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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
Milk/Soy Allergy and breastfeeding questions! Help!
Oh my my...well, we have some answers today. My DD has been unconsolable the last couple of days - took her poo in to the dr. today and they checked it. Sure enough - milk allergy. I have been breastfeeding - and occasionally pump for a bottle. I tried to give her a bit of formula today that is special for milk allergies so we can start the road to recovery! I've also been reading on what I can have - so I will pump until my diet is milk/soy free...however, with going to work in a short 3 weeks, I don't know if I can keep that up so I want her to get used to that formula. I have a TON of questions!
1. DD hates the formula...just eating an ounce and a half then gagging..the on call nurse said that I could alternate BF'ing then going to formula...part of me thought about going cold turkey with it and then when my diet gets milk free, offereing that. ? What have you done?
2. How long does it take for her to get to feeling better with your experience?
3. Will she eventually like that formula? Or at least take it? I hate seeing her in so much pain and discomfort...we are DESPERATE for her to get to feeling better as we are SO sleep deprived because she never sleeps due to her poor little tummy.
And I guess I can keep taking my prenatals? But they have calcium? This is such a mystery of what will get her feeling good.
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!!
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Re: Milk/Soy Allergy and breastfeeding questions! Help!
1. Totally normal. What I did was mix it with BM in a bottle, starting with 1/2oz and slowly moving up. You can go cold turkey with it though. They say it takes 2 weeks to have it fully get out of your system, and LO's, but I would always see a huge difference if I ate something with milk in it right away so, cutting it out would probably have an impact fairly soon.
2. With my LO, it was instant. Some LOs take time though.
3. DS eventually got over the taste and ate like a champ.
Whether or not you can continue to take your prenatals is really dependent on how sensitive your LO is. I did and LO was fine, but some are SUPER sensitive and it interferes. Many LOs with this also have an allergy to soy, so keep that in mind as well. If you end up on the special formula, get a certificate of medical necessity from your pedi so that you can try to get it covered by your insurance. And don't stress (although WAY easier said than done) about this issue. Most LOs grow out of it no later than age 2 (and the vast majority do so by age 1). We've been on special formula since I gave up EPing and just recently started trying soy formula again. We're giving it 10 days before we decide which direction we'll continue on. Around 6 months or so, we'll try the regular formulas again.
WOW! What great help! I need your email address!:) That was so helpful and completely eased my mind! Thank you!
She also has reflux which is just as fun, let me tell you...so, being able to tell what is bothering her is hard.
The biggest thing I noticed was how upset her tummy was. When she would eat, her tummy would make incredible crazy noises...I mean, completely awful. It really concerned me. She threw up after some feedings and just seemed incredibly irritated. She would strain so hard and scream and cry while trying to poop. It has been really challenging!
Symptoms vary amongst LOs but they are typically: fussiness with feeding (arching back, screaming, pulling away from the bottle/boob but going back to it because they're hungry), hives/rash, bloody stools, excessive spit up/vomiting, weight gain issues. We never had hives/rash or excessive spit up/vomiting or weight gain issues, so ours was a mild case.