Has anyone been told to stop BF.

J&MsMom · October 2011

I took Max to the GI today. A little background, Max was in the NICU for 3 weeks with viral meningitis. Because of that, they check his blood frequently. They discovered his hemoglobin was dropping and discovered it was because there was blood in his stool. Anyway, the GI wants me to stop totally breastfeeding and just go to formula (Nuetro... or Alumenten). I was doing the no soy and dairy but they were worried that it wouldn't clear up fast enough. I really hate to stop BFing. I checked with his pediatrician and she agreed.

Has anyone's doctor told them they had to stop BF. How did you transition?

las7880 · October 2011

Mine recommended I stop (I exclusively pumped) after cutting dairy and soy didn't help. After a trial of breastmilk when I'd been dairy/soy free for three weeks still gave him a reaction, I've just kept him on the Neocate formula. Back when we started, though, we just went cold turkey. First we tried Nutramagin based on our pedi's recommendation but he vomited every bottle. We saw GI by miracle the next afternoon and went immediately to Neocate (he said the Alimentum and Nutramagin types still have trace dairy), again cold turkey, and he was great! Immediate results, actually - finished a bottle for the first time in weeks and weeks. Like you, my doctor felt like lo needed to heal immediately - no time for elminating dairy/soy and breastfeeding through it and looking back I'm so glad we did - he was so miserable, not gaining weight, screamed through every feeling, rarely ate. It was awful. If you want to keep breastfeeding, just feed the formula and in the meantime, eliminate allergens from your diet and pump and dump (or donate!). After a couple of weeks, your milk should be just fine!

So sorry for everything you've been through!

amy21tom · October 2011

We had to. I did 4 1/2 months of elimination diets and they didn't work for DS and we coudln't figure out all of his allergies. Our fist GI appt the doctor was OK with continuing to BF because I was willing to be on a really strict diet, but when that didn't work he wasn't willing to let it go on any longer because DS was still bleeding so we weaned. He allowed me to wean him slowly (2 weeks).

DS was happy other than the bleeding though, which was the reason we were allowed to continue the elimination diet and to wean rather than stopping cold turkey. Every situation is a little different but if you trust your doctors then I would listen to them; however, it never hurts to get a second opinion if you're worried.

We went right to Elecare because the GI didn't think DS would respond well to Nutramigen or Alimentum.

thiswillbe · October 2011

I was told to stop BFing when DD went on Neocate, but I didn't. I limited actual BFing sessions to one or two a day (I didn't want DD to forget how to BF), and nursed DS or pumped the rest of the time. But I had already been off dairy, etc for a while at that point.

If BFing (or providing breastmilk) is important to you, I would consider pumping until your system is clear (to keep your supply up). Especially if they're recommending Alimentum, which as someone mentioned still has allergens in it (which would make me think your Dr maybe doen't think Max's allergy is severe). At the point DD was put on Neocate, she'd already been on Alimentum for a while.

pawcall · October 2011

I was told to stop nursing Aidan at 9.5 months old (nearly 2 weeks ago). He has been taken off all food proteins and is now on a strict diet of elemental formula (elecare or neocate) - no breastmilk, no solids, nothing but the nastiest smelling formula imaginable.

Honestly though, the transition was easier than I thought it would be. They wanted me to stop BFing cold turkey, but he wasn't having it. So I did mixed bottles for about a week - started with 50/50 and gradually decreased the breastmilk each day until he was on all formula. The hardest part for me has been drying myself up. Good luck!

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