Milk Intollerance Question

[swaye]

Hi there,

I wonder if any of you know anything about this and can help me?

I have a cow's milk intollerance (so does my mum and sister) so I'm wondering what to do about feeding my baby. I plan to breast feed but in case I can't I want to be prepared.

Are there non cows milk formulas available?
Should I try cow's milk first and see what happens?

Would I be making the situation worse by not giving baby cows milk and storing up problems for later on?
Will I get lots of flack at Hospital if I can't breastfeed and I need non cows milk formula?

FYI if you don't already know - an intollerance is not the same as allergy. I get very mild stomach upset sort of like IBS.

Thanks so much for any help of advise you can offer x

Oops, forgot to say I get eczema / hayfever / dustmite allergies.

I would ask to speak with a dietitian prior to birth to discuss options. Both of mine were dairy intolerant - DD had soy formula (lots if people will say to avoid) and DS was breastfed with me going dairy free.

The ironic thing is, both DC have outgrown their intolerances but I have finally realised what causes my UBS and am now dairyfree.

Yes there are hypoallergenic formulas available. Soya formula is now not recommended.

I would try breast feeding and if it doesn't work out, then try cow's milk formula. I doubt if they would offer you hypo formula as its so expensive if you hadn't tried cow's milk first as it is very expensive.

At least you know to look out for symptoms. My DS is dairy allergic and reacted to milk proteins passing through my breast milk. It was months of misery before we realised.

Hi, dd has severe cows milk and soy intolerance and she was really ill when little as I was bf her but still having dairy myself and it very much affected her.

Presumably as you are intolerant you don't have it anyway in your diet so it should be fine. If I were you I'd aim to bf as long as poss then when weaning onto solids use oatly to mix porridge etc should you need it.

You could try with the dietician appt, it was v hard to get a referral in my pct so I hope yours is different!

There are hypoallergenic formulas available but I'd avoid them if you can. Seriously unpleasant really. My dd would never take them

Do you have a diagnosis for your intolerance, for example from a breath test? Do you know if it affected you as a young baby? There's no reason to think your baby will have a problem, based on what you describe your condition to be. Adult lactose intolerance (mild to moderate) is very common. Infant lactose intolerance is extremely rare.

BF is your best bet, as I'm sure you know.

If you can't BF or choose not to, cow's milk formula should be your first choice. Soy formula is not recommended for newborns with milk allergies or intolerances, nor for perfectly healthy newborns. If the baby does have a problem with cow's milk formula, then you can look at a specialist formula recommended by a health professional which will still usually be based on cow's milk. Recommending soy formula is outdated but you do see it done sometimes. Even hypoallergenic, lactose-free formula is based on cow's milk.

The hospital wouldn't provide you with soy formula and would likely tell you it's unnecessary but it's your choice to buy it in a supermarket. The risk of soy formula in the first 6 months is exposure to phytoestrogens and also the fact that babies with cows milk allergies often react to soy as well.

www.steppyorks.nhs.uk/presentations/unit-1/PaediatricGroupGuidelineSoyInfantFormulas.pdf

She's not talking about lactose intolerance though she's talking about cows milk protein intolerance. It's totally different. You're right in that lactose intolerance is very rare, this is because breast milk is full of lactose.

There are infant formulas available that are not made in any way from cow milk or soya proteins.

If you need any help with an exclusion diet op please let me know, I'm sure you're doing it already for yourself but If you replace with goats for example, this could bother baby if they are sensitive.

It is likely that if the op suffers with it and other family members then baby may have issues too.

Tiny diamond I've never seen an adult with cow's milk protein intolerance. How were you diagnosed and at what age?

All baby formulas are based in something. Hydrolysed formulas are based in cow's milk but processed so the proteins are broken down.

Sorry just read further up and I see it's your daughter.

Most young children outgrow dairy intolerances and I don't think it's entirely clear from the OP what the nature of her intolerance is.

Amino acid based formulas are not made from cows milk at all. Examples of these are neocate and nutramagin aa. My dd couldn't handle any of the others so has neocate now as she is no longer breastfed.

Hydrolysed formulas such as aptimil pepti or nutramagin are made from cows milk with the proteins extensively broken down.

Many adults have cows milk intolerance. It may not be as severe as lots of babies and young children but let's not forget that as a species we are not even designed to drink milk from a cow in the first place!

I do not have a cows milk intolerance myself but did not do well as a baby on normal formula and my dp and his grandma both have issues with eating dairy. It appears like ibs symptoms but if they cut the dairy it goes away

Perhaps I'm wrong but I've had an aptimil rep tell me the aa formulas are based on milk, too. Amino acids have to come from somewhere.

I'm a dietitian and I work with adults. I see lots of lactose intolerance and other GI complaints where people think milk is causing their problems but milk protein intolerance is not something I've ever seen a consultant diagnose or even consider, in an adult. Reading the OP my mind immediately went to lactose intolerance, and reading it again I still only see "milk intolerance" not milk protein intolerance. I didn't say she was wrong but I am curious about the nature of her problem. I would not expect an intolerance with mild symptoms, which started in adulthood, to be passed on to a baby but I asked for more information.

Ok ananikifo. I could tell from your posts you must work in this area. Let's think for a moment why an aptamil rep might not tell the whole truth about other products, ah yes that's right because they will get more money when you prescribe theirs!

Although aptamil and neocate are both actually owned by nutricia. That wouldn't help that particular rep's comission now though would it? ;)

Here are the links to both the formulas I mentioned. The wording is very vague as I am sure you agree but both SAY based on '100% free amino acids' which rather scarily implies that yes, they are lab made.

You are probably in a better position than me to ask them some questions, given your job. Why not write them an email and ask

neocate: look in faqs for health professionals

www.nutricia.co.uk/neocate/faqs

Nutramigin aa: www.nutramigen.co.uk/hcp/product-range/nutramigen-aa

But again, to the op - I understand your concern. If you think it could be an issue I'd find out everything I can before baby gets here. I had no idea about any of this stuff and had to learn very quickly with a very poorly baby. Check out the allergy boards there's loads of other parents who have been through the same thing.

I think you are being very sensible preparing yourself

Tiny diamond: Aptmail rep was actually selling srthing else anyway. In practice it doesn't matter where the amino acids come from. Either way when a protein has been hydrolysed to the point of being amino acids, the body can't tell the difference. We often describe an amino acid formula as being "further broken down" than a partially hydrolysed formula, but i guess I've never thought about whether that means it was made from the same proteins.

Again I really wasn't trying to tell anyone their experience is invalid. OP I hope we haven't scared you off! Best of luck with your baby and I hope you BF with no problems, or otherwise get good advice from your own healthcare professionals.

Thx everyone. I had a York Test blood test about 8years ago after mild dodgy tummy and DP had ibs. So we both did a test. He came back clear and i came back with a handful of intollerances grrrr!! I haven't had it my whole life i dont think but i dont know if it's milk protein or lactose intollerance. I might be able to find out though. I had lots of ear infections as a kid which may or may not be related to milk.