To ask about CMPA in a baby..

[WhyDidIStartDecorating]

My nr 4 week old is FF.
He is always constipated and in a lot of discomfort and hard belly.
When said to HV she said see gp but normally they don't look into it unless present more symptoms and gave me some Websites to look at.
Since birth he's sneezed a lot.. Prob 20 times a day. And have noticed its often after feed.
He's also got this scaly skin on his forehead. It's thick and not flakey.
This came up after the HV apt. Prior to that he had the regular dry skin over body which she said was normal.

My 2 Yr old has egg and peanut allergies and was questionable about dairy. But as she was gaining weight they wernt fussed.. At the age of 2 she has only ever had maybe 10 normal poops and always has loose stool. Despite a varied diet

I have a gp apt for him middle of next week but wanted to get some experiences if possible

From the photos it looks a bit like cradle cap but my neighbour’s baby developed quite severe eczema alongside the other symptoms you’ve described and was diagnosed with CMP allergy. He was FF and had to go onto a special formula.

I think I’d see about making a double appointment for both your DC as your DD’s bowel habits don’t sound “normal” either.

Yes unfortunately she's with childminder on ds apt so I'll be making her a seperate one they always say toddler diareah with her and would improve in time and it's not really. Which is hard with toilet training as that's the biggest issue with her.

My children both had CMPA and I found the Dr’s and HV’s to be very reluctant to help. I believe that this is because the cost of the formula for these babies is very expensive.

Could be worth trying the formulas without CMP in and see how the baby responds.

My sympathies are with you because if your baby is anything like mine were it was horrific. Screaming and crying all day and night, hardly sleeping until we got them on the Nutramigen AA and it was like someone had flicked a switch.

Ah cradle cap. Forgot about that as none of the others had it. I thought it was only in the hair. But definitely looks like it.

@Quizacabusi
He is so unsettled when put down unless being cradled. By the afternoon and night it's horrendous.

My dd was given nutramigen but she was 4m and noticed the taste difference and refused most feeds for 48 hours. And ended up dehydrated. So I went back to normal as they were only trying it as like I said she was gaining weight so they wernt majorly concerned.

With the baby he feels heavier but haven't had him weighed as the weigh in day I had another appointment

Symptoms for us were: mucus in her poo, constantly sick, reflux symptoms, constantly wanting to feed, baby acne that really flared up and would be very red and angry looking. And she was just really unsettled and unhappy. She would scream and feed nonstop really. Thank god for the health visitor who advised I cut dairy. This all peaked at about 6 weeks of age.

I breastfed and ended up going dairy and eventually soya free (some people are allergic to both as the proteins are very similar.) She's now nearly 2 and has worked up the milk ladder and now tolerates most dairy and is fine with soya. Too much cows milk brings out some eczema.

I didn't find gps that helpful personally. I think because I was managing it and didn't need formula. I did worry when I went back to work but she pretty much went without until she got home. She now takes a beaker of coconut milk but I'm thinking of trialling with cows milk again soon. Lots of sugar in the milk she uses.

There's lots of brilliant Facebook groups which is pretty much where I got all advice. And the Dillon and me website is another fab source of advice too.

It can take up to 6 weeks for dairy to leave the body so it's worth baring in mind that it may take some time if you decide to trial it.

I've just remembered it did take her a long time to get up to birth weight too, and once I'd cut dairy she jumped up nearly two centiles.

My children were both gaining weight too, simply because they were feeding non stop so some of the calories were sticking.

Mine were also on ranitidine before we got to Nutramigen, the Dr’s said it was reflux and colic, one evening advised me to sit the eldest in a warm bucket of water. That’s when I presented at A&E a broken mess at 3am when she had been projectile vomiting for 5 hours.

The Nutramigen does smell bad but mine got used to it, it literally was a life changer for us. Unfortunately the oesophagus has been burnt by so much reflux before we got to Nutramigen that it was a few weeks before they were totally content and pain free but from the first feed they actually slept.

I had diaries to show the Dr’s because nobody was taking it seriously and they would sleep for 3 min max at a time. It was awful for everyone. The screaming and writhing was terrible and of course as a new mum everyone wanted to wade in with advice on what I was doing wrong.

Mine had the skin issues like eczema and cradle cap too.

I really feel for you. I hope you find something to help but from my experience you are going to have to be a strong advocate and tell the Dr’s what you want.

My DD had non ige dairy allergy, symptoms- constipation with mucus, reflux, eczema and dry skin (childs farm and aveeno moisturising lotions helped) screamed after feeds she sneezed a lot too but I dont know if that's the milk.

She also got hives but they never figured out why since all her other symptoms were of an non ige allergy rather than an ige allergy (google your local nhs trust and cmpa and you should get lots of information on the two different types of allergy and also google you local NHS trust and cmpa prescribing guidelines this can come in handy when faced with reluctant gp/hv)

First gp I saw refused point blank to refer, HV was difficult, thought I was being overly dramatic because I was sad I couldn't breastfeed (post birth infections, lots of antibiotics). Pushed with the senior gp and finally got a referral. We have a big family history of multiple allergies, but specifically dairy. I literally wrote out a family tree with everyones allergies on to try and get the dr to take me seriously.
She was following 0.2 centile line perfecrly until we got prescription milk then shot up to 50th!

You can buy lactose free milk over the counter, I did that until we got prescribed milk, i found it went down slightly better. Also, if your LO doesn't like the taste, mix it in increasing amounts with her usual milk until she gets used to it.

I hope your LO feels better, it's horrible to see them in pain

Thank you. All advise on board.
My gp is quite good and shes only qualified a Yr ago so often plays it safe so she may look into it rather than dismiss it. Roll on next week.