My lo has been on Alimentum for about 2 months now. She had some mucus in her stool, VERY bad gas, lots of straining, nasal congestion (still has this). I asked her pedi how would I know she would need an elemental formula because I'm determined to help fix her constant stuffy nose. She actually told me babies who need those are VERY fussy, unhappy babies, blood in stools etc. and that even if she still has a slight sensitivity to the Alimentum keeping her on it will help her body build up a tolerance to it and she'd be fine. She said why do you think we get allergy shots....so we can build a tolerance to the allergy. I wanted to make sure that IF she does still have a slight problem with the Alimentum that keeping her on it anyway for the long run won't do harm. She said it would not. But from my research not ALL babies outgrow MSPI most due. But another thing is it could take up to a 1 or more. And she is only 5 months. So what I'm supposed to let her be uncomfortable in HOPES that she outgrows it soon?? She still has some sleep issues like crying out in her sleep. She's on Zantac but I think her nose and sleep issues are milk related. By the way I did eat ALOT of milk while pregnant I mean cereal everyday sometimes 2 bowls, yogurt etc...everyday!
What do you think of this?
Re: I've never heard such a thing
I haven't heard that in terms of formula, but the building up a tolerance thing is one school of thought in the allergy world. DD1 is allergic to dairy, soy, and eggs, but can tolerate her allergens baked into foods or in processed foods. Our allergist said to continue to give her those foods as long as she doesn't react to them to help build her tolerance.
Has your LO's stool been tested for blood? DD2's stool tested positive for blood even when we couldn't see it in her diaper. We tested it again once I'd been dairy and soy free for 5 wks and it was negative (and her stool was normal again), so we knew my diet changes were working. If your LO's stool hasn't been tested, I would ask to have that done.
Ultimately, I say it's up to you. If you want to try another formula to see if it helps, I would certainly give it a try. Down the road, you can see what food your LO can tolerate and go from there. For now, if it were me, I'd try a different formula to see if you can get her system completely healed first. It certainly sounds like her system is still irritated since she's having bad gas and mucous in her stool.
DD1: allergic to eggs & dairy
c/p 4/1/11
DD2: milk and soy protein intolerant, allergic to eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, bananas
MSPI Moms Check-In Blog
I agree with this.
same here! and i would switch Pedis. If a pedi thinks it's ok to keep her so uncomfortable, she would not be a good fit for me.