please me find a formula for my infant

Mirabelle

Tue, May 11 2010, 6:29 am

Tamiri wrote:

I have another question: why is this milk/formula business so important at all. There are other ways of getting nutrition, you know....

I assume that the OP's milk is already dried up. Mine was already dried up by 2 weeks after birth. Also, sometimes kids with severe allergies can't take breastmilk. This is what happened with my friend's kids. She was very pro-breastfeeding but her kids were both put on neocate and the ped specifically told her she could not breastfeed them.

Raisin

Tue, May 11 2010, 6:56 am

Isramom8 wrote:

DE means Dairy Equipment. Who says there is any milk in there at all? Or even a trace? Your rav might find a few reasons to be meikel here. Ask - it might be the right thing to do for your child.

I'm sure her rav will let her give whatever formula is necessary for her childs health, even if it is pure treif. My lubavitch relatives had to give not kosher formula to their baby. (I think it was actually not kosher, not just not cy) Next time round you bet she made sure breastfeeding worked out.

Some people like to be frummer then a Rav.

OP, ask a Rav, you will be surprised what he says.

Isramom8

Tue, May 11 2010, 7:33 am

OP, read this and give it to your rav.

Soy based formulas use Pareve ingredients, soy protein and dextrose or sucrose as sweetening agents. However, soy based formulas may be certified Kosher Dairy because of their processing equipment. Although manufacturers of these products are fastidious in their cleaning procedures, cleaning alone my not be sufficient to be considered true Kosherization to allow Pareve designation. Be assured, however, that all soy based products contain absolutely no milk derivatives whatsoever.

The distinction between milk and soy based products is important because many infants have difficulty in digesting dairy based components, and do much better on soy based versions. In some cases, infants are allergic to milk protein, and non-dairy soy based products are essential.

Furthermore, soy based products are important for the growing population of families keeping Cholov Yisroel. [Please note that Ross Laboratories, in association with J&J Dairies, does indeed manufacture a Cholov Yisroel version of Similac, which has a limited distribution in the New York area.] Soy based formulas contain no dairy component whatsoever, and those which are certified Kosher Pareve are manufactured on equipment which is Kosherized between Dairy and Pareve productions.

For certain babies, however, none of the standard formulas are appropriate. Many times an infant is incapable of digesting regular formula and requires formula whose protein has been partially or completely hydrolyzed. Complete hydrolysis means that the protein is broken into its component units to make it more digestible. That makes the formula hypo-allergenic. Specialized formulas, such as Nutramigen and Allimentum are hypo-allergenic. Good Start is a partially hydrolyzed formula and is not hypo-allergenic. Unfortunately, none of these products can bear Kosher certification due to the fact that the enzymes used to hydrolyze the milk proteins are not Kosher. However, although they may not be batel b'shishim in the initial mixture, they are nevertheless batel b'rov at that point and are nosen taam lifgam, and are batel b'shishim in the final mixture. As such, the use of these products may be Halachically appropriate in certain cases. A competent Rabbinic authority should be consulted when they are recommended by a pediatrician.

http://webcache.googleusercont.....=clnk

SivanMom

Tue, May 11 2010, 1:00 pm

My daughter was also allergic to dairy and soy. I could NOT get a heter for neutremagin and the like because they are treif and I was nursing better than fine and she was gaining beautifully on my breast milk. Since the formula was more for my convenience than her health, the doctor told me that when the rav asks me if the doctor said she needs it for her health, I cannot say yes, because she'll be fine without it. And he was right, the rav did not allow it. (If on the other hand, she was not gaining weight, or I didn't have enough milk, it would have been a completely different story.)
However, Elecare is perfectly kosher. In fact, it is OU certified. I spoke to them about it. The reason they don't have the ou symbol on it is because they would have to write DE, which would scare off people with dairy allergies. Elecare is very costly, however, and it tastes really bad, so if your child is a little older, like mine was, you may not be able to get her to take it. Elecare has a program that pays for the cost of the formula to income qualified people. Wic will also cover some of it with the proper forms filled out.

Seperately, our rav told us we can use non cholov yisroel formula for my son simply because it was covered by wic and therefore cheaper for us than the cholov yisroel brands. He told us that a baby is not mechuyuv in cholov yisroel. So before you make decisions about your child's health, you should always discuss it with a rav, you might be surprised by what he says.

punchike

Tue, May 11 2010, 2:05 pm

op here, im touched that so many of you responded. Thank you. I work and my baby gets a feeding while im away, I try to pump but I never have enough. so I supplement. I'm going to look more into elecare, but my doc suggested that since its just one to two feeding sa day a could give her baby cereal mixed into rice milk, instead of formula. Does that sound right? I've been reading up on it, and it seems that it doesnt come close to formula or Breast milk due too very low protein and fat content. does it make sense that it should work as one meal, mixed with babycereal?

Thanks so much for your help.

sbeck212

Tue, May 11 2010, 3:41 pm

From a frunkeit perspective, I find this post to be infuriating. A baby may be considered a choleh sh'yesh bo sakana, and even at the level of a choleh sh'ein bo sakana, I would think that the DE is entirely appropriate.
People give their babies kitniyot on pesach which is mutar!

From a healthcare perspective, keep in mind that 1 serving of cereal is 4 TBSP= 60 cal, (equivalent in calories to 3 oz of breastmilk), so if you have a couple of oz of breast milk, even if it has to be mixed with some water, calorically the meal is OK as a replacement (true not the same fat content but ok for 1 feed)

CrunchyNotFlakey

Tue, May 11 2010, 4:20 pm

Some ideas-
a) Many people experience significant decline, or at least stagnation, in milk supply around 4-5 months. If you are interested in increasing your milk supply, you can head on over to the nursing forum where I'm sure they have lots of ideas.

b) Are you sure your child is really allergic to soy and milk? I was sure my baby had a certain allergy, but it turned out to be something completely different. Worth asking the question.

c) If your baby is getting 24oz or more of mother's-milk and/or formula, then adding rice cereal or other food should be fine. (obviously, use whatever minimum your doctor sets for your baby, I've seen 24oz.-32oz. in a few baby books)
If you add in cereal and other foods after the 24oz, then your baby should be all set nutritionally.

d) If your baby is not getting that important minimum quantity of mother's-milk/formula, then your going to need to find a way to get those important nutrients into your little one as soon as you can.

As someone who's pumped and worked.....and struggled and pumped....and failed....and pumped and worked.....ughgh. My heart goes out to you. B"H, we live at a time when there are amazing concotions to ensure our babies' health. Don't reject anything until you spend some quality time discussing the whole thing with a Rav. (hugs!)

And to the others on this forum:
I guess it's possible that all OP needs is a stern talking to, perhaps she needs gentle encouragement. We don't know her or her situation. Why start with the anger? Anyone read all those letters in Binah? The ones that started " I've nursed 11 children with no issues, until #12 came along and suddenly I understood....."

So, why attack? Just say what you mean without the baggage. Same message, more ahavas yisroel for baby and mother.

Raisin

Tue, May 11 2010, 4:28 pm

Isramom8 wrote:

What you're basically doing is substituting rice cereal for milk at those feedings. In my opinion 5 and a half months is a little young to do that. Personally I'd use the DE formula. Remember, it probably does not contain any milk! (Unless she proves to be extremely sensitive to a tiny trace.)

whats wrong with giving a 5 month old cereal? I started my kids at 6 months, but many start younger. And I often added boiled water, not necessarily milk. especially if thats what her dr recommended, who presumably knows the baby in question.

Isramom8

Tue, May 11 2010, 4:37 pm

Raisin wrote:

Isramom8 wrote:

Even if cereal is fine, I'm not sure that it should replace milk - a baby just starting out might eat only a little cereal - and it should be mixed with milk anyway.

That said, many believe that babies should start on veggies and proteins and fruits, and that 5 months is too immature of a digestive system for grains.

Marigold

Tue, May 11 2010, 7:07 pm

SivanMom wrote:

My daughter was on elecare too and I called a very prominant Mashgiach and bal hechsher and read him all the ingredients and he said that they are all kosher. The bolded above is stated on their website.