Nutramigen - is it really that bad?

[auntynon]

Dd, 7mths has been prescribed Nutramigen as she is intolerant to cows milk. Up until now she has been bf and I have followed a dairy free diet. Dietician implied this stuff was 'mingin' and wished me luck, anyone used it? Is it really that bad? Any tips? Am planning to introduce it with the intention of stopping bf some time in June.

It is revolting stuff to us adults, smells and tastes cheesy. But ds2 thought it was the bees knees, . He was on it from a few months old until he no longer tolerated that, and had to go on neocate instead (which is equally revolting), but luckily he can now eat dairy and soya with no problems.

It's a lot harder to clean out of bottles though, if it dries up, so try not to let it!

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My DS has been on Nutramigen since he was six months. I was advised to put 2oz to 6oz of normal formula and then increase the nutramigen until it was all nutramigen. If you contact them they will send you recipes to make with Nutramigen.

Maybe by June you will be bfing so few times that you wouldn't mind continuing?

Ds had Nutramigen and seemed to like it. I hated the smell but not as much as Wysoy, that made me heave. Happy to report he is now fine with dairy.

I am very happy bf and would continue bobthebaby but so many things and people are telling me not to. Being dairy free I have lost weight, I now weigh less than when dd was concieved, I feel scrawny and weak. I also still suffer from symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) which I'm told will stop when I no longer bf. To top it all I have RSI from using a manual breast pump. I have reluctantly accepted the prescription but deep down get quite tearful at the thoughts of no longer bf. I'm secretly hoping dd will refuse Nutramigen so I have no choice but to bf. dh and family all think I should stop bf and focus on my well being, that dd won't loose out as she has been bf for 7 mths and won't benefit from me doing it any longer. GP is non commital and says the decision is mine.

I sympathise, I too have been dairy free for months (also egg free)and I weigh a stone less than at conception (ds's not mine). I have no experience of SPD and I hardly express so throwing those in the mix sounds hard. I have had 2 months of a stomach problem, chronic sinusitis and operations for both of these though. It was just so much easier when bob started to go to 3 meals and 2 snacks a day and I wondered if it would be for you too. The worst of it may just be stopping in terms of feeling tired etc. but I don't know anything about SPD.

I found my local la leche league people brilliant as many of them had given up some foodstuff in order to breastfeed and they had some great tips about comments from other people. I don't think its anyones decision but yours in the end though.

It took my DS about 3 weeks to accept the change in taste. (he was about 15 months by then though)
It did smell and taste pretty foul to me and the dietician at the hospital had warned me that it is often difficult to get children to take it.
Good luck with the bottle though. DD refused to ever take one. Eventually at a year I persuded her to accept formula form a beaker.

auntynon - the best thing would be to continue B/F your baby. The advice that SPD is continued because of breastfeeding is not proven if you read here
At 7 months she still will benefit from being breastfed - it still protects her against illness. Ask to speak to a dietician about your own diet - perhaps you could do with some advice there. Many women lose weight after delivery whether they eat dairy free or not.
How do you know that your dd is milk intolerant?

Mears, thans for the info about spd, thats the first info I'd read that hasn't implied that bf is prolonging my symptoms. Dd, at 5 weeks had very frequent and explosive bowel movements, then there were streaks of blood in her poo. She was tested for infection which came back negative. Paediatrician suggested milk intolerance, omitting it from my diet dramatically improved things, so that was the diagnosis. I was also advised to stop eating eggs and soya as the protein in them is very similar to cows milk. Have decided to continue to bf but allow dh to give dd a bottle of formula every evening if he wants to.

Oh, I really feel for you. ds has just come out of hospital for the third time in his 19 week life. Also intolerant to breast milk and cow protein. Congrats for keeping the bf going. I'm afraid that due to the stress (and other factors I'm sure), my milk dried up bfore it had even started. ds was on neocate but as he was admitted last Monday they decided to try him on a boosted up Nutriprem 2 (cows milk based) formula. 5 days in and no vomiting so far! My nephew has also recently been put onto nutramigen from soya and I know my sil had to add sugar to it for the first few days to get it anywhere near him. Sorry this post is of no real benefit to you but I just wanted to say well done for getting this far and persevering. Good luck.