OT: anyone have a baby on Nutramigen formula?

[laughinplace199]

DS is almost 6 months old and has been on Nutramigen since mid-December. I'd love to hear from other parents whose babies were on Nutramigen. How long were they on it? Until 12 months? Longer? Shorter? Did your baby outgrow his/her allergies?

Thanks!

 

[mrsmiller]

My older boy was a nutramigen baby (almost 9yrs ago)
I remembered that he was on that formula because of severe allergies, he was on nutramigen until he was a year and half old then he was on prosobee until 3yrs and then went straight to regular milk with no problems what so ever; now between him and his brother they drink almost a gallon of milk a day
BTW Both my kids were Nutramigen Babies.But my younger boy was on Nutramigen only for few months then was on prosobee

 

[laughinplace199]

Thanks for your reply. It's great to hear that both of your boys are able to drink milk now. So far my DS is allergic to milk and possibly soy. I really hope he outgrows the allergies. Thanks again!

 

[daisyduck123]

My DS9 was on it for a few months, but we went back to Isomil when we didn't see an improvement. He had one of the worst cases of eczema the allergist had ever seen.

He was so highly allergic to milk & egg that he would break out in hives just from touching them.

He outgrew the allergies between 2 & 3 years of age, but STILL won't drink milk. The only time he's ever had it was when he was 2yo & we were at the allergist's office for a milk challenge (he drank a glass there, & then we waited to see if he had a reaction)

 

[Luv2trav]

My oldest was on it for about 3-4 months then we switched over to milk based formula.. No problems here. He loves milk.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

DD (now 3 1/2) was on it. Her 1st 3 months she cried and cried, non-stop for hours, nothing would soothe her. She would cry until she wore herself out, fall asleep for about 2 hours, wake up and start this all over again. It was horrible!

She started on Regular enfamil, then to Isomil, then I begged her pediatrician to please try something else . He hesitated I think mainly due to the high cost, but suggested it. Within 1 week, she was a new baby. Happy, sleeping, no more crying.

She was on the Nutramigen until she was a year old. I gave her yogurt and ice cream , just small amounts , starting at about 10 months. She did well and had no reaction. Then right after her 1st birthday I transitioned her to whole milk. No problems. She's 3 1/2 now and no allergies (knock on wood).

Good luck. That formula can get very pricey especially as they get older. I found some deals on ebay. See if your pediatrician can get you some samples. Mine got me a whole case, plus gave me a free can everytime I brought DD in for a check-up.

Good Luck!

 

[crusoe2]

Both of my kids had to be put on Nutramigen and, just to be safe, we kept them on it until they stopped taking a bottle (which they both did fairly early - not long after their first b'days). Probably not what you were hoping to hear - I haven't forgotten how expensive it is. But your baby may not need it that long. My DS was having life-threatening problems so we took no chances. Neither of them seem to have any food allergies now, tho. (DS is 15 and DD is 4.) HTH.

 

[larkles]

All three of my boys were reactive to milk and soy. Luckily, I could nurse and supplement with almond milk as Nutrimigen was so pricey. Yogurt was the first dairy they could tolerate then cheese. If they have too much they do still get stomach aches (oldest is 9)so be aware of milkshakes, ice cream and drinking more than a glass or 2 of milk each day.

 

[laughinplace199]

Thanks for all of the replies. It's great to hear that so many kids have outgrown milk allergies. I'm starting to have some hope that DS will outgrow his allergies too.

We go to the pediatrician on Mon for DS's 6 month check-up. I'm interested to hear what he says about solids (haven't started them yet) and about possibly trying regular formula and see what happens. I'm very nervous about trying regular formula, so if he wants us to wait longer that's fine with me. Luckily, my pediatrician wrote us a prescription for Nutramigen, so my insurance covers it 100%. Every month I just call in my refill and the pharmacy has 30 cans of ready to feed formula waiting for me.

Thanks again for all of your replies. I really appreciate it!

 

[mom2aredhead]

My niece was on that formula for a long time and although my sister finally got the ins co to cover a portion (after months of fighting, letters from doctors, prescriptions, etc) they never covered the whole amount and would not reimburse her for what she paid out of pocket while she fought with them.

Unfortunately she has not been as fortunate as the others here and still (at almost 3 years old) has severe allergies to all dairy and soy products. She has become ill from so many different foods, that's it's caused her to just not want to eat. Soooo, the doctor put her back on formula so that she would nutritionally be getting what she needs. Yup, formula at almost 3 years old - it's basically a "toddler version" of nutramigen, but the name escapes me right now - but it's about $80 for a small can that lasts about 3 days!

She is extremely light for her age, and to make matters worse, extremely tall, so clothing her becomes a challenge too since anything that fits her in length falls off her waist. (about 37" and 28 lbs!) My sister had allergies to medications containing sulfer, and has a slight problem with lactose, but there are no other allergies (food or otherwise) in either family. We pray every day that she will grow out of her allergies too.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

Thanks for all of the replies. It's great to hear that so many kids have outgrown milk allergies. I'm starting to have some hope that DS will outgrow his allergies too.

We go to the pediatrician on Mon for DS's 6 month check-up. I'm interested to hear what he says about solids (haven't started them yet) and about possibly trying regular formula and see what happens. I'm very nervous about trying regular formula, so if he wants us to wait longer that's fine with me. Luckily, my pediatrician wrote us a prescription for Nutramigen, so my insurance covers it 100%. Every month I just call in my refill and the pharmacy has 30 cans of ready to feed formula waiting for me.

Thanks again for all of your replies. I really appreciate it!

I agree that you are very lucky. My DH's insurance didn't even want to hear about covering it. We paid out of pocket for the Nutramigen for 9 1/2 months.

Hope all works out.

Sorry to hear about your niece mom2aredhead , It must be extremely difficult for mom and the child.

 

[laughinplace199]

My niece was on that formula for a long time and although my sister finally got the ins co to cover a portion (after months of fighting, letters from doctors, prescriptions, etc) they never covered the whole amount and would not reimburse her for what she paid out of pocket while she fought with them.

Unfortunately she has not been as fortunate as the others here and still (at almost 3 years old) has severe allergies to all dairy and soy products. She has become ill from so many different foods, that's it's caused her to just not want to eat. Soooo, the doctor put her back on formula so that she would nutritionally be getting what she needs. Yup, formula at almost 3 years old - it's basically a "toddler version" of nutramigen, but the name escapes me right now - but it's about $80 for a small can that lasts about 3 days!

She is extremely light for her age, and to make matters worse, extremely tall, so clothing her becomes a challenge too since anything that fits her in length falls off her waist. (about 37" and 28 lbs!) My sister had allergies to medications containing sulfer, and has a slight problem with lactose, but there are no other allergies (food or otherwise) in either family. We pray every day that she will grow out of her allergies too.

I'm sorry to hear about your niece. That must be very difficult. Sorry to hear that her insurance didn't cover all of it. That shouldn't happen if it's obviously medically necessary. I hope things improve for them.

 

[laughinplace199]

I agree that you are very lucky. My DH's insurance didn't even want to hear about covering it. We paid out of pocket for the Nutramigen for 9 1/2 months.

I'm sorry to hear that your insurance didn't cover it. I don't understand why some insurance companies don't cover it. If I have any left over when DS goes off of it, I will definitely give the unopened cans to the pediatrician's office for anyone whose insurance doesn't cover it.

 

[pigget74]

DS was on it until he was almost 15mths. He will not drink milk at all--we even tried choc. We give him cheese and yogurt and he does fine. Did not even think about insurance covering it. DD was on Soy until we found out after 8 mths of resp. problems and then found out it was the soy causing it because she was allergic. We did rice milk with her for about 4 mths. I am expecting in October so if this is a problem again I will see if insurance will coever it. What type of insurance are you on?

 

[laughinplace199]

DS was on it until he was almost 15mths. He will not drink milk at all--we even tried choc. We give him cheese and yogurt and he does fine. Did not even think about insurance covering it. DD was on Soy until we found out after 8 mths of resp. problems and then found out it was the soy causing it because she was allergic. We did rice milk with her for about 4 mths. I am expecting in October so if this is a problem again I will see if insurance will coever it. What type of insurance are you on?

We have Blue Cross Blue Shield for insurance. When my DS needed to go on Nutramigen, the doctor just wrote a prescription for it. If he hadn't, I probably wouldn't have thought to ask the insurance co to cover it. Good luck with your pregnancy. I hope that your new baby is allergy-free! What is your due date? DS was born Oct. 28.

 

[4daubers]

Both of my 15 year old twins were on Nutramigen until they were 16 months old. Both are strong, healthy and one only has mild eczema that is contact related...not food related.

I remember the first time I bought Nutramigen, I almost fainted. Ask your pediatrician to talk to his detail rep. They will often have free cans/powder or coupons. Any little help goes a long way.

Might mention...my son had trouble transitioning from formula to baby food because of the texture. We blended his baby food! I think because the Nutramigen having less bulk to assist with transit time in the GI tract. It took quite a few months of blending. My daughter didn't have any problem.

 

[Princess Roo]

We have a lot of allergies in the family (including DH being allergic to milk when he was younger and lactose intolerant now), so we followed the advice of several allergy experts in not exposing DS to any milk or soy for the first year of his life. I breastfed mostly, but supplemented with Nutramigen/Alimentum. Especially since your insurance covers it, I would *really* recommend that you keep your child away from milk and soy until at least a year, too. The less exposure they get when they are young, the more likely they can tolerate it when they are older. Luckily milk and soy allergies are often outgrown. We started introducing solids at 6 months, but followed a detailed plan of introducing allergens later. The hardest was avoiding wheat (Cheerios!!) until he was 9 months. Basically, it was just fruit, vegetable, rice, and potato until 9 months. Harder on us, but DS is still a great eater. He hasn't shown any food allergies, thankfully, but he does have skin allergies and asthma (also like his daddy).

 

[mistaroo]

My first son was on Nutramigen (for milk protein sensitivity) until he was approx nine months old. We tried to switch him from Nutramigen to Good Start at 6 months of age (per the pediatrician) but he was not ready yet and shortly after introducing Good Start the screaming/crying started again so we immediately went back to Nutramigen. Good Start was attempted again at nine months and that time he tolerated it fine. At 13-14 months of age he could finally handle regular milk. Now he is a milkoholic!

My second son had similar troubles but also reflux so the ped recommended Alimentum and that worked well also. I think he was able to make the switch to Good Start at around 6 months and went to milk at 12 months, no problems. He, too, is a milk drinking machine now

 

[pednurse]

My son (now 9 years old) was on Nutramagen as a baby. He was on it until he was around 6-7 months old, then gradually switched over to lactose-free formula (Lacto-Free was the name of it). He was on that until 12 months, at which time we were able to gradually switch over to Lactaid milk (lactose-free cow's milk). He was on that milk until age 5. Then we gradually switched him to regular skim milk and he's been fine with that since. Our insurance never covered any of the special formulas or the expensive milk. Sure cost a lot of money for him!
My daughter (now 5 years old) never had a problem with lactose and was able to breastfeed until she weaned herself at 10 months old, at which point she switched to just regular baby formula, then at 12 months to regular cow's milk. (My son breastfed for his first month of life, then switched to the Nutramagen once we figured out that his severe sensitivity to lactose in my diet....even the tiniest amounts....were his problem.) Was amazing how much cheaper my daughter was in that first year!
A helpful hint....when you do try to switch him over (once your pedi OK's it), do it a little at a time. For instance, if you give him 6 ounces in his bottle, make 1 ounce the new formula and the other 5 ounces the Nutramagen. This will not only slowly introduce the lactose back into his diet (easier on his tummy that way), but also will help him adjust to the new taste. In my work as a pediatric nurse, we had many babies reject a new formula based on taste, but with gradually increasing the ratio of the new formula to the old over several days until it was all the new formula, they were much less likely to reject it because they didn't notice the change in taste that way.
Good luck with your sweet son!

 

[laughinplace199]

My son (now 9 years old) was on Nutramagen as a baby. He was on it until he was around 6-7 months old, then gradually switched over to lactose-free formula (Lacto-Free was the name of it). He was on that until 12 months, at which time we were able to gradually switch over to Lactaid milk (lactose-free cow's milk). He was on that milk until age 5. Then we gradually switched him to regular skim milk and he's been fine with that since. Our insurance never covered any of the special formulas or the expensive milk. Sure cost a lot of money for him!
My daughter (now 5 years old) never had a problem with lactose and was able to breastfeed until she weaned herself at 10 months old, at which point she switched to just regular baby formula, then at 12 months to regular cow's milk. (My son breastfed for his first month of life, then switched to the Nutramagen once we figured out that his severe sensitivity to lactose in my diet....even the tiniest amounts....were his problem.) Was amazing how much cheaper my daughter was in that first year!
A helpful hint....when you do try to switch him over (once your pedi OK's it), do it a little at a time. For instance, if you give him 6 ounces in his bottle, make 1 ounce the new formula and the other 5 ounces the Nutramagen. This will not only slowly introduce the lactose back into his diet (easier on his tummy that way), but also will help him adjust to the new taste. In my work as a pediatric nurse, we had many babies reject a new formula based on taste, but with gradually increasing the ratio of the new formula to the old over several days until it was all the new formula, they were much less likely to reject it because they didn't notice the change in taste that way.
Good luck with your sweet son!

It's great to hear that your son can now tolerate milk. Thanks so much for the advice on gradually introducing regular formula when the time comes. I might not have thought of that, but it makes a lot of sense.