Been told to stop BF because DD maybe cows milk intolerant - help!

[Lucky13]

We've just got back from the hospital, where we've been told that DD (8 weeks) is probably cows milk intolerant. The consultant wants me to stop BF and start formula immediately. I want to wait until the test results are back (a week) - would i be doing her any harm in holding off till then? The doc says i can go back to BF if tests are negative, but i feel that's the wrong way to go.

If the tests show her to be intolerant can i still continue to BF if i go dairy free?

I really don't want to give up, but feel like i'm hurting her.

Does anyone have any advice.

Ta

In the end i breastfed him for beyone two years and he is a huge happy boy now!

This makes me so cross! What about all the women out there who don't question the advice of health professionals!

Thank god for mumsnet, I say!

You had all the advice you need...but am really and that there are so many super stupid consultants out there, selling a load of tosh as acceptable advice...and they get paid for that....

Best of luck to OP and her little one!

my aunty had this and she just started to drink lactose free or soy milk.

My DD has a very slight reaction to cows milk. She had mucus green nappies, threw up more, wees a lot heavier with no control over it.

I elimated milk and cheese and the symptoms cleared up within 24 hours. If it starts again I can (looking back) pinpoint the food which started it.

Yesterday we had an all day wee fest, every 40 minutes ALL day. Following a small amount of egg custard.

As PP have said blood in your DD's nappies sounds a lot more serious so you have to listen to the medical expert. Still worth cutting out diary in your own diet and see if the baby reacts well to that change and talk to the doctor again in light of any changes.

foxinsocks - Nutramigen is a derivative of cows milk although there is not much there, mainly it is palm and soy oil but I think this is why my dietician had to go away and ask as it is very hidden in the ingredients, it says extensively hydrolised casein which, I assume, is what she meant by 'broken down so much it is no longer cows milk'.

"Protein provides 11% of total calories in Nutramigen LIPIL. The hypoallergenic protein source is extensively hydrolyzed casein that is supplemented with three amino acids?L-cystine, L-tyrosine, and L-tryptophan?to provide an appropriate balance of amino acids to the infant. "

and in the ingredients it says this is from milk

"Ingredients: Powder: Corn syrup solids (46%), vegetable oil (palm olein, soy, coconut, and high oleic sunflower oils) (25%), casein hydrolysate (from milk)# (17%), modified corn starch (7%), and less than 2%: Mortierella alpina oil,** Crypthecodinium cohnii oil,?? acetylated monoglycerides, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3, vitamin E acetate, vitamin K1, thiamin hydrochloride, riboflavin, vitamin B6 hydrochloride, vitamin B12, niacinamide, folic acid, calcium pantothenate, biotin, ascorbic acid, choline chloride, inositol, calcium citrate, calcium hydroxide, calcium phosphate, magnesium oxide, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cupric sulfate, sodium iodide, sodium selenite, sodium citrate, potassium citrate, potassium chloride, L-cystine, L-tyrosine, L-tryptophan, taurine, L-carnitine."

I agree that blood in the stools is not a minor problem and that the OP should be very careful but it is awful that the OP is being told to give up bf and being made to feel that she is poisoning her without being given the option of restricting her diet. I am sure this formula works for lots of people but there must be a choice, albeit with the guidance of the healthcare professionals.

I'd second FoxinSocks comments. Tell the Dr you're changing your diet and have the effects monitored. B/f is great but it's not more important than your childs overall health.

My DD1 collapsed with anaphalyctic shock at 5mths having had her first taste of cows milk, she wouldn't take the alternatives so I b/f her until over a year and then she accepted soya milk. But she never had bloody nappies. She did have horrid poo and reflux but neither responded to me changing my diet. So although it was a serious food allergy, it is not comparable to your DDs.

Sorry if I put a downer on it and I really hope changing your diet works. Good luck!

sorry, not the easiest post to read but it is Saturday morning!

Neocate is infinitely preferable for dairy allergies rather than Nutramigen. As i said, mixed feeding [breastfeeding on exclusion diet and Neocate] solved the blood in my ds's poo.

should say that the consultant was a woman - before we all starting bashing male docs!!

Also DD is actually very happy and putting on weight - its just the bloddy nappies which indicate that there is a problem.

I'm going to cut out dairy and continue to BF, but make an appt with my GP on Mon to discuss it (she is def pro BF). We don't have another appt with the consultant for 2 weeks, but i may ask to see someone else instead if i don't get reasonable answers. I'm certainly not someone who is afraid to question docs opinions.

I still believe that oversupply could be an issue and i feel that if DD is happy and gaining weight i should explore that side of things too.

If she gets worse during that time then i wouldn't put BF before her health.

Might be worth ring one of the breastfeeding lines for advice as well. They can't give you medical advice but might help in other ways.

National Childbirth Trust 0870 444 8708
La Leche League 0845 120 2918
Breastfeeding Network 0844 412 4664
Association for Breastfeeding Mothers 08444 122 949

hi there, my ds has recently been diagnosed with milk protein allergy but not serious as he gets delayed reaction ..ie eczema and tummy problems , my consultant told me its o.k to bf but steer clear of dairy ..im on goats milk or can have rice milk, also there is a difference between jersey/guernsey milk than milk that we normally buy from freisan cows ..its down to the type of casein protein..basically fresian cows produce A1 casein..[not so tolerant] and jersey produce A2 which is a different makeup ..check out on line about jersey milk and you can read a report about how better for us it is and also for children..they have less reactions..my ds reacts if i eat cheese in any form ive just found out. but eczema is clearing with me being on goats or jersey milk..also BF limits the damage done by allergies so stick by your decision to bf but watch your diet..

but sometimes it isn't possible. Sometimes excluding foods doesn't work. That's all I'm saying. I hope it does work for Lucky, I really do! And I agree that it would be silly to stop breastfeeding until the results are through anyway (and they may find it is nothing to do with her diet, may be a tummy issue).

And MrsCarrot, it is incorrect to say the nutramigen is a cow's milk derived formula. It isn't. It may have some super hydrolysed casein in it, but it's mainly derived from other oils (as you pointed out). To say nutramigen is a cow's milk derived formula, you are putting it on a par with SMA for example.

Nutrimigen is not like SMA, but you are mistaken to say it is not based on modified cows milk, fox....the protein source comes from cows milk, hydrolised (broken down so it become partially digested before the baby gets it).

It makes no sense to give this to a baby if breastmilk is available...if the baby is intolerant to cows milk protein in the mother's milk, then the mother can go dairy free, as the OP indicated she was happy to do.

This should at least be tried as an option, before the baby misses out on all the other aspects of breastmilk.

hi - has anyone recommended lactase to you? either in the form of Colief or just straight lactase

it's an enzyme that breaks down the lactose and you can use it with bottle or breast feeding. DD was having a nightmare and this virtually stopped all problems, from stomach pains to skin flare ups.

it means you don't have to worry about changing your diet and can breast of formula feed. worth giving a try while you wait for test results

here's a link with more info - www.colief.com

most people i;ve spoken to think Colief is the same as things like Infacol, ie something to eliminate wind, but it works in a totally different way - by digesting the lactose in the milk while your baby's system has trouble doing it, as young babies often don't produce lactase themselves

it's quite pricey but we found it worth every penny

oops - meant to say breast or formula feed