Severe Tummy Ache and High Fever After Eating Cow&Gate Creamy Porridge Cereal

This one is tricky, it's hard to tell if the reaction was caused by the cereal or it came on at the same time by coincident. Green, foamy stools are consistent with nursing babies that are not getting enough hind milk. It can also be the sign of a virus in her system.

How high are her fevers? Remember that a temperature needs to be OVER 100.4 to qualify as a fever and that young babies can sustain temperatures higher than adults can for longer. What are the doctors having you do to treat her symptoms? Has she had any tests (blood, x-ray or GI study, etc?) I would keep nursing her when she wants to nurse (but make sure she empties each breast! If you have an abundant supply maybe express a little to avoid her getting full from the foremilk) and keep at it with the doctors until you find someone who can figure out what's up.

Was the cereal prepared in breast milk or other milk (like from a cow, goat, or sheep)? The proximity of the reaction (almost immediate) suggests the possibility of a sensitivity (e.g., allergic) response, which could be to the milk or the cereal, but that wouldn't explain why she continues to have a fever after 4 days.

If you used animal milk, was it boiled or pasteurized? If not, there's a possibility of Listeriosis, which is a serious bacterial infection, and which could account for the high fever, watery stool, and pain. Other bacterial infections such as E. coli and cholera could account for these symptoms, as could a viral infection, such as norovirus. Even though a viral infection is usually less worrisome, you still need to be concerned about your baby becoming dehydrated -- make sure you nurse her frequently.

Are there other symptoms, like rapid breathing or rapid heart rate? Is she urinating normally (wetting 6 - 8 diapers a day at this age)? Rapid breathing, heart rate, and decreased or lack of urination can be signs of sepsis, and other signs can include bloating in her arms and legs and possibly a purplish rash or blackening of the skin. Again, this is serious and requires immediate medical attention. How is her body tone, state of alertness, and wakefulness? If she's limp, seems lethargic or less alert when awake than normal, these can be other signs of concern.

You say you're in Pakistan, but your question is posted from Beverly Hills, which is a little confusing. If you're in BH, take your daughter to UCLA or Children's Hospital ASAP. If you're in Pakistan, take her to the nearest modern hospital you can find. She needs to be diagnosed by a trained doctor who actually sees her. There's no way a bunch of untrained mothers can diagnose your daughter accurately. Even if someone with a medical degree were to read your question, there's no way they would offer a diagnosis without a lot more information and actually seeing your child. If a doctor determines that her stools look abnormal, culturing a stool sample may help to diagnose the problem.

Good luck -- I hope everything turns out OK.

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Could be the milk. My kids never got any dairy until they were at least 1 year old and even now, they still have never had cow's milk - and miraculously are never sick. We also don't allow sugar or sugar substitutes. We do let them have cheese.

We do use PB8 ( a really good probiotics with 8 different strains) on an almost daily basis before bed. Whenever I ate something breastfeeding that upset the baby's tummy, I'd open a capsule of the PB8 and dump 1/4-1/2 before each feeding, into his/her mouth and then breastfeed.

My friends have done this with all of their kids and are shocked at how quickly it works for an achy tummy from newborn to adult.

You can find it at Mother's, Whole Foods, etc. I find that the pediatric ones never work as well as the PB8, so I'm not recommending the liquid baby probitocis, as they are not complete enough.

Did she recently receive shots/vaccines? This is also a cause and know that you need to seriously read the package insert to EVERY shot, EVERY time and look at the ingredients because guess what is in some of them besides the aluminum and/or mercury? Milk, wheat, yeast (big one!), soy, and eggs in most of them. Guess which food allergies have skyrocketed over the past 20 years?

If you have access to probiotics for babies then I would start there or you can take them and it will help her.

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