Formula problems again

[Jem26]

:unsure: Jemima had been settled on a formula on prescription called Pepti by Cow & Gate, she started refusing to drink it a couple of weeks ago, I carried on offering it to her but she was refusing so I tried to ring my dietician but she is away for 2 weeks so I just put her onto Cow & Gate Premium as I felt I had no option, she needed to drink something. She took that formula, ok only 4oz in the morning and 8oz at night but was half of that with pepti & that was a struggle.

She seems to be fine on it, no runny poo's although I do notice a small amount of mucus in her nappies each morning when she poo's but not huge amounts, she doesn't cry in pain and her sickness isn't that bad on it. I thought maybe her intolerance had settled down but it was only 2-3 weeks ago that she had yoghurt fed to her by my son;) and she was sick for hours after. So I take it the intolerance is still there.

With my dietician being away do you think I should just put her back onto the pepti? its the most palatable formula of the lot, she has tried 2 others and hated them. Its obvious her intolerance is still there so I worry that she is on a regular formula nowhttp://www.baby-greenhouse.co.uk/smilies/rolleyes.gif even though she doesn't seem bad on it.

I am just confused because surely she wouldn't be able to take regular baby formula if she had an intollerance but how come she is so so sick after any dairy? a friend of mine basically said she doesn't think Jem has an intolerance and that her son is badly sick hours after any dairy aswell but he doesn't have an intolerance, she said if Jem can take regular baby formula now with no probs then surely she can have dairy. Made me feel like I was maybe blowing her sickness out of proportion, im not at all she will be sick for hours after a meal if she has had any dairy by mistake and we do our best to keep her upright. If she isn't usually that sick after other foods but is alot after dairy then surely she can't tollerate it and is intollerant, I am right aren't I? :confused: made me feel abit silly.

Funny thing is being on the regular formula she has had fantastic weight gain, she gained well over a pound in 2 weeks being back on regular baby formula, much more than when she is on the Pepti. I had no choice but to try her on regular formula as she wasn't taking in any fluids.

Arghh total nightmare she is, she had been so settled on pepti for months.

[Copper]

Jemima likes to keep us guessing doesn't she :lol2: Speaking from my personal experience I was a very poorly sicky baby from birth. I did get over it by the time I was about 2 months old. It did come back when I was about 8 and I can see now that this was because I was given an extra bottle of milk at school to build me up :lol2: I am now 52 and my intolerance is still changing for the worse, so in the next few weeks I will be cutting out the small amount of dairy that I have now.

The point of this rambling is that I still think that Jemima has an intolerance to lactose/dairy. How much she can cope with in any 24 hour period is anyones guess. If she does manage to have a reasonable amount in a day this may not last and it will come back to haunt her.

I would try and stick with a dairy free diet. Others here in the past have had problems getting their babies to drink these special milks but have cunningly disguised the taste by adding some flavouring you use to make milk shakes. Perhaps that would fool Jemima.

[sophiesmum]

I am only a newcomer on the scene, so I don't know much about your situation and this might be rubbish advice, but have you tried SMA's lactose free formula (SMA LF) - saw it in Boots the other day?

My daughter will probably be starting on Nutramigen or similar pretty soon (just waiting to see the dietician)...

Good luck

[Copper]

As Jemima has an intolerance rather than an allergy it might be worth asking about the SMA lactose free formula. The problem is always that we never get to speak to an "expert". A GP and a health visitor can't be expected to know about everything. One would hope that a dietician would know more but I have my doubts sometimes.

[Jem26]

Thanks both, they tried her on sma LF when she was tiny but she still threw up alot. The pepti is for milk protein intolerance.

So was what my friend says not true? I can't see that babies are naturally that sick after dairy, Jem is abit sick after other foods but not that much that she would be covering 5 bibs and the floor, then when she goes to bed her bed is also covered. With it being dairy she then stinks all day so you just have to bath her. This is what happens if she has any dairy by mistake.

Ju

[Copper]

It sounds like Jemima is still protein intolerant to me. It is normal for a baby to bring back the odd mouth full of milk - intolerant when winding but anymore than that is a sign that there is a problem.

I don't know if you grow out of a dairy protein intolerance as I only know about lactose intolerance. The only way to find out is to try some dairy now and again I guess unless somebody knows better.

I guess it is back to the Pepti for now then. Let us know how she gets on.

[matt]

i'd stick with the pepti but maybe disguise using milk shake flavour....

everyone is different, you never know she could grow out of it... or it could be the quantity needed to trigger varies....
keep calm and most of all take the friends advice with pinch of salt. they have no experience and often do not have a clue what it is like. if they tried to imagine teething screams constantly then maybe they would understand!

[Jem26]

Thank you both, right back to pepti and i will try to disguise it.

Do you think prebiotics are important? they are in the regular baby milks but not in pepti or any of the prescription formulas. There was a leaflet with the cow & gate baby formula saying how important they are for their immune systems, it makes you worry that without them your not doing enough for their health.

She is so sick after dairy that she must still have a problem, she is never sick like this otherwise.

Thanks again

[Copper]

I wonder sometimes about all this prebiotic stuff. I have managed to survive without all this stuff. I can't help thinking that if we all eat a well balanced diet we shouldn't need any prebiotics. I am sick of adverts on the TV trying to sell me these things - the companies will get rich no doubt.

What is in the prebiotic? Some of them seem to be milk based!!!! No thank you.

[tigerlily]

Hm. Speaking from experience with my 2 1/2 daughter Eden, I would lay off the Pepti ~ BUT ONLY WITH THE DIETICIAN's BLESSING ~(it is the "BEST"-tasting one of the lot, yes!) and speak to the Dietician about alternatives. To give you an example, Eden stopped drinking formula out of a bottle at age 4 months and I ~following the HV's advice ~ weaned her. I had to as she refused to drink ANY FORMULA. At age 8 months, when she first started to show signs of dairy intolerance, we tried several hypoallergenic formulas but she hardly gained any weight. She drank it out of a trainer cup not bottle -sometimes that makes a difference. At 12 months ~again, following Eden's Dietician's advice~ she was allowed to start on shop-bought soya milk because she wouldn't drink anything else. In addition to that, she had 1-2 ALPRO JUNIOR soya yogurts per day for extra Calcium. Later on, we added a Calcium supplement, which she is still on.
Eden always vomited as well after she had dairy when she was a baby.

I would persevere with the PEPTI until the Dietician's return and then discuss alternatives. Is your daughter weaned yet? If so, you could add some formula to her food, sort of disguise the taste of it. This way, she would still have some sort of Calcium intake. That's what we did.

To boost weight gain, you could ask the Dietician to prescribe one of the available powders to add to your daughter's formula or food.

Good Luck.

Vanessa.

[scallywag]

I agree with copper on this one.

Scallywag

[matt]

our ancestors survived quite happily without pre biotics and the like... all that needs to be said really.

[JaynieB]

I have read before that pre-biotics are not a necesity - cow and gate didn't used to have them in and only added them a couple of years ago.. so don't worry about them not being in the formula....

Loads of sympathy to you Jem26 - DS had horrendous nappies wit regular formula, we finaly decided it was lactose and he has SMA LF - but now he has started with the nappies occaisionally again so we're not sure if something else is triggering it too - back to the drawing board - I'm like you - just don't seem to be able to see what to do for the best...


Good luck
Jayne

[Jem26]

Thank you all:-)

I shall see what dietician thinks, not go hold of her yet.

Ju xxx