Off the cow and the can

Okay - kind of a corny title - but my way of saying that I have stopped all caffeine and all dairy. Augh! I love cheese pizza and really anything dairy. I am fortunate not to have any lactose intolerance so I am used to eating dairy with impunity.

I also love Diet Coke. Such a silly thing to love but it is a habitual thing with me - calms me down. Hmmm... Not such a good thing. So thanks Jac!

On the positive side. Our boy feels better! We can already tell a difference. He is eating more easily again. He is grabbing the bottle and rooting for it and lunging like he did before. Yeah! He seems to be more comfortable and is eating more during each feeding. His feed volumes are going up again (I have only been off dairy for 4 days and caffeine for two). It is amazing how quickly these changes have affected him.

So thanks Jac! The no Diet Coke thing is good for Momma anyway and maybe no dairy will help me lose the last of the baby weight so I can get back to soccer!

I have been participating in several online groups discussing premature babies, babies with reflux, pumping and many other issues of special needs babies and moms that pump for a variety of reasons. They have all been very elucidating and through one of them I found the kellymom website which has all sorts of great information about breastfeeding. After I found their article about Spitting Up & Reflux in the Breastfed Baby I decided I had to quit both dairy and caffeine. I have decided not to try a full elimination diet at this point. If Jac's reflux seems to get worse again I will try a full elimination diet but at this point it seems we may have found part of the problem.

The problem with dairy is not lactose intolerance (since breast milk has lots of lactose!) but is an allergy to proteins in the cow's milk.

I had been eating more cheese (pizza!) when it seemed like Jac's reflux was getting worse so my instincts tell me that that may be a good portion of the problem. Ah, Christmas without dairy but a happy baby! I can do that!