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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Bf dd 18 months old showing signs of milk intolerance, which formula should I get?

18 replies

WilLiAmHerschel · 20/01/2016 19:09

Dd is 18 months old and still breastfeeds, she has never had any formula. I introduced cow's milk when she was 1 which she was quite slow to take to but is drinking it now but it seems to be bringing her out in a rash and making her bloated. I asked the doctor for advice and she said it was best to give her formula to get her used to it. Does anyone have any experience of this and any advice on which formula to use?

OP posts:

meringue33 · 20/01/2016 19:52

Surely if she's allergic to cows milk she shouldn't be drinking normal formula? Did the doctor not prescribe you some special formula like Similac or Nutrigen?

They are safe for babies with an allergy but they are also utterly disgusting, so at 18m she may refuse to drink them. You might be better off with oat milk or rice milk? And make sure plenty of alternative sources of protein in her diet.

stargirl1701 · 20/01/2016 19:54

You can carry on breastfeeding, if you wish. You can try oat milk or soya milk.

RookieMonster · 20/01/2016 19:58

Stay away from rice or soya milk, but there's no real need for her to drink milk at all. Keep bf if you like. My 2.3 yo dd only just recently started drinking milk and still only rarely.

Original poster

WilLiAmHerschel · 20/01/2016 20:02

She is still breastfeeding but I have been trying to keep this to morning and evenings and need an alternative in the day. She drinks water but when she was having milk she didn't fuss at me so much to be bf.

I thought the gp's recommendation of formula was a bit strange but as it wasn't the primary reason we were there I didn't want to take up too much time. She seemed a little taken aback that dd had never had formula and I felt a bit embarrassed.

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pookamoo · 20/01/2016 20:06

It's a shame she was taken aback, because after 1 year, babies don't need formula at all unless you listen to the marketing bods

Do you find there is a difference if you cut dairy out of your own diet? The bf mums I know whose babies have allergies have had to alter their own diets, too.

Does she eat any other dairy? If she's ok with cheese, yoghurt, etc, maybe there's no need for supplementary milk to drink apart from bf.

DD2 has never drunk any milk at all. She isn't allergic, she just bf til 2.10 and refused all other milk. Now she's 4.3 and will sometimes choose milk at preschool, but other than that, none. She never had formula, either.

dementedpixie · 20/01/2016 20:09

Maybe try alpro soya 1+ milk which is tailored for children over the age of 1. Rice milk isn't suitable for under 5s due to arsenic levels. If she takes cheese and yoghurt with no issues then the bf from you plus that should be sufficient to get her calcium needs.

dementedpixie · 20/01/2016 20:10

My 2 were formula fed and down to 2 milk feeds from 11 months so didn't have daytime milk feeds

Artistic · 20/01/2016 20:18

Mine has a degree of lactose intolerance and am struggling with how to get my DD to fatten up a bit and get sufficient calcium. Stopped bf when she was 9 months & switched to formula, but now she's unable to have formula either!

Why did someone above say 'keep away from soya milk?' Is it bad?

Original poster

WilLiAmHerschel · 20/01/2016 20:19

Do you find there is a difference if you cut dairy out of your own diet? The bf mums I know whose babies have allergies have had to alter their own diets, too.

I never actually tried. I feel bad because she used to be a terrible sleeper and seemed to suffer with wind but I never associated with dairy and now i think maybe that was the cause. I was told to try a colic treatment and that seemed to work really well for her.

I will try increasing her yoghurt and cheese intake and take it from there. She hasn't seemed to have been affected by those so far. She never gets a rash or anything from them anyway.

OP posts:

pookamoo · 20/01/2016 20:27

ahh, that kind of might make sense, then - if the yogs and cheese are ok, it's doubtful she has an actual allergy.

I wouldn't worry too much about her actually drinking milk. If she is bfing twice a day and having plenty of water in between, plus dairy from cheese etc, she is probably getting enough.

Original poster

WilLiAmHerschel · 20/01/2016 20:27

Artistic, I've read online that soya contains phyto-oestragens (sp) like the hormone. That's why it isn't recommended for young children I believe.

OP posts:

RookieMonster · 20/01/2016 20:27

Estrogen in soya, iirc, is cumulative. I could be talking out my backside, to be fair.

Artistic · 21/01/2016 18:45

Thanks Will. Am not a fan of soya milk and DD has just about 3-4 oz a day. Not too bad but what I'd give to switch her back to formula or cows milk!

Do I have any alternatives that have the good stuff that she needs without the bad stuff?

whatsoever · 22/01/2016 09:15

The GP is talking crap, formula after 12m is unnecessary and contains cows milk anyway.

DS was bf initially, then mixed briefly then formula from 8-12m, then cows milk. He's barely drunk cows milk as a drink from about 18m - he has a cup of milk at break on nursery days and very recently he's started likely flavoured milk (bad mummy, it's sugary crap).

But I always worked on the basis he has plenty of yogurt and cheese (like your DD) and is perfectly healthy.

My mum tells me I self weaned from the breast at 8 or 9m, never had formula and didn't take to cows milk as a regular drink ever and was perfectly fine. I know advice has changed re: under 1s since then but I don't think it's much of a problem for over 1s.

Original poster

WilLiAmHerschel · 22/01/2016 12:01

Yes I thought it was odd she recommenced formula for an over 1. It's nothing I have against it but I thought at that age it would be cows milk or a non-dairy alternative. I was really wanting her to recommend an alternative. She never asked how dd is with other dairy so she doesn't know that cheese and yoghurt is fine. My main reason for wanting a replacement milk is that dd is very demanding and wants to be bf all day long. When we go out it's easy to distract her but we've been home more in this weather and I find it harder, she's gets very angry and upset when I say no and basically wants to be on me all day long!

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Original poster

WilLiAmHerschel · 22/01/2016 12:02

Oh and we did try formula when DD was quite a bit younger (8 months maybe) but she wouldn't drink it.

OP posts:

pookamoo · 23/01/2016 22:28

I'd just go for cows' milk, OP.
Warm it up, if she prefers it.
Also there is a good book called "mothering your breastfeeding toddler" that you might be able to get from the library, and may help with her always wanting to be on you.
:)

Original poster

WilLiAmHerschel · 23/01/2016 22:39

Thank you pook. I will definitely try and get that book. Last night she wanted to breastfeed all night from about 1am-7 or 8am! Every time I took her off she cried and as I'm quite ill with a throat infection and was having a particularly bad night I just couldn't muster the energy to do anything but put her back on and try and get some sleep. It isn't normally as bad as that but she has been ill too and I think she is teething.

OP posts:

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