Milk intolerance?

My DD ~ 5 weeks age adjusted (11 weeks actual) was diagnosed with reflux before she left the nicu 7 weeks ago. She's been on prevacid and reglan/bethanacol (sp?) since then. But the spitting up seemed to be getting worse (but never reached the projectile vomit stage), so we took her off the medication for a week to see... there really was no difference either on the medication or off it.

So I decided to try soy formula (and not medicate her), she's been on it for a couple of days and now no (or very little) spit ups, and less gas as well.

I know just two days on a new formula might not tell me something, but could this indicate she has a milk allergy or is lactose-intollerant? I pump for the twins and they get BM during the day, but DD spits up with my BM as well as the
Enfamil formula.

I just worry that they diagnosed her with reflux prematurely and the problem lies elsewhere....

Oh, and if it is a milk intolerance (or lactose intolerance)... can I change my diet so she can still take my BM?

Thanks!

Alechia

 

I would definitely talk to the Ped about the change of formula and the stopping of the meds. When we stopped the Prevacid we did it on a gradual basis, I am not sure for medical reasons but probably just to see if we could stop and the reflux would end. But if there is a milk allergy a Ped GI can diagnose that and get you on a better formula to make her more comfortable. We were on Alimetum for a year and Prevacid for about 8 months.

ETA: Yes, I believe that if you eliminate all dairy and she has a true allergy then you can continue to bf. I am sure this is a topic on the BF forum.

 

QUOTE(DATJMom @ Apr 14 2008, 07:42 AM) [snapback]720357[/snapback]
I would definitely talk to the Ped about the change of formula and the stopping of the meds. When we stopped the Prevacid we did it on a gradual basis, I am not sure for medical reasons but probably just to see if we could stop and the reflux would end. But if there is a milk allergy a Ped GI can diagnose that and get you on a better formula to make her more comfortable. We were on Alimetum for a year and Prevacid for about 8 months.

ETA: Yes, I believe that if you eliminate all dairy and she has a true allergy then you can continue to bf. I am sure this is a topic on the BF forum.

I agree with Rachel.

My babies both had terrrrrrible reflux, and also a milk intolerance. We were on Axid/Reglan/Soy Formula with added rice cereal. :hug99:

 

Lots of folks over on the breastfeeding forum have cut out dairy and continued to breastfeed - come on over! It can take a week or two for dairy proteins to clear your system completely, so you'll want to give it a little time to make sure you're on the right track. My guys had both, but cutting out dairy was what really controlled the spitting up for us. It was amazing, the one time I mistakenly ate something with buttermilk in it (a scone, duh), T turned into a fountain after a month of no spitting at all.

WTG on pumping so much!! Breastmilk is so much easier for babies to digest - if they do have reflux it is going to help them avoid a lot of pain.

Do check in with your ped about the meds - it can take a little time for them to come off the meds, too, and the doc can help you interpret what you're observing.

 

My ds used to throw up his entire feeding of breast milk-and I put him on Enfimil AR and he NEVER spit that up-so this is why we think it was Reflux-I had him on Zantac and notice no difference at all from if he took it or didnt.
We are just now able to sneak in a few oz here and there with his bottles and he is doing better.
Babies are kind of fussy/gassy no matter what you do so as long is they are not squealing in pain!
Good luck to you!
Way to go on pumping...trust me I know what a commitment it takes-I am still going strong!

 

Alechia,

One of my daughters has reflux and also a milk protein intolerance. She has been in Prilosec since she was tiny, but her reflux was still pretty bad until I cut out all dairy from my diet. Within a week she was doing so much better. I say give it a try... you might find that your daughter only has a milk protein intolerance and not reflux.

Also FYI - it's incredibly rare for a baby to be lactose intolerant. Breastmilk has lactose just like cow's milk does, so babies are born able to digest lactose. It's only around age three or four (or into adult hood) that some people develop lactose intolerance. Our bodies are not designed to drink milk past infancy (no animals drink milk past weaning) so some people lose the ability to process the lactose sugars.

 

Thanks ladies!

I have a Pedi apt tomorrow--I'll be sure to discuss all this with him.

Is there a test for milk protein allergy? I looked online and the only symptoms DD has is gas and spitting up--she doesn't have rashes or diarreha or anything that obvious. The Soy formula seemed to help, but since I really want DD to have some of my BM too!

I'll try eliminating dairy, but that means no chocolate as well?

Also, I wonder if I'm just feeding her too much. She's almost nine lbs, 5 weeks adjusted, and we give her 4 oz every 4 hours. She gets really fussy after the first 2.5 oz, and we keep trying to feed her the rest (trying not to go past 30-45 min). She ends up taking 21-22 oz/day and is gaining weight fine. Her brother takes 4-5 oz in 15 min or less and is an eating machine (with NO spit up at all). Since these are our first babies, DD is probably unfairly compared to her eating-crazy, spit-up-free brother and we keep thinking she has a problem... any thoughts? I may post this question seperatly.

And thanks for the kuddos on pumping. I hate hate hate it, but only DS can nurse, so in order to be fair, I pump. (I'm sure I'll be making a lot of compromises to make life as fair as possible for the twins

Alechia

 

I have one twin with milk/soy sensitivity and one with reflux. The reflux baby does not BF, the other one does. I pump after every feeding so I have enough BM for both. I cut out dairy/soy/eggs/nuts and the sensitive baby is doinig fine with my BM! Mine had a rash, green poop with some blood in it.

 

My girls were diagnosed with an allergy to milk protein. There is no definitive test that tells you they have this allergy. We worked so hard on trying to figure out what the problem was. They were spitting up a lot but the main thing was painful gas. It was so bad that they would cry continuously when they were gassy. I would get so upset when feeding them both formula and they would cry throughout the bottle.

They were originally on Enfamil with Lipil. My doctor prescribed Prevacid because she thought it was acid reflux. We tried it for a week with no results. I then tried Gripe Water but that didn't help either. Unfortunately, the diagnosis came about because Anya started to have bloody stools. That is definitely a sign of a milk allergy. My Insurance covered Alimentum with a co-pay. They even put Maya on it even though she didn't have blood because she had the same symptoms.

Well...they are obviously VERY allergic to the milk protein. The Alimentum didn't even work for them. Anya continued to have bloody stools and then Maya joined in, as well. They are now on Neocate, which is only avaliable by Prescription, I believe. Its completely free of any cows milk and the girls are doing great. They no longer have any painful gas. They still spit up but not as bad as before.

I hope this helped!

 

QUOTE(Alechia @ Apr 14 2008, 04:18 PM) [snapback]720818[/snapback]
I looked online and the only symptoms DD has is gas and spitting up--she doesn't have rashes or diarreha or anything that obvious.


One DS only ever had spitting up and screaming in pain - no other symptoms. We just thought he had a cranky temperament....poor little one!

QUOTE
Also, I wonder if I'm just feeding her too much. She's almost nine lbs, 5 weeks adjusted, and we give her 4 oz every 4 hours. She gets really fussy after the first 2.5 oz, and we keep trying to feed her the rest (trying not to go past 30-45 min). She ends up taking 21-22 oz/day and is gaining weight fine. Her brother takes 4-5 oz in 15 min or less and is an eating machine (with NO spit up at all).


To figure out how much a baby needs at each feeding, multiply her weight in lbs X 2.5 oz and then divide by the number of feedings each day. So if you're feeding her 6 times a day, she needs 9lbs x 2.5 oz = 22.5 oz over the course of the day, or about 3.5-4 oz average per feed...exactly what you're doing. That formula is one my LC gave me, but it's also on kellymom.com, which is an all-around great resource for nursing/pumping moms.

It really sounds like you might get some good results from giving up dairy...and YES YOU CAN EAT CHOCOLATE. Just check the label - most semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate is fine. White chocolate and milk chocolate have milk solids, and Dove has butter. Read labels - milk and milk proteins are in a lot of things you wouldn't suspect, like breads and rolls or a lot of things with powdered flavorings like chips and packaged rice mixes. Look for casein and whey - or just the big letters at the bottom of the ingredients that say "Contains Milk".

 

I will say that sometimes I think dr.'s are quick to say it is reflux. All of my kids have spit-up and one was on Prevacid and I too didn't notice much of a difference with him on or off of it. Ususally if it is a milk protein intolerance they have mucus and or blood in their stools. All of my children have been on Nutramigen and Alimentum.

 

My girls never had blood in their stools but they cried constantly, before, during and after meals. I could hear their tummies popping. They vomited a lot. They moaned all night long and never really slept good. They had fluid in their ears. They were on Nutramigen because I let me milk dry up before I realized it was a dairy allergy. They also could not handle soy formula. Once they were off formula all together they were like different children. They had a RAST test done at 18 months and we found they were not only allergic to dairy but to wheat, eggs, beef, squash and bananas. I would highly recommend a RAST test to determine exactly what you are dealing with. Although they did not come back with a soy allergy, they still have an intolerance.

We have seen a lot of doctors and two of them (GI specialist and a pediatric allergist) told us they were not allergic to milk/anything so put them back on regular formula/food. I sought other opinions because I knew what they were like on and off the dairy. So listen to your gut. One of them was also on reflux meds that didn't do any good.

Like another poster said read labels. Avoid Casein and whey along with any other dairy words. The healthfood sections/stores have some great alternatives. Just read the labels really good because casein sneeks into a lot of things.