Aunty Lactivist is all of us, professionals, advisors and mums with experience of the problem or even ideas that might help so if you can help Mummy S with this problem please leave a comment.
“Dear Aunty Lactivist, My baby is 7m 1 week old. he is still not on solid food. he is exclusively breast fed. I have tried him on solids on and off for the past month but ever time he ends up in pain screaming like his tummy hurts him. The only thing that didn’t affect him was weetabix for a while but even that makes him scream now. I’ve tried plain veg and fruit, what I’m eating (no salt added etc as my other kids eat it too) I’ve even tried jars but no matter what the constiency although he loves eating it he just ends up in pain afterwards. Now I’m happy to carry on breastfeeding him, that’s not an issue, but how long should/can i delay solids for and can anyone show me links and information to back up facts please? I feel so mean as the only thing he will crawl for is food, I’ve put my plate on the floor before now and he will crawl clear across the room for it but if I give him any he screams
He really does act like he has severe colic/tummy cramps but I have no idea why. minus this he’s a happy chap who’s growing nicely on just boob and reaching all his milestones easily.
I have not started looking at it professionally, my great HV has changed practices and my new one is awful, saying I need to give formula as EBM hasnt got enough iron, need to start solids else he wont talk (he already says mama and babbles) which is 1 reason I want proof iykwim.
I think this baby needs to be checked out by a doctor immediately and possibly a referral to an allergy specialist.
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Copied from Shel’s post on Facebook
“this child seems like an excellent candidate for baby led weaning: that way he can be in control of his own food and mum can feel less stressed as she’ll know he’s get…ting what he wants and can be reassured that the food he eats will be purely complementary to his main source of nutrition breastmilk, which is just as it should be at this age.
Anecdotally I’ve known of several fully breastfed kids who didn’t take to solids in any great way till 8-10 months of age, and they’re now big bright schoolkids with no food issues!!”
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Copied from Juno’s post on Facebook
“I am pretty sure exclusive bfing is ok up to 12 months – maybe even beyond, but I don’t know where to find the info to back that up. I tend to go with things pretty instinctively, but I c…an understand your reasons for wanting some back-up info.
Are you investigating the tummy pain medically? Hope you don’t think I’m being nosy, but I’m very curious as I haven’t heard of this before.”
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im doing BLW with him… he loves his food but his body doesnt
he’ll quite happily eat 3 full meals a day but his body jsut cant seem to handle it 
his body cant handle any food not 3 meals a day (just realised it sounded like im over feedign him lol – im not 
)
iv done carrot, potato, apple, banana, pasta, bread, weetabix, iv given him either plain food or food straight off my plate but as much as he enjoys it he screams in pain after. and he was fine with weetabix to start off with so its notht e…wheat, and he doesnt have allergies to milk like any of my other children so its not that, hes my 4th child and tbh im stumped
ive even tried jars incase hes finding it hard to digest but even smooth puree he cant tollerate :S
he really does act like he has severe colic/tummy cramps but i have no idea why. minus this hes a happy chap whos growing nicely on jsut boob and reaching all his mile stones easily
not started looking at it professionally, my great HV has changed practices and my new one is awful, sayin i need to give formula as EBM hasnt got enough iron, need to start solids else he wont talk (he already says mama and babbles) which is 1 reason i want proof iykwim.
so yeah… any help would b great
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Copied from Jane’s post on facebook
“Pain at 7 months is not good – watching that little one scream and double up in pain is heartbreaking. Certainly try BLW. According to WAB (2009), a baby has enough iron stores at birth to last around 9 months as long as the umbilical cord …wasn’t cut prematurely. You have a store of iron in breastmilk that will be readily bioabsorbed by your baby (the iron in formula is not so readily absorbed and so put shedloads in and that can then harm your baby if the iron starts to shred the infant’s intestine lining.)
The fact that you are doing a lot of BLW and he is enjoying the food makes me think there is something else going on here. What are his poos like – colour and consistency? Was he a ‘colic’ baby before he could sit up? Is this a completely new behaviour only since the introduction of solids?
(I hope you don’t mind the questions, LOL – we’ll sort it out.
)”
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Pain at 7 months is not good – watching that little one scream and double up in pain is heartbreaking. Certainly try BLW. According to Womanly Art of Breastfeeding Chapter 13 (2009), a baby has enough iron stores at birth to last around 9 months as long as the umbilical cord wasn’t cut prematurely. You have a store of iron in breastmilk that will be readily bioabsorbed by your baby (the iron in formula is not so readily absorbed and so put shedloads in and that can then harm your baby if the iron starts to shred the infant’s intestine lining.)
The fact that you are doing a lot of BLW and he is enjoying the food makes me think there is something else going on here. What are his poos like – colour and consistency? Was he a ‘colic’ baby before he could sit up? Is this a completely new behaviour only since the introduction of solids?
(I hope you don’t mind the questions, LOL – we’ll sort it out.
)
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his cord had stopped pulsing completely before it was cut so the iron stores arent an issue as he was a good weight as well.
all this screaming has only started since hes been on solids, he had a bit of reflux as a baby but nothing that bad (the faffing around wiht expressing for the gaviscon was more trouble than dealing with the sick lol). so all this has only been since he started solids.
my 2nd child had severe allergies and ended up on prescription formula as a result (shes only jsut starting to grow out of them aged 3!) and my 3rd was cows milk intollerant but luckly hes grown out of that as well so im used to intollerances and allergies but not this as he seems to be “intollerant” to everything
even the weetabix he was ok witht o start off with :S
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OK – it sounds like he will certainly be ok from an iron point of view. The speech delay comment is an interesting one, particularly as your little one sounds like he’s already speaking! Breastfeeding makes for optimum jaw development so I wonder which study your HV is basing her comments on? Perhaps she could enlighten you as everything I understand about nursing is that it helps speech rather than hinders it!
I did some research and found that the symptoms of a sensitive baby are blood in the poo, smelly poo, diarrhoea. Also, if the food comes out pretty much as it went in – and hasn’t been digested. Is there any skin reaction or hayfever thing going on? That can be a symptom too. (p249 Womanly Art of Breastfeeding)
Does any of that sound familiar?
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no skin reaction etc, his poo smelly but not awful like it should if hes lactose intollerant, just normal “solid food” poo iykwim (lol the things we mums talk about eh?)
and hte hv soon shut up when i told here where to go ont eh formula, not enough iron etc lol. oh he should also have formula to get him used to a beaker! pmsl.
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I wonder if the screaming could be related to something else then… Does he have any teeth? How is he sleeping? When does the screaming start – is there an interval after he’s eaten?
(Sorry for all the questions.
) )
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hes got 2 teeth which i didnt realise he had until he bit me and i felt them! lol. he wasnt teething badly jsut chewing and drooling like all babies do lol.
if he doesnt have food he sleeps fine though hes obviously waking for more feed now as hes hungry. minus an early start because of his brothers and sister he sleeps well.
teh screaming start 15-30mins after eating and can carry on for hours
i was thinking ear infection butthe screaming really is linked to him eating
tho will def get him checked on tues when im at the docs jsut in case
any other suggestins? im not trying to be a pain – honest
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Sam – you mentioned Gaviscon. How long ago was that & did he have any problems with it? One of mine had Gaviscon for about a week & he had really awful constipation – he screamed when he poo’ed. Not sure if it means anything, but maybe a connection?
Grrrr to your HV. She sounds very unhelpful.
Not sure that initial tolerance of the weetabix means no wheat intolerance – I think that these things can begin after a little time of being ok.
I’m not a medical person, but it sounds like a gut/digestive problem, doesn’t it? Not necessarily allergies, but a problem digesting solid food. Thank goodness for breastmilk!!
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Just found this:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html
There are lots of links & I haven’t followed those, though they sound very useful, but even the article itself has some interesting info. Hope it helps.
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juno i never bothered with teh gavison, ive used it before with my other children and know what a hassle itcan be.
i agree with u it sounds like a digestive problem but what i dont want to do is go to a doc and them tell me i have to give himsolids regardless etc etc. i want to be able to walk in there with proof that EBM is ok for a while to let his gut heal and thenstart tryign him again.
my old health visitor is now my firends health visitor so i might see if i can be cheeky and get hold of her for advice. she was teh only one who would listen to me when my daughter had problems when others thought she was a “fussy baby”.
thank goddess for boobs though, a perfectly tailored food for him giving him exactly what he needs
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My second child reacted similar to starting solids and I took him to the GP who recommended exclusive breastfeeding for another month at least. We then reintroduced solids ( BLW) at 8 months and had no problems. The GP’s suggestion was that it may have been a tummy bug that upset him just as solids were introduced. No idea if that was the case but DS2 is now nearly 4 and has no food issues at all ( nor did he loose weight, forget how to chew or develop a speech delay – my own HV’s warnings …)
Hope you can work out what is causing it for your little man!!
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Hi again!
I think it’s a good idea you are going to the doc. Ask about allergy testing – make sure she is putting on weight too.
In the meantime, how would you feel about reverting back to just breastmilk for the next week or so and then introducing one food at a time only – so just soft carrot for him to hold for a few days and see what he does with it?
It is a bit of a mystery, but it does sound like it’s food related, so until you have had a RAST test done, keep BM as his only food and see if helps.
As for ‘proof’ that BM is ok as a superior infant food…
Kellymom has a lot of links, Womanly Art of Breastfeeding has lots of studies. The Breastfeeding Answer Book suggests that solids can be delayed for up to a year if baby isn’t interested and there is a history or danger of allergies. It doesn’t really matter though, doctors will probably dismiss any research if they don’t agree with it – put the emphasis *on the doctor* to provide proof that introducing solids is a good idea in these circumstances. You can sit there and nod to the doctor and then remember afterwards that YOU are the mum and YOU are listening to your instincts.
You are asking for an allergy test – but at the same time, introducing solid food that is making him sick is going to make him lose weight if it can’t be digested. This is common sense, but if your doctor thinks he knows better, ask him to explain it to you and provide you with an empirical peer reviewed study that backs up his thinking. Why should it be up to you to prove you know what you are talking about? LOL!
(Well, you are posting on lactivist…)
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thanks jane, i totally relate to them not believing you know what ur talkin about. will try my luck at the doctors. will try get hold of my old HV as well, she believes in mums gut instinct ratherthan just text books!
x
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I think there is something about allergy testing you might need to investigate, if you go done that route. for the most commonly offered tests, the baby needs to have the problem food in their diet at the time of the test. I know someone who recently had her son tested for gluten intolerance and felt that it was cruel to reintroduce the food that she felt pretty sure was causing discomfort and she managed to persuade the docs to do an alternative test, which I think she said was a DNA test??
I also posted a couple more links on Lisa’s FB thread yesterday, because I couldn’t post on here for some reason.
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juno those links were really useful so thankyou.
i got hold of my old HV ysterday and OMG she is a STAR! she told me to ignore the stupid advice the new hv gave about speech muslces and formula etc. she said that theres no need to introduce solids before 9m of age becasue im breastfeeding, if i was bottle feeding it would be different because he would be using different muscles but as it is hess already developing his speech muscles and my milk is perfectly tailored to his needs (she basically confirmed what i already knew about that) but its great ot know that even at 9m theres no huge rush.
she did say she wants somone to feel his tummy to make sure theres nothign else going onthere and also a paediatric referral becasue of ht efamily history of allergies as hes not even tollerating things like simple fruit or veg.
she said shes more worried about it becasue he wants to eat he jsut cant seem to handle it thoughso it seems to be an internal problem rather than him not being ready iykwim.
BUT hes fine for now on breast milk he just needs to be looked at to make sure its nothign more sinister.
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That is such good news, I’m so pleased Aunty Lactivist could help and it is great that you were able to speak to your old Health Visitor. I hope all goes well when you get him referred – please could you let us know what they say about his tummy.
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Hi Sam,
Thank-you so much for posting what your old HV said. I was pretty sure delayed weaning was ok, but it’s great to hear it from a health professional.
Yay, mummy milk truly does rock!
Juno x
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have been to see the doctor, theyre worried abut his black poo as it means it has blood in it. theyve referred him to paediatrics but it will take a few weeks.
luckily the doctor was fine about me still bf, could see he was thriving on jsut milk so wasnt worried on that respect. he gave me some gaviscon to try incase its stomach acid but said if it doesnt work 1st try dont persist and jsut leave him on milk until i get to see the hosp.
worrying but today he hasnt been on solids for 4 days and is now back to yellow runny bf poo
(the things we get hapy about eh? lol)
will post again when weve been sen athe hosp and thanks for all your help ladies
xxx
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Ohh, at least he has breastmilk and he is ok with that! Good luck at the Pediatricians.
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thanks lisa, my supplys dropping coz hes feeding so much and im tired etc (its kinda like having a newborn again tho at least now hes sleeping between feeds whereas he wasnt before) so im going to try fenugreek for a bit as still have some in teh cupboard, if not i will get back the milk i have at my dads i was going to give the milk bank to top him up before bed until my supply catches up
x
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Your supply will pick up though, remember to drink LOTS of water! It’s just so good that he is breastfed, imagine if he was formula fed and couldn’t take that!
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im trying lise jsut tying ot run around and sort out everythign thats going on (wont post on here but ykwim) i rarely get a chance to stop and ifi do im resting iykwim.
so glad im still bf tho, its wierd, i felt awful after aeryn was lactose intollerant and me breast feeding her was what was making her ill, and now noah the only thing stopping him becoming ill is me bf.
x
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thought i’d update you all.
after 4days on gaviscon noah wasnt screaming (though in hind sight he was still v grumpy and unhappy) but we were getting food through undigested sothegaviscon helps withteh paina litte (not sure what that means) docs have said to stop all food until hes seen at the hosp now whoch will be the middle of next month. since stopping hte solids again hes all happy and laughing, feeding liek a trooper but were getting there
thank you for all your ideas ladies
x
ps the boob milk def isnt harming him as hes bigger than my friends baby (also bf) who is 2m older than him! lol
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