No Dairy For Mommy

I've given up dairy --- again.  When CJ was born, he was pretty fussy at night.  He would scream and arch his back all night long.  I read in one of my books that dairy sometimes gives baby colic, so I gave up dairy -- milk, yogurt, cheese, butter.  Within a couple of weeks, CJ was a new baby.  Even if he didn't sleep easily at night, he didn't scream like he used to.

Which is why I decided to give up dairy as long as I'm nursing Marcus.  I notice that he's definitely fussier when I've had cheese or cream (cheese is particularly bad), so no dairy for mommy.  No grilled cheese sandwiches, no bologna and cheese sandwiches, no pasta with cream or parmesan cheese, no cottage cheese lasagna, no yogurt smoothie drinks.

Is it hard to give up dairy?  Sort of.  On the one hand, it's hard to snack when you're not consuming dairy, because you can't just have a glass of milk or have a piece of cheese.  And it's challenging to cook pasta dishes without cheese.

But on the other hand, Marcus is a happy, smiley baby who sleeps well at night.  That's worth everything to me.  At night, he goes to sleep pretty easily after a bit of rocking in our arms.  When he wakes up in the middle of night and Maki gives him a bottle, he goes back to sleep easily. 


I am drinking Lactaid milk with my cereal and Marcus seems fine with that.  I also recently found chocolate Lactaid milk, which is a ridiculously yummy treat when I need a quick snack.  I heard rumors of Lactaid ice cream, so I'll try to hunt that down the next time I'm at Harris Teeter.  Maki bought me some tofu cheese, but it wasn't great.  Soy yogurt isn't bad; I've had soy smoothies as well.

Here's a funny exchange between me and CJ the other day:

CJ:  Mom, this mac and cheese is yummy, want to try some?

Me:  No, I can't have dairy, remember?

CJ:  Oh yeah, I forgot.  Mom, I'm sad that you can't have any dairy.  That's just tragic!

I'm sure CJ learned the word tragic from me, but it's still hilarious to hear him use the word and use it so well!