Showing posts with label milk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milk. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy: After one year

Our little babette has already turned one year old and a lot of things have changed. Here’s a little update on what has happened and the milk transitions we had after she turned one.   

After being diagnosed with Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy, we stuck with NAN HW for her milk since she responded well to this milk. We started with NAN HW1 when she was still between zero to six (0-6) months old and then shifted to NAN HW2 when she reached six to twelve (6-12) months. We continued with NAN HW3 when she turned one. Take note that our little babette’s stool while taking NAN HW is more on the liquid side (but not like the one you get when your baby has diarrhea) and is greenish black or grayish black in color (image).

NAN HW3 
Enfagrow Toddler Transitions
However, we were faced with another challenge when we had to travel to the US to attend a wedding. We asked our little babette’s doctor as to what milk substitute we could give, in case we couldn’t find NAN HW3 in the US. The doctor told us that NAN HW3 was available in the US. We didn’t want to go unprepared so we searched online for milk substitutes. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find NAN HW3. So we resorted to Enfagrow Toddler Transitions instead. Although we brought along a box of NAN HW3 for the travel, once we ran out, we became worried as to the effect the new milk would have on our little babette. This is because Toddler Transitions has a different composition from NAN HW and is not anymore hydrolyzed whey protein. This milk was just like any typical milk. There is completely nothing wrong with it. But for a parent whose child has a history of cow’s milk protein allergy, this is something we were worried about. But our little babette responded well to the new milk and we were relieved and happy. And because we kept monitoring her stool, (please be warned that this contains an image of an actual stool) here’s what it looks like after taking Toddler Transitions. Although the stool looks hard, the consistency is a bit soft. And this really made us happy since we could immediately flush it in the toilet. 

--- We apologize if this blog contains images of stools. As a parent, we find this helpful because when we were trying to figure out cow’s milk protein allergy, we wanted to understand it and really get the whole picture. We wanted to know what changes we have to expect as well as what we should look out for. We weren’t able to find a lot of comprehensive information that is why we include relevant details, such as stool, in this blog. ---

When we arrived back home, we then switched to Enfagrow A+. It is a bit expensive since a 1.8 kg box costs about Php1,800.00 (as of the time of writing). So we decided later on to switch to Bear Brand Jr. (for 1-3 years old).  It’s more affordable and our little babette still gets the nutrients she needs. A 1.6 kg box costs about Php600.00 (as of the time of writing). You can compare their nutritional facts if you like and you’ll find that Enfagrow A+ has a bit more than the other.

It will be up to you if you’ll go for the more affordable milk or for the premium ones. What this post is all about is letting other parents know that after our little babette turned one, we tried giving her typical milk that is based on cow’s milk. And up to this day, we’re happy to say that she has responded well. We haven’t seen (and hope to no longer see) any bloody stool since we switched to a different milk.

As always, this is based on our experience, which may be different from yours.  You may consult your child’s doctor if you wish to switch to a different formula. Although we cannot truly conclude that our little babette no longer has cow’s milk protein allergy, what we are thinking is that perhaps she has already outgrown it.

How did your child outgrow cow’s milk protein allergy? We’d love to hear it.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

What milk to give to an infant with Cow's Milk Protein Allergy


As they say, “Breast milk is best for babies.” But in cases where breastfeeding proves to be difficult because of a total elimination diet, especially for infants diagnosed with cow’s milk protein allergy, the only option may be to formula feed your baby. The question is what milk do you give to an infant with Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy? 

One of the first suggestions that you would probably hear from your health provider is to try soy milk. In our case, we tried Isomil and S26 Soy Gold. But because soy milk was causing our little babette to have hard stools, we switched to a hydrolyzed whey formula. We were able to try both Nutramigen and NAN HW. But we decided to settle on NAN HW because Nutramigen is so expensive. In addition, Nutramigen is also only available in selected Mercury Drug stores and in only one size, a 400g can. NAN HW is available in a 400g can, 800g can, and 1.4kg box. Its price will also not come as a shock to you, unlike that of Nutramigen. 


Before we were actually able to settle on which formula milk to give to our little babette, we researched about possible substitutes for breast milk. Amino acid based milks came up in one of our searches but I am not sure whether this type of milk is available in the Philippines. We haven’t asked our doctor about amino acid based milks either so if you are interested, you might want to get more information from your health provider.  Some considerations also while we were in the process of switching from Nutramigen to NAN HW are the difference in terms of the nutritional content. NAN HW has lower nutrient values compared to Nutramigen per 100ml of the formula.

Nutritional Facts for NAN HW (left) and Nutramigen (right).


When our little babette was first diagnosed with the allergy, the question we asked our health provider was whether she will outgrow the allergy and be able to drink cow’s milk formula later on. We were told that some babies outgrow it but for now, we just have to wait and observe. It is still too early to tell.

There are milk substitutes that you could choose from. But, as always, it would be best to consult your doctor or your health provider before switching to formula milk.