I know…it’s easy right?
Already got one what’s the big deal?
The problem is…
This one is just 4 months old and formula (milk) is ALL he can eat. And no, breastfeeding is not an option at this point, wish it was because that would be an easy fix.
Formula is very expensive to begin with (and all of them are made with corn syrup, really healthy, don’t you think?) and now having to buy an allergy-free one–YIKES!
We tried the typical hypoallergenic store brands…still not helping, in fact one of them made him worse than the milk based formula.
So, we have to use a truly allergy free formula at an average of $30 for a 14 oz. can. That is used up in roughly 3 days!
Thank goodness we are cloth diaper fans…otherwise we’d need a full time job just to pay for them both!
Not good on the budget and especially not good on very little income, which is where we are right at the moment thanks to the current economic crisis…so the plan?
Yes, I DO HAVE A PLAN!
Well, that is a different plan than finding a wonderful mama willing to give me a deal on her left over unopened cases on Craigslist. Which I did find and what we bought will tie us over for a while.
The Plan:
To Make My Own Allergy-Free Formula
I’ve been doing some research and I will be working with our pediatrician this next few weeks to create a good, alternative, homemade, diary-free formula.
Will it be less expensive?
Not sure.
But I will know what’s in it. AND less expensive or not it won’t be based on corn syrup and that is priceless!
Hmm, wasn’t there some contest about that priceless credit card thing? I know, getting sidetracked…but I should look and see if it’s still out there. Maybe that will pay for formula and diapers. Oh, yeah, using cloth…already have…although, I’d love more. Side-tracked.
After talking with the Dr. tonight I think we might be able to do it! It will not based on goat’s milk, although that is a nice option, isn’t usually a good one for a true dairy protein allergy.
I’ll keep you updated on our progress.
Until next time,
Filed under: Living with Food Allergies Tagged: | casein-free, substitutions
Oh dear! I feel for you! But it’s good, don’t you think that God has given you such wisdom about food so that you can handle this problem??? I am convinced that Ashtons has been sickly and food sensitive BECAUSE I formula fed him at 8 months when I could have kept nursing him.
Few questions:
Have you looked for a nursing mom to beg, borrow, steal, buy breastmilk from? Not easy to find but I had a friend willing to do that.
Have you considered trying the goat-milk formula first? It really is a different protein chain and is easier to digest (if the allergy is not anaphactic I guess). I have a recipe for raw goat milk formula.
Also, have you read Nourishing Traditions? It’s got a great section on feeding infants and a few ‘real’ food formula recipes. One of them is a ‘meat’ based formula (which IMO should work since babies have enzymes for digesting protein and fat). It has coconut oil, cod liver oil, olive oil, liver, beef or chick stock in it and is wortha try.
Also, although 4 months is early, if he is showing signs of readiness, you may be able to start feeding him a small bit of very, very soft boiled egg yolk with a bit of raw liver. These are EXCELLENT sources of nutrition to supplement whatever solution you come up with.
I will be praying for yhou because I know that this decision will affect his gut health in the future. I pray that God gives you the wisdom and products to feed him as best as you can! Just let me know if you want to check out any of those recipes and I’ll email them….
Andrea
Andrea ~
Thank you so much for your suggestions and care!
We are actually using the Weston A. Price Foundation/Nourishing Traditions formulas as a base line to create this one. Our Dr. loves their formulas and has had great success with some of her client’s babies using the liver based and goat’s milk formulas.
I was going to make their goat’s milk version, but at this point the allergy looks severe enough (he can’t breath and has been struggling since 3 weeks of age, that and he’s had terrible eczema) that the Ped. is concerned that while goat’s milk is different it’s not different enough.
We even had one night which was really scary the only reason he was breathing at all was because he was crying so much that he was able to get air through his mouth. Since he’s been off the dairy he’s doing MUCH better. His symptoms point to true allergy not intolerance. Which brings up a great point…I’ll have to work on a post about the differences, should have thought about that a long time ago.
Thanks again.
Forgot one question: how do you know that this is a true dairy ‘allergy’ and not a food sensitivity (say from leaking gut or something like that)? Has he had a positive reaction in a scratch test (anaphlactice response) or a blood test (ELISA tests different antibodies)?
I guess I’m just hoping that it’s not a true allergy, since a sensitivity can be healed with food and probiotics.