Allergies and switching from EBF > FF

[Freshairhelps]

Posting for traffic... my husband might combust if I ask for his suggestions again as we really have tried everything!

Afternoon all..

I have a 17 week DD, who bless her is so loved but since about day 10 has been very very hard work.. which leads me to today, where after seeing countless HCP’s and insisting she just wasn’t right going by temperament and nappies, complimentary therapists, friends, mums etc.. she is believed to indeed have non-ige CMPA, however.. I have now been dairy free for 3 whole weeks including soya too and while there have been some improvements (namely less mucus nappies, a little more contentment and less screaming) she is still mostly very uncomfortable and writhes about, very windy and farts/poos that could clear a room, just not a content baby whatsoever.

She has up until a week ago been EBF, with me on this exclusion diet (difficult for me personally as I do all the cooking and also have a toddler to cook for) however the consultant paediatrician we saw gave us a tub of Alfamino and recommended giving her a little each day to get her used to the taste as I will have to use it to make foods like porridge at weaning and it is quite a distinguished taste compared to breast milk. At first I struggled to get her to take any and she still only really takes a bottle of it at bedtime from my husband.

So, I think I would like (not like, even discussing it makes me upset) to transition her fully to the formula. Then I feel I can be certain she is getting no allergens through me and I don’t have to be on any further exclusion diets as I am selfishly finding it hard with only a couple of allergens to exclude. As at this stage I just want to enjoy her and want her to be comfortable before we start weaning which could be quite a fraught process.

Can anyone offer advice on how to do this? I EBF my son to 11 months, so have no clue when it comes to FF and am finding the prospect very daunting.

Also, any further advice on what else could be bothering her welcome, including any info on weaning for when we get to that stage with question marks over further allergies?? Some people have suggested to me she’s possibly just a very difficult baby, but these cries sound painful with real tears and what appears to be trapped wind also.

She does sleep ok at night waking average 3 times to feed but never sleeps more than 30 mins a time in the day. Her weight plateaued for 3 weeks and then went up 60g in a week so whilst a small positive she isn't making great progress, latch was all checked and I have lots of milk so would safely say it isn't a supply issue.

All I can say is good job she wasn’t the first or she would be the only baby!

Really sorry to hear this. I'm not at all a medical professional but I have a kid with delayed CMPA. Luckily they mostly grow out of it - mine can now have biscuits with butter in and hopefully will soon move on to other milk products. That's to give you some light at the end of the tunnel

First of all - I really would try to get concrete advice and a plan from a doctor or preferably an allergist before you take extreme steps like cutting out breast milk entirely or moving exclusively to specialist formula - because the approach is usually not to exclude anything unless you really have to (eg they will go for dairy free formula before the totally allergy-free one). You could also see if the allergist can do a prick test - if your baby hasn't had formula with cow's milk, if they are allergic you have no way to know whether it's a regular allergy or a non-ige one (or both). As a baby my kid's allergic response only became noticeable when he had normal formula for the first time at 6 months (and projectile vomited it everywhere...). Otherwise he had been only a bit spitty as a baby from breast milk (but I don't consume a lot of milk).

Meanwhile - if you suspect CMPA, I would continue your restricted diet and BF for at least another couple of weeks. At 3 weeks dairy free you will only have just got the dairy out of your system. Give it at least another couple of weeks to see if it improves things for your baby once she gets the milk out of her system. My kid remained with a delayed cows milk protein allergy even once the allergy no longer showed on the prick test, and from experience, after exposure it took him a couple of weeks to get dairy out of his system and for his poo to settle down. My thinking is, that if you have already excluded dairy and soya, you might as well give it another two or three weeks to see what happens, as that's the only way you can make any definitive guess about whether her issues are due to a cows milk or soya allergy. I know it's really annoying, but you are so nearly there, and it would really be a shame not to get a clear indicator about those specific allergens when you have the opportunity. Equally, if it doesn't help, this is the quickest way you will know you should be looking for something else.

About switching to formula - if she's accepting it from your husband it sounds like she's fine with it. Maybe he would need to feed it to her a few times to get her used to it, but it doesn't sound like it's a big issue for her if she's already happy to have a bottle of it. Usually they recommend tapering off the breast milk and increasing the amounts of formula.

Holding your hand with this - allergies are a pain in the arse.

Thanks for your reply!

Perhaps I should try to continue a bit longer to at least get a clear answer then I can switch to the formula but have a clear answer what to avoid initially at weaning. We are in the care of a paed allergist who said she would see us back in clinic but didn't give any timescale as to when etc.

Your right allergies are a pain in the hole and have made life immensely stressful of late!

I wanted to add: if you do find that she gets better in the next couple of weeks with you keeping on avoiding dairy and soya, I'd also consider reintroducing soya to your own diet > breast milk to see whether it's causing an issue or just dairy (dairy is more common I think). I understand how much you want her to settle down, but again it's an opportunity to look ahead: if you find she can have soya it will be much less restricting, both in terms of formula and in foods, particularly once you move first the very initial mashed veg stage. It's fairly easy to avoid milk especially now vegan options are common, but soya shows up in all kinds of places.

with our youngest, it was my having tomato and oranges that set him off (nothing else) - might be worth trying those too?

I just wanted to offer you some support as high my DD's had CMPA. My eldest was particularly bad and I recognise many of the symptoms you describe with the terrible wind and generally being very very unhappy as well as an all over body rash and projectile vomiting with lack of weight gain.
I'm not able to offer advice as I only formula fed but with the weaning it really wasn't too bad with either of mine.
At one DD1 switched to alpro growing up milk as she seemed ok with soya and DD2 had oat milk. Under the care of a dietician with DD1 we did something called the milk ladder where you very slowly introduce dairy until they are able to fully tolerate it.
I really sympathise as I had such a horrendous time and wouldn't wish it on anyone!

It’s does take a few weeks for the symptoms to subside. So you need to give it 6-8 weeks. It does get easier

Thanks so much for the replies. I never knew how hard allergy babies could be