Good and bad news

Good news, Claire did not fuss at all tonight!!!!! :a_smil09: She got up at 7, ate, and was content...took her to the grocery store with me and she slept the entire time.

Bad news....I have been giving her Enfamil Nutramigen since Thursday. I have a feeling this is what is helping her. I had gotten two cans from our Pedi. I priced at the grocery store tonight and it was $25 for 16oz can!! There is no way I can afford it! Plus Carlie has been super cranky tonight and is VERY gassy (X-rays show this). I am wondering if she needs it too. I cannot give her gasdrops since she has AR and she is already on Enfamil Gentlease.

What if this is what is curing her colic? That means she has a milk protein allergy and will need to continue it, but we cannot afford it. Luckily they have their 2 month check-up tomorrow so we will be discussing all of this. I just feel like we take one step forward and two back when it comes to all of this.

Does anyone else use this formula and if so, do you have to continue it til they are a year old or can you go back after they get out of the colicky stage?

I want to continue if this is what is going to keep her from being colicky but not sure how we will be able to buy it!!

April

 

:hug99: I know formula is super expensive. While we didn't use the Nutramigen, I registed on the Enfamil website for free coupons. They helped a little!

 

If you call the company or have your pedi talk to the rep, you may be able to get a discount on the formula if you purchase it directly from the company. That is what my sister did when my nephew had to buy on it. I think they only paid half price.

 

I wonder if WIC could help?

 

I friend of mine was able to get her insurance company to pay for the special formula her girls needed. Her doctor wrote a prescription. Maybe you can ask your ped today about it. GL! And glad to hear your little ladies are feeling better, Leighann

Edited for grammar.

 

My DD may or may not have a milk protein allergy (it's one possible explanation for some bloody poops she had a while back), and though I mostly BF, whenever she gets formula she gets Nutramigen. You're right, it is wicked expensive! (And smelly!) I'm glad the pps had some good ideas on how to get a discount.

About how long to continue it - the GI specialist told me that she should have NO dairy and continue Nutramigen until she's 1 year old. Then we'll bring her in to the clinic for a day, and they'll do a milk challenge (give her more and more milk over the course of a day and see what happens). If she handles dairy fine, then she's either outgrown the allergy or never had it in the first place. If she reacts, then we'll know she is indeed allergic. He also told me that if they aren't exposed to the allergen for a long time (~1 yr old), there's a good chance they may outgrow the allergy.

 

Few things you can do...

ONE call Enfamil and tell them you had twins and where they were born and they should send each baby a case (6 big cans) of the Nutramigen...

TWO register online to get coupons, register your mom, sil, sisters everyone and use their addy and they will get coupons too.

THREE have your pedi give you more free cans, tell them you need help with it and they should give you more. My pedi office will give me cases of formula, they dont pay for it. reps give it to them so push that...

FOUR - for sure ask the pedi about getting a script to see if it can be paid for and lastly check into WIC it would be worth it but some make too much. I attempted it and we were no where close to receiving it. It is worth checkin on though...

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

 

We tried DS on Nutramigen and it didn't help at all. When we were looking into it, I looked into WIC. Here, in MI, I think the cut off was $32,000 year for a family of 4. I found it on the website, so you might try searching it. I believe that for the wic to cover it, you needed a doctor's note.

Check out this thread from another site for some more info on getting insurance to pay

http://www.soulcysters.net/hypoallergenic-...surance-174525/

 

You've gotten lots of good advice. All my kids had milk/soy allergies, along with wheat and eggs. I nursed all my singletons, but with the twins, I supplemented with Nutramigen. My older 2 had it until almost 2 years old, but my 3 boys all outgrew it before age 1.

 

QUOTE(jschaad @ Oct 9 2007, 02:36 PM) [snapback]442272[/snapback]
Few things you can do...

ONE call Enfamil and tell them you had twins and where they were born and they should send each baby a case (6 big cans) of the Nutramigen...

TWO register online to get coupons, register your mom, sil, sisters everyone and use their addy and they will get coupons too.

THREE have your pedi give you more free cans, tell them you need help with it and they should give you more. My pedi office will give me cases of formula, they dont pay for it. reps give it to them so push that...

FOUR - for sure ask the pedi about getting a script to see if it can be paid for and lastly check into WIC it would be worth it but some make too much. I attempted it and we were no where close to receiving it. It is worth checkin on though...

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

This is awesome advice as well as the pp about not giving milk products for a year. One of my boys has a possible milk allergy and he is on Alimentum. It is sooooooo expensive Also, if they have a true milk allergy it is highly likely they are allergic to soy as well per our Ped GI, so you may not want to offer soy either.

Rachel

 

We had ours tested for major allergens with a blood test- quick and easy and then you know for sure. Only about 10-15% of babies allergic to milk protein are also allergic to soy. My boys are moderately allergic to milk protein (not the same as lactose intolerance) and are fine with soy. I made the switch to soy at 5 weeks with them and they were different babies afterwards. (I did not have them allergy tested until about 4 or 5 months I think.) The only way to know for sure is to have them tested. I felt that knowing it was a true allergy made things easier for us, even though I find it difficult to eliminate milk protein because it's in everything! Good luck with everything.

Kelly

 

QUOTE(KellyJ @ Oct 9 2007, 03:33 PM) [snapback]442389[/snapback]
We had ours tested for major allergens with a blood test- quick and easy and then you know for sure. Only about 10-15% of babies allergic to milk protein are also allergic to soy. My boys are moderately allergic to milk protein (not the same as lactose intolerance) and are fine with soy. I made the switch to soy at 5 weeks with them and they were different babies afterwards. (I did not have them allergy tested until about 4 or 5 months I think.) The only way to know for sure is to have them tested. I felt that knowing it was a true allergy made things easier for us, even though I find it difficult to eliminate milk protein because it's in everything! Good luck with everything.

Kelly



Hi Kelly! What's the name of this test? Does it test specifically for milk allergies? Thanks!

 

QUOTE(jschaad @ Oct 9 2007, 10:36 AM) [snapback]442272[/snapback]
Few things you can do...

ONE call Enfamil and tell them you had twins and where they were born and they should send each baby a case (6 big cans) of the Nutramigen...

TWO register online to get coupons, register your mom, sil, sisters everyone and use their addy and they will get coupons too.


This isn't necessarily true - I called Similac, Enfamil AND Carnation when I had the twins and the only ones that offered me anything was Carnation - if I sent in copies of the twins birth certificates they'd send me a coupone for one free can of formula each...

as for signing up for coupons that was a joke and a half - I was told I'd get double the coupons because I had multiples and I didn't get a single coupon the twins entire first year - NOW that they're 17 mos old I get them once a month....and I registered my mother as well and she didn't get a single thing!

 

I don't know the specific name of the allergy test. All I asked for was a blood test for allergies and their Dr. said they have a specific panel that tests for "major" childhood allergens. It tested for peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, tuna, soy, milk protein, egg, wheat, cat, dog, dust mites, and maybe one or 2 others that I have forgotten by now. We have shellfish allergies in the family, so we did want to know if they have that issue already. Allergies change and develop over time so this test and other tests will not rule out an allergy for life or determine if this is something they will outgrow. Blood tests are more accurate when testing babies for allergies, supposedly. Skin testing should not be attempted before at least 18 months according to our allergist because baby's skin is more reactive and it could produce a false positive.

I would just ask your pediatrician for the test and they sould be able to collect the blood and send it to the lab. Our results were back in about 10 days. The results will also give you a reading on bad the allergy is at this time. It has like this graph showing how bad they react to things: mild, moderate, severe. It was very interesting. I have my guys scheduled for retesting at the end of the month. This time they will do a broader set of testing since they both have severe eczema that won't clear with steriod creams and such. I know they are allergic to something else besides milk. Oh and their Dr. said you should re-test in 6 months if a reaction is seen on the first blood test. Good luck!

Kelly

 

QUOTE(AmynTony @ Oct 9 2007, 07:30 PM) [snapback]442865[/snapback]
This isn't necessarily true - I called Similac, Enfamil AND Carnation when I had the twins and the only ones that offered me anything was Carnation - if I sent in copies of the twins birth certificates they'd send me a coupone for one free can of formula each...

as for signing up for coupons that was a joke and a half - I was told I'd get double the coupons because I had multiples and I didn't get a single coupon the twins entire first year - NOW that they're 17 mos old I get them once a month....and I registered my mother as well and she didn't get a single thing!


I saw this post today and called Enfamil to see if they would send me any ProSobee and they said that they are going to send me a case of it as well as some coupons. I also got a ton of coupons when the boys were born along with 2 cans of Enfamil Lipil w/Iron. My pediatrician's office also signed me up for the Enfamil twin program and Enfamil sent me 2 cases (24 cans) of the 13oz. liquid concentrate. They definitely give out a ton of freebies, you just have to know where to look/ask.

I would check with your pediatrician's office to see if they can get you signed up for the twin program. Enfamil is supposed to send 2 cases of formula but I'm not sure if you can specify which kind you want. We got the regular Lipil w/Iron and can't use it because of milk allergies.

Good luck!