pepti formula - any experience?

[nomorebooze]

hi! ive been having probs with my 13 week old daughter being very unsettled. she can cry all day, on sunday she was awake from 8am till 11:30pm!!! she screams and passes alot of bottom wind.

i have spoke to 3 different health vistors all who beilive it to be colic. i have tried infacol to no effect and shes now been on coleif for 2 weeks it has a slight effect in that she seems to pass wind easier after feeds.

she has been breast feed since birth but last week i decided to introduce formula as she can feed for 2-3hrs, latch has been checked and all ok!!!! i think she uses breast to settle. i am not leaving the house anymore as too much hassle:{ i have tried 3 different formulas all have been brought up within 4 hrs, and had to phone nhs direct as she goes pale and on 1 occasion floppy! i have been mixing 1/2 formula and breast milk which has been a little better.

yesterday i got upset when speaking to yet another health visitor, i told her everything and she thinks it could be down to a protein allergy so i am picking up a prescription later for pepti formula milk, has anyone tried this if so what are your thoughts?

thanks in advance for replies:} x

ps apologise's for grammar doing one handed

Sorry don't know anything about Pepti, but would recommend you speak to a cranial osteopath for the colic.

I had a very windy baby and it certainly helped him.

HTH

I have very limited knowledge on this so bear with me.

FROM MY UNDERSTANDING a pepti formula is one with short chain fatty acids that are easier to digest and so produce less wind etc. Used in cows milk allergy.

REALLY NOT SURE HOW ACCURATE THAT INFORMATION IS I MUST STRESS.

Lactose allergy is very very rare (1%) population, lactose intolerance is also rare but more common.

Cow's milk is more common. This normally manifests with green vile smelling diarrhoea and vomiting.

An allergy seems to me to be unlikely as your DD was fine on your breast milk (unless you happen to follow a diary free diet).

What does strike me is the fact that your DD cried a lot could this be pain. Also you mention that you felt she used the breast to settle herself and sometimes goes pale and floppy during feeding. To me and again I must stress I am NO EXPERT could this be silent reflux?

I must stress I am no expert and don't want to stress you out any more. I will try to email you so I can tell you a little bit about my story.

Ps. cranial osteopathy is excellent

hi peeps thanks for your replies!

Yellowbutterfly - just for further info, she only went pale and floppy after formula not breast milk, however i have experienced these ongoing probs during ebf aswell, i also tried a dairy free diet for 2 weeks to no avail! sorry earlier post a bit vague. i am very interested in your thoughts though especially as you both mention cranial osteopathy! do you go private for this or will hv be best person to ask? i will also read up on silent reflux this hasnt been mentioned!!!!

ps: dont know if you will be able to email? i will check my setting etc to see if poss! not very computer literate so please bear with me:}

Is there a osteopath associated with your GP surgery? might be a good place to start.

Have had some friends take babies with reflux and colic, wind problems to see one, said it really helped.

We took DD for bad wind and constipation. Seemed to help, and she also got a lot out of relaxation. She sleeps better too.

Really don't know about just little ones feeding problems, but few things ring true with my little one. Will try and email again later. DD needs a feed now.
If no luck with email will post a little later

thanks yellowbutterfly!

nmb, I just found a cranial osteopath through a local complementary health clinic.

I think the initial consultation was about £35 followed by 3 or 4 one hour sessions at £25 a go.

Your HV might be able to recommend so. although not all of them are quite so pro 'alternative medecine'.

Unable to email. Not sure I want to air my dirty laundry in public.

Just on cranial osteopathy; I was very reluctant to go but it can do not harm and DD seems to get a lot out of it. I am/was usually all for conventional medicine as well.

But seriously, good luck with everything. Remember that lots of people have big problems with there little ones and although it may be tough going, they survive and in a years time or so all will be well.

Whatever route you take I wish you well.

In these forums you are asking people with similar problems to help you, not sure that is the best way. A bit like the blind leading the blind.

x x

nomorebooze, my ds2 has a confirmed cows milk allergy and was weaned from breastfeeding onto Pepti at 13 months old. Pepti has the proteins broken down so that the body is much less likely to recognise them and give an allergic reaction.

Assuming it is a cows milk protein allergy (and it certainly sounds like it is), you will probably find the symptoms get better when you cut out dairy from your own diet, but expect this to take a while (a couple of weeks). Absolutely do not give her more regular formula as this could result in an anaphylactic reaction as each time you expose someone to the food they are allergic to the reaction will get stronger and faster. We now have to carry an epipen for ds2 (22 months) for precisely this reason.

Another thing, if you are eventually wanting to get her to take bottles, you might want to consider introducing the Pepti earlier rather than waiting till later. I realise that this interferes with the exclusive breastfeeding till at least 26 weeks thing, but the reason I say this is that none of the hypoallergic milks taste that good (though Pepti is the best of a bad lot) and the older babies are when you try to introduce it, the more difficult it becomes.If she is introduced to it earlier (even just occasionally) she will accept the taste before her sense of taste is properly developed.

Also recommended is to get a referral to a dietician when weaning time comes around to ensure she gets a good balanced diet with enough calories and fat. Oh, and avoid soya as an alternative to Pepti or dairy products.

HTH.

hi peeps! thanks for all your posts! yellowbutterfly / crikeybadger - thanks for your info:}

unseenacademicalmum - how did you have the cows milk allergy confirmed?

i collected the pepti this afternoon and have done one feed and she seems ok so far so fingers crossed! i will see how she goes in the next couple of days. x

In our case it was confirmed by three things:

first he had an anaphylactic reaction after being given a small amount of yoghurt around 6-ish months (had to call 999, all very scary, but basically his lips, face, tongue swelled, he had difficulty breathing, his heart rate went right up)

then he had a skin prick test, which came up positive (they put a small amount of the allergen on the arm and prick it into the skin and wait to see if a spot forms. The bigger the spot, the more severe the allergy).

finally he had a blood test (RAST) which tests his immune reaction to the allergen. This test gives a grade from 0-6 which indicates chances of having a reaction if exposed to the allergen. Again he came out strongly positive to this (something like grade 4/5 out of 6).

Sometimes they won't do allergy tests on very young babies because they can get false positive responses to tests as their immune systems are still developing. Therefore they often go from observation of clinical symptoms alone. We got the tests at about 8 months or so and repeated at about a year and again now, but that is also because ds1 also has various allergies, so it wasn't completely unexpected that ds2 also developed an allergy.