Struggling- 5 Week old- need handhold

[Kate3150]

Suspected CMPA in baby, been advised to cut out dairy for a week.
Wanted to Combi feed as exclusively breastfeeding effecting mental health.
Feel in limbo that he may or may not have CMPA.
He has mucussy, smelly poos and gets quite red in the face when feeding.
I feel so alone; the nights are long. I wait for day time but im tired and emotional.
I was close to giving up breastfeeding before all this CMPA chat now I’m back in the thick of it.

Why don’t you cut out dairy, and add a few bottles of dairy free formula into your day/night.

Having a baby is the hardest thing, but as cliche as it sounds it does get easier.

Your doing well, I don’t think I could formulate my thoughts and think to reach out to MN for advice at 5 weeks - my brain was mush and my decision making skills were non existent for the first 12 weeks

I’ve done 2 days no dairy.
I just feel like I’m being punished this happening now. I was so happy with the plan to give the odd bottle of Aptamil here and there. Now I’ve got all this to deal with!

It’s really hard at this stage. You probably need to cut out soya as well. If you wanted you could push for dairy free formula but the first formula they prescribe won’t be the really broken down one, one of mine reacted to that a few weeks later and needed the really broken down one. I bf but had to top up due to weight loss the first few weeks.
In can be hard to get them to take the formula as it doesn’t taste great so if you want to use it best to start early. Also read the instructions carefully on how to make it up as it’s different to normal formula.
There little guts can be really inflamed as well so sometimes there isn’t much improvement in symptoms for quite a while.
in the end I fed both kids for over 3 years each.
DC 1 the lack of sleep etc never really ended. DC2 as soon as the pain stopped she slept in 3 hour chunks
GPs often don’t want to prescribe the formula as it’s expensive, you might do better with an out of hours GP appointment at the weekend if there’s non stop howling.

This is the one of the worst weeks. Still lots of feeds, and a build up of sleep deprivation.

Hang on in there, it will get better. It might take a while to find the right formula.

Oat milk is the best substitute. I've got lemon and ginger tea bags for when we run out of milk. Is there anything you like that is milk free as an alternative to shit milk free coffee/tea if you're used to those with milk?

They "Why me?" is normal. And normal to feel sorry for yourself when you are so tired. If it persists, or is really bad, seek help.

I don’t eat much dairy anyway which is why I’m a bit baffled. I already drink loads of oat milk.
Im getting help from the mental health team, so this is just another spanner in the works and hurdle to overcome.
I’m shattered, emotional and feel defeated at the moment.

My baby was diagnosed at 3 weeks old with CMPA. He was in agony with his tummy. I ended up giving up breastfeeding due to the stress it caused and he was prescribed formula. My baby was in agony and cried for hours on end. 2 days after being on prescribed formula he was a different baby.
Do what you need to do and don’t beat yourself up. X

@Ljzjta - can I ask what symptoms he had?
That must have been so hard seeing him in pain and all the crying x

He cried a lot, had constant wind, would bring up the loudest burps and was so uncomfortable. He had mucus in his poo and was rashy. He was moved on to Aptimal Pepti 1 and that worked for about 2-3 weeks then developed the same symptoms again (that contains some dairy) and then he was moved on to SMA Alfamino and stayed on that for 9 months. It smelt vile but he drank it. We weaned him dairy free but began to trial him with the milk ladder which worked and eventually he was having a normal diet. He had blood tests at 12 months old which showed no allergy. However, he then developed eczema and has suffered with that. We have began limit dairy again from his diet (not completely) and his eczema is clearing up. Obviously just cannot tolerate a lot of it.

I've had two cmpa babies and they had other allergies. Up to week 6 is very hard. But then bf is 'established' and everything gets a lot calmer. The stress of not knowing about the allergies is hard mentally. Agree with pp that you need to ditch soya.
My youngest was allergic to oat milk (typical!) so I would suggest keeping a food (and symptom) diary.

Give it time. Things get so much easier. Don't give up on breastfeeding, you can do it ❤

He’s not been happy the last couple of days.
I don’t know if it’s general newborn fussiness or if he’s in pain. I’m struggling with the not knowing and every time I breastfeed I feel I’m making him ill.
I’m just so tired

This might sound a bit random, but I struggled hugely with dc1 (lots of screaming when feeding, lots of vomiting), I was really really tired and exhausted - and I have to say, things got so much easier at 5 and a half weeks, when he started smiling. I actually feel that the onset of a baby’s smile is a carefully evolved thing, that when things seem to be at the hardest, and you are at your lowest ebb (and at the end of your tether), the most powerful and life-transforming thing happens! And things seem a bit more bearable.