BF baby sick after formula..help

[milkwoman]

Hi, looking for advice. BF baby up until now-15wks and no probs, but have previously at 6wks given 2 bottles of SMA gold formula and baby was sick both times. At 12wks gave bottle of Aptamil & was v v sick that time. Health visitor suggested trying again in 4wks as digestion prob better then.

Was anyone elses baby ill with formula? No milk allergies in family so not convinced it's that really.

What formula shall I try now, Aptamil again or something else? Noticed there is an easy digest version but should I try something normal 1st as the easy digest is always thicker so I'm worried it will be harder on his tummy?

I'm only looking to introduce maybe 1 bottle a week so not to interfear with my milk production so I'm reluctant to buy a tub as only last 4wks. Just want to know LO will be ok when I switch to formula in a few weeks time.

[foxytocin]

hipp organic? it has less additives than the others

[AcademicMum]

Could well be a milk allergy. These are very common (around 2-7% of all infants). Don't keep trying with formula until you've got proper advice (and don't trust the HV's with this, IME they are generally really, really crap with allergies). (Disclaimer, I'm sure there are some who are good with allergies, but I've had bad experience with this which seems to be quite a regular occurence). There don't have to be milk allergies in the family to get allergies, its just more probable if there are. Other signs if it is an allergy:

Is he constantly snotty/chesty?
Blood in stools?
Weight gain slower than expected?
Explosive nappies/tendency to be consipated?
Tummy problems?

Although these are not very specific questions, they do tend to be typical in a milk allergic baby.

I know the feeling of not wanting it to be an allergy, but please get it checked out. I wish I'd not ignored the symptoms with ds2 and then his allergy might not be so bad as it is .

I hope this helps.

[milkwoman]

Think I'll look into the milk allergy as admittedly has always been snuffly, and had nappy explosions. Has tummy ache a lot which we put down to silent reflux.

What does an allergy mean though and will it ever go away??

[AcademicMum]

It's not all bad news. Around 75% of children with milk allergy outgrow it by the time they are about 3 years old. However, around 50% are also allergic to soya (or can develop an allergy to soya, which is an allergy generally not outgrown) so don't use soya formula. You should ask for a skin prick test to confirm cows milk allergy and then get your GP to prescribe hypoallergenic formula (warning, these taste rank! ). Don't use goat or sheep milk as these are not suitable for children with cow milk allergy (around 95% are also allergic to these).

You may however have a fight on your hands to get help from your GP as they are not good with allergies, so you'll need to document everything you can and take it with you to present to your GP.

Finally, when you gave the formula did your lo come out in hives at all, or get any type of rash? If so, mention this to your doctor.

Good luck!

[AcademicMum]

It's not all bad news. Around 75% of children with milk allergy outgrow it by the time they are about 3 years old. However, around 50% are also allergic to soya (or can develop an allergy to soya, which is an allergy generally not outgrown) so don't use soya formula. You should ask for a skin prick test to confirm cows milk allergy and then get your GP to prescribe hypoallergenic formula (warning, these taste rank! ). Don't use goat or sheep milk as these are not suitable for children with cow milk allergy (around 95% are also allergic to these).

You may however have a fight on your hands to get help from your GP as they are not good with allergies, so you'll need to document everything you can and take it with you to present to your GP.

Finally, when you gave the formula did your lo come out in hives at all, or get any type of rash? If so, mention this to your doctor.

Good luck!

[AcademicMum]

Sorry computer seems to have a duplication problem

[Horton]

My daughter has no allergies at all so far (touch wood!) and always threw up after formula at this age. Maybe some babies are just not very good with it and better sticking to breast milk? If you only want to do a bottle a week, I think you would be much better off expressing. Is there a particular reason for wanting to use formula?

[AcademicMum]

A skin-prick test would confirm or otherwise one way or the other though and its best to know as if she is dairy allergic and you want to carry on breast-feeding, you may need to go dairy free yourself to help her (some dairy proteins will be transferred to her via your milk). However, obviously you don't want to do that if she isn't sensitive to cow milk protein as it's inconvenient and puts you at risk of too little calcium (and the problems associated with that).

If she does come out in hives when she drinks milk, it is without a doubt an allergy though and the skin prick test will just confirm that.

[orangina]

I would try a different formula. Aptamil has a lot of added probiotics (supposedly a good thing) but it made ds sick. So did Hipp (even worse actually) and SMA Gold just smelt horrible. We eventually settled on C&G Organic (no discontinued I think...) and then just plain old C&G. He too had mostly breast milk, and had about 1 formula feed per day.

Or as Horton said, perhaps you could express that feed?

[milkwoman]

Thanks for all your advice, I feel much better now! Roll on solids!