What formula do I use?!?

[jessi]

Hi Everyone!
I’m looking for advice regarding my 3-month-old baby. He was initially on Hipp Bio Combiotik for about 1.5 months after birth. After that, we switched him to Kendamil GOAT, thinking it was a cleaner option. We’ve started to suspect he might have a dairy allergy. His poop has always been slimy, which we’re concerned could indicate inflamed bowels. In addition, he’s becoming increasingly congested.

He’s primarily breastfed, with some formula supplementation. I’ve been trying to eliminate dairy from my diet, but I’ve still had some baked goods containing butter (like cookies), though I’ve avoided milk, yogurt, and other dairy products.

I’m hesitant to switch him to the prescribed dairy-free formulas since I find them to be less clean than I would prefer. Does anyone know of any cleaner, dairy-free formula options, or have suggestions for what we could do in this situation?

 

[Administrator]

Hi Jessi,

There are too many variables to be able to identify if an allergy is present. To make matters more complicated, a significant amount of patients still have an allergy from breastmilk even when mothers report multi super strict elimination diet. However, many times we also see babies passing mucous and it is not an allergy. Best indication is bright red blood in the stool.

The clearest answer likely only comes from the following approach, although I personally would likely not do it:
Stop breastfeedind and do a trial on elemental formula only (choices are elecare, neocate, among others). I am not saying this is the healthiest approach but is the only way we can be as close as 100% certain an allergy is an issue. Dietary approaches are recommended to be done from at least 2 weeks. May be a null point because at 3 months you are close to the time when it is hard/impossible to make a baby adopt a formula change due to taste preference.

Honestly, if your baby is growing fine, I would make no change. The great great majority of children outgrow this type of allergy at 1 year of age regardless of what you do.

In regards to mother's elimination it has to be 100%. In some cases families must cook from scratch to ensure all components do not contain milk or soy (the most common triggers). However if not using commercial hypoallergenic formulas it may not be worth the hassle. yes in practice we commonly see cross reactivity with goat's milk and soy milk.

Hope you get a reply here from a parent who has gone through a similar situation and please don't forget to post in the future how things went for you and your baby for others to learn.