CMPA hand hold needed

[Faz469]

My 7 week old has a possible cmpa which the doctors have prescribed aptamil pepti for today.

He's had 3 bottles of it so far and tonight his symptoms are just so oooooh much worse. He's screaming like he's in agony. I've tried infacol (that makes him vomit) and gripe water doesn't seem to work anymore. I can't remember the last time I got more that 3 hours sleep in any 24 hour period.

My partner is currently at work, working a 12 hour shift. I've tried calling him but he must be with a patient (paramedic) as he's not answering.

My parents live 30 miles away and are severely disabled so can't help. My partner only has his sister but she is a single mum with a 10 year old so also can't help.

I'm at the end of my tether. I can't stop crying because I feel like a shit mum for not being able to console my baby. I don't know what to do. Please help. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Were you bf before or FF? I think the formula you've been prescribed is hydrolysed so it still has cows milk protein in it just broken down. Many cmpa babies can't tolerate this so you need to have fully dairy free formula like neocate.

I think 7 weeks is too young for Calpol (can't remember) so just lots of cuddles. You're a great mum for recognising there is an issue and doing your best to find a solution.

If he's literally screaming and you can't console him ring 111 or take him to A&E. There's s possibility that he's allergic to something else as well as the milk protein

So sorry this sounds incredibly tough. It will get better. You’re not a terrible mum for not being able to console your newborn. Sometimes newborns are inconsolable. But what you can do is comfort him. We had inconsolable nights but I just had to walk round cuddling dc to me and whilst it didn’t stop the crying at least she knew she was with me. He will know you’re cuddling him / holding him too. Skin to skin? Can you speak to the doctors again or HVs/111 if you really need advice? Any way to get a block of sleep in while your DH holds baby (once he is off work). Does he have any additional leave he can take, ie front loading a/l etc? Sorry not sure if this is helpful or not. My Dc was a high needs baby and I thought she’d never stop crying. But it did get better. It will get better. You’re in the thick of it at seven weeks.

Were you bf before or formula? If you were bf it only takes a couple of days of not eating any dairy or soya yourself to produce bf free of dairy.
most CMPA babies are also allergic to soya and I think it’s neocate that is the most broken down formula but they don’t like prescribing it because of the cost.
it’s really hard when they are screaming in pain. Sometimes a bath can help

I think it's now thought to be about 2-8 hours of not consuming dairy to have df breast milk. It just takes a bit longer for the baby to stop having symptoms.

Mine were also more comfortable sat up in the pushchair ( yes I abandoned the flat pram before 6 weeks) or in a baby bouncy chair thing or in the car seat and drive round a bit until they nod off. I used to carry the seat in and then sit and watch sleeping baby.
It does get better though

If you were breastfeeding before then carry on breastfeeding and cut out dairy. The CMPA symptoms can take up to 6 weeks to clear but the dairy leaves your milk within hours. If you were ff before then you need a dairy free formula, 111 can prescribe if you need it tonight.

That’s great. I was told it was 2 weeks 3 years ago but the improvements in my baby clearly showed it was faster.

I feel your pain, I was in your shoes with both my children. I would stop the new formula and go back to what you were doing yesterday and call 111 to speak to a GP and get another formula. I was lucky with my DD we tried one and it worked straight away and with my DS we tried 3 different ones before settling on his current one. It's absolutely horrendous and you feel so awful but you are thr voice and you know this isn't right, you will crack it I promise but you have to be persistent

Hi, I have 2 kids with CMPA and have been through what you are going through!

I think the dr will ask you to try the Pepti milk for a good few days before changing the milk again. At the moment it’s not possible to say for certain why your baby is upset tonight, it might not be the milk.

After a few days if he hasn’t settled then you’d be reasonable to ask for a prescription of Neocate. Both my kids ended up on Neocate but we had to try Pepti for a week first beforehand.

do whatever you need to do to survive at the moment, if that means sticking baby in pram and walking to calm him then so be it. Lots of skin to skin. Anything that calms him. Just focus on getting through tonight.

this will pass I promise!!

Also does your baby have reflux? The dairy free formulas are thinner and this can make reflux worse, which might be the cause of the screaming. You can buy a thickener called Carobel online or in any good chemist for about £4 a box to add to the milk.

I was going to say this too.
Is baby prescribed gaviscon too for the reflux ?
My dd has cmpa and the aptamil pepti did initially help her symptoms but then she got eczema really bad so was switched to Neocate which is dairy free, she's been so much better on that.
I also think if you're worried you can call 111, baby is still so young

Thinking of you OP, my first baby had CMPA, the doctors gave up pepti and it made him sick and he lost weight on it! They give it as a first choice as it's cheaper, you need a completely milk free one like SMA alfamino or neonate, don't take no for an answer.. I turned up to my doctors in tears and told them I wasn't leaving until they changed the milk! Symptoms improved significantly after a few days on SMA 💕

Sorry ladies he's formula fed. Should have mentioned that

Ask for neocate it's the fully hydrolysed formula that works.

Thanks for the advice ladies. My partner has come home from work to help. Fingers crossed we can get him sorted.

Try contacting www.cry-sis.org.uk/ for support. It's really tough dealing with this and severe sleep deprivation and they can offer help. Are you sure your partner's sister can't help? She can bring her daughter and they both take baby out for a walk to give you a break.

Lines open 7 days a week 9am-10pm

I had a CMPA baby, there was a pretty quick improvement once on the right milk. He had to have neocate but you have to work up so you'll need to give it a few days on this one to see if it improves.are there any other symptoms that point to CMPA? Mine had awful rashes and eczema.

You should also consider silent reflux, my second was a reflux baby and that was relentless! It lasted until he weaned. Omeprazole did lesson his symptoms but didn't cure it.

It's hard, but it passes! X

My daughter now 6 had CPMA and I remember feeling just like you do. Actually one night she screamed like she was in agony for so long I called an ambulance. She also had aptimal pepti combined with medication (ranitidine). The gp wouldn't prescribe meds so one day I took her to A&E and refused to leave until they helped. It was such a difficult time but it passed. I have absolute sympathy 💐. Keep pursuing options.