Diagnosis

My baby was about 5 weeks old and had been on C&G formula since birth. Then, one weekend she just screamed uncontrollably for hours! She was definitely constipated as her poop was solid and she was going 2 days without pooing. She also had a rash on her face. I took her to A&E and the paediatric consultant suggested possible cmpa and prescribed milk. She's almost 6 months now and tbh I'm not convinced she has an allergy!

We did the milk challenge. Put him back onto normal formula to see what happened. That'll confirm the diagnosis. The blood test only works for babies who have immediate reactions like swollen lips etc. Skin/stomach problems are called delayed reactions and those allergies don't show up in the test.

My little boy was 2 weeks old, skin was awful, rashy bright red swollen, constipated but when he did go it was explosive and mucus. Screamed all the time and was uncomfortable and inconsolable. Tried our first prescription formula (cmp still present but broken down) and he was projectile vomiting. Went to amino acid and symptoms completely cleared and was a different baby. Took many different formulas and medicine and weeks and weeks of trying to find what was best. Finally by around 12 weeks we had it under control.

Mine was “suspected” as he was EBF but then when we started weaning and he had actual cows milk it was very much confirmed ☹️

I took our baby to an osteopath with colic and she is also is a lactation consultant. She said she’d seen enough babies to know when she saw a suspected cmp allergy and told me to go straight home and call the GP. I did and explained and they luckily took me seriously. The Dr was a mother of 5 children herself so I think that’s helped so I didn’t get too much push back from her.

I don’t believe you can do a blood test, maybe for ige (although I’m not sure) but definitely not for non-ige. The NICE guidelines state the standard for diagnosis is dietary elimination and reintroduction to confirm. For us, it was confirmed through his diet. He had low level chronic symptoms from around 4 weeks to 6 months and I suspected he was reacting through my breastmilk. We tried him on formula at 5 months and his symptoms worsened then at 6 months when we tried cow’s milk in porridge as part of weaning he was so severely ill he was hospitalised and it was undeniable at that point.

Thank you everyone! We have a review in a couple of weeks with the GP so will see what he says about it, he’ll be 6 months end of December so will have to see what happens with weaning as well!