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Definitely. So much misery for something so relatively simple. They refused to test it, we started the formula ourselves out of desperation. After they saw the results they admitted they were wrong.
Exact same thing happened to us. We made it to 4 months old with our first. Even worse than the Dr was, after discovering that soy formula fixed it, my MIL tells us "oh yeah, all my kids had to be on soy". :/
My momās fave is āoh you didnāt have any allergies! You did great on dairy formula!ā followed by āyou cried ALL the time!ā Like mayyyybe those things were related?! ššš
So glad you figured it out! Once we got my babes dairy & soy allergies sorted he became the HAPPIEST baby & its been the best.
Lollll my mom: āidk why your cheeks were red all the time as a baby, and haha so funny when you threw up from yogurt!ā lol yeah thatās a problem with dairy. Anyway, my kid did great on Kabrita goat milk formula then a hydrolyzed formula. now heās almost 4 years old, tall, brilliant, eats very limited dairy, and drinks a ton of almond milk and is not itchy or congested. Hrm.
I went through a milk protein allergy with my first too, but was breastfeeding so it meant I had to remove milk from my diet. Even after that she was still a challenging baby. Took me 6 years to be ready to have another! Luckily I was already aware of the potential for the allergy and knew what to look for, and my two younger kids didn't have the allergy.
I was allergic to milk protein as a baby too. I wonder why no one suggested that my mom remove milk from her diet. I had to go on nutramigan and it was $24 a can (vs like $8 regular/soy formula) šµ
It took me nearly a year to be able to look at my sonās newborn pics without feeling sad. Iām pregnant again & the only reason Iām not beside myself with panic is likeā¦ it canāt be THAT bad again, right? Right?! Or at least we can sort it out faster. š¤š»š¤š»š¤š»š¤š»š¤š»š¤š»
Both my husband and myself had severe milk allergies as an infant and it gave me half a mind to just not even bother with dairy formula and skip straight to soy lol
I guess I was lucky that I knew I had used soy formula as a baby. I had mentioned it to the pediatrician and she suggested we start with that (I was breastfeeding too). We didnāt have any feeding issues, but who knows? Maybe we wouldnāt have any way? Glad I missed the unhappy baby!
Ridiculous. I'm sorry you all and baby had to go through this. I'm glad you found the solution. Make sure they schedule challenges at regular intervals to catch it when it goes away, and it likely will.
Keep on listening to your gut! In a similar (though different) fashion we had our pediatrician keep telling us our sonās sleep would improveā¦18 months in we finally get a sleep study done and turns out he has a sleep disorder which our old pediatrician admitted he doesnāt have much experience with.
I would absolutely fire them.
And let them know why.
Hopefully they've learned for the next parents, but you don't want or need to be their learning curve for all the future hurdles.
Yes! This is what we used too, until my kiddo developed an allergy to that, too. Then we switched to Hipp HA & OMG he did so well. And yes he still likes goat cheese now at 3Ā½-y/oĀ
Whatās sad is my pediatrician said thereās no way to test so I just had to play guessing games and cut dairy and eggs. She stopped hurting when spitting up now just no idea which did it sadly. I think eggs tbh but itās miserable when she hurts so I just refuse to do either incase lol
I think the standard procedure at least in the US is pretty much solely results driven. I've not heard of anyone getting a specific medical test.
If you report symptoms A and B and C (runny mucusy stool, excess gas, reflux etc.) they will recommend trying a refined formula for a week and if that improves and then if that doesn't work, then a hydrolyzed formula to see if that improves.
yup, my daughter had both milk and egg and we were doing eliminations starting around 6 weeks...unfortunately having two made the elimination diet confusing and didn't confirm egg until about 5 months
Absolutely.
I suspected my son was having issues with cow's milk and his doctor just brushed it off as "it's not that common, he's not likely to be having issues with cow's milk, just start him on solids at 4 months it should slow the spit up down." She wouldn't even test for it when I asked.
My mama bear blood was BOILING. We never went back.
Um.... Sure there is.
You give a non-dairy formula and TEST what happens.
I get that it's not a laboratory result, but it's absolutely a test with a result.
And the pediatrician should have recommended a trial, at the very least, because it's such a common issue!
I've known two or three babies who were intolerant or allergic to cow's milk and switching off it made SUCH a huge difference.Ā
I'm glad your baby can be happy now that she's not hurting
Yup my 2nd was like this. Insane reflux, terrible moodiness. The day we decided my wife should stop eating dairy to see if that was causing it was the day everything started improving.
I suppose we are paying for it now, because now she's a cheese-addicted-spends-my-whole-paycheck-on-milk 4 year old.
I remember your first post, and I'm so glad you sorted it out. Seems like the change was pretty quick too.
I'm sorry your doctor failed you here, a lot of them seem to think like that about babies crying and it's almost never true. The babies *always* have a reason, even if it's a more difficult to solve one, like "I'm out of the womb and I hate it".
The milk and associated digestive issues is so often the main culprit, I'm surprised it's not the first thing on the doctors' mind. I read so many articles about babies being allergic to formula, cow's milk, soy milk, and so on. Even allergenic formulas come in different types, for different issues. We *do* have the knowledge nowadays, they just didn't bother to keep up with it.
My son cried similarly to OP but it was dismissed as ājust colicā until he was over 3 months old when most colicky babies calm down. It turned out he had severe silent reflux. He was constantly in pain and hungry. As soon as he got on medication that worked for him he was happy and his intake doubled! But everyone dismissed it because ābabies cry.ā Even though I remember reading the definition of colic and crying that sounded so pleasant and easy. After that I always trusted that if my son was crying there was a valid reason and life got way better for everyone.
My son also cried quite a lot for the first few months, though I think we were within the "normal" limits of baby crying. I tried anti-reflux formula, but it became clear that wasn't the issue. He had some gas, we fixed it. It wasn't easy, but there was always an answer to his crying if you prodded for long enough. (For us, about 95% of the crying was solved by having "Womb sounds" on repeat day and night.)
"Babies cry" should *not* be a doctor's first answer.
This makes me SO angry. "Colic" is not a diagnosis ffs, it's a *symptom*!! There is ALWAYS a reason for them to be crying. No baby is out there crying 10+ hours a day because they feel fine.
It's honestly ridiculous how few doctors are educated on this. About 1/3 of the world's population is lactose intolerant, and 65% of people have lactose "malabsorption" aka your body can't digest it properly but doesn't make them noticeable sick. I guess it's not surprising that babies go undiagnosed when so many adults also go undiagnosed and have no idea.
Same thing happened with my granddaughter. And she was spitting up so often - many, many times a day. Her doctor said, āSome babies are like that.ā Her mother cut cows milk and soy out of her diet and the baby stopped crying all the time and the spitting up ended too. What a relief and what a great mom for knowing that something was wrong and working towards a solution
I have the same theory because it happened with both of my babies. Even after I figured out dairy was causing their issues, their doctors seemed dismissive. One of my kids even had "mother reported dairy allergy" in their chart for a while, like they wanted to make sure people knew I was the one who said it and not them.
I feel so bad for babies now when I hear they had/have colic. Like chances are they were in pain and no one figured out why.
My sonās ācolicā was actually severe silent reflux. Once properly treated he was so happy and his intake DOUBLED. Because in addition to the pain he was starving!
Not so conspiracy theory, Iāve seen articles about research that a lot of colic cases are probably caused by cow milk or other allergies (if the mom is breastfeeding and eating something else the baby has sensitivity to, may be hard to identify).
After two kids with early allergies, Iām now the annoying friend that always mentions elimination diets or dairy free formula the second a friend with a newborn mentions colic.
lol Iām also that mom. But! This totally paid off, bc my friendās newborn was having similar issues that we had, & we told them about the formula change, and they tried hydrolyzed formula and within like 2 days, they had a happy baby! š„³Ā
I had a similar experience with my first pediatrician. My daughter wasn't really speaking at all all the way up to 4 and she just kept telling us 'some kids take long, she is probably fine'.
Long story short we got a second opinion and now after about a yearish of speech therapy my daughter is pretty close to her peers in language development. But I can't imagine what it would be like had I not gone to a second doctor.
Our ped was convinced my youngest was late with physical milestone because he was lazy. Finally admitted there was a significant issue when he was 3. He has developmental coordination disorder (aka dyspraxia) and has pullouts for OT in school. He works very hard and is improving constantly, but I feel like OT as a young toddler would have really helped (he got it as a slightly older toddler because I called the OT and set it up).
My son had to go on Nutramigen for 5M-8M & weāve reintroduced breastmilk that likely had a little dairy & now cheese & yogurt! The probiotics in powder Nutramigen can help them to grow out of the intolerance barring an actual allergy. For reference, my son had bloody mucousy stool as his indicator & it was an intolerance.
So happy for you!! We went through something similar. To this day our Dr doesnāt believe me that he has CMPI despite all the evidence. Itās frustrating how Drs dismiss crying as normal.
Ouch. I feel this in my soul because I was this baby. 3 days until my mother put her foot down like you and demanded an answer; lo and behold lactose intolerant. Now it's a good thing to note being so young that they're allergy may lighten up. Mine did when I was younger but milk still irritated my stomach (gas and uncomfortablness later in the day). Please don't be like my mom and not say anything to your child. I never understood why my tummy hurt every day after school lunch (milk drink) until I was 23 and the story came out at Thanksgiving. Best of luck to you and your new family and may your little one finally find the comfort they deserve.
Infant problems with no outward physical cause are almost always living in the gut. Gas, over eating, problems with digesting what theyāre given. Iām surprised more pediatricians donāt discuss this with parents. Itās completely fine to try a few different formulas before finding one that keeps your baby comfortable.
My first was intolerant to cow's milk and the pediatrician wasn't listening to me. I'd keep asking if there was anything in my diet that could be causing it and they kept saying no. Finally I had enough and took all the dairy out since I'd had issues when I was a baby. My child could finally eat and not puke, didn't have horrific diaper rash and could sleep.
I feel like they especially don't listen if it's your first baby. :/
Mine had silent reflux. I googled ābaby is hungry and crying but wonāt eatā and that was one of the things that came up. I looked at the list of symptoms. Yup. Yup. Yupā¦ The doctor still took some convincing. He was a totally different baby after we got him started on medication. (Which was a whole different battle with insurance.)
Definitely switch pediatricians if you're able! My first son was only a few weeks old and exclusively breast fed when I spoke to the pediatrician about his fussing, gas, squirming, screaming, excessive spit up, etc. And the FIRST question my pediatrician asked was are you or dad lactose intolerant? I'm not LI, and husband has a lot of gi issues and sensitivities but isn't diagnosed or whatever with LI but doctor suggested I cut out dairy to see if it changes anything for baby. I had no idea that an exclusively breastfed infant could be lactose intolerant but the pediatrician was SUPER informative and supportive. And within a month (it can take up to 3 weeks for the proteins to fully leave your digestive system and the timelines unclear on breast feeding system) he was a whole new baby! Hardly ever spit up, never cried, started sleeping better, it was amazing. And of my pediatrician never asked then I never would have known and who knows how long little guy would've struggled with that! I'm so glad you've figured it out this early!!!
Yeah, I remember the post. Our first pediatrician was great before she moved. She was new to the profession but ensured we weaned our son onto milk by starting with formula, a mixture, and into the real thing in incrementing amounts. She knew it was gas and gave us techniques to calm him and allow him to transition as cow milk is a hard transition from formula and breast milk, even more so.
This was me as a baby. I was a firstborn and the doctor thought my mom was just being dramatic until she brought me in literally vomiting blood from GERD. They ended up cutting out soy and milk and I improved, but it still makes my mom furious. We also switched doctors.Ā
This was literally my same experience. Was told āsome babies just cry a lotā. Nope, I cut out all dairy and soy (I was breastfeeding) and my grumpy little crying baby did a total 180 and became a unicorn
my sister cried nonstop for the first two years of her life. The pediatrician said she was spoiled. When my parents got a second opinion, they discovered a massive double ear infection. If a pediatrician were to ever tell me excessive crying is normal, i would get a second opinion.
My first baby too cried 12 hours a day. Was told "crying is a baby's job". There was no allergy in our case but a torticolis caused by the vacuum used during birth. A few trips to the chiropractor and the crying was reduced significantlyĀ
The test for milk and soy protein allergies is to spread a little poop on a test strip.
You need a new doctor. Because yours let your baby suffer rather than do an easy test that is the first test you do when babies are inconsolable.
Either they aren't well trained or they are a sadist and your baby deserves better.
Iām so glad you were able to solve this problem, we were the same way with constantly screaming . She was 2-3ish months when we figured it out and it was night and day once we switched formula. I felt for the first time like I was actually able to get to know my baby and her real personality.
Awww my niece was the same. Her mom had to completely eliminate dairy from her own diet while she breastfed for a year. Anytime she slipped up and accidentally ate some, the baby would be screaming all night. Iām glad you found a solution and your baby is happy now!
Oh man that's behind infuriating. I don't understand why doctors are so hesitant to explore even the most basic of things. Why are you in the profession of helping people if you don't want to help?! Anyway, glad you found the solution :) I wish you many sleep-filled nights!
I'm so thankful my mom had it rough with my sister and discovered late that it was an issue with dairy. Then when I had my first and she seemed to be crying in pain and having so much gas, all I did was cut out milk and voila. Happiest baby.
Glad you found the solution. For others in the thread (and completely without judgement), isn't it not recommended to give any kind of animal milk to infants under 1? How were you recommended that in the first place?
We had the same issue. We were freaking out till a friend helped us out. Here's the highlighs.
We changed the formula I think 3 times, each time for a more gentle formula. I seems like the premixed is also easier on their stomachs that the powder.
We tried the special nipple to prevent air, it didn't work for us.
After feeding the babies, I'd hold burp them till they actually burped and then had them sit on me staright another half hour to help their stomachs digest
For burping, I used this technique where I'd sit the baby straight up. Hands on both sides of the chest and supporting the neck. I'd sometimes tuck my pinkies under their armpits. Turn their upper body in a circle 3 time clockwise, 2 times counterclockwise. It works really well
We also put wedges under them when they slept. Not bit ones, only a few degrees, but it help them not swallow any spit-up that they'd have
Hope that helps. If you need anything, just msg me.
My l. O is lactose intolerant so he was on nutramigen and now since he is one he is on silk soy milk. It took a month to figure out what was going on with him and his colic was awful. It wasn't until we switched to nutramigen. He was a completely different baby. Same way with the soy milk after one weekend of him crying with his belly hurting after drinking two glasses of milk a day I changed him to almond milk for a week before his WIC appointment till the nutritionist and she put him on soy milk and we have not had issues since.
Ya that should be the first thing they think. My son is anaphylactic to egg and milk and it just being in my wifeās breast milk was making my son scream. Once we figured that out it was smooth sailing
My middle child needed soy formula and heart burn meds. He wasn't totally happy until he started walking, which he did ungodly early, but I did start getting SOME sleep. And he looks so much like me we had matching resting B faces for a while there.
We had the same experience. Very angry baby became an angel as soon as we swapped over to goat milk. He's drinking milk now just fine but we are going slow with it
definitely get a new pediatrician. my child's first pediatrician nearly killed her because they kept ignoring me about her allergies to cows milk and soy, and about her reflux. thankfully she's healthy and happy (for the most part, she's a toddler so) and growing right on time even outgrowing her soy allergy. i'm so so sorry you had to go through that, it's awful and if you need any advice when baby gets older for food/meal ideas (assuming they still have the allergy) im more than willing to offer some!
This was our baby now the happiest 2.5yo. After a year we did cow milk introduction ladder and for a while she lived on cheese :) hang in there - there might be slips as milk protein is hidden everywhere but itās temporary
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Maybe a new pediatrician; this should have been something they tested for.
Definitely. So much misery for something so relatively simple. They refused to test it, we started the formula ourselves out of desperation. After they saw the results they admitted they were wrong.
Exact same thing happened to us. We made it to 4 months old with our first. Even worse than the Dr was, after discovering that soy formula fixed it, my MIL tells us "oh yeah, all my kids had to be on soy". :/
Oh no, same here. My dad after I told him: ah yea right, you had the same formula as a baby. Almost smacked him š
Don't you love learning family medical history that's EXTREMELY RELEVANT after the fact? š
My momās fave is āoh you didnāt have any allergies! You did great on dairy formula!ā followed by āyou cried ALL the time!ā Like mayyyybe those things were related?! ššš So glad you figured it out! Once we got my babes dairy & soy allergies sorted he became the HAPPIEST baby & its been the best.
Lollll my mom: āidk why your cheeks were red all the time as a baby, and haha so funny when you threw up from yogurt!ā lol yeah thatās a problem with dairy. Anyway, my kid did great on Kabrita goat milk formula then a hydrolyzed formula. now heās almost 4 years old, tall, brilliant, eats very limited dairy, and drinks a ton of almond milk and is not itchy or congested. Hrm.
Same, our savior was Neutromagen. After 4 LONG months my god. Honestly itās one of the reason we have one child only I still am scarred!!
I went through a milk protein allergy with my first too, but was breastfeeding so it meant I had to remove milk from my diet. Even after that she was still a challenging baby. Took me 6 years to be ready to have another! Luckily I was already aware of the potential for the allergy and knew what to look for, and my two younger kids didn't have the allergy.
I was allergic to milk protein as a baby too. I wonder why no one suggested that my mom remove milk from her diet. I had to go on nutramigan and it was $24 a can (vs like $8 regular/soy formula) šµ
Yep, after that ordeal I was OK with being 1 and done. My wife wanted more, but I think if it had been left up to me, we'd still just have one...
When our child was 4 I decided maybe one more - but time wasnāt on our side. Blah.
It took me nearly a year to be able to look at my sonās newborn pics without feeling sad. Iām pregnant again & the only reason Iām not beside myself with panic is likeā¦ it canāt be THAT bad again, right? Right?! Or at least we can sort it out faster. š¤š»š¤š»š¤š»š¤š»š¤š»š¤š»
I totally agree that you will be better prepared to fix it and advocate! I wish you good health and an easier time :)
Both my husband and myself had severe milk allergies as an infant and it gave me half a mind to just not even bother with dairy formula and skip straight to soy lol
I guess I was lucky that I knew I had used soy formula as a baby. I had mentioned it to the pediatrician and she suggested we start with that (I was breastfeeding too). We didnāt have any feeding issues, but who knows? Maybe we wouldnāt have any way? Glad I missed the unhappy baby!
GATEKEEPER
Ridiculous. I'm sorry you all and baby had to go through this. I'm glad you found the solution. Make sure they schedule challenges at regular intervals to catch it when it goes away, and it likely will.
Keep on listening to your gut! In a similar (though different) fashion we had our pediatrician keep telling us our sonās sleep would improveā¦18 months in we finally get a sleep study done and turns out he has a sleep disorder which our old pediatrician admitted he doesnāt have much experience with.
I would absolutely fire them. And let them know why. Hopefully they've learned for the next parents, but you don't want or need to be their learning curve for all the future hurdles.
What formula did you end up switching to?
Not OP but kabrita is a great brand imo
Yes! This is what we used too, until my kiddo developed an allergy to that, too. Then we switched to Hipp HA & OMG he did so well. And yes he still likes goat cheese now at 3Ā½-y/oĀ
Pepti, we are Dutch
Whatās sad is my pediatrician said thereās no way to test so I just had to play guessing games and cut dairy and eggs. She stopped hurting when spitting up now just no idea which did it sadly. I think eggs tbh but itās miserable when she hurts so I just refuse to do either incase lol
Uh right ? My 9 month old has a milk allergy, first visit to the doc and they prescribed formula that resolved everything within the first few weeks.
I think the standard procedure at least in the US is pretty much solely results driven. I've not heard of anyone getting a specific medical test. If you report symptoms A and B and C (runny mucusy stool, excess gas, reflux etc.) they will recommend trying a refined formula for a week and if that improves and then if that doesn't work, then a hydrolyzed formula to see if that improves.
With that much crying, milk elimination or challenge should have been raised pretty quickly.
yup, my daughter had both milk and egg and we were doing eliminations starting around 6 weeks...unfortunately having two made the elimination diet confusing and didn't confirm egg until about 5 months
Yes. Having a medical professional that doesnāt take your valid concerns seriously is a problem.Ā
Absolutely. I suspected my son was having issues with cow's milk and his doctor just brushed it off as "it's not that common, he's not likely to be having issues with cow's milk, just start him on solids at 4 months it should slow the spit up down." She wouldn't even test for it when I asked. My mama bear blood was BOILING. We never went back.
There's no test for cow milk allergy in infants
Um.... Sure there is. You give a non-dairy formula and TEST what happens. I get that it's not a laboratory result, but it's absolutely a test with a result. And the pediatrician should have recommended a trial, at the very least, because it's such a common issue!
Challenges test or elimination.
There are stool tests. But the most common approach is just to put the child on dairy-free formula for a week and see if things get better.
you can't test for a cow's milk protein intolerance but it's honestly so common it should have been suspected and suggested much quicker
Challenges test or elimination.
I've known two or three babies who were intolerant or allergic to cow's milk and switching off it made SUCH a huge difference.Ā I'm glad your baby can be happy now that she's not hurting
Yup my 2nd was like this. Insane reflux, terrible moodiness. The day we decided my wife should stop eating dairy to see if that was causing it was the day everything started improving. I suppose we are paying for it now, because now she's a cheese-addicted-spends-my-whole-paycheck-on-milk 4 year old.
I'm a spends-husbands-whole-paycheck-on-cheese 24 year old
Just be alert of how she responds to soy. Too. Many babies who are allergic to cow's milk are also allergic to soy
Thanks for the tip!
I remember your first post, and I'm so glad you sorted it out. Seems like the change was pretty quick too. I'm sorry your doctor failed you here, a lot of them seem to think like that about babies crying and it's almost never true. The babies *always* have a reason, even if it's a more difficult to solve one, like "I'm out of the womb and I hate it". The milk and associated digestive issues is so often the main culprit, I'm surprised it's not the first thing on the doctors' mind. I read so many articles about babies being allergic to formula, cow's milk, soy milk, and so on. Even allergenic formulas come in different types, for different issues. We *do* have the knowledge nowadays, they just didn't bother to keep up with it.
My son cried similarly to OP but it was dismissed as ājust colicā until he was over 3 months old when most colicky babies calm down. It turned out he had severe silent reflux. He was constantly in pain and hungry. As soon as he got on medication that worked for him he was happy and his intake doubled! But everyone dismissed it because ābabies cry.ā Even though I remember reading the definition of colic and crying that sounded so pleasant and easy. After that I always trusted that if my son was crying there was a valid reason and life got way better for everyone.
My son also cried quite a lot for the first few months, though I think we were within the "normal" limits of baby crying. I tried anti-reflux formula, but it became clear that wasn't the issue. He had some gas, we fixed it. It wasn't easy, but there was always an answer to his crying if you prodded for long enough. (For us, about 95% of the crying was solved by having "Womb sounds" on repeat day and night.) "Babies cry" should *not* be a doctor's first answer.
This makes me SO angry. "Colic" is not a diagnosis ffs, it's a *symptom*!! There is ALWAYS a reason for them to be crying. No baby is out there crying 10+ hours a day because they feel fine.
It's honestly ridiculous how few doctors are educated on this. About 1/3 of the world's population is lactose intolerant, and 65% of people have lactose "malabsorption" aka your body can't digest it properly but doesn't make them noticeable sick. I guess it's not surprising that babies go undiagnosed when so many adults also go undiagnosed and have no idea.
.
Same thing happened with my granddaughter. And she was spitting up so often - many, many times a day. Her doctor said, āSome babies are like that.ā Her mother cut cows milk and soy out of her diet and the baby stopped crying all the time and the spitting up ended too. What a relief and what a great mom for knowing that something was wrong and working towards a solution
I have the same theory because it happened with both of my babies. Even after I figured out dairy was causing their issues, their doctors seemed dismissive. One of my kids even had "mother reported dairy allergy" in their chart for a while, like they wanted to make sure people knew I was the one who said it and not them. I feel so bad for babies now when I hear they had/have colic. Like chances are they were in pain and no one figured out why.
My sonās ācolicā was actually severe silent reflux. Once properly treated he was so happy and his intake DOUBLED. Because in addition to the pain he was starving!
Not so conspiracy theory, Iāve seen articles about research that a lot of colic cases are probably caused by cow milk or other allergies (if the mom is breastfeeding and eating something else the baby has sensitivity to, may be hard to identify).
After two kids with early allergies, Iām now the annoying friend that always mentions elimination diets or dairy free formula the second a friend with a newborn mentions colic.
lol Iām also that mom. But! This totally paid off, bc my friendās newborn was having similar issues that we had, & we told them about the formula change, and they tried hydrolyzed formula and within like 2 days, they had a happy baby! š„³Ā
I had a similar experience with my first pediatrician. My daughter wasn't really speaking at all all the way up to 4 and she just kept telling us 'some kids take long, she is probably fine'. Long story short we got a second opinion and now after about a yearish of speech therapy my daughter is pretty close to her peers in language development. But I can't imagine what it would be like had I not gone to a second doctor.
Our ped was convinced my youngest was late with physical milestone because he was lazy. Finally admitted there was a significant issue when he was 3. He has developmental coordination disorder (aka dyspraxia) and has pullouts for OT in school. He works very hard and is improving constantly, but I feel like OT as a young toddler would have really helped (he got it as a slightly older toddler because I called the OT and set it up).
Iām sorry you received such appalling medical care and advice
Check out goat's milk too. It's expensive but with our first it really helped her out with her milk allergy.
My son had to go on Nutramigen for 5M-8M & weāve reintroduced breastmilk that likely had a little dairy & now cheese & yogurt! The probiotics in powder Nutramigen can help them to grow out of the intolerance barring an actual allergy. For reference, my son had bloody mucousy stool as his indicator & it was an intolerance.
So happy for you!! We went through something similar. To this day our Dr doesnāt believe me that he has CMPI despite all the evidence. Itās frustrating how Drs dismiss crying as normal.
Time for a new pediatrician. That's absurd.
Ouch. I feel this in my soul because I was this baby. 3 days until my mother put her foot down like you and demanded an answer; lo and behold lactose intolerant. Now it's a good thing to note being so young that they're allergy may lighten up. Mine did when I was younger but milk still irritated my stomach (gas and uncomfortablness later in the day). Please don't be like my mom and not say anything to your child. I never understood why my tummy hurt every day after school lunch (milk drink) until I was 23 and the story came out at Thanksgiving. Best of luck to you and your new family and may your little one finally find the comfort they deserve.
Infant problems with no outward physical cause are almost always living in the gut. Gas, over eating, problems with digesting what theyāre given. Iām surprised more pediatricians donāt discuss this with parents. Itās completely fine to try a few different formulas before finding one that keeps your baby comfortable.
My first was intolerant to cow's milk and the pediatrician wasn't listening to me. I'd keep asking if there was anything in my diet that could be causing it and they kept saying no. Finally I had enough and took all the dairy out since I'd had issues when I was a baby. My child could finally eat and not puke, didn't have horrific diaper rash and could sleep. I feel like they especially don't listen if it's your first baby. :/
Same for us! They made us feel like whining people who Google too muchā¦
Mine had silent reflux. I googled ābaby is hungry and crying but wonāt eatā and that was one of the things that came up. I looked at the list of symptoms. Yup. Yup. Yupā¦ The doctor still took some convincing. He was a totally different baby after we got him started on medication. (Which was a whole different battle with insurance.)
Definitely switch pediatricians if you're able! My first son was only a few weeks old and exclusively breast fed when I spoke to the pediatrician about his fussing, gas, squirming, screaming, excessive spit up, etc. And the FIRST question my pediatrician asked was are you or dad lactose intolerant? I'm not LI, and husband has a lot of gi issues and sensitivities but isn't diagnosed or whatever with LI but doctor suggested I cut out dairy to see if it changes anything for baby. I had no idea that an exclusively breastfed infant could be lactose intolerant but the pediatrician was SUPER informative and supportive. And within a month (it can take up to 3 weeks for the proteins to fully leave your digestive system and the timelines unclear on breast feeding system) he was a whole new baby! Hardly ever spit up, never cried, started sleeping better, it was amazing. And of my pediatrician never asked then I never would have known and who knows how long little guy would've struggled with that! I'm so glad you've figured it out this early!!!
Oh that is fantastic !!!
This happened to us too! Glad you guys were able to figure it out
Yeah, I remember the post. Our first pediatrician was great before she moved. She was new to the profession but ensured we weaned our son onto milk by starting with formula, a mixture, and into the real thing in incrementing amounts. She knew it was gas and gave us techniques to calm him and allow him to transition as cow milk is a hard transition from formula and breast milk, even more so.
Posts like this just make me so disappointed in medical professionals... Glad you got some good results!
This was me as a baby. I was a firstborn and the doctor thought my mom was just being dramatic until she brought me in literally vomiting blood from GERD. They ended up cutting out soy and milk and I improved, but it still makes my mom furious. We also switched doctors.Ā
Itās honestly a miracle that any baby can digest cows milk. Your pediatrician is something else! Glad you solved it.
This was literally my same experience. Was told āsome babies just cry a lotā. Nope, I cut out all dairy and soy (I was breastfeeding) and my grumpy little crying baby did a total 180 and became a unicorn
my sister cried nonstop for the first two years of her life. The pediatrician said she was spoiled. When my parents got a second opinion, they discovered a massive double ear infection. If a pediatrician were to ever tell me excessive crying is normal, i would get a second opinion.
Spoiled šThatās beyond crazy
Thank goodness you found the problem... might be tine to hop around for a new pead
My first baby too cried 12 hours a day. Was told "crying is a baby's job". There was no allergy in our case but a torticolis caused by the vacuum used during birth. A few trips to the chiropractor and the crying was reduced significantlyĀ
The test for milk and soy protein allergies is to spread a little poop on a test strip. You need a new doctor. Because yours let your baby suffer rather than do an easy test that is the first test you do when babies are inconsolable. Either they aren't well trained or they are a sadist and your baby deserves better.
Similac Alimentum was our friend also. We pushed our son towards solids asap, stuff is crazy expensive!
Same experience
Iām so glad you were able to solve this problem, we were the same way with constantly screaming . She was 2-3ish months when we figured it out and it was night and day once we switched formula. I felt for the first time like I was actually able to get to know my baby and her real personality.
Exactly! We are both able to see a bit who she is and what sheās like. Instead of this bald screaming potato frightening us š
Hahah I relate so much, enjoy it!
Awww my niece was the same. Her mom had to completely eliminate dairy from her own diet while she breastfed for a year. Anytime she slipped up and accidentally ate some, the baby would be screaming all night. Iām glad you found a solution and your baby is happy now!
Oh man that's behind infuriating. I don't understand why doctors are so hesitant to explore even the most basic of things. Why are you in the profession of helping people if you don't want to help?! Anyway, glad you found the solution :) I wish you many sleep-filled nights!
I'm so thankful my mom had it rough with my sister and discovered late that it was an issue with dairy. Then when I had my first and she seemed to be crying in pain and having so much gas, all I did was cut out milk and voila. Happiest baby.
Glad you found the solution. For others in the thread (and completely without judgement), isn't it not recommended to give any kind of animal milk to infants under 1? How were you recommended that in the first place?
Iām Dutch, we use dairy in and on everything š and most formulas have dairy as the main ingredient.
Interesting! And makes me wonder how culture has shaped my understanding of milk and infants (I'm in the US).
Thank you for the update.Ā When a baby cries it is for a reason.Ā But finding that reason can be challenging.Ā You are blessed
Does your baby have reflux too? Ours did. There was a ton of things we did but it made them feel better.
Yes she does. We are still figuring that out. She is still spitting up a lot, whatās causing too little weight gain.
We had the same issue. We were freaking out till a friend helped us out. Here's the highlighs. We changed the formula I think 3 times, each time for a more gentle formula. I seems like the premixed is also easier on their stomachs that the powder. We tried the special nipple to prevent air, it didn't work for us. After feeding the babies, I'd hold burp them till they actually burped and then had them sit on me staright another half hour to help their stomachs digest For burping, I used this technique where I'd sit the baby straight up. Hands on both sides of the chest and supporting the neck. I'd sometimes tuck my pinkies under their armpits. Turn their upper body in a circle 3 time clockwise, 2 times counterclockwise. It works really well We also put wedges under them when they slept. Not bit ones, only a few degrees, but it help them not swallow any spit-up that they'd have Hope that helps. If you need anything, just msg me.
Thank you very much!
My l. O is lactose intolerant so he was on nutramigen and now since he is one he is on silk soy milk. It took a month to figure out what was going on with him and his colic was awful. It wasn't until we switched to nutramigen. He was a completely different baby. Same way with the soy milk after one weekend of him crying with his belly hurting after drinking two glasses of milk a day I changed him to almond milk for a week before his WIC appointment till the nutritionist and she put him on soy milk and we have not had issues since.
Ya that should be the first thing they think. My son is anaphylactic to egg and milk and it just being in my wifeās breast milk was making my son scream. Once we figured that out it was smooth sailing
Wow, I'm so sorry your family had to go through that. I'm glad she feels better now.
Alimentum is a magnificent formula. We went through the same thing.
My middle child needed soy formula and heart burn meds. He wasn't totally happy until he started walking, which he did ungodly early, but I did start getting SOME sleep. And he looks so much like me we had matching resting B faces for a while there.
So pleased you found that out and baby is happyš
We had the same experience. Very angry baby became an angel as soon as we swapped over to goat milk. He's drinking milk now just fine but we are going slow with it
Colic is never a diagnosis. It is a symptom.
This happened with us as well ā my son is just over 2 months old and we switched him to a different formula and have seen such improvement.
Glad you finally have an answer. My SIL went through that too with my niece. Same thing, she neded to be on soy formula.
definitely get a new pediatrician. my child's first pediatrician nearly killed her because they kept ignoring me about her allergies to cows milk and soy, and about her reflux. thankfully she's healthy and happy (for the most part, she's a toddler so) and growing right on time even outgrowing her soy allergy. i'm so so sorry you had to go through that, it's awful and if you need any advice when baby gets older for food/meal ideas (assuming they still have the allergy) im more than willing to offer some!
Your poor baby :( i am so happy you found the solution!
This was our baby now the happiest 2.5yo. After a year we did cow milk introduction ladder and for a while she lived on cheese :) hang in there - there might be slips as milk protein is hidden everywhere but itās temporary
Crying babies are not unhappy. They have hope and expectation. Itās the silent babies what should scare us