Nutramigen switch over from breastmilk

[Belle82]

I am in desperate need of some guidance.

I have an endoscopy booked in 10 days time to rule out cancer, I have had to delay 3 times as the transition to nutramigin isn’t working.

He can’t feed from me for 24 hours due to the sedation, and the doctor won’t do it without due to how traumatic it can be. (And to be honest I don’t want that either)

We were doing the transition really slowly but he still wasn’t taking much even then.
Now he’s got a chest infection and he would only feed from me.

I need him on the formula really fast or he won’t be able to have any milk for 24 hours.

Please help?

Sorry to hear about the endoscopy, hope it all goes well for you.

We've just been in a similar situation with my daughter who we needed to transition from breastfed to dairy free formula at 9 months old.

The doctor prescribed Nutramagin, and we tried everything under the sun to get her to take it. In the end we admitted defeat and booked to see a private dietician.

We were advised that Nutramagin is one of the worst tasting dairy free milks. And to try Alfamino, with a teaspoon of strawberry nesquik in it.

Pick one feed to 'target', offer an oz of the milk at that feed time, if they refuse do not give them a breastfeed, but also don't try to force it.

We were told that if they wouldn't take any of it after 3 days to then contact her back. As there were other things we could try.

We're on day 3 today, and she drunk 5oz!!!!!

Obviously, advice will vary depending on age, weight, if they are a good eater etc. So I highly recommend seeing dietician if you can.

The skinny syrup coffee things were a godsend for getting into neocate for my nephews. It tastes awful and you need someone to make it palatable.

If you can express, can you mix your milk with the prescription one? Or even look for a milk bank in your area?

How old is your LO?

Hope you're okay ❤️

Are you sure you can't breastfeed after the sedation? There's very few drugs that actually cross in to breast milk and in large enough quantities to have side effects.

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/endoscopy/ does this link help?

Otherwise,

Have you tried adding vanilla essence to the Nutramigen? It can disguise the horrible flavour a bit. There are other hypoallergenic formulas which can be a bit more palatable, they're just often more expensive so doctors are hesitant to prescribe.

Also have you considered donor milk? There is a Facebook group called Human Milk 4 Human Babies, for donors to find babies in need of milk and vice versa.

We've had a lot of milk from many wonderful donors, and will hopefully be able to get some for baby #2. The group moderators aren't responsible for checks so it's up to you to chat to your prospective donor first and check that their milk is allergen-free for whatever you need etc.

Would you be able to pump some milk for the 24 hours?

Unfortunately a lot of doctors dont know very much about breastfeeding and advise patients to stop unnecessarily. They think they are being safe, but don't fully understand the implications of that.
Here's some up to date evidence based guidance on the topic:
rcoa.ac.uk/patient-information/about-anaesthesia-perioperative-care/patient-faqs#:~:text=It%20is%20recommended%20that%20you,to%20'pump%20and%20dump'.
anaesthetists.org/Home/Resources-publications/Guidelines/Anaesthesia-and-sedation-in-breastfeeding-women-2020
Hope all goes well.

Can you pump breastmilk and store it in advance. Even if it isn’t a full days supply it’s better than nothing.

will baby take breastmilk and nutramigen mixed together. That how I got ds onto nutramigen it took 3 days of gradually upping the nutramigen in the mix.

can the gp prescribe a different formula. Dd hated nutramigen and would eat the minimum possible but was fine with aptaml peptide.

how old is he? If he is eating food in any quantities then do you need to panic about 1 day without much milk? Just lots of food offered all day with water. Obviously as long as he is old enough

Nutramigan tastes horrible and the bottle is not the usual comfort that he is used to from your breast.
I can't see slow weaning working.
Either go cold turkey and just manage with nutramigan and water for the day or two you are out of action or acquire some suitable breast milk , either your own or as above from fb group.
How old is your baby? Are they having any food? If so the urgency isn't there in the same way.
I remember a similar situation in my friendship group at baby stage and one of the other breast feeding mothers acted as a wet nurse for the few days.
DSis had to go away with work when DN was fully bf , we just managed with cups, spoons, water in a beaker and a little food( she was just at weaning age) everything ne survived!

Thank you so much everyone.
Annoyingly we were doing ok ish at the weaning then he got a chest infection and we’re back to square one. 😔 & need to change by next Thursday!