Milk intolerance/BF/formula/biting

[Gavotte]

A slightly complicated problem - my almost 5 month old DD is dairy intolerant (I breastfeed her and if I eat/drink dairy, including goat's milk, she is uncomfortable and screamy the next day, sometimes with a rash).

She also got her first teeth three weeks ago, and her new favourite game is to bite down as hard as she can on my left nipple. I've been advised by the HV on this and have tried all the advice - taking her straight off, nipple shields (which she bites) etc - to no avail. I can't really bear to feed her on that side now, so have decided to move to formula (not the end of the world as was only planning to BF for a few more weeks anyway).

Went to GP to ask for hypoallergenic formula prescription - she said that I would have to buy it over the counter. She also referred me to the dietician at the hospital but this was 10 days ago and nothing yet - imagine at this point that I won't have an appointment until the New Year. I bought a hypoallergenic SMA formula, but she appears to have an intolerance to this too - I've given her three bottles so far, and each time she starts screaming around an hour later (which is much quicker than when I eat dairy). She is then inconsolable for a couple of hours, and she is very squittery in her nappy.

I've also called the HV who was unable to give me any advice.

So, in short, I have a baby who is intolerant to everything but (a cheese free) me, a nipple which can't stand much more, a GP who won't help and an HV who can't help. Has anyone else had similar? Anyone know of any hypoallergenic brands which might be easier to digest? I've also tried soya but she won't touch it. Or do I skip formula, wean early and rely on fewer BFs to allow my nipples a break? Would rather avoid early weaning if I can - but only if there is a viable alternative.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Why won't the gp prescribe the special formula, or refer you to an allergy clinic at the hospital? A couple of my friends have dairy intolerant babies and they have been able to supplement their breastfeefing with prescription formula...

You can buy cows milk protein free formula without a prescription but it is fearfully expensive. A baby that reacts to the tiny amounts of CMP that are transferred in breastmilk is likely to also react to the hydrolysed formulas like Pepti and Nutramigen 1 because the protein fragments are a similar size, and will probably need either Neocate or Nutramigen AA which are made artificially from seperate amino acids and are of the order of £40 a tin.
The other issue is they taste vile, so it can be difficult to persuade an older baby used to breastmilk to take them.
I'd work on the biting - it is a phase most babies seem to go through and is short lived but horrible. Can you express on that side to give it a chance to heal? Try a little teething gel before feeds, it seems to be when they are teething that they get bitey.
Other than that, or if you are likely to want to mixed feed at some stage anyway, go back to GP, stamp feet until either they prescribe the formula or refer you to a dietician (who will tell them to prescribe it).

ethelred good question on the prescription - apparently all their prescriptions get examined now for cost so they won't prescribe without a dietician's say-so. I have been referred to dietician - but heard nothing re appointment.

Bakingtins I didn't know that about the different formulas - really useful, thank you. I think I might return to GP for a bit of foot stomping. And will use your tips on teething (apart from expressing, as I get nothing either industrial pumping or by hand) in the meantime! She's been going for quite a while now and don't think she's going to stop, the monkey.

I'd chase dietician and stomp feet with GP too. I'm not normally one for kicking up a fuss, but sometimes you need to be heard. Good luck!

Hi gavotte my LO is allergic to dairy and several other things and I am still bf at 12 months. I was aiming for a year before the allergy stuff but the consultant said if I was happy to continue to 12 mths this would be a great option, as much for the reason that a bf 6 mo is unlikely to like the taste of those formulas mentioned!

At 12 months, and after some excellent advice on here, I decided to continue as I just wasn't keen on him having too much soya milk, and felt this was the best thing for his nutrition. I must add here that I can still eat dairy without contraindications, this is quite tough on you, make sure you get enough calcium in you diet. I was a bit 'yikes' about carrying on bf as not sure when it will end and only bf for 8 mths before!

He also went through a bitey phase and I was even bleeding from it - I think if it wasn't for allergies I may have quit bf then, but actually it just stopped and he hasn't bitten for a couple if months!

However it is your choice and you should do what feels right for you and your baby. You should definitely stamp your feet for a prescription if that's what you want, but have no idea how an intolerance is diagnosed- local allergy clinic referral? I would avoid early weaning at all costs, as if he is prone to allergies, weaning before 6 mths is another risk factor.

Good luck I do empathise! Sorry cant advise only share experience!

ethelred thank you!

mamaonion Great to hear someone else's experience with something similar, and thank you for sharing that. My options are a bit more limited - I'm working full time (self employed so I can work from home with childminder/grandparents, so feeding hasn't been a problem) but from January I need to be able to return to having meetings - in London, which is a good chunk of a day away, and I can't really express (unless 20mls in 4 pumps is enough to keep her going, which I doubt...). In an ideal world, and if I wasn't working, I would definitely keep BF until 12 months. I do need to find an alternative though (plus I do really miss cheese...).

I would imagine the intolerance is diagnosed through me giving a summary of her symptoms. (I've had separate advice from my MIL, who is a health visitor, on allergies - apparently current thinking/evidence is moving towards early weaning being better for allergies, but I have heard no-one else saying this so I am reserving judgement!).

I'm going to go and prepare my feet for some stomping now and dream about painfree boobs and extra mature Stilton.

Just to add that what worked for us was introducing oat milk with calcium from 6m in food (for cereals etc) as I'm also not much cop at expressing, and gradually using that for feeds rather than BF. I BF until he was 2, but for the last year probably only morning and night, and over that year I was able to reintroduce dairy to my own diet. He had prescribed calcium and vitamin supplements, and we were quite fortunate that when we started solids he only had problems with dairy and soya, which we knew about from him reacting to them in my milk, so no further nasty surprises. At 2.5 he has pretty much outgrown the intolerances and can eat a normal diet (still has oat milk rather than cows milk but fine with cheese, yoghurt etc)
Oat milk is normally not recommended for children under 2 yrs old as a main drink as it is low in fat and protein, but since he would not entertain the prescription formulas and I was back at work the dietician accepted that was the best solution, and made sure he got enough fat and protein from elsewhere in his diet.

Glad you have a plan, hope you get some suitable milk for your little one ASAP! Yes I suppose if baby is 5 mo not really that early is it, hopefully dr will give good advice on this when you get referral.