Cow's milk intolerance?

[treewithtriplets]

Hi all,

I've got 7-week old triplets, born 33wks. My littlest one (born 1.4kg, now 2.1kg) is having real trouble with her tummy and I'm wondering if it's cow's milk intolerance - would appreciate views!

Until about a week ago she was having mainly expressed breastmilk but my supply dwindled so she's now on formula - cow and gate ready to drink. She's always been a bit windy and would spend a few mins when put down after each feed groaning and straining. But over this last week exclusively on formula she's got worse and is now struggling to settle at all, roaring crying during feeds, really struggling to get her wind up. She does want to feed but the wind pain is making it really hard for her to do so.

So the reason I'm wondering about intolerance is the fact it's got worse the longer she's been on formula. Besides the wind she's got sticky eyes which seem a bit puffy to me, and bunged up nose which makes her breathing noisy.

I know I need to speak to dr and have got appt on tues. in meantime I'd like to try her on a comfort milk or a lactose free one - but they all say consult with dr before starting them. Do I really need to wait or can I just try her on one do you think?

Thank you in advance for views on all this!

Congratulations on your triplets!

My dd (now 3.5) was diagnosed with cows milk protein intolerence (cmpi) at about 8 weeks with symptoms very similar. She was dropping Centiles quickly also due to not feeding and if we topped up with formula she was in a lot of pain.

As you've said you need to
See the doctor, we were then referred to the hospital to see a dietician.

Be aware that cmpi and lactose intolerence are two
Different things. Breastmilk clmtains lactose so it is unusual for a baby to have lactose intolerance.

I wasn't aware that you could buy dairy free formula without prescription, perhaps callings 24 for some advice in the meantime before that doctor?

Sounds like you may be right. My LO had it (nearly 3 now), but didn't get it diagnosed until 12 months which was a PITA.

Yes, in the meantime, you could try Colief drops which breaks down the lactose. This made the most unbelievable difference to the pain and wind my LO experienced and helped with the diagnosis, even though his problem was CMPI. And/or try a 'comfort' variant of formula. Look for something which is 'partially hydrolised'. You prob can buy prescription milk without prescription, but would probably need to order anyway. The bit about medical supervision is prob a disclaimer as there could be another reason why children are experiencing these symptoms. You've seeing doc Tues, so should be fine. Why not find a solution if you can before then? In any case, we had to wait 3 months from first doc apt to paediatric apt, and I was told in the meantime to stick with same diet....

You can help with the wind also with a mix of fennel and camomile tea. Any variety of these will be ok - not specifically for babies, and 'adult' tea is fine. Just cool and give in a sippy cup/bottle. Really helped my LO.

Good luck and I will try not to be jealous of your triplets, even if they are probably very hard work!!