Formula Intollerant

[Ellibop]

Hi, I've been feeding my 6 week old baby a mixture of formula and breast milk from about 3 weeks, before that I exclusively breastfed. He has gradually been developing symptoms including excessive wind, abdominal pains which makes him cry if laid flat, and lately diarrhoea. Only just linked these to the increasing amounts of formula and saw the doctor today to ask whether he could be intollerant. I'm now trying to exclusively breastfeed him, although may have to continue to supplement short term and gradually increase my milk supply.

Anyway, my question is has anyone else experienced this and how quickly did you see an improvement after stopping the formula?

Thanks

what did your dr say? my ds is intolerant/allergic to any milk formula so is breastfed and on goats milk formula. apparently it takes a couple of weeks for them to adjust to things in your milk too but you should see a difference from the formula in a few days as in the wind should subside and not crying as much..this is how my ds was once i put him onto goats milk formula ..poo r things they have to put up with so much and cant tell us whats the problem..has your dr agreed to testing for milk protein allergy..my hospital say you should only wait a max of 6 weeks for an appt for testing but usually quicker, have you tried different milks, some babies are more comfortable on the hipp organic milks , if youre trying to improve your milk supply get some fenugreek tablets, theyre brill for increasing your milk yeld..usually within 24-48 hrs ..take about 3-4 tablets a day ,,maybe more..im trying to remember..im sure someone else on here will help you out there ,if not just do a search online fo r fenugreek , they will make you smell of maple syrup though so dont be alarmed , once you reach that level you rmilk should be increasing and you can stop taking them once you keep up feeding our baby.

Thanks. Am actually feeling totally unsupported by my doc, have tried twice to get a doc's appointment this week, first time fobbed off with phone message, 2nd time turned up for appointment but was only seen by nurse as if we're not important enough to waste the doc's time. Am going to insist on seeing a doctor today as have been forced to top up breastmilk with small amounts of horrid formula as he was starving and I wasn't producing any more for him. The reaction was instant, wheezy, windy and unsettled after just 25mls. Want to get a prescription for other milk whilst mine catches up if possible, but will prob have fight on my hands. I feel awful having caused this for him and really don't want to give him any more formula. Will look into those tablets, thanks for tip x

ellibop , please keep on at your dr, those symptoms def sound like a allergy to milk..if you want i have an unopened tin of nutramigen which is a milk that is hypoallergenic and is only prescibed by drs..my ds couldnt tolerate it hence i still have a tin...very rare for a baby to not be able to take it though..i f you send me your address i will happily send it to you to see what happens.. it s worth a try and then you ll have even more evidence to support your argument when you revisit your drs and ask for a second opinion.. [email protected]

Do push to see the docs. My story (as briefly as poss):

had ds1 - horrendously unsettled baby, cried all the time, slept very badly - put down to colic. Was breastfed but at 12 weeks switched to Omneo comfort which made him slighty better and he improved with age but always fairly 'difficult'.

DS2 - ok for first week or so (again breastfed) then turned utterly miserable, cried all the time (and I mean all the time) wouldn't sleep unless held, horrible green mucousy poos. Tried lots of different things and eventually (after suggestions from brilliant mumsnetters) and in desperation, I cut out diary from my diet. I should say that I was hugely sceptical that this would make any different. But within 7-10 days he was a completely changed baby. Went to GP "well done, you've self diagnosed" referred me to a paed who was brilliant. She explained that he has a cows milk protein intollerance and shouldn't have any diary until 12 months. He's still on special formula (Pepti). She also said that DS1 probably suffered from the same.

There are three things:
cows milk allergy (usually presents as rash or allergic reaction)
cows milk intolerance (not an allergy and chlid will grow out of it but while they have it they find it impossbile to digest and tehrefore get dreadful stomach ache).
lactose intolerance - this is either somethign child is born with (very rarely) or you get it temporarily when you've had bad diahrroea.

CAT me if you want more info. I read loads about it at the time.

good luck

cut out "dairy" from diet!

beware milk is in lots of things too.. im on a milk,egg and soya free diet at the moment fo rmy little one and have gots lots of leaflets on diet and wahere milk is hidden..bread for example, breadcrumbs,batters on foods, choc crisps...the list is endless.

Oh so I actually need to cut out dairy too do I, it's not enough to just stop giving him the formula? That sounds tricky, but worth it I suppose if it works...I can hear him crying downstairs with his dad right now!

Yes if you're breastfeeding then you have to cut out the dairy. If it is that then you see a definite improvement. I guess it's harder if you're mix feeding to establish whether it is that or not. I would suggest trying to get hold of Pepti or similar formula and use that for the trial period that you cut out dairy from your own diet.

Please be careful if you cut out dairy from your diet. I did it on specialist advice as my ds was full-on allergic (anaphylactic reaction) to milk & eggs... and under dietician's advice took a calcium supplement - at extra-high dose so both me and ds were getting enough.

It's fine to try it out on your own - but then make sure you discuss with a doctor and get enough calcium through other routes. Both women and children are susceptible to calcium deficiency (osteoporosis etc) so please don't take risks.

Yes of course, but I'm only suggesting the OP does it for a week or so to see if it helps. If that does then appear to be the problem and therefore she needs to do it longer term, she can take specialist dietary advice. I ended up diary free for about 4 months (before I stopped breastfeeding DS2).

Hi

I gave up dairy myself last week as baby wasnt growing and family history of dairy intol (2 of my sons, and me but I am naughty )

Within 2 days he has started gaining, screeching and gree n nappies have stopped!

With the other 2 dairy intol babies, who were on formula, / bf mixed, symptoms were more severe and included projectile vomiting. with ds1 switching to soya helped, with ds2 we used a formula called enfamil lactofree whioch ws fantastic and I would recommend wholeheartedly. On prescription.

HTH

(I also take a supplenet, plus calcium entriched soya products)

Thanks for all your advice. Have stopped the offending formula and have been exclusively breastfeeding for a couple of days and have seen a massive improvment in him. His stomach pains have stopped and he's a lot less windy. Either it's just that formula he can't stomach, or he is intollerant to cow's milk I guess. Will continue with breastfeeding and monitor him, but am hoping if I swap milk for soya in my own diet and avoid lots of cheese/yogurt then maybe his sensitivity isn't severe enough to require me to cut all dairy out..?
Was again refused a doc's appointment and have been told to speak to health visitor (although she's failed to phone me back so far). The midwife even told me that you can't get formulas which don't contain cow's milk! Have seen a soya based one in Boots but thought I'd read something about soya not being recommended for babies younger than 6 months..??
Thanks again.

of course you can get cows milk free formula! What bolloney

you can raise a child on soya from birth (have done it), I qwouldn't though- better alternatives these days and ds1 lost most teeth from the high sugar in spya. Mind you it saved his life so hey what's a few teeth.

Options:

1. total hypoallergenic formula- eg neocate. Any GP can prescribe but i'd try others first

1. lactose free formula- ds3 was prescribed this until he was 4, is made from cows milk but with the substance most people with intolerances react to removed (turned out we're unusual, we reacr to the protein, casein, but lactose intol far more common).

1. You can getr goats milk formula- think its called Nanny goat or similar. Maybe try googling for suppliers?

just googled and nannys from a year due to new advice... but also apparently all manufacturers make milks suitable now and if you call the carelinesthey can help

however bf by far the best choice, and lo might grow out of it- many do.

soya is not given as readily nowadays as there is often an allergy to soya if allergic to milk..i know from personal experience and my ds is more allergic to soya than cows milk..hope he does well on the nutramigen

I think it might be soya that's the problem actually. Had seen an improvement with me just bf-ing him but thought I'd cut down on dairy too. Had soya milk instead yesterday and today he was terrible again, with diarrhoea immediately after feeding. When I've looked at the formula that I'd given him previously it also contains soya.

Am giving him Nutramigen today and pumping and chucking out my milk, thought would do the same tomorrow and really limit what i eat - no soya, dairy, wheat or fish i thought. Would the soya be out of my system after 3 days of eating it? Then i can go back to bf hopefully and see how he reacts.

Still got nowhere with doc so think will sort it out myself, see what happens and go to docs with food diary etc in a couple of weeks, all being well with him til then.

Really hope it is the soya and that doing this sorts him out, poor little mite.

Thanks for all your advice it's been invaluable, especially as docs have been so useless and dismissive.

Hi Ellibop, firstly congrats on your new son.

I have a 5week old ds2, at the moment that I am breastfeeding, but having had a ds1 and dd with milk protein intolerance I can understand what you are going through at the moment. I have got a prescription from my doctor for nutramigen and have a tin on stand-by just incase it is needed.

It took a long time for my ds1 to be diagnosed due to all the symptoms my son had being passed off as various things and as normal. I mainly breastfed him but he had the occasional bottle of formula with all the symptoms you describe and "nappy rash" which turned out to be bleeding due to the extreme acidity of the diahorrea. He is now age 4 and has less of a reaction but my dad and my brother never fully grew out of it so I am not sure if my children will.

I am breastfeeding my 5 week old son and have not been cutting out all dairy as I should, but I am watching out for all symptoms and prepared to give up dairy if needed.

You asked about soya being out of your system after 3 days, I believe it is quicker than that. I was told it was only 12 hours?! That was what I was told with taking antibiotics anyway, that after 12 hours it would be clear of the breastmilk.

I hope you get to the root of the problem soon. And do get your doctor to refer you to a paediatric nutritionist too.