what is the best formula to give for cows milk allergy?

[OhWhatAPalaver]

I am still bf-ing my 10 month old DD but i want her to be weaned by the time she's one and i would like to start introducing formula to her diet (in a beaker, on cereal etc) before then. she comes out in itchy hives on her face when given cows milk but is ok with yoghurt and cheese. i'm also looking for something that doesn't contain soya as i'm suspicious of that as well! don't think she's allergic as such but think it might make her eczema worse.

i have heard aptamil pepti is meant to be good, does anyone have any experience of this? is it suitable for cows milk protein allergies? i have no idea what to buy as the gp is a bit rubbish and just said to buy goats milk or formula made with goats milk :/

[Salamanger]

Pretty sure your gp should be referring you given reaction you describe. If it is an allergy then she would need to be prescribed formula I think. Unless you stick with the breastfeeding-that's what we did, with oat milk for cooking and cereal.

If you google the NICE guidelines it would give you an idea what the go should be doing.

[Maz007]

Agree with salamanger based on what you describe an allergy to cows milk protein sounds possible. You should get testing to confirm but if it the case then any animal milk / formula will be unsuitable and a hydrolysed formula should be prescribed. You might find that at 10 months she already has a sense of what nice food / milk tastes like and she'll struggle to take to a formula... they all taste a bit grim but some less than others...

I have also opted to stick to BF morning and evening with oatly for cooking / cereal which is not ideal but works for us...

[OhWhatAPalaver]

thanks for the replies, she has already had skin prick tests but they were somewhat inconclusive. they didn't really show up anything much at all. she is possibly allergic to egg as well but i have yet to try her with real actual egg :/

i am thinking that if i continue breastfeeding until she is one then after that can she have a different type of milk, eg oat milk, instead of formula?

[MamaMumra]

We used neocate. It was great for DS (milk protein allergy).

[Maz007]

Think the recommendation is oat milk etc not suitable as 'main drink'
before 2? I might be wrong... for us that's meant keeping a morning and might breastfeed beyond what I originally expected...

[CouthyMowEatingBraiiiiinz]

Yep, Oat milk not recommended as a 'main drink' before two.

Nutramigen Lipil 2, or Neocate Active are the usual ones prescribed. As a word of warning though, if you were thinking of buying any, Nutramigen comes in a half size (400g) tin and costs £15-£18 depending on where you buy it from. Neocate Active is prescription only I think.

Also, at least with Nutramigen, it tastes and smells like pungent sweaty socks. Lots of DC's refuse it at first.

It's often advised to reduce your usual milk on the bottle by one oz, and add an ounce of Nutramigen to that.

And increase the Nutramigen : usual milk ratio by an ounce every two days.

I would also ask for a referral to an allergy dietician, that can advise you about milk replacement intakes and vitamins and calcium, as your DC may need supplements.

Oat milk is OK for cereal from 18 months now.

Rice milk should not be given to children under 5yo.

[OhWhatAPalaver]

ah ok, it's more complicated than i thought then :(
DD doesn't take a bottle and there's no way i'm bf-ing for another year!! so exhausted with it already.

you would've thought that they could at least make the formula taste nice... there must be some out there that that taste ok?!

i will ask for a referral back to allergy dietician anyhow. thanks for the advice :)

[trixymalixy]

I was the same as you whatapalaver. I was desperate to get DS onto a bottle as I was finding bfing exhausting and gutted to find he was allergic to cow'smilk.

He wouldn't take any of the formula as it's pretty vile. By the time he was 1 I went back to work and only fed him in the morning and before bed, he was well obto solids and just drank oat milk during the day. It was much much easier than it had been when he was 6-12 months old, so I continued bfing until he was 2 and could have oat milk as his main drink.

It does get easier!

[freefrommum]

We had Nutramigen then Neocate, both of which taste foul but I've heard others say that Aptamil Pepti tastes much better.

[CouthyMowEatingBraiiiiinz]

Could you express enough to start off on bottles of bm, then swap an oz of bm for Nutramigen / Neocate every couple of days?

Honestly, though I think it smells and tastes of sweaty socks, 21mo DS3 guzzles 6oz bottles of Nutramigen like it is Nectar from the Gods or something! And that was from completely refusing it until I did the oz every 2 days swap.

It's just SO different to what they are used to that it takes a while for them to get used to the taste.

He's been on Nutramigen since 12mo now, so 9 months, I bf till 12months.