Specialist Milk for reflux/allergy babies

[Tiredmummy2021]

Hi everyone and im new to mumsnet and was wondering if anyone had been through a similar experience snd could share advice. I had baby no 1 in August 20 (currently 5 .5 months old). My LO had pretty severe reflux (crying all the time, vomiting/ little spews up up to 50 times a day, wouldnt go into car seat, pram, terrible sleeper etc). As my LO was gaining weight GP was reluctant to consider a milk allergy. Instead we were given carobel and omezperole. Both def helped and occasions of vomits decreased a lot, probably halved. However over Xmas (4months old) my LOs vomitting increased ALOT and he developed really bad eczema . At this point GP admitted likely allergy and prescribed Alimentum (cows milk deeply broken down i think). This really helped and vomiting reduced, skin cleared up and baby was finally comfortable in car seat! However my LO suffers pretty constantly from diarrhoea on new milk (had it on old milk too but slightly worse now), lots of farts and tummy rumbling. He was always a terrible sleeper , catnapping during day and sometimes maybe up to 10/15 resettles at night to get him to sleep and frequent night wakenings. Exhausting for him and us! Whilst sleep has improved a bit in first half of night hes generally up every 20 to 35 mins from 4am to 7 am (this has always bern a difficult sleep period for him but has gotten worse) seems to suffer tummy grumbling, wind and vomit at this time of the night. The GP has now prescribed an amino acid milk to try Neocate, but it smells and tastes pretty unusual and my LO isnt taking it. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did Neocate help? How did you get your LO to take it? Not sure whether to perserve with mixing it with old milk or if this will put him feeding and if i should focus on early weaning instead? Please help if you have any experience of this. First baby in lockdown 100% by ourselves with a hubby who works long hours ...this has been such a difficult experience . I love my LO lots but not sure whats best for him in terms of milk ...and im a v tired mummy whose prob not just as sharp/able to do research ae i normally would be so would appreciate hearing stories from anyone whose been through this x

My sons the same, although he's settled on alimentum. He had been on kendamil when we stopped breastfeeding which is when we found out he has cmpa, constant gurgly tummy and lots of wind, and green mucousy poops numerous times a day.

When he started the alimentum he visibly shuddered, it was awful and I felt terrible trying to get him to drink it, what worked for us was a tiny drop of crusha in the milk. I've heard you can also use vanilla essence too. Good luck, it's so hard atm! I have 2 older children and this is my first time dealing with cmpa, I didn't know anything about it until Charlie was diagnosed!

He now takes 7oz 4 times a day and is moving to 3 meals too at 9 months, we have only had one slip up where I gave him a kiddylicious biscuit that I swore I had checked....he reacted within 20 mins to the milk powder in it and we had upset tummy for a few days after :(

Has your gp/hv offered to refer you to a dietician?? We have to book our appointment but I was waiting for my work schedule as I go back shortly and all the phone appointments are on a Friday with our hospital.

A dietitian here.
Sorry to hear you’re going through this. It’s so hard.
I’d say if Alimentum somewhat helped with the reflux, chances are it is cow’s milk protein allergy. And therefore the amino acid based formula, Neocate LCP, should help further. Yes, it’s different, and thinner than Alimentum but if you can persevere for 2-4 weeks on this formula, you should see an improvement in both gut and skin symptoms. Just a note - poo can be green on either of the hypoallergenic formulas. If not liked by your little one, you could mix it in with Alimentum gradually until taken near. Alternatively you could try tiniest amount of something like Crusha syrup to sweeten, then once accepted, wean off.
If Neocate doesn’t help, it may not be cow’s milk protein allergy.
Also, some babies need both specialist formula AND reflux medication.
Hope this makes sense.
Good luck, hope your little one is better soon.

@Beelips

A dietitian here. Sorry to hear you’re going through this. It’s so hard. I’d say if Alimentum somewhat helped with the reflux, chances are it is cow’s milk protein allergy. And therefore the amino acid based formula, Neocate LCP, should help further. Yes, it’s different, and thinner than Alimentum but if you can persevere for 2-4 weeks on this formula, you should see an improvement in both gut and skin symptoms. Just a note - poo can be green on either of the hypoallergenic formulas. If not liked by your little one, you could mix it in with Alimentum gradually until taken near. Alternatively you could try tiniest amount of something like Crusha syrup to sweeten, then once accepted, wean off. If Neocate doesn’t help, it may not be cow’s milk protein allergy. Also, some babies need both specialist formula AND reflux medication. Hope this makes sense. Good luck, hope your little one is better soon.

Hi, I currently have a 2 week old and feel like I'm having similar issues and have wondered if it's a cows milk allergy. From around 3 days old he's really suffered with loose yellow coloured stools which are full of mucus. He will have a bowel movement nearly straight after or during each feed and then constantly through out the day will need changing nearly every 1-2hours. Belly is constantly gurgling and full of wind, doesn't sleep well but does feed a lot. Health visitor said it's all completely normal because of the colour and to stick it out for a few weeks to see if it changes but it just doesn't feel right. Any advice please would be greatly appreciated. Do I stick it out for a few weeks or try and see a gp regarding an allergy?

Frequent bowel movements (even multiple times per day) and loose, yellow stools are totally normal for newborns. When my baby was brand new he would have a bowel movement practically every hour, and every time he was fed. He’s now 8 weeks old and it has settled down a lot.

Does your baby have any other symptoms (rash, pain, frequent crying, vomiting etc)?

@KatyClaire

Frequent bowel movements (even multiple times per day) and loose, yellow stools are totally normal for newborns. When my baby was brand new he would have a bowel movement practically every hour, and every time he was fed. He’s now 8 weeks old and it has settled down a lot.

Does your baby have any other symptoms (rash, pain, frequent crying, vomiting etc)?

That's a relief to know that the frequent bowel movements are normal. He has no other symptoms and is a happy baby, just the constant loose stools

Both my DDs had CMPA so I sympathise.
Both my DDs ended up on Neocate which resolved all of their symptoms. Unfortunately as you're experiencing Neocate us quite unpalatable and it's not uncommon for babies to dislike it.
As a PP suggested, you can try mixing the Neocate with the Alimentum gradually reducing the amount of previous formula.
Alternatively, you can try adding a drop of nesquik powder or vanilla essence at the start.
For us DD1 never took to it and the only thing that helped was weaning and reducing her reliance on bottles. DD2 was easier but she was introduced to it at a much earlier age. Good luck and I hope your little one is feeling better soon.

I just want to say thanks everyone for posting; I really appreciate the advice . I’ll let you know how we get on in a few days