Breastfeeding a Baby with Reflux, Colic, CMPA or other Allergies
Breast milk is magic. Totally. And when it comes to babies who suffer from reflux, breastfeeding is generally the best option. For 8% of babies, their reflux or colic symptoms only started with the switch to formula milk.
Diet and Breastfeeding
One of the greatest struggles of parents of babies with reflux is finding the right or best milk. This is because there are ingredients in most formulas of milk that a baby’s immature digestive system just cannot break down and, therefore, result in more reflux symptoms.
Breast milk is a different ball game. It is one over which you have 100% control over the ingredients. What goes in is what comes out.
“When someone takes medication or eats food, the substance is usually broken down by the digestive tract, and then molecule-sized components of the substance are absorbed into the blood. When these molecules get to the capillaries near the breast tissue, they move through the cells that line the alveoli and into the milk.”
So essentially, everything you eat could make it into your breast milk.
The tricky bit, and what everyone else ignores, is that this does not just apply to allergens. It applies to everything.
There are a number of things that will cause baby a problem because of the natural immaturity of their digestive system. This is not something to overcome; this is something to work with.
This immaturity is completely natural, and once we learn how to respect it, babies fare much much better - and they tend to respond very quickly, with positive changes evident within hours.
The Breastfeeding Elimination Diet
I believe I am the only person taking a baby's digestive development into account. And this is why my breastfeeding elimination "diet" protocol is so successful.
Plus, it is not a long-term "diet"; we get the baby to a Place of Great and then rebuild the mum's diet to make sure what she is eating is going to be easy for her baby to digest and thrive.
Interestingly, I often find that some things mums are avoiding are completely fine for babies to have. But we are stuck in a place where we think the common allergens are what is causing the problem when, in fact, some of them may have nothing to do with it. And then some allergens are a problem - but not because of an allergic reaction, but just from the complex nature of their molecular components that can cause baby a problem.
What do you think?
Have you struggled to get consistent results on other elimination diets?
They don't work because they neglect the developing nature of the baby's digestive system.
How can I help?
In the 'Reflux Free Baby' Workshop, I walk you through all the symptoms you need to observe and record for your baby, what they mean, and how to use them as clues. The course is suitable for both bottle-feeding and breastfed babies who are suffering from baby reflux. In The Breastfeeding Masterclass I walk through the complex interaction between mum's diet and baby's reflux and provide clear guidelines on the safer foods to eat, how and why.
I tell you what the clues mean individually and when they occur with other groups of symptoms.
And this leads us to be able to say what is causing each baby's reflux with much more confidence.
Based on this, I tell you what specific action to take for them.
If you're on the fence, start with our Free Symptoms Tracker. Document just how many behaviours and symptoms are directly related to your baby's reflux and how much discomfort you can expect to resolve by addressing the root cause of their reflux. Download it here.
Aine x
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