Suspected allergy - which formula?!

[PuddingPie16]

Hi Everyone,

Please can I get some guidance as I am worried sick!

LO is 4 weeks old. From just over a week old he has had spots on his cheeks and neck..doctor said they were hormonal but LO still has them and it looks more like it is getting more angry and more of a rash now. LO is also always windy/having trapped wind and having runny nappies (sometimes a bit dark green)- only in last week. He is also sounding wheezy and blocked up but definitely not a cold.

LO is bf but I am making the transition to ff from today. HV seems to think LO may be lactose intolerent or have CMPA. She said to try him on standard formula for a few days and then lactose free if symptoms persist and do a process of elimination.

Does anyone have experience of these symptoms and have any advice please? Would you recommend a specific formula? And do you think it may be worth while going straight onto lactose free? Bearing in mind I will be gradually dropping bf feeds.

I will be taking LO to see the doctor on Monday for medical advice too.

Thank you.

Breast milk contains lactose so unlikely to be that. Could be cows milk allergy/ intolerance

He is currently BF and will be moving to formula so it could be lactose or CMPA.

Is he was truly lactose intolerant then he would not be putting in weight or thriving. It is more likely he is reacting to something through your milk

Take your baby back to your dr before taking such a drastic step as stopping breast feeding on the off chance that it is a serious lactose allergy... apart from anything else if that is the theory you will need prescribed lactose free milk. Much much easier to trial a lactose free diet yourself.

Far fewer babies suffer CMPA when they are ebf than on formula. If a baby does have CMPA then then only formula that will be suitable must be prescribed by a specialist and there is generally a long (for your baby) wait to be seen.

I would stick with breastfeeding and eliminate dairy from your diet. Give it 14 days to see what happens and take it from there. If your HV honestly said that, I would give them some feedback because stopping breastfeeding without a diagnosis is not the thing to do. They should instead be supporting you to breastfeed and helping to prioritise seeing a specialist.

You have made the assumption that I am stopping bf because of the concern of a potential allergy when that is not the actual reason, there are other factors which are not relevant to this topic.

Thank you for your comments.

To answer your actual question, I would choose a comfort milk, all brands make one but I can recommend sma comfort. It's slightly more expensive (only about £1) but it's easier for babies to digest. It's what I'm using - my ds is 14 weeks and has been mix fed from 4 weeks.

Surely they should prescribe milks for you. Lactose free and cows milk free milks are expensive. Soya formula is not recommended as a first choice.

P.s. going lactose free makes no difference to the lactose in breast milk as lactose is the sugar naturally found in all milks.