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Colic in the Breastfed Baby

From Vincent Iannelli, M.D.,
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Breastfeeding a Baby with Colic

Foreign Proteins in the mother's milk

It has been shown that some proteins present in the mother's diet may be excreted into her milk and may affect the baby. It would seem that the most common of these is cow's milk protein. Other proteins have also been shown to be excreted into some mothers' milk. The fact that these proteins and other substances appear in the mother's milk is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, it is good.

Thus, in the treatment of the colicky breastfed baby, one step would be for the mother to stop taking dairy products. These includes milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream and anything else which may contain milk. When the milk protein has been changed (denatured), as in cooking for example, there should be no problem.

Please note: Intolerance to milk protein has nothing to do with lactose intolerance. A mother who is herself lactose intolerant should also still breastfeed her baby.

Suggested Method:

  • The mother should eliminate all milk products for 7-10 days.
  • If there has been no change, the mother can reintroduce milk products.
  • If there has been a change for the better, the mother should then slowly reintroduce milk products into her diet, if these are normally part of her diet. (There is no need to drink milk in order to make milk). Some babies tolerate absolutely no milk products in the mother's diet. Most tolerate some. The mother will learn what amount of dairy products she can take without the baby reacting.
  • If there is concern about your calcium intake, calcium can be had without taking dairy products. One week off milk products will not cause any problems. Actually, evidence suggests that breastfeeding may protect the woman against the development of osteoporosis even if she does not take extra calcium. And the baby will get all he needs.
  • The mother should be careful about eliminating too many things from her diet. Everyone will know someone whose baby got better when the mother stopped broccoli, beef, bananas, bread etc. The mother may find that she is eating white rice only. Our diets are too complex to be sure exactly what, if anything, is affecting the baby.

    Be patient, the problem usually gets better no matter what. Formula is not the answer, though, because of the more regular flow, some babies do improve on it. But formula is not breastmilk. In fact, the baby would also improve on breastmilk from the bottle because of the regularity of the flow. Even if nothing works, time usually helps. The days and nights may seem eternal, but the weeks will fly by.

    Revised January 2000
    Written by Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC
    Used with permission

    • Created: December 7, 2003
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