EleCare vs. Nutramigen

[Anonymous]

DS is milk and soy intolerant. Pediatric GI gave us sample of nutramigen. Pediatrican gave me two full-sized cans of EleCare. Starting to supplement some at daycare, so we are trying out formula. So far he's taking the EleCare fine (it was the first one we opened), but he's been really congested since we started - could be coincidence and waiting to see if that goes away.

Does anyone else here use EleCare and/or have an opinion of which of these is a better option? Haven't tried the Nutramigen yet to see if he'll take it.

[Anonymous]

If my kid did equally well on both, I'd choose Nutramigen without hesitation, for three reasons.

1) I'm skeptical about each step that takes food away from it's "natural" state. Nutramigen is, of course, highly processed, but EleCare takes it a step further. Obviously if you need it, that step is a godsend, but if not, then I'd choose Nutramigen.

2) EleCare is crazy expensive. Nutramigen is about twice the cost of regular formula, but still way less than EleCare.

3) Nutramigen is available everywhere. My kid went from Nutramigen to a prescription formula (not Elecare, but a higher calorie "toddler" version of Nutramigen since he had trouble handling volume). In our case insurance covered the cost, but it was still a pain in the neck. Nutramigen is available everywhere. When we flew out to visit grandparents, they could pick up a few cans and have them waiting. With the prescription formula, which only came in a ready-to-feed formula, I had to lug two weeks worth through the airport in our carryon. Arranging deliveries was also a pain. Basically, it was like sitting home for the cable guy once a month, and I couldn't choose the day, so everything else had to be planed around the formula delivery. They were also always late, or wouldn't show at all. Even if you're paying out of pocket or your insurance will let you buy it at the pharmacy, it's a pain. If they run out, which they will, they need to transfer the prescription, and you need to drive to a different store.

Don't get me wrong. Both can be a miracle. Watching your child thrive when they're getting enough nutrition and not suffering from allergies/intolerances is worth every bit of annoyance. You may also find that only one works. But if you do find you can choose, go for Nutramigen.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the detailed response. Given everything you wrote, I think it would make sense to go with Nutramigen if DS tolerates it.

[Anonymous]

insurance covered ours after an argument and we used nutramigen.

Elecare did not work for us.

[Anonymous]

11:57 - how did Elecare not work? What happened? DS is VERY congested as of starting the formula and I'm wondering if it's just a coindidence.

[Anonymous]

PP with the long post here.

Does you child have reflux? I know for my kid, congestion was often a sign of reflux getting into his nasal passages and irritating them. I'm not clear what your child is transitioning to EleCare from. If it's from nursing, is it possible, he's taking more EleCare because the nipple flows faster? Or that the EleCare is sitting in his stomach longer and thus he's refluxing more? My kid was tube fed, so I had a better sense of stomach emptying than a parent feeding by bottle or breast. I know that formula took much longer to "run through" him than water, and thus he was able to reflux it longer. My understanding is that breastmilk is somewhere in between the two although we didn't use it.

[Anonymous]

We tried both with DS. We started with Nutramigen and everything seemed great for about a week, then his symptoms got worse again. Although many kids with dairy protein intolerance can handle the small amount in Nutamigen, he could not (still tested positive for blood in the stool). I've heard from others that it isn't uncommon for some kids to do well on it for a few weeks and then backslide into have problems again.
We switched to Elecare and it made a HUGE difference for him - eczema disappeared, he slept better, and he wasn't nearly as fussy as before (no more screaming before/during/after eating). He is now on the toddler version of it, Elecare Jr. We had tried cooked dairy almost a year ago and it was a huge fail.
We've had 3 different insurance companies and all have covered it to varying degrees (80 - 100%). Deliveries are through a supplier like Apria or another home health company. Unlike the PP, we don't need to be home for them. It's shipped as a dry powder that you mix with water.
Agree with the PP that the congestion may be due to reflux. It's not uncommon for a kid with food allergies/intolerances to have reflux.

[Anonymous]

PP who had to be home when it shipped. I should note that the formula my kid was on wasn't EleCare, and didn't come powdered. Powdered would certainly have made the travel part easier! It might also make a difference in whether or not they'd leave the formula outside?

[Anonymous]

Op here. Interesting re reflux. I don't think he ever really had reflux issues, or if he did, I didn't know that's what was happening. He did used to cry a lot more and was a lot harder to console, but he's older now and I've taken the offending proteins out of my diet so he must be feeling better from that.

The reason we knew about the protein issue was 2 months worth of green, mucusy stools and eczema that cleared (mostly) when I removed dairy, nuts, and soy. Have also removed eggs in case that was part of the problem. The reason we're using formula now is to supplement his BM bottles at daycare.

The "congestion" is that he snorts when he's breathing/sleeping and every 45 min or so coughing a few times, followed by a sneeze. Using saline drops to see if that helps. And of course it could just be a virus. ??

[Anonymous]

Op again. Did any of your DC go back on dairy formula after being dairy intolerant? I have about 10 cans of dairy-based formula I received in the mail as samples, and I'm wondering if I should just donate them somewhere - any hopes of using them later?

[Anonymous]

No experience with this, but I have heard that many kids outgrow the dairy intolerance and can go to a dairy formula when they are older.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP with the long second post (and the bad deliver company, and the reflux suggestion), my child outgrew all his intolerances, but not before he stopped needing infant formula. We started reintroducing foods that he had reacted to when he started eating by mouth, around 15 months, but never changed his formula, so as the proportion of "real" food went up and and formula went down he gradually increased the quantities of the foods he had previously reacted too.

By 2 he was off all formula and didn't react to anything. I should note that my kid's reactions were definitely "intolerance" and not "allergy" though and caused severe reflux and constipation, and secondary respiratory problems.

[Anonymous]

13:17 here
Unopened Elecare can be stored between 32-95 F, but the optimal temp is between 55-75 F. I know when the UPS truck generally delivers for our neighborhood, so if they come early (which rarely happens), I ask one of our neighbors or a family member to pick up the boxes for us until we get home.
And yes, powder is much easier to travel with!
To the OP, some babies have silent reflux. They don't scream or cry, but they may have noisy breathing, trouble eating/gaining weight, frequent hiccups, archive their back during feedings, etc. Might not hurt to look into it.
DS is almost 2 and has not been able to tolerate any dairy yet. The allergist wants us to wait another year before we trial it again with dairy in a cooked product. We donated the other formula we had to our ped's office. They keep extra cans/samples to hand out to parents who need it.

[Anonymous]

13:17 - when did you see an allergist? would that help us nail down what the issue is?

what's the difference between allergy and intolerance?

[Anonymous]

Dairy formula made our kid sick (diarrhea, extreme gas), the Gentlease didn't work and after 2 weeks on soy formula he ended up at 4.5 months in the hospital from dehydration (11 bouts of diarrhea per day for 4 days), eczema, and wheezing. We moved to the Alimentum formula and he has been doing great, except for some continued wheezing, which is treated with a nebulizer. I believe Alimentum is the Similac equivalent of Nutramigen. It's been a game changer and our son is so much healthier

As for allergy tests, our ped won't run the blood test until 9 months, citing a high case of "false negatives." We are one month away now. We think DS is probably dairy intolerant but soy allergice. Definitely ask your ped about allergy testing and do what makes you feel comfortable and go slowly introducing solids. I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope your baby is feeling better soon.