CMPA help!

[Buzzbee63]

So after months of hoping he’ll just get better I think I have to start admitting my 4 month might have some sort of cmpa/dairy intolerance. I’ve taken him to the docs several times and they just tell me he has bad reflux but he also has awful wind, a spotty rash on his face, mucus in his poo, screams at every feed and is sick after every feed too and he is generally quite unhappy. This last few weeks he’s refusing to be fed and will only happily feed at night. I’ve tried feeding him gaviscon (which is a pain to feed a breastfed baby!!) but he’s refusing to take any. So last resort I’m thinking of cutting dairy out of my diet but have a few questions! Will he ever be able to have dairy or is that it now? How do you re introduce it? I have no allergies or intolerances neither does my husband so we have no idea where to start! Should I cut diary and soya or dairy first then soya? Any more advice would be very helpful! Thank you x

Hi, I didn’t want to read and run!
My 2 year old has CMPA, diagnosed at 7 weeks after eczema, green mucusy poos with blood. Reflux as well.
I would push the GP for a referral to a paediatrician, who will then refer you to a paediatric dietician - stress that he’s refusing to feed and Gaviscon isn’t helping. You really need advice from both on how to proceed.
NHS was taking forever for us because it was peak Covid so we ended up going private initially, then NHS for the dietician.
I exclusively breastfed and cut all dairy from my diet, but it took a while to leave my system and hers - once it did we saw a massive improvement.
We tried formulas which are specific for CMPA but she wouldn’t take them so carried on breastfeeding.
Neither my husband or I have allergies either. We started the milk ladder with my daughter when she turned 1. She’s up to Step 4 of 6 at the moment, so she’s slowly growing out of it.
There’s always a chance your son will grow out of it, it’s just a case of knowing how severe the allergy is is - whether is ige or non-ige (which you’ll need to know for weaning).

I hope this helps! Don’t hesitate if you have more questions x

That’s really helpful thank you. Good to know he can grow out of it! It’s difficult as I’ve thought he might have it for a while now but docs and hv keep telling me it’s really rare and very unlikely he does have it! Think I’ll cut dairy and if it improves go back to the docs and tell them! Thanks for your help x

Same as previous - we were brushed off until GP witnessed one of the green mucousy nappies and then immediately referred. Initially brushed off presumably as I BF so less likely and also that our son was a chunk (95th centile) so weight not a concern.

I BF and had to cut dairy and soya.

We did milk ladder and were able to reintroduce both fully by age 3.

Dietician appointments were totally pointless in my case as I’d done the reading, but was good to know that they were there if I had questions and that everything was theoretically on a medical record in case of future issues.

I know it’s no consolation here, but at least the vegan alternatives are widely available now and a lot have moved on from soya substitutes. The only place I could get a pizza for 18 months while BF was Zizzi’s!

Best of luck!

Good advice from PPs above - I was just going to add that “Breastfeeding - CMPA support” is a brilliant Facebook group that really helped me figure things out.

My LO was diagnosed with CMPA at 4 months and after me cutting dairy out of my diet (I was BF) he was 100% free of all his symptoms in less than 48 hours!

We had the same symptoms as you and similarly no other allergies in the family.

I'd recommend cutting dairy first and if there's no improvement in a week, try soya too. We were told that 50% of CMPA babies also have a soya intolerance.

Most babies do eventually grow out of it. Search "milk ladder" which is the way of introducing milk back into the diet.

If you get a GP to diagnose then you should be referred to a dietician, which was invaluable to us with weaning etc.

Good luck with it all!

No problem at all.
Really surprising your doc and HV are saying it’s rare… it’s really not that rare anymore!
Good luck with going dairy free - some great alternatives out there.

I would definitely try cutting dairy out of your diet. My daughter is 14 now and even in that short time so much more is known about allergies. She was a terribly unhappy baby and didn’t settle or be well until I switched to neocate at 18 months.

sadly for her at 14 she still had a life threatening dairy allergy but that is unusual. It’s not rare at all for a baby to have a CMPA but it’s more rare for them not to grow out of it. If he does have one, they will find out in time with skin prick tests and blood tests and the range of everything is so much better now.

Thank you all for your replies! I will give it a go, hope it might make him a bit happier! Sorry for all the questions but wondered what you do about eating out? Is it pretty much a no go or are there lots of alternatives? Thanks x

I follow quite a few “allergy” mums on instagram who always recommend places to eat.
I never had a problem eating out just as long as you make the restaurant/cafe/pub etc aware of allergies - it’s so common now and a lot of places will have vegan options too :)

My son has CMPA.

Interestingly there is some evidence that breastfed babies who are CMPA likely have mothers who are also sensitive to milk in some way.

Anyway, he's still allergic now at almost 6.

Eating out is mostly easy really. Nearly everywhere does a vegan choice but even if not there are plenty of options that don't have milk in them. For kids there is nearly always a sausage / chip / bean type option.

The only time we struggle is if we're going somewhere like Costa etc. while they often have a vegan choice it's not usually something my son would eat. Then we just take some sandwiches out with us.