Help me choose baby formula

amother

Pink

Sun, Jan 15 2017, 12:36 pm

Have 7 month old baby that's exclusively BF. He developed eczema about 2 mts ago and it seems to only be getting worse. Did some bloodwork to determine if he's allergic to anything. Turns out, he is but only slightly to the following: milk, egg white, peanuts and sesame. Dr. says his allergy level is low would not being affected by my diet. However, poor baby is suffering from flare-ups. Dh wants me to try to stop nursing and see what happens. Looking for formula recommendations. Also, if anyone has any suggestions on treating eczema, I'm all ears. I've tried so so many creams that I can open my own pharmacy. TIA

westchestermom

Sun, Jan 15 2017, 3:36 pm

Eczema is lots of times linked to dairy intake. It is likely not a true allergy but it is irritating to him (for example cow's milk gives my baby diaper rash only but no other reaction). Sorry to say that most commercial formulas contain dairy and soy, which is another common allergen, so if you want to try formula it would have to be one of the elemental hypoallergenic (very expensive) ones. You also may really miss your nursing relationship and it might not fix the problem.

If it were my baby, I would stop both of you from eating all dairy and continue nursing (takes at least 2 weeks to fully leave both of your systems) and see if it improves at all. In the meantime, very gentle baths without soap (Cetaphil or another gentle cleanser is ok) and whatever cream you think has helped more. The steroid prescription creams are effective but he is likely too young for those. Also use fragrance free laundry detergent. I hope he gets better!

lizard8

Sun, Jan 15 2017, 3:41 pm

Try with the basic soy based formulas for about a week. Its easier and cheaper to be able to use a widely used formula. If that doesn't work, then look into the specialized ones.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Jan 15 2017, 3:44 pm

If you want to continue nursing, then I second giving up all dairy products.

For formula, we had great success with Enfamil LactoFree. It can be hard to find, and it's not cheap, but it works extremely well for dairy sensitivity. I remember once, I went to 5 different pharmacies trying to find it! The bigger chain stores are the most likely to have it.
(If you are in the US, most pediatricians and hospitals will give you samples, and if they are really nice, they'll give you lots of them at each appointment.)

Triple paste works the best on sore skin, in my experience. DD used to get horrible diaper rash, and it was the only thing that worked for her.

amother

Wheat

Sun, Jan 15 2017, 4:25 pm

Aquaphor cream worked wonders for my baby. His face was covered in eczema due to being on a dairy formula while hes allergic to milk. Even once we took him off the formula his face was still very bad. I tried many different creams and nothing helped. I put on aquaphor twice and I bh havnt had to use it since.