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Allergies and intolerances

Dairy free formula

9 replies

melonribena · 17/04/2013 12:40

My 8 mth old ds gets small red blotches on his face (no other reaction) when he injests milk products.

I am breastfeeding and avoiding all dairy in his diet.

I am going back to work in a month and get very little when I express so I have been to the gp to see if we can get referred to the allergy clinic.

She initially said, not before he's a year old, but we are querying that at the moment and are hoping for a positive response

Anyway, without the testing, it's probably clear he's allergic to milk so without a positive diagnosis, would the gp be able to prescribe us an appropriate formula?

I've heard they are quite expensive and Gp's can be reluctant to prescribe. In fact, she hasn't offered any before in our appts but I'm going to need something and he's a skinny mini anyway, so I don't want to rely on oat milk.

Any help or experiences would be gratefully received

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AlbertaCampion · 17/04/2013 12:48

Can't he have soya formula, if he is more than 6 months old?

We were prescribed dairy-free Neocate for my son, when I went back to work, but I wouldn't have that unless you absolutely have to - it smells and tastes absolutely vile!

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melonribena · 17/04/2013 18:28

I've heard that soya can be harmful for baby boys? Not sure if this is true!!

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Hoophopes · 17/04/2013 19:41

I guess each area is different, but we had to wait for referral to a Paediatritian who then saw us twice and prescribed. Gp would not prescribe without referral, which I could understand. Nutramigen Lipil 2 prescribed. No allergy tests at that point as our hospital doesn't do them! Still got prescribed after an elimination of dairy (I had to stop all dairy in my diet as was bf) and reintroduction (I gave a bottle of normal formula an hour before my appointment to show the reaction!!)

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r3dsquirrel · 17/04/2013 19:49

I was told I'd have to wait 3 months to see a dietician and that the gp would only prescribe a cows milk free formula on a dieticians (or pediatricians) advice. We paid privately to see a pediatrician (which cost £100) and he confirmed a probable milk allergy (based on history alone..... no tests). Once we'd seen him the gp was happy to prescribe the formula. We use aptamil pepti which is a hydrolysed formula (so its not cows milk free but the cows milk proteins are broken down to make them more tolerable. According to the consultant we saw approx 70% of cows milk allergic children can tolerate a hydrolysed formula. Fortunately my son was fine with it as its apparently much more palatable than the completely milk free formulas such as neocate and nutramigen). The £100 we paid to see the private consultant was well worth it as we'd have spent much more buying the formula off prescription while we waited to see a dietician.

Hope you get sorted.