lactose free formula advice

[threescoopsundae]

Hi all - this is my first posting despite just having had DC3! DD is 5, DS1 is 3 and LO is 19 weeks (see... getting into these acronyms already!)

This is my problem - despite having successfully and easily BF'd my first two each for over a year, after 3 weeks of feeding LO, I developed mastitis. This cleared up with expressing but left me in indescribable pain on that side, almost 24/7. Several trips to the GP (useless is an understatement - told me just to get on with it) and I was ready to quit - until my mum (ex-breastfeeding counsellor and on a crusade...) paid for me to see a private breast specialist. He finally diagnosed that the mastitis had left a mass of scar tissue inside which had probably trapped a nerve within it and I will be in pain for duration of BF'ing, BF'ing subsequent babies and every time I have a period - hooray!!

Some might say, just quit BF'ing. But to complicate things, LO is lactose intolerant. This is self-diagnosed as he has exactly same symptoms as his older siblings who were both LI. I have come off dairy and he is right as rain. Pretty sure it's intolerance not allergy as siblings had cheese, yogurt, etc after a year and are fine.

So, having lost complete faith in GPs and with a HV who is about as useful as a kick in the backside, I turn to you for advice. I do want to stick out BF'ing til 6 months (only 7 weeks to go and counting!) and am happy to grit my teeth and get on with it. But what formula to use? Would be nice to get it on prescription (although not a deal-breaker if you recommend one that I have to pay for) - but feel with my useless GP I need to go in and tell her what formula I want and not rely on her recommendation.

What do you recommend? Do I need lactose free or cow's milk protein free? Will soya formula really deprive me of future grandchildren from him???!! Totally new to this formula game...

Thanks in anticipation...

We used Cow & Gate soya one. We only changed at 5 months when we finally perusaded DR that something was not right. I do know that our dietician didn't recommend it but Dr didn't say anything and I think that it is a small risk.

it'll be a cow's milk protein intolerance rather than lactose.

if baby was lactose intolerant then s/he would not be able to have breastmilk either!
you do know it's possible to feed from one side only though don't you?

Thanks - that was fast!

I did hear that you can feed just from one side - apparently in Japan that is standard practice (or so I am told). But when I asked Breast Consultant about that he said it wouldn't help as my left breast (bad one) would still be somewhat stimulated when the milk filled the right and so would still cause pain.

Anyone have experience of feeding just from one side?

i believe, though happy to be corrected, that the milk will almost dry up, as it were, from the unused breast.

it's worth a try though i reckon

I've def read of people feeding from just one side. You might look a little lopsided for a while of course .

Agree that it will be CMP intolerance rather than lactose.

Soya formula really not recommended for under 2s, so I wouldn't go down that route.

Nutramigen is generally the first one to try (Nutramigen 1 for under 6 months, Nutramigen 2 for over 6 months). It tastes and smells vile, but is the cheapest, and therefore the first to be prescribed. If that fails then Neocate is another alternative.

There is also Pepti and Pepti-Junior, but I forget which is the one that still contains lactose (you want the one with lactose in it, so that he doesn't develop an intolerance to that too from not being exposed to it).

Welcome to MN btw.

Not too fussed abut looking lopsided - will add to the overall "charm" from the other lumps and bumps associated with 3 c-sections!!!

Maybe I will try that - def going to look into it.

Have been through some old posts and seen that Pepti seems to taste the best, so maybe I will pick up a tub of that too and see if I can substitute one day time feed - he has never taken I bottle (have never tried!) so may be back for advice on that one...

Need to buy steriliser, bottles, teats etc... what a palaver! Much easier just to whip your baps out!!!

Thanks again.

absolutely, i'd def try the feeding from one side thing just to save having to buy bottles and all the rest of it!

My boss told me that due to a blocked nipple she was able to breastfeed her three babies from one breast only, and that made her have one big and one tiny breast. So I guess the one you're not breastfeeding from will eventually shrink... Perhaps you could gradually stop from the pained breast, as to not engorge it further. You must be in agony, courage! If I were in you shoes I would give it a go for a few more weeks, and if the pain continues then stick with bottles. The benefits from the first six months are great anyway, well done already!

Breast specialists (in my experience) are not trained in bf management. I have heard the weirdest stuff from breast specialists - they are trained in cancer and other breast pathologies, not in normal, day to day bf.

It is therefore not suprising he didn't know about one-sided feeding.

Breasts act more or less 'independently' when breastfeeding is well-established. It is not a problem for most women and the lop-sidedness goes, too.

(Just to confirm - your baby can't be lactose intolerant. If you think there are dairy issues, best to get it diagnosed properly.)

Hope things go well for you

Thanks all - am def going to give one-sided a go!