Switching Formulas and GI Upset

It does appear to be an allergy of sorts. My youngest son is highly allergic to milk and eggs. We have had him tested for every allergy you can think of. It helps to find out what exactly they are allergic to so that you can catch it early. It will help to have you avoid it. Maybe going to an allergy specialist instead of just the pediatrician. It has helped us to have both. We have been able to keep him well now for over a year now due to knowing what we have to avoid. Good luck, I know it is frustrating.

If you decide to go back to breastfeeding, I could help with recipes - I don't eat dairy because I am vegan.

My little one is on Alimentum because of Milk Allergy and he has done so well on it! The only thing is it makes for the nastiest messy diapers! (they smell amazingly bad)
You might try switching again... Does your dr have samples of others you can try?

I had a similar but less drastic problem with my son. He just totally stopped eating. After taking him to the doctor numerous times and changing his formula about 3 times my mother suggested we take him to her chiropractor. He looked my son over and said there was nothing really wrong with him physically but then he suggested I do something that I thought was crazy at the time but it really worked. I put him on carrot juice. I would buy a 5 lb package of regular carrots-now you could use organic I guess-and juice them up. It makes about 8 oz of carrot juice. I would dilute it half and half with boiled water and then give him a bottle morning and night. This took care of the feeding problems-he started really wanting to drink his formula, which I was able to put him back on regular Similac, and when he no longer needed the carrot juice he just stopped drinking it. To this day (he's 16 now) he really doesn't like carrots too much but it saved his life. The doctor is into natural cures and he said that carrots have 99% of the vitamins and minerals that we need in our diet-I think that it is the anti-oxidants that really helped. I hope this helps-I know that I wouldn't have my son now if this hadn't worked since he was losing weight steadily and refused to eat anything else-he was about 3 months old and only about 10 lbs when I finally started the carrot juice.

Switching from breastmilk to formula almost always causes GI upset, but what you are describing needs to be under a doctor's close supervision - when you say milk allergy, are you referring to lactose intolerance? If so, reducing your own milk intake (the lactose you ingest goes straight through to the breastmilk, and human milk is naturally very low in lactose) can often solve the problem. Any time you have an infant with blood in the stool, though, it needs to be assessed immediately, as internal bleeding can cause severe problems very quickly in a baby.

Yes, formula switching can cause tummy upset. Also switching water. . .like using tap water in another community, while visiting relatives etc.

What you're describing seems a little more serious than the norm. I recommend you calling a pediatrician whom you trust and who takes seriously your motherly concerns and see what advice he or she has.

A little about me. . .I have 7 children and have breast fed and bottled fed all of them.

It's a little frustrating to me that the first answer always seems to be to stop breastfeeding. It is as if the companies that make formulas are running the doctors' offices these days. I cut out milk as a rule with a newborn because I have found when I do I have healthier babies - less runny noses and goopy eyes. If you can't go back to breastfeeding there is lots of great advice here. I know a lady personally whose doctor told her to use raw goat's milk with carrot and celery juice mixed in. Her baby is perfectly orange and perfectly healthy.

Hey L.,
I had a similar experience with my daughter. I am not familliar with the formulas you have mentioned, but i can tell you we switched to a lacto-free formula and things improved rapidly. Perhaps the formulas you have tried already are lacto-free. Just a suggestion. Good-luck and congrats on your little one.
K.

It definitely sounds like a dairy allergy. I had to remove ALL dairy from my diet when I breastfed my daughter who is now almost 4. She was VERY allergic of dairy. Most formulas have some form of dairy in then. I am not totally familiar with soy though. I would think it shouldn't have it in there, but then again I don't know.

To give you an idea how allergic my daughter was, I couldn't even have carmel color because it has dairy. I had to get a full listing of the diary items. Getting rid of all the dairy made for a very happy baby. I accidental didn't read a label once, she had a pretty bad reaction as well as being super fussy. I then realized how important my restrictive diet was and it was sooo worth it.

Good luck

I am having a similar experience with my son. He is two months, one week today. Since he was five weeks, he has had blood in his stool. I have cut out ALL dairy/soy from my diet. I have read every label to assure I am not missing anything and he continues to have blood in his stool. For three weeks now, I have eaten nothing more than veggies, fruit and meat. On Wednesday, I am going to a GI specialist. Hopefully then, they can figure out what is causing it. I haven’t tried formula yet, but I am sure that is what the specialist will recommend. If you find something that works for you, please let me know. I will do the same. Good Luck!!!

Are you sure that she has a breast milk allergy, typically if she is having problems with breast milk it is because of something that you are eating. A milk allergy is typically a cow's milk allergy and products. I am sorry I never had a problem with this. Have you tried to contact the La Leche League? They should be able to help you with your concern. Pam

Just a thought, have you tried to just take all the dairy out of your diet and keep breastfeeding?

It takes about 2 weeks for the dairy to get out of her and your system. My daugther has a milk allergy and a soy allergy too. I took myself off of dairy and she is doing so much better now. Its wonderful. She used to get gassy and throw up alot before I went dairy free. Now shes fine with things like hard cheeses. As long as I stay away from the milk.

Apart from that you could try her on Goats milk formula. You can get it at your local health food store. Its not the same as cows milk and its alot closer to breastmilk than any other formula out there.

take dairy out of your diet and continue breastfeeding...formula...
try Isomil. I have breastfed 6 babies and used bottles and always had luck with Isomil....

My eight month old also has a severe milk allergy. We tried Nutramigen and it worked for a few weeks but then blood showed up in his stool again. We now use Neocate. It has been a life saver. We could have tried soy formula but the ped dr said there is a 50% chance he'd be allergic to it too. I wish I would have taken dairy completely out of my diet and continued to breast feed - but didn't. It was scary to be dealing with blood in the stool and just wanted my baby to be ok. It does take a while to get the dairy out of her system, and I have heard that goat's milk is good too.

Hi, L.. How scary that things are getting worse. If she is actually getting worse, have you considered exploring breastfeeding again and altering your diet? La Leche League has a good handout on lactose intolerance in babies. Don't know if it's available on line (llli.org) or if you'll need to find a leader. My gut feeling would be to question if stopping breastfeeding was the best solution, or just the easiest the doctor could think of at the time. I hope your baby feels better soon.

Hi L.,

I have not seen these symptoms, but I do know if I had it to do over again, I would give my baby goat's milk formula available in health food store. It is closer to mom's milk and easier to digest.

K. Loidolt
Author, Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living