Desperately need support and advice - need to wean 5 mnth old from breast to foul tasting forumula immediately

[Gwu]

I need to wean dd from being fully breastfed to fully bottle fed asap. The forumla she's been given by paediatrician is Neocate which tastes unpleasant. DD is 5 months old.

We tried it when dd was 4 months old for 6 hours and dd gagged on the Neocate.

My question is this:
Will baby take to Neocate or do you think she'll just starve herself and not 'break'? DS at 4 yo would rather go pale and lethargic from hunger than eat. Ok, dd is only 5 months old so hopefully less stubborn.

Is the 'easiest' way to make the switch is for relatives to look after dd and I disappear and we then quit b/f completely? If so, how many days do you think this will take?

I feel really tearful, I guess I'm a bit of a softie and should have switched to Neocate at 4 months when we were supposed to. (DD is very allergic to substances in my breastmilk even though I'm on a dairy, egg, soya, nut and wheat free diet).

Please please help with any tips.

Many thanks.

G

Are you sure she'll take Neocate? I ask because a friend had a DD with very bad food intolerances, and my friend had to drop dairy, soya, wheat, tomato, potatoes, I forget what else ... it did the trick though.

She was told 'move her to neocate' and she was allergic to that, too.

I'd be inclined to do an elimination diet thing, particularly if your DD's reactions are pretty immediate. Lamb and rice, then add veg one at a time ...

DD is still full b/f. She's had no solids yet and they don't want me to eliminate any more from my diet. The docs think that Neocate is the most elemental of forumlas (more so than Nutramigen).

Thanks though for your suggestion.

Can you express breastmilk and mix it with the Neocate? eg 75% breastmilk to 25% neocate, and then up the neocate gradually?

I managed to get my 16 month old to drink goat's milk by mixing it in ever decreasing amounts of rice milk. Worked eventually.

My niece had to have Neocate at around 6 months and wouldn't take it - my SIL saw on an American site that sometimes parents mix it with a very tiny amount of Nesquik or similar when they first start having it to get them used to the taste and then very quickly phase it out. Not an ideal solution by any means but this is what they did in the end with their DD and it seemed to work.

Yes, I thought of mixing Neocate with my expressed breast milk and upping the amount of Neocate (what we did with our first child and it worked) but paed wants us to quit b/f completely and immediately (as dd's weight has dropped a lot).

I think Nesquik is out but I don't know, maybe if we get desperate we'll mix it with icing sugar. I'm really not thinking straight at the mo. Just panicking.

Gwu, you have my sympathy.

Do you have any local BF support? BFCs are trained to help people deal with anything around breastfeeding, and can provide help for you in this circumstance.

Is your daughter allergic to things (nettle rash etc) or intolerant (vomiting)? I ask because, from what I know, if a food causes an allergic reaction, it often stings in the mouth first. So she may be rejecting Neocate for a good reason. (My friend with the multiply-intolerant daughter had lots of advice from paeds, but it didn't work - BFCs helped more.)

Gwu I have no real practical advice on this...but wanted to urge you to get some good help from a bfing expert. Did your pead offer any help/info about stopping bfing straight away? How to prevent problems for you like blocked ducts, mastitis etc. You really don't need to be ill (mastitis is worse than full blown flu for many women ) if you can avoid it. There's nothing worse when you have a little one to look after. Do you have the bfing helpline numbers? I would really urge you to call them & get some help from someone who has had training in bfing & can offer you some help & support in weaning your DD off the breast.

Thanks so much for the advice but I'm afraid the deed is done. I went away on Thurs and have just got back. DD is now completely on Neocate and I'm expressing when things are uncomfortable.

Her skin's still rubbish and obviously she's lost even more weight but these are early days.

I have to say, I ended up really enjoying myself whilst I was away from her and from home and thoroughly enjoyed giving my 4 yo my full attention and having a break from the non stop housework/cooking. And I'm really looking forward to eating normally again once my milk's dried up.