in March 2023 Babies 🇬🇧

Cows milk protein allergy awareness

Hey mummies! I hope you and your little ones are happy and healthy.😊❤️ I just wanted to make a post about my 7 week old daughters journey, and how we realised she has an allergy to her formula aptamil formula. My daughter was showing symptoms Not gaining enough weight Irritable after feed Projectile vomit Not keeping milk down Constipation and diahreah Coughing/ choking after feed Face hives itchy rash after feeding Straining and belly ache after feed Hiccups multiple times a day I took her to A&E, health visitors, doctors multiple times. Every visit we got a different answer. I was told at first that she has a virus and the rash on her face was a viral rash. Then we was told she has heat rash & reflux.Then baby acne. She was gaining weight, however it was not sufficient enough. It took a lot of persistence from me to get to the bottom of the problem. It is difficult when you know in your heart that you are trying to do everything possible to help your baby, and health care professionals can be quite condescending, questioning how I’m feeding her and trying to imply that I am doing something wrong. Finally a paediatrician presented us with a decision to make, either prescribe her medication for reflux, or to change the milk. I opted to change the milk as I was not keen to medicate my baby. I was prescribed SMA Althera milk which is hydrolysed so the proteins in the milk is broken down so it is easier for baby to digest. After trying the new milk, it was clear the problem has been solved. She is so much happier with in herself. She is now gaining 50 grams a day! She is growing rapidly! She is having normal regular bowel movements. And the rash on her face has completely disappeared. I just wanted to remind mummies that you know your baby best. A doctor that sees them for 10-20mins can not make a conclusive diagnosis. Continue to be strong and fight for you baby! You are their advocate, as they are still growing and finding their place in the world it is up to mummies and daddies to fight for what is right for their babies. 💪🏽❤️ I will attach photos of what the rash on my baby’s face looked like. DISCLAIMER- This is just our personal story, what works for one baby will differ for another.🌝

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Thankyou for sharing ! I am so glad you got to the bottom of it and your little one is now a lot more comfortable and better... I feel like this is exactly the same as my little one.. HV think it's colic 🙄 it's absolutely not trouble is I'm having to try and explain to my family members that something is not right I feel like no one pays as much attention to her as me to know so im fighting against everyone!.. I just get told babies are sick, new borns do get spots etc but they aren't the ones crying with the babes when they are in pain crying

Yes! I completely relate to this. Her family was persistent on “it’s normal”… but if you know I’m your heart that something is up, then keep fighting! You could always ask the gp to trial you on a hydrolysed milk, we are 2 weeks into a 1 month trial and so far so good! The change is unbelievable, she is like a different baby! She’s so happy and settled!

As you can see^ the rash wasn’t always so violent, it was coming and going. Here is a picture of the prescribed hydrolysed milk xx

@Mya how quickly did you notice a difference when you did the milk change please? X

@Mya so glad you got to the bottom of it, and your LO is better, mums always right! Was the rash just on your LOs face or all over her body? My LO has a similar rash but was told by the doctor it was baby acne. It gets worse when she’s hot/crying. X

The rash was only on her face. And came and went. When outisde and when sleeping during the night the rash cleared up then straight after a bottle, it was back. I knew baby acne couldn’t come and go so quickly like that, and some days the rash was worse than others x

The first day on the milk was a difficult transition. It was quiet worrying at first. The milk is very different. It is thin and smells strange. And leaves the bottles quite greasy after using. She was vomiting a lot during the first few feeds. We had to go back to square one and give her little and often to transition her onto it. Once she got used to it after a day or too, we gradually started to up her feeds. She is now drinking 5oz every 3 1/2 - 4 hours x

Once the milk was changed the rash disappeared in around 2-3days, and the belly ache and constipation disappeared immediately… she was pooping once every 2-3days on the aptamil. On the new hydrolysed formula she is pooping 1-3 times a day! The projectile vomiting stopped in around 1-2 days, and she now just has a normal little bit of spit up here and there x

I’m glad you’re getting to the bottom of your little ones problems!! @Kaylee I second these. I got them for my little one, I knew something wasn’t right, we saw an infant feeding specialist and had her tongue tie cut but I knew there was more. She was displaying some signs of CMPA but not consistent. Like the rash, slimey/mucus filled poops/screaming after feeds. She mentioned the possibility of a lactose intolerance rather than CMPA. I tried these drops and noticed a huge difference in just 4 days x

im still fighting for a diagnosis :(

@morwenna same here

I’m so glad to hear everything’s working out ❤️ my baby girl is 7 weeks old today and I was fighting for a diagnosis as she has all these symptoms apart from the rash but she vomits constantly and we go through so many outfit changes 😢 gp reluctantly prescribed us nutramigen a week ago despite him telling us “it’s just severe reflux” but like you it was a horrendous change. She was on it for 48 hours and was vomiting over 20 times a day and ended up being admitted to hospital but they didn’t even mention it being an allergy so told us to go back to regular formula and “reduce her feeds”.. but no difference 😢😢😢

I could not thankyou anymore for this post 😭 I took Elsie to the doctors this morning explained her symptoms and how she is and she straight the way said it sounds like a cows milk intolerance! I'd been umming and arring about weather to contact the HV again or cut them out and go straight GP and I'm so glad I went to the GP! (Was worried I'd just be fobbed off or made out it was the way we are feeding her etc!) We have been prescribed nutramegin to trial for a month and a follow up app on the 6th June! Fingers crossed this helps my little girl!

Aww this is fantastic news, don’t be alarmed if when you first try the milk she throws it up, it will take a few days for her to get used to it! And don’t freak out like I did if her poo is green😂😂 it’s because of the milk😂 I would love for you to keep me updated on how things go! Xxx 😘