Wednesday, April 24, 2013

She has problems with drinking milk and being school tardy. She'll loan you her toothbrush. She'll bartend your party.

So our India is now one and one means many things. One of which is milk.

Do any of you have any issues with milk? Because India might, and none of us do, and I'm trying to figure out an approach.

Ah. But here I should mention that if you cannot handle talk of baby puke, you might not want to read further. Because that's my issue of the week. Hopefully we'll be back to hippos and sinkholes and rabies shortly.

Also, for those of you willing to stick with me on this post, I need your wisdom and suggestions.

So the one business.

For starters, we're to banish the bottles. I think we kept Jordan on bottles until he was two, mainly because we like to promote tooth decay. Oh, and also he started talking early and we weren't smart enough to stop the bottles before he was able to say, "bahdu!" He knew what he wanted and how to ask.

So the bottles should go sooner rather than later. I'm in the market for sippy cups.

Also, she can start embracing the whole milk business.

Except.

Except that it maybe makes her throw up. We think. But we're not sure.

See, we spent many hours on Saturday - her first milk day! - driving to New Jersey.  And during that drive, India threw up three times.

She definitely gets carsick, so I can't and didn't blame the milk for the wretched puking episodes.

Also, I should give thanks that we had rented a gigantor car for the trip. Not a Suburban, but something like it. A Yukon, maybe? Anyway, there was plenty of space, so nobody but India had to change. Repeatedly.

Jordan, however, was grossed out. "Daddy! It's gross back here!"

(Which, in Jordanspeak, is actually pronounced GWOTH BACK HEWE. Lisped and emphatic.)

And it was GWOTH. Theriouthly gwoth.

Anyway. We got through it and fortunately had enough changes of clothing and enough baby wipes that she was able to wear something clean to the church and reception and you couldn't even tell that moments prior we'd stripped her in a parking lot, practically holding her with our fingertips.

She's remarkably good natured.

But here's how it's been. We give her whole milk, and then a couple hours later, she throws up big milk curds.

Which makes me think it's the milk. Or anyway, whole milk.

Because she'd had some 2 percent milk earlier in the week, because it's what Jordan was drinking. She had no issue with it. (But she also didn't have large quantities.)

Her pediatrician said yesterday at her one-year checkup that since she's been on milk-based formula, it's unlikely to be milk. She said that only a tiny fraction of the population is actually allergic to milk, and that she's too young to be lactose intolerant.

She said there are a lot of stomach viruses going around, and perhaps that was the issue of the weekend. Her suggestion was to put two ounces of milk in with six ounces of formula, and gradually increase the milk.

This resulted in milk vomit last night.

I don't know if you've ever been vomited on repeatedly, but if you have children, I'd say it ups your odds by approximately 5,000 percent. And if you are like me, you might put on your list of Least Favorite Things.

Besides being gwoth, it's a fucking hatthle.

So the doctor suggested we stick with formula until the weekend, when we have more time to reintroduce milk (and to clean up puke).

I've been reading about allergies vs. intolerances, and I keep running into literature saying what the pediatrician said - that milk allergies are so rare. And it seems to me that the doctor has a point - she's had milk-based formula, and full-fat yogurt and cheese and she has no problem with them.

But then we have the vomiting, which doesn't happen on no-milk days. But then there's this weirdness of India not seeming to have a problem with a couple ounces of 2 percent milk.

Could whole milk just have too much, I don't know, milkness for her little stomach to digest? Should we just ditch the cow milk idea and go with soy milk? Or something else?


Now, on the upside, we discovered Dramamine for the car ride home, and it was fantastic. We turned India's carseat around so she could see forward, we gave both kids a little Dramamine, and they slept (without vomit) most of the way home.

The whole incident left a grand impression on Jordan. It's one of his current topics.

In the same way that you might see someone you know and say, "Hi! How are you?" Jordan will say, "India throwed up! In the car!"

He ended one recent conversation with, "I only throw up in the car after a party."

Which is in fact true. But his small talk needs a little work.

16 comments:

  1. With the whole milk, maybe give her a bit less total? Instead of 8oz total maybe do 2 oz milk and 4 oz formula?

    Are you willing to just go with 2%? Honestly, if she keeps barfing up the whole milk, I'd do the 2%, especially since she eats full fat yogurt and cheese.

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    1. Yes, that might be the way to go. She might just be overfilling on bottles at this point, since she's eating more. And I need to look into the fat requirements more. I know they need big amounts of fat for brain development, but doesn't mean it has to come from milk, I suppose.

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  2. Since I have a baby with a (suspected) severe milk protein allergy, I'm terrified about the transition to milk looming in my future.

    The only help I can give is that yogurt and cheese are different because something in the process reduces the proteins (how's that for a super scientific comment?!)

    If it were me, I'd either do 2% milk or some milk substitute for a week or two and then try whole milk again. Whole milk gives me a tummy ache too, so maybe it's too rich for her? I dunno!

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    1. Yes, apparently they are - I read about it, and "something in the process" works as an explanation for me!

      I'm keeping her on formula right now...Will try some milk this weekend.

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  3. I don't know if this is helpful other than to make you feel like you're not wrong, but I can't drink whole milk still. 2% or less is fine. More hurts.
    I'm not allergic, not lactose intolerant, but whole milk wreaks havoc.

    Cheese, yogurt, small amounts of ice cream is all fine

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    1. That is interesting to hear. I appreciate it. I don't drink milk because growing up we had powdered milk and parents weren't milk drinkers (despite Midwestern roots!) and whole milk in particular is so thick! So I don't have experience with drinking it and seeing how my stomach feels.

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  4. the level of lactose in both yogurt and cheese is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY lower than in whole milk. I've been lactose intolerant since I was 8 and I could tolerate cheese and processed dairy products but milk was a total no go. Whatever you do I would say don't do soy. Its terrible for women and not a good habit to get into.

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    1. I'm in agreement with you on soy. I don't like the idea of soy milk for her, and I appreciate your input. I'm OK with eating soy here and there - edamame, for example - but I'm not liking the idea of large amounts of soy milk.

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  5. The car barfing? It might never really end... I threw up in my parents backseat as they drove one evening last year. At age 28. From having too much wine.

    They did not have enough baby wipes to clean it up.

    (the universe was sending me a sign that I chose not to heed and that incident was my punishment)

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    1. Oh, dear. I know, it might go on forever. I feel for your parents - there aren't enough baby wipes in the world for that! :)

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  6. Thank you! I appreciate it!

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  7. Maybe it's the amount of fat in whole milk? Doesn't sit well on her stomach or something? Olivia wasn't a huge fan of whole milk, she went to 2% or even down to skim pretty quickly. (Shhhh, don't tell our doctor.)

    I don't know how your doc is with alternative milks (and honestly, I'm having a really hard time remembering the one year mark, even though it wasn't that long ago), but Olivia seems to prefer almond milk. Don't know if that's a possibility?

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    1. I do wonder if the fat is hard to digest, or if it's something else in the milk. Because she did have these big curds that she threw up, which to me says that it wasn't going through easily.

      I haven't introduced her to nuts yet (or nuts to her? whichever) so I'm reluctant to try almond milk until I do. Just need to do more research!

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  8. whew, ok, you know about soy. yes, please, no soy milk ever. as for nuts, she'll be fine, give her almond milk. zoe's been drinking it for a long long time. it's yummy, it's unsweetened, it'll be great. if you and nick and jordan don't have any food allergies, it's almost garanteed that she won't. So, what about fat, well, how about avocados? how about fish? a good greek yogurt has 9% fat. and just to make you feel even better, one of my friends has a son, who after he was weaned from the boob at 1yr old, NEVER touch milk, ever. He's 27 months now and super healthy. (I guess once you go breast, you don't go back...;-)
    some great resources- just ignore the BF part
    http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/toddler-foods/
    http://kellymom.com/ages/weaning/wean-how/weaning_faqs/

    it's a total crock that children need milk. think of all those babies in africa... ;-)

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  9. in all reality, she doesnt need whole milk. if the rest of your family drinks 2%, stick with that.

    whole milk is HARD to digest.

    i raised my 2 on 2% and i swear to you, they are fine.

    besides, theres not a damn thing worse than milk barf. shudder.

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  10. Hi, my 2 cents:
    I kept both my kids on formula until they were 2 (they have formula for over one year olds here, don't know about over there....) because I'm lactose intolerant and so their ped said to try that. The Girl has no issues with milk, cheese or anything, the Boy won't drink regular milk he has just a little bit and throws it up, he does not however have any issue with whole raw milk (just regular pasteurized store bought milk) and he eats cheese and yogurt though doesn't really like them. He had no problems with either breast milk or baby formula. Some people just can't keep down regular milk.
    If she's eating cheese and yogurt she probably doesn't need milk...

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