CMPI baby - won't drink any hypo milks. At wit's end.

[narmada]

DS is 5 months,suspected of having CMP intolerance on acccount of snottiness, vomiting, mucusy stools and now some little skin rashes.
He also has severe silent and sometimes not-so-silent reflux which has been present since birth (he was BF for 5 weeks), and is on Lansoprazole for that. He is also suspected of having delayed gastric emptying but whether this is secondary to the cow's milk issue or independent of this, we don't know. He may be starting erythromycin this week as a motility agent, too.

We have tried to gradually wean him on to neocate over a period of 6, yes 6, weeks but he won't drink it even heavily laced with golden syrup/ milkshake syrup/ vanilla flavouring/ all of these. Same goes for supposedly more palatable aptamil pepti. He's not fooled and has a feeding aversion anyway which is getting worse the more times we try him with the more unpalatable formulas. Although I have considered it really carefully, relactation is not an option for me as I had/ have severe PND and a 3-year-old to look after too. BM milk share has been suggested but having looked into it, I am not comfortable with this as a long-term option as it means that it's difficult to leave the area and there is no certainty about supply.

We can't replace milk calories with solids because his gastric motility issue means he is worse when he's consumed solids.

Does anyone have any ideas what we can do? We have paedeatrician and dietitian support but it is us that are dealing with the hours-long feeding battles every day and it is really, really getting us down :(. Presumably getting DS down too as he must be hungry and in discomfort :( :( :(

Snorts with laughter even though it's really not funny. What a day for him - scratched by the woman who loves him the most and experimenting with drugs.

Glad he's more settled. Hope he sleeps ok. It will get better. Keep on plodding along.

Hi there, I cams across your thread as I am currently experiencing the same thing with my 15 week old little lady. How did you find things in the end? I would be really grateful for any advice as I am literally pulling my hair out. She will stay on neocate for weeks at a time and them suddenly refuse to eat any more than an ounce at a time if I'm lucky. The only thing she will eat is aptamil pepti but I'm certain even this is unset I g her even more as she is coughing and had diahroea. So difficult to even know who to talk to about it

Hi Kate sorry to hear your little one is causing you so much worry. Very odd to hear that she will take Neocate sometimes and not others. Normally the problem is getting them to take it in the first place but once they do they're generally OK. Not really sure what to suggest other than speaking to consultant and/or dietician. Maybe she needs reflux meds?

Ah thanks for your reply! He is certainly on medicines for reflux, I think it's definitely the taste of neocate. It smells like rotten veg. If she's starving she will drink it otherwise she wud only eat an oz every 4hrs during the day no matter how much I tried to make her feed. She will take aptamil at a push but I can hear her refluxing and sneezing and coughing. I've seen pead and he said just continue to give her neocate!! It's now making me a very miserable mummy to get up so much in the night as she is even more unsettled and cries most hours. That's on any food I give her.

I know Neocate smells and tastes foul but they do get used to it. In fact my DS is 5 and only recently stopped having Neocate and he was really reluctant to give it up as he loved it so much! When I think how long it took us to get him to take it in the first place . Definitely sounds as though Neocate is better for your DD than Aptamil Pepti.