Projectile vomitting after formula feed

[mumtoalyssa]

Hi,
New here and looking for some advice. I have been breast feeding my daughter since birth and now am looking to going back to work in August - she is currently 5 and a half months old.
I would like to cut down the amount of times i feed her so I can give the nursery formula milk and also so i can have a bit of me back! Anyway I've tried her on formula several times and she is always projectile sick afterwards and she is NOT a sicky baby normally. I've tried several brands, different bottles and teats, different amounts, diluting it with breast milk and making it weaker - obviously something in it doesn't agree with her. Any ideas why? I have no allergies and can eat everything as can her father. She has no problem taking a bottle either as she has had expressed milk from an early age.

I went to see the GP on Thursday who asked all the usual questions - which kind i've tried, different amounts etc.. and then HE did a search on google for answers - i know doctors don't know evertyhting but this is ridiculous! I then spoke to the Health visitor again who asked the same questions and it really seems as if I'm repeating myself over and over and going round in circles! The latest suggestion is that i give it to her on a spoon!

Has anyone else been through this? I've been reading about SMA LF milk and was maybe going to try that but i feel like i'm poisoning her as she's always sick afterwards - and never immediately - always 1 and a half to two hours later.

She eats pureed fruit and veg no prob - likes everything.

Help!


Thanks

[happycat]

Sorry to hear you aren't doing too well with formulas. I would assume that you still have all of the formulas you have tried. If you have then go and look at all the ingredients and find out whats in what formula. Write every ingredient down and see if there is a common ingredient between each formula.

I would also suggest you go back to your GP for a referral for some tests or even to a dietician.

Good luck.

[Copper]

Hello and welcome to mumtoalyssa. It sounds like Alyssa has an intolerance to the formula (dairy) probably the lactose (the natural sugar found in milk). I have had this from birth - it went away and came back again. If it is lactose intolerance she will possibly always have this condition. Trying to find how much dairy you can tolerate is tricky.

As you know as much as your GP and health visitor it may be up to you to find out more. You have come to the right place by coning here. Alyssa needs a prescription for a special dairy free formula. Now days a soya based one is not prescribed as there is a chance that the baby will then develop an intolerance/allergy to soya. This is a list of the special milks available

http://www.paediatricgastroenterologist.co.uk/Milkstable.htm

Others on this list have been prescribed Pepti for their babies and some have been given Nutramigen. They smell and taste a bit yukky so some mums have had to disguise the taste with a milk shake flavouring.

You also need to be careful with other foods that you introduce Alyssa to - you will need to check the ingredients on the labels and avoid any with any sort of dairy in them to be on the safe side. You should also ask your GP for an appointment with a dietician.

I am sure that some of the mums here will be able to give advice too.

[Nic]

I know someone who projectile vomited milk as a baby. She was brought up completely non-dairy (actually vegetarian as well, because her family was) and can now tolerate quite large amounts of dairy. So it might well be worth avoiding dairy completely for a bit, and seeing if being strict will a) get rid of the symptoms and b) perhaps make it easier for your baby's system to recover. Though obviously there's no guarantees about that.

Nic

[Pam]

You could try a dairy free formula or you could ask your doctor to prescribe infant gaviscon which is a thickening powder that you add to the bottle before a feed. Once it mixes with the digestive enzymes it forms a gel which makes it a lot harder to bring back. My boys both needed this (though neither appear to have problems with milk) but they were usually sick within minutes of finishing a bottle, it was like they had a pocket of wind and when the wind came up the whole lot of milk came back too.

One of the shop bought formula milks is made thicker to stop this happening, it could be Omneo Comfort, but I might be wrong.

The doctor sounds a bit hopeless if he can't come up with anything more useful than spoon feeding.

[Copper]

Pam - is the fact that Alyssa is not very sick until 1.5 - 2 hours after the milk significant?

I can only speak from my experience but with my lactose intolerance I don't feel ill straight away either. The state that I am in now I would probably take about that long to feel really sick.

It certainly doesn't sound like an allergy as Alyssa does not have any problems with swelling eg lips.

I have just remembered that somebody mentioned a formula with no lactose. It is SMA LF - maybe Alyssa would be ok on that - I would give that a trial as it has got to be better than doing nothing or waiting for the GP to find this out. Boots sell it and it costs £5.06.

What ever happens do let us know mumtoalyssa how things are going.

[matt]

welcome to the site.

go with the dairy free idea. i would say it's an intolerance not allergy as that tends to be very quick.
the intolerance will take longer.
there are the dairy free formulas available which is what i'd try then see whether the reaction carries on after a couple of weeks... again the tummy will need time to settle down.
then if the symptoms disappear try to reintroduce the dairy to see whether reaciton starts again, if it does then you can see the gp and ask for formula on prescription after explaining you have excluded and then reintroduced.

if it doesn't go away then go for the gaviscon approach.
keep calm they are remarkably resilient.:)