EleCare vs. Nutramigen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Different poster with a question for you. My DS is 17 weeks and has reflux and constipation. Did both improve with the change in diet and formula? I have reduced nuts and dairy with some noticable improvement. DS is currently on Good Start per ped GI (tried Nutramigen and he refused the bottle) for one bottle per day. I have noticed an increase in spit up since moving to Good Start and don't know what to try next. I am an EPer and want to get off the pump, but only if I can find a formula that DS can tolerate. Also, what did you give your DC for constipation? We have used glycerine suppositories and MoM. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

13:17 here. DS has been seeing an allergist since 8mo old. Like the PP mentioned, allergy tests in kids under 1 is not very accurate since their immune systems are not fully developed. When he was first tested, everything on the skin prick test was negative. We also did the patch test, which showed a lot of positives. We've been able to add in most of them with the exception of dairy and soy. We may redo the testing as he gets older. His reactions are not IgE mediated (hives, wheezing, anaphylaxis), but are GI related (vomiting/diarrhea) and also result in significant mucous production. He will sound like he's drowning in it.

[Anonymous]

13:17 - I am the 15:10 poster with questions for you as well!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Different poster with a question for you. My DS is 17 weeks and has reflux and constipation. Did both improve with the change in diet and formula? I have reduced nuts and dairy with some noticable improvement. DS is currently on Good Start per ped GI (tried Nutramigen and he refused the bottle) for one bottle per day. I have noticed an increase in spit up since moving to Good Start and don't know what to try next. I am an EPer and want to get off the pump, but only if I can find a formula that DS can tolerate. Also, what did you give your DC for constipation? We have used glycerine suppositories and MoM. Thanks!

My child is a teenager now, so meds have definitely changed. My son was on a reflux med that has since been recalled (Propulsid) and zantac, meds like Prilosec were just coming out as he was weaning off so we never tried them. He had a horrible reaction to Reglan. Nutramigen definitely helped, but nothing fixed the problem until we went with the feeding tube. However that's really a last ditch solution for kids who either completely refuse to eat, or, like mine, have major respiratory problems from the reflux.

I also want to agree with the silent reflux poster. I think my kid has thrown up maybe 5 times in his life. He was never a spitter. Of course the fact that he was swallowing it down probably contributed to the aspiration and breathing issues.

As far as the constipation, we did glycerine suppositories when he was miserable, and then went to daily MoM. I was really worried he'd get addicted, but he was off the MoM by 3 and has had over 10 years without issue so I'm pretty sure we avoided that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Different poster with a question for you. My DS is 17 weeks and has reflux and constipation. Did both improve with the change in diet and formula? I have reduced nuts and dairy with some noticable improvement. DS is currently on Good Start per ped GI (tried Nutramigen and he refused the bottle) for one bottle per day. I have noticed an increase in spit up since moving to Good Start and don't know what to try next. I am an EPer and want to get off the pump, but only if I can find a formula that DS can tolerate. Also, what did you give your DC for constipation? We have used glycerine suppositories and MoM. Thanks!

I'm 13:17, but I'm not the person you quoted above.
Yes, DS's reflux got better once we switched to Elecare. We also switched to Prevacid around the same time, so that probably helped with the discomfort caused by the reflux. He was never constipated, so that wasn't an issue for us.

Just realized I didn't answer the allergy vs intolerance question. "True" allergies are IgE mediated and cause many of the classic allergy symptoms people associate with food allergies (hives, swelling, anaphylaxis, vomiting, etc). A tiny amount of the allergen can set off a reaction. An intolerance is different in that the person may be able to handle small amounts of the food, but larger amounts result in GI issues (vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, etc). An example would be someone who is lactose intolerant and is able to eat hard cheese, but cannot drink a glass of milk. Someone with a dairy allergy would not be able to have either one. When we tried to give DS dairy in something cooked, it was a very small amount, but it still set off a reaction.

[Anonymous]

Definitely use Nutramigen if it works for you for the reasons already mentioned (price and availability). My DD has soy and dairy allergies (eczema) and when we switched to Nutramigen she did not improve. We actually are now on Neocate, but it is equivalent to EleCare, which has helped a lot. Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

My son is 6 months old and has been on breast milk (dairy free) until now. He's dairy intolerant and has reflux. He takes prevacid for his reflux and I haven't eaten dairy since we figured out he was intolerant at around 6 weeks old. I want to stop pumping, but not until we find a formula he can tolerate and will drink. We tried elecare (1 oz in 5 oz of breast milk) and he screamed and refused to eat (in his defense, it does taste like vomit). We tried Nutramigen and his reflux got worse and he had stomach pain again, which lead to him not eating or sleeping again. Basically, how he was before we realized he was dairy intolerant and I was still eating dairy. Any suggestions on how to get him to drink the elecare, or a better tasting alternative? Otherwise I will have to continue to be a dairy-free pumper

[Anonymous]

Add pure maple syrup or alcohol free vanilla to flavor the formula helped so much for us.

[Anonymous]

Hi my baby boy has colitis and was out in nutramigen he was great for a weak and is now back to the screaming and flenching in pain his ped wants to try elecare has anyone baby have colitis from a milk allergy I'm so hurt watching my baby go threw this im exhausted and just want to see him healthy and happy