Really wish I hadn't listened to the dr. DS is in agony :(

[FlingonTheValiant]

3 weeks ago I cut all dairy out of my diet after a paed said that it seemed like DS might have casein intolerance rather than reflux. Reflux meds didn't seem to be doing anything (although they helped initially) so I thought I'd try.

After a week there was a noticeable difference, and after 10 days there was a huge difference. When I had DS weighed this week instead of clinging to/dipping under the 9th percentile he was practically up to the 25th.

Anyway, I had to see a GP about another matter but he asked told me that to be taken seriously about CMPI I had to be sure, and to prove it I had to reintroduce CMP and see what happened.

So on Thursday evening I had some dairy. By yesterday evening DS was screaming after every feed, but it seemed even worse than before. He (and we) barely slept overnight, he was arching and crying. DH got up with him at 5 am, and he got really really upset and then vomited huge amounts of milk.

I'm not sure what to do now. He was already refusing to feed by the early hours of this morning and he still is. I don't want him to be in pain, but obviously I don't want him to go hungry.

I have hydrolysed protein formula which I could give him, but I have no idea how long the dairy will stay in my milk and affect him.

Also, will it badly affect my supply if I do that? Will pumping be enough to keep it going?

As a vaguely interesting aside, I also work up feeling sick and with abdominal cramps. Also very gassy and bloated, and other associated problems . So I think I may have inadvertently lied to the paed when I said there was no history of dairy intolerance in the family.

Well.....you have certainly demonstrated something the doc will take seriously now :( :(

My guess is that your ds will come back to the breast. You do need to continue expressing to maintain your supply. I don't know how long the dairy will stay in your milk, sorry....if it was me, I'd give it 12 hours but that is a guess only.

If he has a severe dairy problem and it sounds a bit like it, then i am not sure about hydrolysed formula... it's still got cow's milk protein in it.

If you can't coax him back to the breast when awake, would it be worth trying to feed him in his sleep? If you feel BF really isn't an option for a few days, then yes pump like billy-o and maybe an amino acid-based formula as a stop gap? Tastes foul and £££. I would ask the out of hours service to prescribe it, I don't see why you should have to pay given it's a medic's advice that's landed you here in the first place. Could you may be give it in a sippy cup? Not sure how old your DS is ...Not sure about hydrolysed formula as it still has cow's milk protein in it, and isn't suitable for babies with true CMP allergy.

oh, oops, repeating myself there. That'll teach me to preview my posts.

Hopefully if you only had a small amount of dairy on thursday the effects will start to ease off soon, for you and him.

It's up to three days (sorry :() to clear from your milk, but that is quoted from giving up from a normal dairy-inclusive diet, not, in effect, what is a dairy challenge.
I don't really know for a challenge. Certainly when I've inadvertantly challenged ds2 he's reacted for 3 days, but that's the same weather he eats it or I eat it. The severity of the reaction decreases over the 3 days

Some CMP allergic babies are OK on hydrolysed formula, some aren't. Personally I'd keep going with the breast, but that's me.

I do hope he is better soon, poor babe.

Thanks very much everyone.

DS is 5 months.

He had a bottle of hydrolysed milk this morning. He seems OK on it, not as good as on dairy free BM, but better than on my current milk. The problem is he hates it. I don't blame him; I haven't tasted it, but it smells disgusting.

Since lunchtime he's been back on the breast. I think when he had to choose between that and formula it was an easy choice. He's gradually getting better on it, less screaming and back arching, but it's still making him windy and gassy (and smelly). Hopefully tomorrow (day 3) will see it off.

I asked originally for an amino acid formula but the idiot GP told me it seemed far too expensive and prescribed me soy based formula, which I didn't realise until I got it. So I went back and explained a. that there are hormone issues, and b. that soy protein is very similar (both of which he denied being true because "there's nothing about that in the book. But if you believe it...", and then gave me Cow and Gate Pepti-Junior.

And I've just checked the ingredients and it says "contains milk". FGS I asked for a formula for a milk intolerant baby! I suppose it's because he thought it was just a theory :(

Fingers crosses he'll be fine on BM from now on and we wont need it.

Thank you again everyone!

Just wanted to offer my sympathy having had a similar experience introducing soya on dietician's advice. Good luck with the dairy free diet and do look on th allergy threads for lots if good advice on what you can eat!