Milk intolerance? & silent reflux

[Laurale31]

My son is 5 months old , poor weight gain was the 1st sign at 6 wk check up, at 12 weeks old he just stopped feeding, refusing feeds and crying constantly so dietician put him onto nutramigen which made no difference so I was advised to use carobel thickener which made an instant difference, and then ranitidine too, dietician says reflux and milk intolerance go hand in hand, so 8 weeks on he was pooing 3 times a day very loose so weve now been on neocate for 1 month, he was much more content on this but still loose bowels and has never really gained more than 2oz per week, he was 7lb9oz at birth and now 11lb13oz, last week dietician suggested changing back to normal baby formula to see if he has a milk intolerance, done this for 1 wk and he seemed fine loved the taste and was drinking an extra 7oz per day but only gained 1/2oz in weight :( his poo now also smells of vinegar and he is showing signs of reflux again! Dietician thinks these are definite signs of intolerance So back to neocate again? Fed up changing milks trying this n that! Starting solids next wk so hopefully he'l settle then:(

My DS1 has been on Domperidone since about 2 weeks old he is now 7yrs he has just recently started taking Ranitidine which has really helped him not so much refulx. He also had very poor weight gain as a baby and was constanty sick. We used a milk called infatrini which is a high calorie milk on perscription from dr's this really help weight gain untill we could establish a cause of his refulx. A barium meal xray may show whats causing his lack of weight gain and refux. My ds has cp which is why he still has problem now but some of the above may give you some answers to your son lack of weight gain and refux.

My DS has lactose intolerance too. Diagnosed at 3 months. Took 6 doctors saying things like "it's just colic" before finally we got to a paediatrician who properly diagnosed him. Had to insist to the 6th doctor that he should be referred, who did so begrudgingly (said how silly we were being to the paediatric unit on the phone whilst we were in his office). He was prescribed three different medicines, which helped a bit. Didn't truly improve until he was weened and stopped drinking milk entirely.

Good luck!

Thanx for the replies, it's very disheartening when the doctors can't give u more help or answers, and never had a diagnosis, its the hardest thing iv had to deal with, feel baffled with it all, all I do is phone doc, dietician, hv, and I think it's just a mothers instinct that something just isnt right, fingers crossed that weaning will help, x

The neocate is higher calorie than standard formula buy if he doesn't improve il ask about that other milk, also at next paediatric appt I'm going to ask about barium meal too, thanx

Sorry this is happening . DD is 9 months and was diagnosed with severe cows' milk protein allergy at 7 weeks. We've been on neocate ever since. She had been on Nutramigen and anti-reflux meds since 3 weeks and it just wasn't working. Our paediatrician explained that it can take a good few months for the gut to heal itself and that symptoms can still be present for quite a while. It took a good 3 months for DD to be pretty much completely better, although the improvement with the neocate was really dramatic. He also explained that the neocate, as well as being a dairy free food, actually heals the gut as it comes into contact with it. If I were you, I'd stick with the neocate. I don't think there is any argument for trying a dairy-based formula. Neocate is nutritionally complete, so your DC can stay on it quite happily. The only other thing you might like to try is Nutramigen AA (this is different from the normal Nutramigen). Our paed said that there are a few kids who still don;t quite get better enough with Neocate and that when they have Nutramigen AA (which is also amino acid dairy free food) they do better. But your DC may not have been on Neocate long enough for you to know that it is not working. Are you seeing a specialist gastric paed or just a general paed? I really would recommend seeing a specialist. If you are in/near London I can recommend Keith Lindley at Great Ormond Street. Another thing you might want to think about, if you haven't started already, is weaning. Made a big difference to DD. Good luck XX

Thanks for your reply, I am only referred to general paediatrician, have further appt in July so il push to see a specialist, il give the neocate a go for a wee while , he definetly improved whilst on it it's just all the mucking about has set us back again, il be starting solids in next few days, dietucian says to start now, but he is due to go for a hernia op on wed so I'm waiting till after that, hopefully with being back on the neocate again hel be happier in the next few days, one thing at a time! thanx again xx