Vomiting 2 hours after forumla

[CB13]

Please help. My dd is 4.3 months and exclusively breastfed. We have tried formula three times and each time, she ended up vomiting violently, until just bile came up. I even tried mixing breast milk with formula today (20 mls Aptamil, 50 mls breast milk). My health visitor says to stick with breast milk when I go back to work in under a month. Get up at 5 am and express. I will not have ability to express in work, long hours, travel etc. Also, I hoped formula would help her sleep through night. She throws up 2 hours exactly after formula feed. Has anyone else had this experience? I am not superwoman, so will not be able to continue to breastfeed when back in work. I must go back to work for financial and sanity reasons.

Hi CB13, YES! My DD is 6.5mths. Exclusively breastfed except for 2 weeks when she was 6wks old when I had thrush. I expressed for all daily feeds then, except the middle of the night one, where she happily took formula. Am thinking about returning to work so tried her on formula a month ago. About 1.5hrs later, she was violently sick (in the night) and like yours, kept on going until there was nothing more to come out, So I left giving her formula for a bit, thinking it might be something else (as she had happily taken formula at 6wks) but just in case. I then put some in her baby rice 3 weeks ago, and the same thing happened (in Sainsbury's!!!!!!!! Nightmare) and again, was violently sick until literally no more could come out. So then I tried cows milk in her rice (as she was over 6 mths old) and exactly the same thing happened. There are common things in formula and cows milk like whey and certain proteins and I can only guess that that's the problem. No one (doctors, other mums) has been able to tell me why she could have it at 6 weeks, but not now. So I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you , but you are not alone and I shall be watching this thread with interest.

Milk intolerance. Sadly very common. You need a paed referral and a prescription for Nutramigen or Pepti-Junior.

Fidgetsmum - unfortunately early exposure to an allergen can sensitize a child to it, and they then react the next time they are exposed.

Maybe speak to your health visitor about trying soy formula? It could be that she is intolerant to the cows milk, a lot of babies are apparantly and it does not mean that they will as as adults, its usually a transitional thing.
I only learnt about this last week when I tried my exclusively bf DD on Aptamil for an evening top up , she has had diarroah ( sorry no idea how to spell that) and nappy rash for a wek now, my HV suggested Soy instead which I will do once the wee thing is better,
I would take further advice on this from your HV though as there is an argument that Soy does not contain all the essential nutrients- not sure.
Let me know how you get on as I am interested in similar tales! I also thought formula would mean more sleep - och well!

Don't use soy! It's not to do with lacking vitamins. It's to do with causing soy allergy, tooth decay and infertility! Shouldn't be used at all for under 2s unless ALL other avenues have been exhausted.

Crikey, cheers for that CantSleep, my HV was pretty much " yep go and get some soy - should be fine"

Hi Fidgitsmum, my dd also had Aptamil with no problems in first 5 days in hospital (I had c section) as a top up when I was exhausted and no milk coming in. Cantsleepwontsleep's explanation might be the case for her too! Very useful to hear that's what it is. My HV said freezing breast milk is not ideal so I was put off expressing every day at 5am. I suppose I could freeze breast milk at weekend for coming week. By six months she should be on solids and so won't need as much milk as now. Might be doable. Thank you so much Cantsleepwontsleep.

I thought I'd update Figitsmum on how things were going, if it's useful. It turns out Aptamil was just a bit too rich for my dd. She is now on Cow and Gate and having no problems at all. I'm breastfeeding 50% of feeds and formula feeding the rest. I have not noticed any improvement in sleeping through the night but she has only had two full feeds of milk twice. For first time ever, she is in a routine. I had a doctor do a xray of her digestive system with barium to rule out reflux, which I was worried about. I also spoke to a pharmacist who had done her thesis on breast and bottle feeding. She said Aptamil is often a bit rich for babies and they throw up. It's not an allergy because allergies manifest themselves as a rash, diarrhoea etc. not vomiting. It took her 2 weeks to get onto formula. She hated SMA and Nutramogin. So it's a question of trial and error, which feels very cruel when it's your child your experimenting on! Try small amounts.

What does 'rich' mean in formula terms, though? I don't understand - normally when we say food is 'rich' we mean it is high in fat (I think). The fat proportion of formula milk is the same across all brands, more or less.

The concern with some brands is the LCPUFAs which in some countries have led to them not being permitted to be on sale - not because of vomitting but because there is concern some nutrients get passed out the gut too quickly. But almost all brands in the UK have these in some form these days (inc the Cow&Gate which you say your baby is fine on).

I'd be interested in how the pharmacist explained the 'rich' thing, CB13. What do you think she meant?

I think she meant the balance of whey and cassein proteins and fat. To be honest, I did not ask her in detail. I started with dilute cow and gate and increased the concentration until she is taking it as on the packet now. I tried diluting Aptamil with breast milk but the same thing happened. I did not try diluting with water though. DD seems otherwise well in herself.

CB13 - well.....the balance of whey/casein proteins is the same in all formulas, depending on whether they are 'stage one' or 'stage two', usually marketed as 'from birth or when changing from breastfeeding'(whey dominant) and 'from birth or for hungrier babies'(casein dominant).

Sorry to pick away at this! I have a bee in my bonnet about the lack of easily-understood information about formulas and formulations, and I think mothers are bamboozled a lot of the time with marketing. I think the same applies to HVs and midwives.

I believe mothers when they say their baby reacted to Brand X and was fine on Brand Y - but they should not have to experiment or guess in this way! It should be open and clear and research-based rather than anecdotal. I mean - are more babies constipated/colicky/sicky on Brand Z? Or is it just a reputation Brand Z has? If it is true, then what the dickens is in the formula (or missing) that is making this more likely?

I know. I felt like I was experimenting with my baby's health. I just kept going until ds was no longer sick. What was very upsetting was the reaction of public health nurse who insisted I keep breast feeding. There was no acknowledgment that I had done 5 months of ebfing. It made me feel like I should have used formula from the beginning! Maybe ds just got used to formula and stopped being ill coincidentally as I tried cow and gate.

i meant dd, dd is currently "helping" me type,