A Not-So-Helpful Pediatrician

I did not find that our pediatrician's office was very supportive. When Julia was 2 weeks old, one of the pediatricians in the practice told me to cut out dairy. She did not explain what that meant. I probably should have known, but didn't, so Julia's discomfort continued. At Julia's 1 month appointment, the second pediatrician in the practice told me that the likelihood that she was allergic to (or sensitive to) dairy was extremely small and that I should go back on dairy. I was nervous but figured my doctor should know, right? I had a slice of pizza the following night. Julia's crying got worse again. After about a week, I went back on my uninformed dairy free diet. Some improvement, but not much.

At Julia's 2 month appointment I saw the third pediatrician in the practice. He said that the likelihood that Julia was allergic or sensitive to dairy was very small. I disagreed, but he was not to be convinced. So I decided to figure out this thing on my own.

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10/16/09 I just found the following website in which a breastfeeding mom shares her experiences with a baby with a dairy allergy/sensitivity and the lack of support from her pediatrician. On one hand it's good to see that I'm not alone in my experience, but on the other hand, I'm sad to see that pediatricians out there aren't more well-versed on this issue, or supportive of breastfeeding.