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Hi ladies. I'm struggling to find time to express and was thinking I might try giving my little man a bottle of formula so I can venture out for more than 2 hours!
He's been very colicky but heaps better since I cut out eating dairy which I take to mean that he is intolerant to cow's milk protein.
Does anyone know... does this mean that I would have to use a different type of formula? Say, goat's milk? Or is normal formula ok?
TIA
Hi,
Neither cows milk formula or or goats milk formula will be suitable. a large proportion of babies intolerant of cows milk formula are intolerant of soy. Your little one is 8 weeks old? With a bit of know how, most mums can learn to express. Tell me, what pump are you using?
The other thing to keep in mind is that things won't be like this forever. Already, just because he feeds every 2 hours when you are there, doesn't mean he couldn't go longer. Have you tried going our for a while without him now? You could get a long way in 2 hours (get your haircut at least) See how it goes
It's funny but babies really do seem to go longer without a feed when mum goes out for a while and the boobs aren't "just there". It sounds like you have worked hard to deal with his unsettledness and have done well to figure out that eliminating dairy has helped. It is very likely that any sort of formula would upset your little one and I think that would probably take the shine off any outing.
There are also some ways to get more milk out more quickly when expressing that might help you. You could try one or more of these:
- putting a warm flannel on your breasts for a few minutes before expressing
- Gently squeeze your breast while expressing
- Swap sides after each let down
- Distract yourself by watching TV or reading rather than watching what's coming out
- Have someone massage your shoulders before you express
- Express in the same place that you usually breastfeed.
You can also mix batches that are at the same temperature, so if you only get a little bit, you can put in the fridge and express more later. When the second batch is also cold you can mix the two together. Also I always found that my babies drank way less expressed milk than they would drink from the breast. So you probably would only need a small amount of expressed milk to tide him over while you are out. It's also a good idea to store the milk in smaller batches - say about 50 ml so that if he doesn't drink more it's not wasted.
I do know how you feel. The first 3 months of two under two (or two and under) was really, really tough. I'm really glad we did though - and now having two close in age makes life easier, much easier. :hug:
I have half a tin of lactose free formula you can try let me know if I can drop it off in the next two days before I go away. I found goats formula still made ds cranky, and the AR formula was the same. For my kids the have had problems with the lactose rather than the proteins.
I think, but don't quote me, that the only milk protein free formula is neocate, which is only available on prescription.
Thanks ladies. It's not so much the ability to express as the time. Toddler-wrangling, 2-hourly feeds and a bub that's not a huge fan of naps means that there's few moments in the day that I can sit and express. I actually haven't tried to express this time round but last time found that my boobs stopped responding to the pump (had a borrowed elec medela and own a hand pump) and had to hand-express. This works fine but takes me aaaages!
He does seem to last a little longer when I'm away. It's more about peace of mind I guess. Knowing that I'm leaving DH with something to give him in case he really gets desperate. I won't be able to relax if I think DS could be at home crying for a feed.
I'm feeling utterly drained and touched-out and am desperate to just get my body to myself for a few hours. My mother's group have monthly dinners and I'd love to go to one, but it's at the time when DS usually cluster-feeds so it's looking like a no-go unless I take him with me and feed as I try to eat and socialise (less than relaxing), or get enough expressed milk to keep him going.
I feel very guilty saying that I want to get out. With DD I didn't want her away from me for more than 5 minutes. I do, of course, adore being with them both. Just got some seriously flat Mummy-batteries and need a re-charge. Sounds like formula is not the way for us though.
Thanks again for your replies.
Why don't you hire an electric breastpump through ABA for a couple of weeks and get some tips from the counsellor you hire it from on expressing? I bet you could get a stock pretty easily. As a mum you do need to do a few things for yourself and have some time out. Maybe suggest lunch or brunch on the weekends as a mums group get together. What do others do with their little ones? If other people take their babies (which you would expect) then take yours.
You've had heaps of good advice here on breastfeeding and expressing here. But to answer your question more specifically: if you think that your LO has a cows milk protein allergy then you will need to give them either an extensively hydrolyzed formula (such as Pepti-Junior) where the milk proteins are very broken down or a completely elemental formula (such as Neocate) which have no milk proteins at all. Both of these formulas require a script from a pediatrician. It can't be just a GP.
Most babies who are allergic to cows milk are also allergic to soy formulas, but if you wanted to give a non-prescription formula a try, then you could try soy. Note that some people think that soy formulas are very bad - there is an article on the main bellybelly website I think.
HTH