Dear Lincoln,
I must really love you.
Love,
Mom
Around Lincoln's 3rd week of life things started changing a bit - suddenly I couldn't lay him down for naps without him waking within minutes, he fussed in the stroller and never fell asleep, etc. I figured it was just personality blooming :) Cuddling a new baby is so, so sweet, but cuddling him 24/7 with a toddler around wasn't realistic - but I was prepared to ride it out. However, over the next two weeks things got progressively worse and it became quite apparent to me that a good case of reflux had set in for the little guy. Although not a spitter, you could see him tense up and gulp/sputter/choke as he refluxed. So sad! Of course the worst of it hit on a weekend (how do kids always know it is a weekend??), but I got him in to the doctor first thing the next week and we started him on medicine. How would you like having heart burn constantly? Anyway, after two days on medicine he seemed to be doing somewhat better... then the weekend came (of course!) and he crashed hard! It was a really loooong, somewhat stressful weekend of worrying about him - all weekend he looked not-so-healthy and all night he choked, sputtered, gasped for air as we ended up holding him all night long out of fear. Whew.
Of course, my 'googling' tendencies had kicked in and as I read about 'all things reflux' it seemed that many babies with reflux also have a dairy sensitivity - and as his health seemed to be getting worse I decided to cut out dairy.
Within two days we had a marked improvement.
Exit milk and ranch. Enter Rice Dream and hummus. (oh, and ALMOND milk! DELICIOUS!)
Enter LIFE change! Oh man, I am a dairy lover. Dairy for breakfast, lunch, dinner and in between!
So, here we are, a few weeks into this venture and I am dairy free and... handling it :) The fact that he is looking so good and feeling so good is what keeps me going. In a few weeks I will probably try a small amount of milk and see how he reacts to see just how severe his sensitivity... maybe I will be able to get away with a small bowl of cereal now and again... maybe.
Bring on the non-dairy recipes everyone! I am going to need them!
(P.S. there is a 50/50 chance he wont be able to handle soy either, so I am avoiding that too for the moment)
8 comments:
I am so so so sorry Lincoln has reflux. Audrey had it til 9 months old, so I KNOW your pain. Stick with it this is only a moment in time and if there is any help I can give you just call.
What love! Holy cow, I would have a hard time with that. Really. Good for you.
And I'm sorry I never commented on your being robbed. How awful! I hope everything has been sorted out by now.
Rebecca Hone! Are you one of Jordyn's blog readers. I need an invite to your blog! Email me at jenniferjean_81@hotmail.com. I just opened our blog to be public. It's theshumfam.blogspot.com.
It would be good to get back in touch and see how life is treating you.
I am so sorry, too, that he has reflux, but I am soooo glaaaddd that going dairy-free is helping! We tried dairy-free and gluten-free and a few others, and nothing made any kind of improvement that we could tell... so we've just toughed it out with gripe water, and I've felt guilty for it all along. *sigh* (And Germans don't have baby antacid prescriptions... and when I got to the States for the summer, the pediatrician here basically said, "Well, she's at the age now where we'd be taking her off anyway..." Blah.) Madeline's is finally improving, thank goodness, but still pops up now and then... I'm just so, so happy that there is something you can DO for your sweet baby! :-) You should feel very good about the things you are doing, you sweet mom!
Both of my kids are reflux pukers, so I FEEL you. Caleb got it again, so if he gets off of it in 6 months or so and still is fussy, get him back on. And then yes, Caleb had a lactose sensitivity. It does seem better now. Glad to hear he's doing better and hope he grows out of the reflux soon!
You are a strong woman! The things we do for our children. :) Glad you were able to figure it out. Love google!
Okay, So I have this recipe blog, but i am pretty sure every single recipe has milk. hahaha!!
lovetoeathatetocook.blogspot.com
but check it out anyways, because i am sure most of them could do a little minor adjusting!!
You are one tough cookie!! Keep it up!!
My sister-in-law, Tiffany, sent me to your blog because my son has been having some of the same symptoms and I need to go dairy-free. It's only been a couple days but I already notice a difference, just like you did!
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