The Duggars- BFing/lactose intolerant, milk donation, etc
I'm a Duggar fan. I even have the book (yeah yeah, I know. It fascinates me). Michelle is a big BFing advocate, she nursed the last baby on the show all the time (with a cover) and has been shown pumping (covered) for the new preemie baby Josie. According to the book, she's a LLL member.
She just said that Josie was lactose intolerant, so now she can't nurse. Josie is now on formula. She did donate all of her unneeded milk, which is great. I'm just really surprised she didn't cut out dairy- is lactose intolerance different that makes it not possible for mom to just cut out dairy?
In the book she talks about battling through nursing- she said it ALWAYS hurt for her, she would get thrush for months, etc. But she still pushed through it. I'm just really surprised that she gave up nursing the preemie, I would think if anything she would fight harder to BF that one.
Re: The Duggars- BFing/lactose intolerant, milk donation, etc
I don't know much about lactose intolerance, but that is really interesting. I wonder if there were other reasons she just doesn't want to share?
What is the name of her book? I am also fascinated by them.
My Dr has always told me that your diet doesn't affect your Breastmilk.
I know lots of people see a change in their LO wheh they change their diet, so I'm always curious about this idea because I absolutely trust my Dr, but obviousy I can't deny other people's experiences.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
The book is called "20 and counting!" I think. I'm also fascinated.
Gypsy, that is interesting. I was thinking it had to be something beyond simply cutting out dairy, because she was SUCH a pro-BFer. It must feel so weird to her to be formula feeding after nursing so many kids!
I sort of wondered if she is continuing to pump, even though Josie can't have the milk. The freezer in their house still had a sticker on it about BM and it was the episode after they found out about the allergy. And the pump was still out. So maybe she is pumping to donate to other preemies?
Our DS ended up formula fed for a similar reason. In our case since he was having major feeding intolerance while in the NICU it was more important to find something that would not cause severe reactions than it was to focus on him getting breast milk. The diagnosis so far is still a milk protein allergy.
In hindsight I could have pushed it with the neonatalogists and made an attempt to cut out dairy, but in the situation I just wanted my LO to be okay. I did EP for a few months for DD (she was never able to latch...), but once both babies were home and I was alone pumping just didn't work for me.
I'm not sure about a different type of intolerance..but I do know with preemies there is always a very high risk of them developing Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), where the intestines begin to die. We thought DS had this when he would spit-up a horrible green color. This was a major reason we didn't push BM but went with a very easy to digest formula -Neocate.
I was planning on watching it tonight, and I totally got involved in ordering myself a Kindle (YAY!) and I forgot. I love the Duggars
I did see last week's episode though, and I thought it was strange that she up and switched to formula without trying to cut dairy out of her diet first. But if what pp said is right, I guess it wouldn't make much difference if it's a problem with milk protein specific to preemies.
I just watched the show and thought the same thing... but I guess like PPs are saying, it may be different with a premie. I can understand just wanting her to be okay and having piece of mind that she is better.
Here's the article that was on Kellymom. It is more than just dairy intolerance.
https://www.parentdish.com/2010/08/03/michelle-duggar-chats-about-her-breast-milk-ban-and-losing-the-b/
I wish Ari had heard this. I'd give anything to eat cheese again w/o days of him screaming. Or anything else on the list.
Lactose intolerance & dairy protein allergy are 2 different things. I am highly lactose intolerant & used all lactose free products & Ari still reacted to the dairy I was eating. It's pretty rare for babies to be lactose intolerant - BM has one of the highest lactose contents of any milk - but it can happen & I've read it's more common in preemies.
I know very little about the intolerance but I can confirm there was an absolute relationship between what I ate and DS' reaction that has gone away.
Preheatedoven (great name!) I just wanted to say that the highlighted part in here is ALL that matters!!!! Who knows what would have happened if you had pushed for BM but you have a healthy baby now and that means you made a great choice, thank goodness you did! I am a huge BF supporter but there are certain times where we have to make the decisions to do what is best for our LOs regardless of how we would like to see it go. I think that is exactly what you did and that is as AP as you can get!
A friend of mine was born several weeks premature and his mother told me that the only thing he could have for the first 6 months was pre-digested formula. I can't remember if it was cow milk or soy milk. But if he had anything else he would have horrible allergic reactions to it and be in the hospital for weeks.
I was wondering why she gave up BF and didn't just do the dairy free...guess that explains it. Just glad Joise is better now...
Speaking as a mom whos LO has a Milk Protein Allergy up until he was diagnosed with it I felt horrible for the lil guy, he was so uncomfortable, crying all the time for LONG periods of time...then we started the process of having to try SOY for a week to see if that would work but no then on to Alimentum.
I was given bad advice from a couple doctors to give up trying to Exculsively Pump since LO had latching issues anyways.
I still have some residual guilt from that, but LO is doing amazing on his alimentum so,in hide sight, we all do whats best for our babies!
j+k+m+e | running with needles
She talks about this in the book- BFing doesn't work as BC for her at all. Her cycle returns about 6-8 weeks out. She EBF until she gets pregnant, and at that point her milk dries up and she has to supplement with formula. She's never weaned because she thought the kid was too old or she wanted to get pg, the kiddo weans because there is no milk. She said one of the first signs of pg for her is the nursling gets fussy at the breast.