QuoteReplyTopic: Allergic to formula? Posted: 24 March 2009 at 6:05pm
I have just recently started giving my five month old baby a forumla feed at night time. (about a week or so ago) For the last couple of days he has had a rash on his face and also is more unsettled. He is usually the cruisiest easy baby. He doesn't seem to be feeding quite as well during the day (breast feeding) either. I have been giving him Karikare formula - just the normal one for under six months. I would ideally really like to keep using just a bit of formula. With a toddler and being up for night feeds with a baby I am pretty tired and find it really hard to express this time around. It is just another pressure.
I would really appreciate any thoughts or experience with this. Thanks so much
It could possibly be an allergy to it, can be hard to tell but if that is the only new thing he has had then it's quite likely (if he's on solids it could be something else he has had recently). If you want to top him up with formula you could try the karicare HA formula, it's been hydrogenised (sp?) so is easier to digest, however if the allergy is quite strong you would need one of the prescription formulas and from what other women on here have posted it is almost impossible to get whilst breastfeeding. You can buy the formulas but they are very very expensive. The neocate that my eldest is on costs $85 a tin and the tins are half the size of standard formula.
Oh my gosh that is SO expensive!
Would it be ok to just try the HA one myself and switch over or should I be seeking medical advise?
Or maybe I just have to exclusively breastfeed? I am finding it really hard and tiring though. I feel happy that I have done five months and I really did want to just do a little bit of formula if I am able to. He isn't having any solids so it definitely isn't that.
Thanks heaps Cuppatea.
I don't see any problem with trying the HA one, you can just buy it from the supermarket the same as the other formulas. I would just suggest that you go back to exclusive breastfeeding for maybe a week so the rash is totally gone and then try the HA and see how you go. If he still has a reaction then I would definitely go and see your doc and tell him what you have done and what reaction he has had and explain that you are finding exclusive breastfeeding too much of a toll on you. And obviously bear it in mind when you introduce solids as well cos you probably wouldn't want to give him some cheese and yoghurt!
It could be that your baby has a milk protein allergy, it is quite common. The rash is probably excema and there are a lot of products at the pharmacy that can help with that. I would avoid aqueous cream though it is actually very harsh. We have had a lot of success with the QV products. Both Dominic and Isobelle have a milk protein allergy and we have had great success with Karicare HA formula. If you want to try it but don't want to pay all that money for something that might not work you should contact Karicare customer service (number on tins) and ask if they have any samples available. We did that when weaning Dominic and they sent us a whole tin for free.
I had the same problem with Karicare. I switched to Heinz Nurture and had no problems after that. Maybe he needs a different one? I know a lot of people on here have said in the past that they found Karicare to be unsuitable for their babies (although some are fine on it)
You might also want to try goats milk formula, although many babies with a cow's milk allergy can't tolerate goats milk either. And it is expensive.
You won't need medical advice to use HA or goats milk, but you would if you were to try soy or rice milk as they're not nutritionally complete. (Although since your son is mostly BF you might be ok with those options too - but you'd have to consult your GP first.)
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Allergic to formula?
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