This morning I get out of the shower, started drying off, and heard “OH MY GOD!” from the living room. When I arrived on the scene, Sydney was leaning up against a pillow at the end of the couch in a soaked sleeper with one arm coated in milk and not really doing anything other than looking at Meghan. Meghan was sitting in the middle of the couch, boppy in lap, wearing Sydney’s breakfast. Apparently we had another exorcist-like milk geyser.
In related news, initial reports over the last few days also suggest that solid food does not reduce spitting up but instead just increases the staining potential of that which is spit up.
Morning Milk Geyser
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Mom&DadMulhern
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Jan 30th, '09, 14:26
Re: Morning Milk Geyser
I'm starting to wonder if Sydney is allergic to her milk. Or maybe I should say has a lactose intolerance. It has been a problem in the family. My mother could not stand milk (and always said it made her sick), and I have a lactose intolerance. I can drink it, but it typically will give me stomach cramps and diarrhea. Michael, you and Meghan both dislike milk, so it is a possibility. She seems to love it. When I fed her, she gulped it down as fast as she could in some feedings. I know that Sydney is still on breast milk, but maybe it is time to try something else?? Just a thought (and I'm sure you have thought of everything by now). I just don't think it is typical for a baby of 6 months old to still be spitting up the milk that badly. On the upside, at least she isn't feeling sick, but I know your washer is getting a real workout!
Re: Morning Milk Geyser
Milk allergy and lactose intolerance are two different things. Milk allergy means that the proteins in milk illicit a response from the immune system. It would be extremely rare for a baby to be allergic to breast milk. On the other hand, it's very common for babies to be allergic to cow's milk, which is why you're not supposed to give them cow's milk before they are a year old.
Lactose intolerance means that the digestive system is physically lacking the enzyme (lactase) that digests lactose. (So lactose intolerance is due to a problem with the digestive system and milk allergy, like all allergies, involves the immune system.) True lactose intolerance in babies is very rare. If she was lactose intolerant, she would be spitting up literally everything she eats, having a lot of digestive pain, having massive diarrhea, and wouldn't be gaining weight. We'd have to put her on a soy-based formula that contains no milk. Since she is gaining weight, and doesn't have any obvious discomfort from the spitting up (she usually doesn't seem to notice that she's doing it), I think she is just what they call a "happy spitter." Her pyloric valve just hasn't matured yet, so she can't keep all her food in her tummy, regardless of what that food is. I will discuss it again with her doctor at her 6 month visit, but everything I've read indicates that this is not a medical problem; just a laundry problem!
I am not lactose intolerant. I just don't like milk. It doesn't cause me any problems when I do drink it. It's interesting, though, that adults who are lactose intolerant usually were fine with it as babies. If you think back to the time before humans had domesticated animals, there was obviously no way for them to consume milk after weaning. The human body is very efficient; if something isn't being used, it gets shut down. Since the lactase enzyme didn't get used after weaning, the body shut it down. Therefore, all adults were lactose intolerant, while all babies could digest lactose until weaning. It was only when cows and goats were domesticated that people started consuming milk after babyhood. The body responded by keeping the lactase enzyme active into adulthood. Of course, that didn't work perfectly for everyone, especially if they didn't drink much milk shortly after weaning. European cultures have had a history of dairying for thousands of years, which is why most of us can digest lactose. However, Asian and African cultures normally did not keep dairy animals. In those cultures, being lactose intolerant is the norm because they do not drink milk. It's an interesting case of our biology being influenced by our culture.
And there is more than you ever wanted to know about the evolution of lactose tolerance!
Lactose intolerance means that the digestive system is physically lacking the enzyme (lactase) that digests lactose. (So lactose intolerance is due to a problem with the digestive system and milk allergy, like all allergies, involves the immune system.) True lactose intolerance in babies is very rare. If she was lactose intolerant, she would be spitting up literally everything she eats, having a lot of digestive pain, having massive diarrhea, and wouldn't be gaining weight. We'd have to put her on a soy-based formula that contains no milk. Since she is gaining weight, and doesn't have any obvious discomfort from the spitting up (she usually doesn't seem to notice that she's doing it), I think she is just what they call a "happy spitter." Her pyloric valve just hasn't matured yet, so she can't keep all her food in her tummy, regardless of what that food is. I will discuss it again with her doctor at her 6 month visit, but everything I've read indicates that this is not a medical problem; just a laundry problem!
I am not lactose intolerant. I just don't like milk. It doesn't cause me any problems when I do drink it. It's interesting, though, that adults who are lactose intolerant usually were fine with it as babies. If you think back to the time before humans had domesticated animals, there was obviously no way for them to consume milk after weaning. The human body is very efficient; if something isn't being used, it gets shut down. Since the lactase enzyme didn't get used after weaning, the body shut it down. Therefore, all adults were lactose intolerant, while all babies could digest lactose until weaning. It was only when cows and goats were domesticated that people started consuming milk after babyhood. The body responded by keeping the lactase enzyme active into adulthood. Of course, that didn't work perfectly for everyone, especially if they didn't drink much milk shortly after weaning. European cultures have had a history of dairying for thousands of years, which is why most of us can digest lactose. However, Asian and African cultures normally did not keep dairy animals. In those cultures, being lactose intolerant is the norm because they do not drink milk. It's an interesting case of our biology being influenced by our culture.
And there is more than you ever wanted to know about the evolution of lactose tolerance!
