Understanding your baby digestive system, colic, reflux and birth trauma

Just to understand your baby food and why some babies will have more colic till 3 months old than others.

The foremilk, is the milk that comes out first, when you breastfeeding. Is that milk that contains water, protein and antibodies.

The hindmilk is thicker and contains fat, vitamin A, E and more fat soluble vitamins. They both contain lactose.

Lactose overload is when the baby does not have enough of the lactase (the enzyme to break down the sugar).

Lactase is produced from the brush border of their small intestinal tract from two weeks onwards. In premature babies it might take longer than full term baby to produce enough lactase to digest the sugar.

If the mother naturally has more lactose in the milk than the baby can digest, or there the baby drinks more of the foremilk than the hindmilk and keep feeding all the time without rest, than lactose can accumulate in the large intestine. This will cause, fermentation and air and bloating. Being very uncomfortable for the baby when it needs to poo and the poo being very explosive. Even though I have seen also babies with an accumulated lactose that were constipated, this might be combined with structure problems, that craniosacral therapy can deal with.

Breastmilk is empties faster from the stomach than bottle milk, hence babies that are bottle fed sleep a bit longer due to the fat content and feeling full quicker.

Bile salts, digest fat, and in breastmilk helps with the digestion of fat and infants do re-absorb the bile from the blood to digest milk as well. This is till the digestive system and liver system develops better.

Oligosaccharides in the mothers milk increase the friendly bacteria growth in babies. The bacteria helps digest the food even further, help to make food for the intestinal tract cells production and the production of some B vitamins and vitamin K.

If your baby drinks more foremilk than hindmilk, the fat content of their feeding will be out of balance. Fatty substances are slow to digest. As the foremilk is usually lower in fat, it passes so fast through the intestinal tract that it does not get enough time to break down and triggers colic by accumulating in the large intestine and cause the gas, and bloating and discomfort in your baby.

Sign and symptoms of foremilk and hindmilk intake imbalance are:

Significate weight gain, fussiness, with feedings, gas, frequent stools that sometimes are green, frothy and explosive stools. Always hungry, crying and screaming, more appetite than usual trouble sleeping.

Allow babies to finish one breastmilk before going to the other side. See a lactation consultant if in doubt.

Craniosacral therapy and nutrition gives the baby and parents a gift of a lifetime in adjusting the entire system through letting go of possible birth trauma, or in pregnancy trauma, stress hormones and more. Tight jaw, after a tongue tie, or high palate and tight jaw due to forces of the birth trauma during delivery and much more. Reduces and eliminates colic, reflux, constipation, sleep problems.

Maria Esposito BSc (Hons)