Soy vs Lactose Free Formula?

C.,

My oldest daughter had SEVERE feeding problems. When she was 3 days old she had a BM the size of a golf ball, it was very hard. I've never been through anything worse. She cried for 30 minutes straight and she pushed so hard she would be drenched in sweat. She would fall asleep right after the BM. It drained her energy completly. All I could do was hold her and cry with her. We tried EVERY single formula (she refused my breast). When she was not having a hard time with her BM she would throw up and I mean I could hold her up and she would hit the wall. To make a long story short she ended up on Soy formula. She is now a healthy 4 (5 next month). She has never had an ear infection and she is smart as a whip. We now have a 9 month old, when she was born I put her on Similac Isomil Advance w/Iron and she has never had a problem. She too is very healthy and robust.

Oh yeah, the only way you are going to find the milk that is best for her is to test them out. That is the hard part, but we made it and you can too.

I hope this helps.

Just wanted to say that Theresa D. is incorrect. There is lactose in breast milk. It is not specific to cows. Women produce it, too. It's a sugar. As far as your other concerns, although I breast fed exclusively, my nieces were raised on soy formula and are healthy and happy and in their teens. Nobody that I know looks back and remembers whether they drank soy, cow, or human milk. Don't let anyone make you feel like you HAVE to nurse your child. Your doctor is trying to help you both. If you need another opinion, I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask another doctor.

Long story short...both my girls ended up on Isomil due to very similar problems you are experiencing. Our family doctor wasn't as convinced that this was the best thing, but he wasn't the one dealing with the obscene amounts of projectile vomiting and pooping problems. Both my girls are fine at 3 and 6 and very intelligent. And I did start with breastfeeding both of them....

There is another option that we used for my daughter. Our pediatrician prescribed a diaper rash cream that would basically soak up the bad stuff in her diaper and pull it away from her body--essentially eliminating the irritant from her skin. It was a yellowish color gel-like substance (it reminded me of a salt-scrub) anyhow, it worked great! I unfortunately don't know the name but if you need more info I can find it for you. Feel free to email me at ____@____.com.

I raised by daughter since she was 2 weeks old on Isomil Lactose Free Forumla and she is a very healthy baby. For all her check up she has been within her target weight and above the height charts.

There is no lactose in YOUR milk, so I am not sure why changing her over to a lactose free FORMULA would be better. What about amedicine or topical something for her, not changing the diet. Breast milk IS BEST. I cannot believe your doctor would suggest otherswise. Especially with a problem. I cannot believe formula would be better. Stools will only be thicker and MORE painful.

Hey C.,

I am not sure where you live but I recently recived a sample of the simalac soy formula (unopened). It's yours if you want it...I live in Crystal. I will be available until Thursday morning and then we are out of town until next week.

____@____.com Let me know if you want to come get it!

If you have to try a few different kinds, might as well get some for free!

Good luck to you, I know it must be hard!
~A.

Oh Boy! I had the same rash problems with both my girls. That was the first indication that they couldn't tolerate a new food. My girls would have open ulcers on their bottoms. I would try to wipe as carefully as possible, but you could see the layers of skin peel off. Very painful!

When my first daughter was born, they told me to put her on a soy formula, because I have sensitivies to milk. I did pump for the first 4 months(She couldn't latch on without gagging herself) After my milk slowed down she was on soy formula. She switched over to milk at a year, but only for a few months. She became allergic to milk at that point. She couldn't tolerate any milk proteins until she was about five years old. She wasn't allergic to lactose though. She could eat foods with lactose in the ingredients.

When I had my second daughter, I was told that they no longer recommend keeping a baby on soy as a preventitive, because they have a harder time with milk once they turn a year old and get switched over to milk. My second daughter was a horribly crabby baby. I also pumped with her, but discovered she wasn't tolerating my breast milk. I too had tried to modify my diet, to cut out the culprit. It wasn't until I had an infection and had to throw my milk out, and supplement formula inbetween milk from the freezer, that I discovered it was my milk she was allergic to. I started her strictly on milk formula at that time. She was a much happier baby. She too also developed an allergy to milk proteins as well after a year old. She couldn't digest milk products of any kind until she was about four years old. She too could have lactose.

What I did with my girls, was keep a notebook of all feedings and what time the symptoms showed up and how severe. This will come in handy if you need to discuss this with a doctor. I had gotten in to see a different doctor when our regular doctor was on vacation, and he told me that milk wouldn't be causing any of the symptoms in my daughter. (She was over a year old) He told me to go ahead and switch her to soy milk if it would make ME feel better. I did meet with our regular doctor when he got in town and I remembered to bring my notebook of symptoms along, and he said without a doubt, milk was the cause. And it was!

Try one kind of formula and see how your baby reacts. If the symptoms don't clear up, try the other.

Good luck!