Two week old DD in hospital

[steben]

Hope this makes sense am in a bit of a state. DD has been admitted to hospital after we began noticing blood in her stools - apart from this she has been completely fine. Very placid and happy baby, wakes like clockwork every three hours for a feed and feeds well - has gained 8oz since birth. Hospital admitted her and were very concerned and ran lots of tests all which came back clear - they then decided that she had an allergy to cows milk protein and has been giving nutragigem (sp?)
The stuff smells awful and she is not taking to it well - I am expressing breast milk but only managing to get about 8oz a day which I am mixing in with it to make it more palatable. I know it would be a lot worse for her but I am really upset that the docs have just decided that this is what is wrong with her - no tests etc I am also very upset that I having to give her vile smelling and tasting formula and feel very guilty that I can't give her more breast milk and that I have no choices over what to feed her. I suppose I would like to hear from people who have been in this position and also is it possible to request a different formula - having done some research Aptamil peptil seems like it could be an option - anyone successfully requested to try a different formula? I just feel really emotional that I went into hospital with a happy settled baby and am being discharged with a hungry unhappy one TIA

Hi I understand why you are so stressed. My dd who is 7months is on nutramigen aa. I remember the first time I opened the lid omg it stunk! It was like the gutter! But you have to remember this is the best thing for her my dd had a lot of symptoms and the milk really helps. I mixed the feeds so if she had 5oz used 4 scoops of normal formula and 1 of nutramigen and then slowly decreased the formula and increased the nutramigen until it was all nutramigen. I think this is the best way for them to get used to it. Nutramigen 1 has some cows protein in it but it is broken down a lot compared to normal formula however nutramigen aa is made from scratch and has no cows protein in it. I would see how she gets on with this and if she is not better ask for the aa.
I'm sorry that I have gone on
It will get easier you just get used to the smell.

Thanks for messages everyone - quick update I managed to get the doctor to prescribe aptamil pepti which she seems to find less offensive although still not taking the amounts she was before. I am going to see how she gets on with that - and I didn't realise you could mix the formula until they get used to it - she takes my expressed milk well so I do think the taste is affecting her. Feeling slightly better about situation but would like her to go back to taking original amounts and will also feel better when she gets weighed next week and hopefully she is gaining weight.

Glad things are improving

Good to hear. Hope things continue to improve.

Sounds good! My DD's consultant joked that Nutramigen could be used to market swamp water by making people taste Nutramigen first :-) Your LO obviously has good taste buds already!

Thanks Maz007 - DH is worried that the consultant/dietician might tell us off for changing the formula but since she wasn't taking to the other one and this one seems better surely not? Will have to wait and see I guess!

Both types are safe for babies with cows milk protein allergy - I'm sure the dietician / consultant won't mind in the slightest. I have a feeling they start with nutramigen because it's cheaper as they do less jiggery-pokery to the milk protein :-)

Well that's what my research told me - they prescribe that because it is the cheapest. The aptamil one seems a good middle road as it is more expensive but cheaper than the most expensive option Neocote. Def smells 100 times better!

If you want to carry on bf, it is probably far nicer than Nutramigen. All you need to do is follow a CMP free diet yourself. 2mo was when my DS3's CMP allergy was picked up, and I successfully bf until he was 12 months old.

If you want some tips, feel free to PM me.

'which' formula you can use depends on how sensitive your little one is to CMP. If you completely cut out all dairy from your diet (watch out for the whey in sooo many things), you can continue to use b/milk. Look out for other possible allergens, though - soy and egg are common in those with CMP allergy.

As for the formula, my DS2 can't use anything except Neocate - the most expensive one - because of his strong allergy. It's not anaphylactic type reaction, though. You need to find out what works for your little one (sadly, here, my experience has been that private sector is hugely better than NHS on breadth/depth of testing, etc). Good luck.