Testimonial: Cow's milk, the culprit of our long nights

For the first 6 months of the guys life, I took antibiotics for them. It was my buoy to stay out of the water. As soon as I stopped taking it, I would cough constantly at night when I went to bed, sometimes for 2 to 3 hours, preventing me from sleeping and causing me to lose precious hours of sleep. But hey, continuous antibiotics can cause a lot of problems, including resistance to the prescribed antibiotic. So I resolve to try to stop for a while.

My boys have a stomachache at night, it wakes us up 2 to 4 times a night, every night. Since their first month, I have been giving them probiotics. It really helps, because the nights we forget, we all regret it. After a 6-month follow-up to the doctor, I was told that after this age, a baby should no longer have a stomachache at night because colic (a catch-all word for all types of stomachaches in a baby) should no longer occur. So he suggests that I stop taking probiotics. Hey, thanks for the advice, but my guys still have a stomachache...

During my follow-up at the CF clinic, I told my nutritionist that I think my children are intolerant to cow's milk protein, a conclusion I came to after talking to other moms who have also experienced this reality. (Obviously, my family doctor never put me on this trail...). She then gave me a brochure entitled “Food guide for mothers who breastfeed their babies with cow's milk protein allergy or intolerance”. Although I was not yet certain of the diagnosis, this guide convinced me, because all the many symptoms I had noted in my guys were listed there: eczema, constipation, abdominal pain.

The ultimate test: I have to avoid eating any dairy product for a while to see if there is a change. But that's not all, it seems that children who are allergic to cow's milk protein may also react to goat milk protein, soy protein, and beef protein. Ehhhh, it's an intense diet, especially since I don't want to lose weight...

Continue to breast-feed under these conditions, or stop?

They will probably be the only babies I have and that I can breastfeed in my life. I like this proximity with my guys, it's a great moment that we share together. In addition, at night, breastfeeding is a very good sleep aid. So I decided to try this diet for 2 weeks. Afterwards, I will decide whether to continue breast-feeding or not.

I don't even have to wait 2 weeks. After 10 days on this diet, we have our first real night, the guys wake up for the first time around 3:00am only. I can't believe it. I can't remember the last time I slept 6 hours in a row!! But above all, my guys no longer have a stomachache, so my sacrifices are worth it!

However, my scale does not find this ideal situation: I lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks. Instead of eating a food that contains dairy products, I abstained. It's not easy to replace everything: milk is in the list of ingredients in so many products...

Luckily, I have a friend who is soon to be a nutritionist who helps me enormously in finding alternatives. In 3 weeks, I will have regained the lost books.

However, I discovered that milk was responsible for much more than just my guys' stomachaches...

Now, without taking antibiotics, I cough much less when I go to bed. At only 7 months old, my boys will have taught me something about my illness: it's true that dairy products promote mucus.

When I stop breastfeeding my boys, I'm going to start eating some dairy products again. I miss cheese, among other things, but all the substitutes I enjoy now will be part of my daily life, and dairy products will be a treat for me and no longer a staple food.

‍