Formula advice - low dairy

[Smum23]

Hello all!

Im shortly due by second child, my first has a dairy allergy as do both their cousins. I’ve been told it’ll be likely my second will too but we have to wait and see

Because of this I want to try and get her the gentlest formula I can to see if that’ll help until we know for sure

I’m thinking Hipp or Kendamil maybe? But not sure which may be gentlest on their tummy

thank you in advance 😊

Dd had a suspected dairy allergy as a baby (as do I) and she was fine either hipp as a follow on milk. Hers turned out to be lactose intolerance too which made of complicated as a newborn as there a very few that don't contain either dairy or lactose. Neocate is one of the only ones and honestly it used to smell and taste rancid.

Kendamil didn't exist when we ff but I have heard good things.

Aptimal peptil was the go to when dd was little

There is a lactose free SMA formula but it's a half size tin so could get expensive. I'd ask your GP if they'll prescribe one for you

Hello @Ihatelittlefriendsusan 😊

when I had my first Kendamil wasn’t really a thing either. He ended up on Aptamil Pepti but only once we had the allergy confirmed

Im hoping maybe someone who has tried Kendamil may weigh in with their thoughts, but at the same time now it’s viral on TikTok so he availability is horrific

maybe I just go for Hipp and hope for the best, all else fails it’ll be prescription milk anyway

Kendamil and hipp are still dairy based formula, they aren’t any more “gentle” than the rest of them, they’ve just had some good marketing!
have a low threshold for suspecting CMPA and see the GP for extensively hydrolysed formula if your baby has any symptoms

Basically all the non prescription first milks are virtually indistinguishable, because the regulation is (appropriately) so tight.

They're all dairy based. It's not the lactose that's a problem for babies (excepting rare disorders), it's the protein. The best independent source of info for formula milk in the UK is First Steps Nutrition, you'll get great info there. Would bf be an option for you? It's much less likely for babies to react to dairy through breast milk.

Totally agree, Kendamil must have excellent marketing. None are better than another for suspected CMPA.

If you're not thinking of BFing, then like a PP I'd be off to the GP at the first sign of CMPA

While it’s completely up to you - there is some evidence that ebf for 16 weeks is really helpful in preventing allergies and you could avoid dairy easily yourself, would that be possible for you to think about? Might be worth researching and see if the benefits might be worth it for you?

All infant formula milk is the same as there's regulations. Kendamil is no better than Cow and Gate, Aptamil etc. Your only options are to either breast feed (and you avoid dairy) or try milk based formulas (all the same) and go to the GP if your baby has an allergy. By allergy, do you mean your other child and their cousins develop swelling, wheezing, hives?

By allergy, do you mean your other child and their cousins develop swelling, wheezing, hives?

You don't have to have those symptoms to have an allergy though? Non-Ige symptoms are still classed as an allergy.

Do you understand allergies? Not every allergic reaction brings on those symptoms especially when it is dairy allergies!

Unfortunately due to medical reasons BF isn’t an option for us, so it has to be the milk route

Regardung the allergies, 2/3 of the cousins (including my son) are non-IGE. I used to call it an ‘intolerance’ but our consultant always advised us to call it an allergy as regardless of symptom severity, it is. For my little one he just screams in pain when he’s has dairy for 2-3 days and sometimes passes blood in his stool, so it’s bad enough

I’m definitely taking the advice of having a lower threshold for accepting the signs of an allergy/intolerance before approaching the GP thought

Really appreciate everyone’s help and advice, it’s a minefield out there

Isn't diarrhoea just lactose intolerance?

No!! I suggest you deduct yourself.

I used to have a dairy allergy as a child (hives) but now have lactose intolerance (tummy ache and diarrhoea) so I know what I'm talking about. I have other allergies too (struggle to breathe). The only options are breast feeding or trying formula milk and if that causes issues then the doctor can prescribe a certain formula milk.

Isn't diarrhoea just lactose intolerance no.

DD had this on prescription as a baby as she was lactose intolerant, not CMPI/A.

I'm non-Ige too @Smum23 and I agree that the symptoms are bad enough. It takes me a full two weeks before I feel properly recovered if I've had dairy.

Sounds like the GO is the way to go if you suspect CMPA. Just be aware that Tongue Tie can present in a similar way so you might need that ruling out too. Also some babies have reflux symptoms if the bottle has been prepared with a perfect prep machine due to the fine bubbles. There's been more than a few posters on here when they've stopped using the perfect prep and all the crying and gas has stopped.

Sorry, you're wrong.CMPA can definitely cause diarrhoea.
Allergies that are mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE) present as the "classical" immediate allergic reaction - rashes, wheezing, swelling etc right up to anaphylaxis. But there is a lot more to the immune system than IgE and reactions mediated by other components of the immune system produce a range of effects, often in the gastrointestinal system. Non IgE reactions can include diarrhoea or constipation, and blood in the faeces is typical of CMPA.
Lactose intolerance is nothing to do with the immune system. It is a deficiency/absence of the enzyme lactase which breaks down the sugar in milk into two smaller sugars, glucose and galactose, which can then be absorbed into the bloodstream. Without enough lactase, the bigger lactose molecules sit in the large bowel, act as a laxative and provide nutrition for gut bacteria, leading to diarrhoea that is often frothy and smelly. They are two separate conditions but can both cause diarrhoea.
To complicate the issue further, CMPA can be a cause of secondary lactose intolerance. The inflammation in the gut caused by the CMPA can damage the cells which produce lactase as they are right on the surface of the gut lining. That's why lactose free formula can improve things, at least initially,for some babies who actually have CPMA, not primary lactose intolerance. It's very rare for infants to have primary lactose intolerance. Human milk is very lactose rich, so it would be a bit of an evolutionary own goal if we weren't designed to digest the milk of our own species. An adverse reaction to cows milk in infancy is far more likely to be due to cows' milk protein.
Adults are different. Like every other mammalian species we're not really intended to drink milk beyond our first few years. Other species, and humans in parts of the world where dairy isn't a traditional part of the diet, therefore stop producing lactase. In the parts of the world where we've consumed dairy as adults for many, many thousands of years we've evolved to continue producing it so most people with ancestors in those areas, particularly Northern Europe can digest milk. But it's not that unusual to have a relative deficiency. You could argue that lactose intolerance is in fact the biological norm for adults and it's those of us who can digest lactose who are abnormal!
Lactose intolerance is relatively common in adults and CMPA is rare. It's the opposite in babies, though they are often confused.