dairy schmairy

Dairy is one of the biggest food groups of my diet - just under caffeine, in fact. I was apparently sensitive to dairy as a baby and was put on soy formula. I outgrew it though, and the only way I'm currently affected is that I can't have any milk, ice cream, or large quantities of cheese within 24 hours before going for a run. My mom is also sensitive to dairy and drinks soy milk and avoids ice cream. If Jude drinks a sippy full of cow's milk, we end up with a very cranky toddler on our hands, so he drinks either soy or lactose free milk. He's fine to have moderate amounts of yogurt and cheese on a daily or every other day basis, and I fully expect him to completely outgrow it by the time he's an adult.

So when I noticed that Cohen is especially gassy, has some constipation issues, has a stuffy nose, and spits up out of his nose often, my first instinct was that he may be sensitive to the diary I'm eating. I consciously avoided dairy for two or three days, and I was starting to see a less gassy, less spitty-up, and more content Cohen. I decided yesterday to have two bowls of cereal and a slice of cheese on my turkey sandwich, and I paid for it last night in the form of a fussy Cohen.

So starting today (minus the cream I had in my coffee this morning before I was thinking clearly enough to realize that it contained dairy), I'm embarking on a one to two week dairy fast. I may be wrong and Cohen's gas may just be normal baby gas pains, so this fast is to help us determine if I need to avoid dairy as I continue breastfeeding, or if we need to be looking for another culprit. I had just been avoiding milk, cheese, and yogurt, but I probably need to stay away from any kind of dairy in order to have the most accurate picture.

Once I see if the diary fast is making a difference, I'll start adding dairy back into my diet to see what Cohen can and can't tolerate. Apparently sometimes the dairy sensitivity in babies is mostly caused by young and immature stomachs, so I can always try to have milk again when Cohen is three months old, and again when he's six months old.

Giving up dairy is NOT easy for me. But I happen to love Cohen and sleep more than I love dairy. Which is saying a lot, because I really love dairy.