milk protein free formulas? your experiences

[littleweed10]

a quick straw poll....

I am EBF and would ideally like to stop, feeling 'trapped' in a dairy free existence. Very tired and rundown looking after my 6 month old's severe itching due to eczema (and I think allergies).

We tried nutrimgen - poor little sod point blank refused to take it. I WOULD REFUSE TO TAKE IT - smelt and tasted foul...! Worse still after that, he was very reluctant to take a bottle of expressed milk (my one lifeline for a bit of a break!).

So any other more positive experiences?
I have heard of neocate and cow and gate Pepti - anyone who has experienced these?

My little one has been on Aptamil Pepti for 3 months now and it has changed my life let alone her's. I have tried it myself and it is no worse tasting than regular formula. It took a good few weeks to get in her system but now we have no projectile vomitting and no soggy bottoms! Highly effective for us anyway!

You have my sympathies littleweed, I've been there and it's hard work. Probably not what you want to hear but ds never took to hypo allergic formula however I never tried very hard and I know lots of other people have managed the switch over by mixing a little at a time in with EBM.

I am by nature pretty lazy and figured that sterilising and packing bottles whenever I went out wouldn't have been the easy option. Also once they hit 6 months and start weaning the amount they feed will drop pretty quickly. You should be over that tiring initial 6 month intense feeding stage very quickly.

What I will say is that going dairy free yourself is a really good way of getting used to feeding your lo when they have an allergy. It means they can share your food without you having to think about it and it gives you a head start working out what they can have when they start eating properly.

If you do want to stop feeding then try mixing a small amount at a time and have patience, I think Pepti is the least foul of the lot from what I've heard.

Also have you been referred to a dermatologist for the eczema/itching? Don't just stick to your GP make sure you get a referral if you haven't already done so.

Good luck!

littleweed I feel your pain. It is SO exhausting looking after a little one with eczema. The constant moisturising and associated laundry, plus the stress of flare ups... it's impossible for other parents to understand I think.

I too BF'd my dairy allergic DD exclusively until weaning at 6 months. It is mind boggling and difficult to be completely dairy free, again I think it's impossible to understand unless you've been there, checking labels on everything from crisps to sausages...not able to eat out easily etc...

I would echo whoever said the BFing gets easier past weaning, but if you've truly had enough of being dairy free (and I did once I got to 8 months) then I'd say try your little one on one of the hypoallergenic formulas mixed with EBM first to make it more palatable.

You will also find once you start weaning that it's much easier to work with formula to make things like porridge than it is to have to faff about expressing.

My DD (10 months) is now BF in the morning then has one bottle of soy formula in the afternoon and one at bedtime. You will hear horror stories on here about the dangers of soy but, past 6 months, soy formula is recognised as a completely safe option so if your DD won't take to hypoallergenic formulas and is not allergic to soy, this may be an option for you too. The taste is fine and not horridly sweet like the hypoallergenic stuff.

You may also find, as I did, that you can return to a normal diet and carry on doing one or two feeds as a BF after your little one is weaned. My DD seemed to stop reacting to dairy in my diet once she was also eating other things rather than living solely on BM.

If you haven't had a referral to an allergist or eczema specialist yet and you are able to get to St Thomas's, ask your GP for a referral to Dr Lack at the paediatric allergy eczema clinic at St T's. They are totally fab.

charlsmum thanks for feedback re Aptimel Pepti - was this the first one you tried? How exciting you think it tastes no worse to normal formula - that would be a great improvement on nutromigen (or whatver its called!)

Bilbomum - you don't surprise me! After the nutra thingy experience, I'm amazed and impressed of any baby that would drink that stuff!. I like your positive slant - at least this is happening at the time of weaning and fingers crossed his feeds will lessen soon. And there is no doubt it is more convenient. Its just that I am really not too well (very run down- aren't we all - and very tired, little one not sleeping well at all) and I am seeing the negative side of it always been me and me always me being on duty. BUT if I had to cope with sterlisiing bottles making up formula etc as well as the daily rigours of constant hands on babycare, itch prevention and cream application, as well as minor things like me going to the loo or eating(!), I think it would make life even worse!!

crazy cat did you use the hypoallergenic formula for making porridge etc? could I use rice milk or something instead. I'm finding the daily expressing for use in his food quite wearing on top of everything else... like the idea of trying soy formula but haved been warned off cos of hormone issues for little boys? by doc and HV...

thanks also for your upbeat thoughts re reintroduction of foods. I think the trouble is I am feeling downbeat cos I am pretty sure the milk protein is a main contributing factor to the eczema, I am working my socks off to produce my own lovely cows milk protein free breastmilk, however other things now seem to be upsetting him - namely dog and detergents... is it worth carrying on with this bloody diet?!

We've as of this morning been booked into see a paediatrian and dermatologist within the next few weeks. In the meantime I've been asked by the doc to carry on with the dairy free (torture -i want a chocolate fudge pudding- diet)diet as I've been told it can take up to 6 weeks for traces of milk protein to go.

I am also worried (a common problem in the allergy discussions!) about detergents. I;d been using fairy washing liquid, had to buy liquitabs and it brought him out in rash. went to buy my usual fairy washing liquid, had none so bought surcare.
now worried about this giving him a rash -not as worse or acute as the one with fairy liquitabs.

Oh you poor thing, I've been doing the whole allergy/eczema thing for 3 years now and it can drive you to total madness if you let it.

My dairy free diet didn't make ds's eczema any better unfortunately but he does have a massive allergy to milk amongst other things. Although we now know his main allergies he still has eczema although it is getting slowly better. The itch is still there though and we don't seem to be able to get to the bottom of it.

Things that have helped me get through, treats when on dairy free diet. Vegan chocolate cakes, Fry's cream bars if you have a health food shop near you they may do ready made stuff. If not google vegan cake recipes and pretend you're making them for your lo (or do what I did and eat them all myself....).

I still sleep with ds to stop his scratching, not ideal I agree but he does settle himself by playing with my hair and it stops him scratching quite so much. It also stops you getting up 15 times a night.

Dermatologist should help, an anti histamine may help sleep. Ask about comfi fast suits or skinnies - basically skin tight vests & tights. You put emollient on underneath and it stops them causing too much damage from scratching, ds still wears his all day. Night time clothing from eczemaclothing website - a godsend for us.

Got to dash now and not back on line until Wednesday so sorry this is a bit rushed. Keep your chin up, you're doing a great job under difficult circumstances

I was exhausted and desperate to get DS taking some formula when he reached 6 months so I can totally empathise.

I'm afraid we're another case where I never managed it and ended up bfing him until he was 2.

DS was allergic to most of the hypo formulas and wouldn't take any of the others. I didn't try too hard tbh though.

It honestly does get so much easier and less draining after they are weaned and so much easier than faffing around with bottles.

Also if you are cooking dairy free for them anyway then it is much easier for you to stay dairy free too.

I'm not a bfing nazi btw, just giving you my experience!!

I know other people have had luck with mixing crusha or nesquick in.

BTW there are loads of threads on dairy free treats if you search the archives.

short post, must get jobs done b4 enother early bedtime!

hi Bilbo, wow no wonder you sound so knowledgable - 3 years is a v long time! And I appreciate it could be longer than that, and a lifetime for him..

You are right, I have to keep on top of it or it will send me bonkers - I feel a bit on the edge at the moment and its not a healthy place to be. My other half is fairly enough telling me I am anxious about anything and everything and over analysing. But hey you just wantyour little one to be ok, happy and healthy, not irritated, sore and itchy

So right, I need to find some fab recipes for max TLC!

hi trixy, I'm so impressed you managed to stick at the BF - perhaps I am at the worst moment now, as I really wanted to wean him onto formula had spent months working up to it, then it went tits up!!

littleweed yes you can make up porridge with hypoallergenic formula. I also use it to make up a white sauce for pasta occasionally. It is possible to use rice or oat milk instead for cooking, but nutritionally better to use the formula, especially for a dairy-free child as they need the extra calories and calcium that they're not getting from dairy.

It will get easier. It's hard when you're constantly racking your brains trying to figure out what's caused the latest flare up... but in all likelihood he will grow out of both the allergy and the eczema by the time he's a toddler.

Great that you're seeing specialists soon.

littleweed, I really feel for you. I ended up breastfeeding my ds2 for 13 months due to his dairy allergy.

We found Cow and Gate Pepti Junior was about the only hypoallergenic formula he accepted easily (a bit like Pepti, but Pepti contains lactose but Pepti Junior doesn't. The advantage of Pepti is that as lactose is still being given in the diet your lo will not develop secondary lactose intolerance, which is a frequent side-effect of milk allergy). Strangely though, ds2 got eczema with Pepti, but not with Pepti Junior.

Research has shown (albeit biased as sponsored by C&G) that babies drink more hypoallergenic formula based on hydrolysed whey protein (such as pepti) than those based on hydrolysed casein (such as nutramigen), simply because they taste better.

Personally I would try that first (the doctor will be happy, it is the cheapest hypoallergic formula on the market), if that doesn't work out, try neocate which tastes like potato peelings but is better than nutramigen.

My ds2 is now on neocate active because he did eventually react to Pepti, but because when we introduced the neocate, he was used to drinking from a beaker, he accepted the change to neocate relatively easily.

Good luck!

Don't have personal experience of milk alergy but my friend's child developed even more severe problems with soy than with milk after a hv recommended soy milk. They tried different formula and would agree with you about the nutramigen. He had Pepti. Mixing it with breast milk in increasing quantities helps to make the change.

My personal experience of breastfeeding is that it is easier when they start on solid food. After Eight are dairy free, cheap at this time of year and might help you feel better. Or Sainsburys do a Kinnerton dark chocolate bar that doesn't bankrupt you. There's iron in chocolate .

Being dairy free is hard, it makes eating out difficult, shopping is painstaking and takes ages, but it does get better, I promise.

If he still has eczema even though you are dairy free it might be worth trying to figure out what else is triggering it. Once you get "into" an exclusion diet it becomes second nature. I was dairy free for 18 months for DD2, in that time I found dairy free alternatives to everything except chedder cheese.

Hang in there, I know it's hard, but you can do it. Now that he's 6 months you can start giving him solids and this will ease the pressure of being his sole source of food. As he gets older he'll get less sensitive and you'll find you can reintroduce some airy into your diet, so from here in it will get easier.

I can't help you in what formula to try, but I can sympathise with what it's like to breastfeed a baby with food intolerances and the sacrifices needed to keep them healthy.

I think a lot depends on how desperate you are. I had to go back to work so dd HAD to take the nutramigen (she had milk, egg and soya allergies). It can be done but you have to be very persistent. Eventually, if they are hungry enough, they will drink it (I found that making it warm helped). I agree with what others have said about mixing it with EBM first and slowly but surely introducing it that way (if you have time to do that!). It is disgusting though (nutramigen) - I never made up any food with it because I doubt she would have eaten it!

You said you think she has allergies...have you had them confirmed or tested?

Dd has had pretty much all of the range of hypoallergenic formulas and has now been on Nutramigen AA since she was about 7mo (now 14mo)

It is revolting though but she doesn't care!