Milk allergy face rash - other mums experiences

[Mkenn]

Hi

Baby is being treated for suspected milk allergy. She is 6 weeks old. Previously was express fed and only had formula at night because my supply wasn't enough for a full 24 hours. GP has given her Nutramigen and asked me to give to her instead of breastmilk to see if there is an allergy. I have stopped eating dairy and been expressing and freezing so want to go back to this but will still need a formula to top her up with. She started to formula on Friday so it's been 4 days.

She had an awful rash on her face and although it has started to look slightly better it isn't clearing up as quickly as I thought it might. It also seems to flare up occasionally. Anybody have experience of how long it took to go on their babies? Her other symptoms were horrible poos which are already much better.

That’s awful advice. Your GP doesn’t know they are doing. With cmpa you can continue to bf but you need to remove milk from your diet. Often babies with cmpa struggle to digest many of the ‘dairy free’ formula (the one you have been given isn’t fully dairy free) or they refuse to take them. If you want to bf then starting feeding your baby.

I had a milk allergy baby, he’s 5 and still allergic to milk, the milk you have been given still contains milk buts it’s processed to contain easier to digest proteins. The milk can take up to two weeks to get out of your body, I’d try the milk you have been given for a month and if it’s still not better there’s others you can try, my son was fine with the Actimel allergy milk but hated the SMA one as it still made him sick.

I would recommend you go back to breastfeeding (if you can of course), just don't consume any milk or milk products yourself (so read labels on everything because even products like crisps/ rice cakes can have milk powder). Honestly, with a cmpa baby breastfeeding is soooo much easier. I breastfed mine for two years after which they moved straight to almond/ oat/ soya.

The rash does go after a month or two, but I found that eczema/ sensitivity to washing powders was also linked. So maybe try Ecover non bio washing powder and a good emollient (Epaderm maybe?).

Good luck, I know how hard those early days can be.