On Mon, 25 Aug 1997 16:39:05 -0400 Jeanine Callag <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
>When I was pregnant with my 2nd son I knew from having a highly food
allergic
>first son to avoid milk,egg, and peanut.  During pregnancy and nursing I
took
>a calcium supplement.  It made my infant son very gassy.  Has anyone
found
>this true with calcium supps. to give gas?  Finally, when he didn't want
to
>nurse anymore at 5 months because he was too busy searching for his
older
>brother, the gas went away and so did the ear infections.  Nursing seem
to
>cause him more of a hindrance then help and I did watch my diet.

My daughter was a little gas bag from the time she was born.  She had
terrible gas the first night in the hospital and it continued for several
months.  We gave her Simethicone drops for infants.  They are supposed to
be very safe since they aren't absorbed through the gut and just kind of
pass through.  We gave them to her with every feeding for a while (up to
12 times a day).  They are expensive, but the generics were about 1/2 the
price.  You have to be very consistent with them for them to work well.
After while we just used them as needed.  Salad was the only thing I
could positively identify that gave her gas.  Still does at 5.5 months if
I eat it too often.

I didn't take a calcuim supplement for the whole time and she still had
gas.  I switched between lots of calcium fortified orange juice and Tums.
 Neither seemed better or worse for her in regard to the gas.  She still
had gas even if I removed both.  She just kind of outgrew it I guess.
Also, it's gotten better as I've found and removed things she seems to be
allergic to from my diet (milk, chocolate, and now it looks like eggs).
These things seem to cause more of an upset stomach with a lot of burping
and spitting up rather than intestinal gas which is what she had before.

>I'm tempted with the 3rd not to nurse at all.
>Any response?

Only you can make that decision.  I've been very tempted to give up
nursing lately, but have decided to stick it out.  For me, I have to
weigh the price of keeping the strict diet for myself, the occasional
screw up and making her sick, and the real comfort she derives from
nursing.  So, I guess my only comment would be to not take a wait and see
approach.  My daughter would definitely not be game for weaning at this
point since she is so attached through it.  You can have a well bonded
relationship without nursing, but it may not be easy to break that if you
start out nursing and things get rough and you want to wean.

Good luck,
Kathy