy
    

Sherry,

I really feel for you.  I tried to breast feed my first son who is now 14 yrs 
old.  He was severely jaudiced at birt and spent several days in intensive care.
He never really learned to suck properly and then developed gastointestinitis 
at 5 weeks.  I had to stop breast feeding immediately and put him on a diet of
black tea and carrots.  Every time he would cry, I experienced let down and
terrible emotional agony.

He got straightened out in the hospital, my engorgement eventually went away,
and he went on to a high weight gain formula.  He was better off, I was 
better off, and my husband could now join in on the feedings.  It took a long
time for the feelings to recede and I am still sad that the experience was so
emotional that I chose not to try to feed my second because I knew I was 
planning to return full time to work when he was two months.  

But it is all water under the bridge :-) and I'm sure you've done the right 
thing!  You can still hold him close and hug him :-)  (I still do with both of
my boys and one is almost 3 inches taller than I am :-)

Cheryl

Fortunately, I've not experienced the problems described in this note, but
I checked some books I have at home.

The information I have available to me says that "breastmilk jaundice" is 
caused by some unknown element of breastmilk that some babies react to, but
also that once the jaundice clears up that it is possible to start
breastfeeding again (it said usually within a few days).  You would
need to pump for that period of time that your baby was unable to nurse if
you wanted to resume nursing.

I sympathize with you and your feelings about having given up nursing
before you were ready.  It's natural that you would miss something you
enjoyed.

Providing lots of extra cuddles and keeping your baby close to you while
you bottle-feed will certainly help preserve the closeness that nursing
provides.  The rooting instinct in babies is their way of looking for
"dinner".  I'm sure your baby will eventually stop, once s/he realizes that
dinner isn't coming from there.

I felt pangs of loss when I weaned my son, and a month later he still wants
to nurse (he's 15 mos now).  It's hard to distract him or give him
something else to drink, because part of it I'm sure is the comfort he got
from nursing.  We do cuddle *LOTS*, but after over a year of nursing, a hug
just doesn't seem to always cut it.


Good luck to you and your baby.  Enjoy your moments - they're gone all too
fast!

~Caryn

    My wife, Wendy, experienced breastfeeding jaundice with our 4th child.
    Like Caryn outlined in reply .6, he was gettign quite jaundiced and
    they recommended we quit nursing for 48 hours. We were told this
    *almost* always cleared up the problem. His bilirubin count dropped
    immediately when we quit nursing. After 2 days, Wendy began nursing him
    again. Within 24 hours, his jaundcie was worse than before. Again, we
    were told to stop nursing. Within 24 hours, his bilirubin dropped from
    18 to 8. The doctor's told us that when this happens repeatedly in this
    pattern, it is likely that there is something in mom's milk causing the
    reaction... basically, works like an allergy. We discontinued nursing,
    and Jacob did fine. We cuddled lots, I got to help in the feedings, and
    I don't believe it harmed him at all, quite the contrary, seeing as the
    breastfeeding was literally making him sick. 
    
    Think of that whenever it gets hard to deal with missing the
    breastfeeding... you are doing what is best for your little one, and
    that, after all, is the most important thing you can do!
    
    We were, BTW, told the problem was fairly unusual, but they did see
    several cases a month of it (in a hospital that delivered about 300-400
    babies a month... what does that translate to... 1%?)
    
    --dave--