I tried my baby on normal formula....

[Julied24]

He has been refusing to take Nutramigen and still wasn't muchbetter on Neocate that gp prescribed so Dietician suggested soya but she didn't ecommend it and I don't want him on it at only 4 months so I felt I had no option to try normal cow & gate again, he has been on it 24 hrs now and isn't anywhere near as bad as he use to be on it, still more windy than when he did take the milk free formulas but not screaming & crying like he us to be when he was tiny.

Dietician said he had cows milk allergy but did no tests so I wasn't 100% confident in her diagnosis, I thought he had a temporary milk/lactose intollerance because his symptoms were constant wind and crying after feeds, no rash, diorhea or sickness at all.

He was taking 2-3oz every 6 hours or so on the special formulas prescribed but on cow & gate over the last 24hrs he is taking 6oz every 3-4 hrs :D not sure what to think or do to be honest, he is still windy and can be slightly grumpy after a feed but his intake is great.

Any advice, what do u think?

Julie

[Pam]

Julie,

If he continues to be no worse on normal formula than on the special stuff, and he is also taking more, perhaps you can discount the cow's milk allergy theory. However it could take a day or two for the symptoms to really come back.

I don't know a great deal about reflux but I know that it causes a lot of problems for babies and often goes undiagnosed. Do some research on the web and see if this could be a possibility. Try a parenting site like www.ukparents.co.uk as there are loads of mums on there who might be able to help you (reflux gets talked about loads).

Have you tried Infacol? I always found it quite helpful at getting wind up (give before a feed, it's available over the counter at the chemists) and there's another one too that I can't remember the name of, maybe Colief? Lots of people swear by that one.

I hope you manage to find the answer soon, something is making your little man unhappy and an unhappy baby = unhappy mum.

You're doing your best and you'll get there in the end - it's not for the want of trying.

[Julied24]

HI Pam,

He got very grumpy, unsettled and windy later today after bieng on cow & gate for 24 hours so ive now given him 2 bottles of Neocate since 6pm and he has drank all of them both with harldy any wind and seemed happy :rolleyes: I have also not given any solids for 2 days so maybe thats why he is now taking more milk.

I was just at my wits end because he was not feeding very well on these hypoallergenice formulas ive been given and I was very worried about him so felt I had to try something to see if it worked.

I think its a milk intolerance or something like that, not necersarily an allergy as he doesn't get a rash or sick/diorhea.

Shall see how he now goes on the Neocate, hopefully he will feed every 3 hrs like he has done on cow & gate but onbviously be alot happier.

If he does have an allergy/intollerance like my dietician thinks he has will giving him the cow & gate made it any worse? hope ive not made things any worse.

Julie

[matt]

i wouldn't think you'll have done any harm with giving him the normal formula. what you need to do is stick with the allergy free for a few days. it's the chopping and changing that's probably causing the problem.
sometimes it will take a couple of days for reactions to come out and for digestive systems to calm down. relax let your baby eat the allergy free for a couple of days and just see what happens. something like infacol will probably help.

easier to say than do i know but if you're stressed then so will your baby be, which won't help.

[Pam]

I don't think you will have made the intolerance worse but what I found was that once we had eliminated milk from my daughter's diet, any small lapse made the symptoms far more pronounced and noticable. I think with continued use, she tolerated the pain and discomfort to a certain extent because she was used to it but to be free of pain for a few weeks and then suddenly to encounter it again made her more aware and she screamed the house down.

See how you go for a couple of weeks with the Neocate only. Hopefully he will become more used to it and accept it in greater quantities.

[Julied24]

Thanks for your replies, I shall see if he settles down on Neocare over the next few weeks.

The dietician has only put him on it until 6 months then wants us to use soya formula which I really want to avoid but what other choice do I have? I can't afford to buy Neocate its £29 a small tin and it lasts 2-3 days!!!!

Julie

[Steph]

Hi,

I had the same problems with my son. He is now on Pregestimil and just loves it. He has a dairy and soya allergy which causes many of the same syptoms, the main problem is within 2 hours he has an excema outbreak. He is only 18 months old and has been excema free now for 3 weeks which is fantastic for us all. He even manages to sleep through the night now that his tummy and skin are more settled.

All I will say is hang in there. my gp and HV were both crap!

Good Luck
Steph