GAS oh my!

When I brought Caden home from the hospital he was perfect!!! Of course he had his days and nights mixed up, most babies do. My first few nights i didn't sleep at all. I would feed and burp and he would cry 20 minutes later. My husband would insist I feed him again. I now know it was gas the whole time and it lasted for months. I am allergic to milk or I was when I was a kid. So I don't drink milk and try not to eat cheese. It turns out i ate a lot more dairy than I originally thought. So at 12 weeks I cut out all dairy.... everything! Not easy to do at first but with the help of some dairy free websites I did it. I talked to a different pediatrician who supported my decision and seemed very breastfeeding friendly. He told me to stick with it it could take as long at 6-8 weeks to clear my system. It took 20 days. I'm at almost 50 now. I can't believe it. It worked! That and eliminating bell peppers. With those two eliminations I can have anything else. He did still get gas but not at the magnitude he did before I cut out dairy.

 So maybe you wondering how I dealt with gas for 14+ weeks? I burped extra, I did gas drops at every feeding. I gave gripe water. (side note) Gas drops- help to pass gas. Gripe water is for soothing tummy pain from gas. Nothing gets rid of it. Nothing I found and I looked hi and low and went to doctors. The best thing was tummy massage. I found this video . I used it as much as baby would let me.

Truth is nothing really worked. He woke in pain constantly. He cried I cried. I reached out to anyone and everyone. I called a lactation consultant that recommended just cutting out obvious dairy. I couldn't take the gas or any chances so I stripped my diet completely!! I take supplements for calcium. No dairy is such a small price to pay to have your baby pain free. :)

So what do I eat?
Butter- Earth Balance non dairy LIFE SAVER!!!!
Frozen meals- Amy's has a few non dairy. They have a cheese less pizza that is good and a cheeze pizza that is ok. Stir fry has been my favorite lately.
Bread- unfortunately most commercial breads have dairy but 98% of bakery doesn't.
I got a lot of ideas from milkfreepantry.com. They have lists of things without dairy.
If your going through this as a nursing mom it does get better. It's not necessary to eat only brown rice and chicken. Dairy is the first thing I would try. It does take time. Reach out to friends who have been through this it helps. Good luck.