Re: Re:breast milk/how to calm stomachs?

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

I'm not an expert on this but here is what I learned with my two children:

Background: When was born 4 years ago, he didn't feed directly from the

breast so I expressed and fed him exclusively breast milk. It was frustrating

since I pumped alot and he drank so little. His weight gain was poor and I was

told that probably the breast milk didn't have enough calories in it and that I

should give half BM and half formulas. That was when the vomited for

started to get really bad. We tried about 10 different infant formulas. He then

had an NG tube placed at 3 months and a G-tube placed at 11 months. We have had

long-term problems with formulas ever since until I put on a macrobiotic

diet (mainly organic rice based which is low allergen), beans, vegetables, and

seaweed (very good at helping to break down food), plus anything else in

moderation. Obviously breast milk is reccommended for babies by proponents of

such a natural diet and so I learnt alot about it then.

1) It is very unlikely that any breast milk will be deficient in calories. It

may be too sweet or salty for the baby's taste at times but even if it is runny,

watery or looks less fatty, it is generally measured at 67 kcals per 100 cc.

(That is why all baby formulas are generally made to the same calorie base).

2) Breast milk contains a high level of IgA - at least in the early stages. ( I

say early stages since I don't think tests have been done on breast milk 1 or 2

years out although I'm sure it is still beneficial). IgA is one of the

immunogloben elements. It's function is to help line the stomach and the

intestinal wall and thus aid efficient digestion and then proper breakdown and

absorption of food particles through the gut lining.

3) Breast milk also contains (again sorry I don't know the exact name for this)

EGF factor (not to be confused with IGF factor that our kids often have issues

with). This is something which is incorporated on the number 7 chromozone. A few

years ago, there was alot of research papers on this related to SGA/RSS and

whether this was key in their lack of weight gain, gut issues. Anyway, it is

important for efficient digestion and smooth gut use.

4) The advantage of breast milk - even after 6 months is - if drunk directly -

will change to be more thirst quenching or more fatty depending on the baby's

needs. This might also be helpful for our children who maybe on some days just

don't want the real high calory/fat stuff that tends to be put in uniformly when

a tube is used. Imagine always being stuffed with full fat cream or potatoes

when you aren't hungry-boy!

5) Obviously, breast milk is predigested so is easy to absorb and use

efficiently without too much toll on the system. Many of the formulas that our

children use are also predigested through a process called hydrolization - where

the full protein (usually milk) is bombarded with water to break down the

particles. The more it is bombarded the more it is broken down through stages -

from full protein, the peptides (a string of amino acids) to single amino acids

(the smallest building blocks of a protein). Allergy milks are usually broken

down by at least 67% or more. (i.e. they have an allergy reading of 33 out of

100 - 100 being the full protein and 0 the amino acid). Some people have trouble

with this highly synthetized process and the chemicals added to prevent the

contents of the formulas separating during use. The Compleat range was developed

by Novartis for such people. You could check out their website - also the meat

based formulas are much cheaper!

6) Breast milk helps avoid the development of early allergies to a range of

foods. As far as I can tell children with multiple food allergies tend not to

have been born that way. They are inherently sensitive individuals (maybe more

so with our kids are encouraged onto high calorie, chemically generated or

synthetic formulas at an early age). Once you get sensitive to one formula or

food, you then tend to develop sensitivities or intolerances to other foods that

you eat when the body is struggling with the initial culprit food. Prolonged use

of breast milk is supposed to help get the child to a stage where he/she can

manage at least a certain amount of any food without treating it as an " enemy "

even in the mildest form. The longer this goes undetected, the more foods you

tend to have problems with.

I found with that I really regretted being forced to give up BM. I didn't

know then and did what I was told. I know now that it was a really useful tool

and when I had my second child - my daughter Sora Grace 12 months ago - I began

pumping extra milk and mixed it into formulas. I found the benefits were:

he had less problems and less stomach discomfort during feeding. He used the

calories more efficiently and could gain weight better on fewer calories. He

coped much better with proteins (beans, yoghurt, miso) when breast milk was

included.

Obviously tolerances and allergies are hard to detect and there could be other

reasons for Josiah's problems. But until you find them, here's some suggestions

for what they are worth.

Suggestions: (for any guys out there who might think this is too much detail, I

apologize!)

1) If it is only 2 and half weeks since you weaned - and if you are wanting

Josiah to be more independent - how about pumping breast milk yourself? It's not

much fun, but it is well worth it. Books veer on the cautious side, but you can

freeze BM for up to 6 months, and use from the fridge for up to 36 hours. I use

a double pump - it takes a bit of handling at first - but is much more efficient

at getting your supply back up and obviously much less time consuming.

Basically, when you pump, the brain stimulates the letdown reflex but it doesn't

know which side to send it so it goes to both breasts. If you are pumping on

just one side, the other side's milk stays for a while and then turns back to

the blood. Then you have to stimulate it again when you switch sides - this can

take several minutes with nothing coming out at first and can be frustrating. I

found the medela pump - the bigger electric one was the best - I rented it

rather than buy one of the smaller but less efficient ones. If you can add about

200 cc to his feeds each day and see what foods its helps if any, it might be

worth it before you lose the supply all together.

2) If that is not possible, have you thought of trying to use some of the

alternatives for lining the stomach/intestinal wall. Pectin is one often cited

by GI doctors to smooth intestinal tract problems - contain vomiting. It is the

agent used in making jams - apple pectin is the most common I think. You mix a

little with water and give before a feed (don't mix in with feed since it will

become too diluted). This is also supposed to line the intestinal wall and help

slow absorption, gastric emptying as necessary. I know our kids have problems

with gastric emptying but the volatile BS levels can come from inefficient

absorption and tendency for intestine to absorb food particles that are not

fully digested first. This can help give the food more time to break down,

curbing vomiting and sense of sickness. Pectin was first suggested for RSS kids

by one of the Paris doctors who had alot of success with it, particularly for

children who were UPD7 and tended to display the more severe gut problems rather

than the traditional RSS symptoms of assymetry etc.

3) I haven't really used pectin much living in Asia. Instead, I use a starch

(basically a food thickener) called Kudzu root. (macrobiotic derived). You have

to be careful to get it in the purest form and not with any potato starch

included other wise the intestinal wall lining function is not very effective.

You take a teaspoon of powder and dissolve it in a small amount of cold water.

Then boil around 50 cc of water and pour in the Kudzu solution. Stir

continuously for about 1 minute until it thickens and goes transparent. I put

this into via a syringe - exclusively before feeding and not mixed with

formulas. On a macro biotic diet, this is reccommended for anyone to maintain an

efficiently intestinal tract in our modern day lives of stress and often poor

diets. You can add more water for a more runny solution and drink it as a daily

tonic, or you can also use it instead of gelatin for desserts or in sauces. It

is basically tasteless but very effective. If Josiah tends to have diahroea or

constipation, this is also effective. Add apple in the warmer weather and some

pickled plum in the colder weather to try and right this. This worked very well

for when I didn't have the breast milk alternative before my second child

was born. (Cornstarch is often reccommended for RSS kids with blood sugar

issues. This could create a problem if you have problems with corn. Nearly all

baby formulas have corn elements in them somewhere so you might have developed a

sensitivity to one without really realizing it).

4) Have you thought about experimenting with different formulas or foods for

Josiah? I know that most dieticians will say, don't switch formulas in case you

uspet the stomach. but that is mainly for really small infants. Our children are

generally older and they are craving some variety or diversity. I think there

are a variety of books in the US that tell you how to at least set up a rotation

diet - you could try this with foods to test him by mouth or with formulas for

overnight feeding. It is good to have the help of a nutritionist but this can be

tough to find.

5) Did you think about getting in touch with the New Visions feeding team. I

think the MD's name is Suzanne or . They have seen umpteen long-term

tube feed children and while they have no scientific proof for some of their

deductions, they have much practical, clinical experience. I am a great fan of

experience whether there is a theory or not and always feel grateful if I can

tap into any. They also have products that I have used in the past. Papaya

enzyme powder was one that helped. They also have interesting ideas on the use

of small amounts of water 30 minutes before starting a feed to help digestion.

The idea being that - as all adults would probably testify - it often helps you

to eat/digest your meal when you are not dry mouthed, thirsty or a bit

dehydrated. If you put New Visions into any search engine it will come up or you

can email me directly. They have copious papers that you can download for free

off the that explain these methods.

This is probably way too much information than you were looking for. All of our

kids are so unique so I hope there might be one nugget that proves useful. Best

of luck and please let me know how you get on. By the way, can I ask a question

- how did you know that Josiah has these multiple food allergies? Does he test

positive for them on traditional tests or is it trial and error?

Debi

mum to in Japan

3 years 11 months, 10.5 kilos, 88 cms.

Re: Zantac...has it made reflux worse?

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> Hi Debi,

>

> I have been wondering about ! How is he doing? New

allergies

> or is he past the 3 months stage on his current diet? How is new

> baby?

>

> , mom to and Emerence

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