Hi! I'm new to this forum, and don't know if this question has been discussed before. I have a four month old (my first child) and he is having very bad reflux - getting worse and lots of vomiting, with some mucus in his stool (not streaky). I'm wondering if it might be because I don't have a colon, and don't have the bifidus bacteria he needs to populate his colon and I'm breastfeeding him exclusively. I read online that bifidus allows lactase to form to help digest lactose - maybe he is allergic to my milk because he can't digest the lactose? I've been trying to give him probiotics off and on, but he often vomits them up...any one have any experience with this? I'm not digesting things well myself, since my c-section - particularly proteins. I haven't eaten much fresh food since getting UC (about 2005) and the colectomy (2007), and might be experiencing a lack of enzymes? Has anyone else experienced increased difficulty with digestion post c-section? I'm wondering if my own digestive problems are contributing to my baby's digestive issues. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I haven't found our pediatrician or my perinatologist to be helpful with his digestive difficulties. He did have a upper GI small bowel follow through to rule out malrotation. Thanks!

Hi Natasha,
I see that no one has replied to your post, and I am, by no means, an expert on any level, but my first child (who is now five) also had a similar problem. How is your baby now? Has anything improved? I have to admit, I never considered my son's issues having anything to do with my pouch (He was breastfed until 7 months). His pediatrician did treat him by putting him on Xantac for reflux, but I don't think it really made much difference. No change in his digestion once he was on formula either. He wore a bib constantly until he was over a year old, but I am happy to report, simply outgrew it. He never suffered any ill-effects from it (although he is a picky eater!). Hang in there. It can only improve, or reveal itself for what it truly is, once the digestive system fully matures. I know this may not help much, but stay positive! Keep us posted!

Colleen

Lots of babies get reflux, and the vast majority don't have pouches. The GI system is brand new in a baby, and is sensitive to many things. There is an increasing body of evidence to suspect cow's milk as one of the primary causes of GI problems in babies. We're just not made to drink it, and it upsets a lot of babies. Rather than go to meds, try dropping cow's milk and all dairy products from your diet and see if there is any improvement after about 3 weeks. It takes a month for dairy to leave both your system and the babies. I found spitting up and reflux stopped completely when I gave up dairy.

My daughter had similar problems and when she was 3 months old so we saw a pediatric GI. She was certain that it was due to the dairy in my diet. I wanted to continue nursing, so I tried to cut the dairy out. The problem is that dairy stays in your system a long time. My daughter was having blood in her stool from the dairy protein irritating her gut so the GI wanted me to switch to formula right away. Within a couple weeks my daughter's GI system was great again.

I would say that if you can commit to cutting dairy out entirely (and not even sneaking small amounts in and reading the labels on everything you buy), it's a great route. I got pressured from the doctor and caved, but I was sad to end nursing. But was also thankful for a healthy daughter with the formula. By the way, if you go that route, we used the Similac Alimentum. Worked wonders, but is the nastiest tasting stuff, and sooo expensive.

my son had this too. he was diagnosed with dairy and egg protein allergies when he was 3 months old. i still wanted to breastfeed him so i cut out all dairy and egg products from my diet. diary proteins stay in mom's system for 2 weeks and then once they are out of moms system, baby can eliminate them from his system within 2 weeks. it took a month before he stopped puking all the time. we are still nursing today and he will be 2 in october, but boy do i miss cheese!!

My twins had/have reflux. One is still on medication for it (19 months). It has nothing to do with my medical history/health. I also breastfed.

Is your baby on medication? We ended up with one on zantac and the other on prevacid. We also ended up buying both a Tucker Sling. Loved them. The boys sleeping improved a lot. They still both sleep with a pillow under their mattress to keep their head up.

I never cut out dairy or was told to while breastfeeding and both boys drink milk now.

Reflux is not uncommon in babies.

I too was thinking dairy as a problem. My two children have the milk allergy and while everyone will jump to tell you all about how to avoid lactose, that is not the cause of the milk allergy. Protein in the milk is the issue. So if you want to see if this is the problem, you ahve to stop all dairy and dairy by products - no milk, cheese, whey, casein, etc...If you are still breastfeeding this means none of those things for you.

My first child had lots of projectile vomiting and gas until we got the milk issue under control, but our real tip off was blood in the stool - this stopped as soon as I stopped milk products. My daughter though had no GI distress, only the blood in the stool.

We have been thinking my son (the older one) was over the milk allergy but now they think he may still have it due to chronic constipation and poor appetite with weird eating habits. We have an endoscopy for him on Sept 16th. My daughter is just 2 and we recently tested her again but she still has the bleeding with milk so we're holding off on testing again till she's 2 1/2.

I have 2 children (post-pouch) that have both been breastfed and neither of them have had problems with reflux. I don't think the problem is due specifically to having a pouch. I hope you can get it cleared up for your babe's sake!

Thank you all for responding!! It's interesting to hear the different experiences. My son is now five months old, and seems to be doing a little better. We had his stool checked for blood after I'd eaten dairy, and it was negative, but he does have very mucousy (sp?) stools each day. I've stopped eating dairy, and he is a month older, both of which may have helped relieve his reflux symptoms. My main concern now, other than missing cheese , is wondering how his own colon is populated with the bacteria it needs to function properly. I've considered trying to feed him some breast milk from a mother with a colon. Has anyone else had this concern? I know the colon has many more strains of bacteria (primarily bifidus) than is found in probiotic supplements. Am I just overly concerned do you think? Thanks again for your input!!

I think you're over thinking it. JMO.

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I think you're over thinking it. JMO.

Same here.