Cow Protein Allergy, Who Knew That was a Thing?

Liam has been home for about a month, has not been gaining weight as he should be, and also throwing up most of his feeds. While also having severe acid reflux. Liam was also being breastfed, but it was not going as well as before. It was very concerning, so we called the pediatrician, and they suggested that we try a new formula that is less milk based. He may be lactose intolerant, and that could be contributing to his throwing up. They also suggested that after a few days, we do another weigh-in, to check on his progress.

These weigh-ins started becoming a big waste of time. All the doctor did was a weight check. And tell us that we just needed to keep trying these different formulas. While continuing to suggest that he was lactose intolerant and that we just needed to continue using the formula. The problem with these formula feedings was he was still throwing most of the feeds up. And he didn’t really take the bottle very well, and feeding time was becoming more and more of a fight. After another visit to the pediatricians, they told us to have him checked for a lip and tongue tie. And that may be why he didn’t want to latch onto the bottles. 

We were suggested to see this pediatric dentist in Apollo Beach, Florida, called Smile Lynn Pediatric Dentistry. After the dentist checked Liam out, he did find that Liam had both a lip and tongue tie. And they took care of it super quickly. But, in the end, it did not really help. He was still refusing the bottle and continued throwing up whatever formula he was drinking. Bea called the pediatrician and told us to bring him in again for another weigh-in. But Bea told them no. They needed to see him and figure out why he continued to throw up his entire feedings. The office told her that if she was concerned we should take him to the local ER. 

That is what we did. Of course, the ER pinpointed his issue right away. They told us it sounded like he had a cow protein deficiency. Which basically meant that he was allergic to it. They told Bea that she could try to breastfeed again, but she would have to stop eating anything that contained cow protein. We followed up with the pediatrician and were given a list of items that might contain cow protein. Let me tell you that list is very long, and it would mean that Bea couldn’t consume most of the things she enjoyed eating. The shortlist is what you would expect anything that was beef or dairy. But also things like chips, bread, and certain kinds of drinks. (You can find a list of the things that contain cow protein here.) 

Finally, though, we had a diagnosis and a way forward. We were also given a new prescription-only formula called Neocate, an amino acid-based formula. Hopefully, this formula would help stop him from throwing up. As well as getting him to actually start drinking from his bottle.