Elimination Diet

I’ve been doing some reading about how colic can be caused (or at least aggravated) by certain foods in my diet. I’m exclusively breastfeeding, and don’t want to give that up. How do I go about figuring out which food(s) my baby may be reacting to?

There is actually some research which has found a connection between diet and colic. The only test is the elimination diet, what I like to call, “trial and terror”. Be prepared to eliminate the suspicious item for at least a few weeks because it takes up to 4 days for substances to clear from the breast milk. The most common food irritant is dairy protein, so when in doubt, removing dairy foods is usually the place to start.

You will need to take a calcium supplement twice per day to support calcium balance if dairy products are removed. The baby will be fine but will take calcium from the mother’s body. Do not use soy milk as a substitute during the trial period because you do not want to remove a food and add a new food at the same time. This is especially a problem with dairy and soy because there is a high cross sensitivity between them. Fifty percent of people with dairy sensitivity also react to soy protein. The structures are similar.

If removing dairy does not help, it may be useful to get some professional help before ripping the diet completely up. Food removal does not always help colic but helps enough that it is worth a trial. Eggs would come next and then garlic and onions. In general, next I would take out all genetically modified food (which is mostly processed food, soy and corn).

Kelly Dorfman is a health program planner and nutrionist who specializes in working with children. You can find out more about Kelly by visiting her website.