Cmpa & weaning

[siriuslysirius]

Hi not sure if I've posted in the right place, my son is 20 weeks and has a severe cow's milk protein allergy. We have been advised to start weaning as he also has really bad reflux, has been spewing that much he isn't gaining as much weight as he should be. He's taken to the baby rice really well and his new milk, my question is does anybody have any tips on best places to look for milk free baby food? I'm struggling at the minute to find anything for his age, I don't want to give him anything other than his rice at the moment but just hoping somebody has a bit of advice ! Thanks

Ask your medical team for advice but I thought before 6 months only fruit and veg are advised. If you don’t want to make your own there I are lots of fruit and veg on the market.

I'm not going to be trying him with anything else for a while , going to give him a chance to get used to the rice and the texture . I'll only be starting with fruit and veg but I was hoping I'd of been able to find a banana baby rice but they all seem to have milk in. Dietitian was nice but didn't really give me any tips , I'll be making his meals myself when he's actually having proper food it was just like a baby rice or other things like that I was looking for tips about

I see. My DD is dairy free too but only intolerant but very intolerant. We did blw so I can’t advice particular brands but if you go on tesco and look baby food you can filter the food for allergens but always double check the details.

Is there a reason you can’t make the food? A lot of baby food has milk in it.

I’ve weaned two dairy & soya free babies & we started with fruit & veg moving upwards.
Oat & almond milk are usually recommended, oatly barista has more of a fat content dietitians like.

Oatly do a range of creams/creme fraiche to cook with.

Some Ella’s kitchen is dairy free but not all. I would just try to make your own as much as possible & add the plant milks or protein.

I am going to be making my own, but as I said above he's staying on the rice for a while as he's had a milk change as well so I'm not wanting too many changes at once was just wondering if there were other baby rice's like banana ones I could use as well.

Hi from a fellow CMPA mummy! 👋🏻
Firstly, well done you for getting as far as you have! CMPA can be so awful, I still haven’t quite gotten over my DS’ newborn weeks, he’s 14 months now!

We started weaning with just veg and found that the most useful. Moved onto fruit a bit later on. I puréed a load in the blender and put into ice cube trays. Saved so much time and hardly any food was wasted as they really don’t eat much for months to begin with, approx 1-2 ice cubes once a day. Stick with simple and single veg (sweet potato, green beans etc) give one at a time for 3 days so you can monitor DS for a potential reaction, then try something else. If your DS’ reflux is still sensitive make sure you google which fruits/veg as some can make it worse.
Our situation is a bit different to yours, as I’m guessing from your op that your DS is formula fed and mine is breastfed, so I sacked off the baby rice quite early on lol as I couldn’t be arsed to keep expressing milk just to make a spoonful of baby rice 😂
Baby rice doesn’t have any nutritional value to it really. Most other baby porridge’s/cereals are actually milk free, it’s a bit of a ball ache but have a browse through loads of different brands in the baby aisle at the supermarket. If he’s eating well so far though you could just offer him other things like toast fingers with fruit purée? My DS loved that!
Remember food is ‘just for fun’ before 1 😊
Do whatever works best for you and your baby! Good luck x

@FirstTimeMummaB thank you so much , it's been so hard. Babies are never easy but this has been a completely different experience to the one I had with DD! We have only been using the rice as he's only 4.5 months and we're really only starting now as his reflux has been that bad he hasn't been gaining weight like he should. Everything just seems so confusing im struggling to get my head round what I should be making him and im not sure why, it was only 3 years ago I was weaning my DD but she never had any of these problems so I think I'm just panicking for some reason! I didn't realise there was different cereals and porridges that don't have milk every one I've looked at so far has contained milk will need to keep looking . Thanks again x

A lot of the baby cereal says “may contain” rather than containing.

Kiddilicious do a ready made porridge with blueberries or banana that’s dairy free and in a little pack you can reuse: handy for when you are out and about and lasts a few days in the fridge. Alternatively use a plain porridge and flavour with plain fruit purée (Ella’s kitchen, own brand etc). Initially I would use pre-purée baby pouches until you know what your baby likes/tolerates: trust me, there is nothing worse than spending the rare 30 minutes break you get boiling/peeling/puréeing ten tonnes of something to find your baby doesn’t like it or is allergic to it.

Personally I would recommend leaving the porridge plain and trying veg purée first/ if they like plain porridge I wouldn’t worry about sweetening it, and would just try the fruit on their own and then if they don’t like it try a bit in their porridge to try and encourage it. Kiddilicious wafers are also brilliantly handy!

Don’t worry it’s not as scary as it seems: Neocate have a CMPA weaning book. The details are on their website, or you can call them and they will post you one.

It’s bloody hard at first, I remember standing in Asda and literally sobbing trying to do our weekly shop because I couldn’t find anything to eat!
Once you know what you can/can’t have it gets so much easier. Each to their own but I’d really recommend joining the CMPA support groups on Facebook. They have allocated pages for weaning, formula feeding, breastfeeding etc. There’s thousands of other mums on there always sharing new dairy free finds and ideas, and it’s also a great place to post if you’re just having a shit time with allergy mum life because all the other mums GET it!!
I agree with above posts, a lot of products say ‘may contain’ or ‘not suitable for milk allergy sufferers’, it basically means it’s been produced on a production lines that handles dairy products, if your LO isn’t overly sensitive (not anaphylactic) then he’ll probably be fine with those, but obviously you know him best so go with your gut on his reactions etc.
Once you get into the swing of things you won’t even think about it, it becomes second nature 😊 x

@ElyElyOl thank you, that's all really good advice! That's what I was thinking just sticking to plain puree to start, I get that little time free between the kids and work, I don't want to stand and puree everything to find he doesn't like or can't have it! The pre made purees and things are just going to be used until I know exactly what he can have and what to stay clear of.
@FirstTimeMummaB thank you, everything just seems so confusing at the moment and I find it upsetting when I can't seem to find anything. Think I need to calm myself down when looking in the baby aisle. I'm wary of using things that say may contain to start with as it is a bad allergy, he was originally on aptamil pepti 1 but was having an allergic reaction to it, the skin on his face went that bad it was splitting and bleeding with the slightest touch no matter how much cream I put on. He was on that for about 2.5 months but suffered with it. Maybe I'm being a bit worrisome, I'm hoping I'll calm down a bit as he gets further into his weaning. Sorry for long post it's nice to have someone to talk to, I'll definitely join one of the Facebook groups x

Oh your poor boy!! Hopefully he’s doing better now?
For the record - you’re not being worrisome at all! Allergies are serious business, it’s hell seeing your baby in pain and not being able to do anything about it.
I was the same at first tbh especially whilst my DS was still tiny, I stayed away from ‘may contains’ until I felt ready to attempt them. Just do what feels right for you and at a pace that suits you, I don’t think there’s really a ‘right way’ to do these things just go with your gut 😊 mumma always knows best!! X

Add fruit/veg puree to the baby rice to give different flavours.

Thank you @FirstTimeMummaB and @dementedpixie , I joined the CMPA Facebook group and got the same advice about adding some fruit or vegetable puree to his baby rice. The poor boy has had a reaction to banana so going to give it a week on just rice before trying any other purees again. Not a great start but I suppose it's all trial and error. His skin is shocking again but we'll get there. Thank you for all the advice xx

So sorry to hear that she's had a reaction to the banana. I think you are right to go back to her safe food again, at least for 3 days, before you try anything else.

Sainsbury's are very good with allergies. You can put which allergy you have on the website and it will flag up any foods when you order.

The allergy section and the weaning sections on MN are pretty good too

@JiltedJohnsJulie thanks so much, I'll have a look on there site. It's just all so new and confusing right now but I know we'll get there! Gutted he's had a reaction so quickly but it can't be helped we'll just keep going forward. Thanks for the advice x