how do you know if baby allergic to formula?

[Tea71]

hello
my 3 month old dd is exclusively brestfed at moment and i had wanted to keep it that way for as long as poss.
however, i need to go to hong kong in a couple of months time (my granny died yesterday) and dd will have to switch to formula.
I've heard that babies can be allergic to formula - can anyone enlighten me on this? how can yo tell if your baby is allergic to formula ?? will i just have to give my dd a formula feed to find out ? (i'd rather not, as I want to leave it until as late as poss to ff)
thanks in advance!

[tiktok]

Tea - why does your baby have to have formula? Is it not possible for her to go with you to HK?

[tiktok]

Sorry about your grandmother, too

[wildwoman]

If you definately have to switch it is worth trying her with a few feeds in advance sothat you can go away reasurred that she is ok with the one you choose. Make sure you get goodadvice from people like tiktok on how to do that without reducing your supply until you go.

[Tea71]

Thanks guys - I can't take her to HK with me, it will be exhausting enough for me, never mind her. As well as going tp pay respects to my granny, I'm hoping to spend some time with my half brother (who I haven't seen for over 20 years and who has been in hospital for over a year now with some wierd illness) and has lost his fingers ... all very dramatic but true.
One thought: I'm going to try to go to HK for as little time as poss. 4 days, so effectively, I'll be gone for 5 and a bit days. Do you guys think that if I continue to put her breast on my return, my milk will come back???
What I could do is express like crazy between now and going away to try and stash away loads of milk in th freezer to see her through for those 5 days??
Is this wishful thionking???

(BTW - It won't be feasiible for me to express in HK as a means to keep my supply up - I'm staying with my auntie, and it would horrify her, her teenage son, and conservative husband.)

[Chirpygirl]

poor you, what a dilemma!
If you can't express in HK then I would start to cut down before you go as over 5 days you are going to get massively engorged and possibly get into problems of the mastitis type.
Woudl you really not be able to express, like in a bathroom? if you are feeding a lot you it shouldnt take too long to pump it out and the manual pumps are very quiet.

Theoretically it should be possible to express enough but only if you can express while you are away to keep your supply up, otherwise it might dry up and you would have to start again (it is possible, google relactation, but best not to have to!)

I woudl also give her a bottle of formula a good few weeks before you go, it doesn't have to be much but at least you will know if she will take it in an emergency (freezer failure etc)

[Guadalupe]

Sounds like an awful situation for you. Sorry about your Grandma.

However, it seems very unfair that your baby might not be able to be breastfed further because your relatives wouldn't like the idea of you expressing. This will also be stressful for you, yes? Isn't there anywhere you could do it in private?

My instinct is that it would more stressful for a very young baby to be separated from their mother and have to get used to formula than to come with you and still be fed. Although, if there is an issue with expressing would it be awkward for you to feed there too? Everyone is different of course.