Is My Baby Allergic To My Milk?

Does your breastfed baby have colic, reflex, or eczema? Perhaps your child has protein intolerance and that simply changing your diet might relieve his symptoms. This book is the result of my own research to try to better understand colic, reflux and eczema in breastfed babies. Having had two children with one or more of these problems, I was informed they might temporarily suffer from protein intolerance. After realizing how frequent this problem is, and having suffered from lack of information available to parents, I decided to offer parents my solutions and the results of my own research. I am neither a dietician, nor a paediatrician but rather a mom to two children, a university professor of clinical psychology, and a mental health researcher who has decided to use her skills in finding solutions to alleviate pain and distress, in this case in mothers and young babies. I decided to breastfeed my children for various reasons: I loved the closeness and bonding it brings, and it just seemed to me the most natural thing in the world. Knowing the benefits that breast milk offers, namely in transmitting antibodies and offering all the necessary nutrients and vitamins, I never once considered giving formula and always intended to breastfeed – even if it meant some sacrifices. And the last but not least reason is the practicality of it: never having to carry bottles, water or formula, always being able to supply to my babies’ needs, and for many breastfed babies, not needing to use pacifiers or soothers and later having trouble getting rid of them. This book explains what protein intolerance is and what can be done about it. Understanding protein intolerance sheds some light on problems such as colic, reflux and eczema in infants. It also helps us understand the difference between allergies and intolerance, and mostly it can give mothers tools to help alleviate their babies’ symptoms and perhaps avoid bigger problems later on. I don’t have all the answers and not all colic, eczema and reflux can be explained by protein intolerance. This book is meant as a guide, offering as much information as I could find-- including my own experience with my children-- on protein intolerance, the psychology of caring for a baby in pain, with the addition of a recipe book. The latter part is included because it can become exasperating to not know what to eat, to wonder how to adapt recipes or even what to order when eating out when breastfeeding a protein intolerant baby. The recipes were chosen for their taste of course, but also for their ease of preparation given that mothers of infants rarely have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen (even less when they have more than one child to feed). I hope you find this book helpful!