Cry-baby or a cow’s milk allergy?
In this blog post on the subject Reflux in babies and cow’s milk protein allergy we want you from ours personal experiences tell us which, especially shortly after the birth of our daughter, led to a lot of uncertainty, fears and despair. We are sure that we can help you with our descriptions and tips on this topic and that you will receive valuable information for yourself.
What is reflux anyway?
In newborns it is the muscle , which closes the stomach and holds back its contents accordingly not fully mature. That leads to the fact that Stomach contents and stomach acid flow back into the baby’s esophagus. This is great for the newborn uncomfortable and painful. The consequences: The child vomits frequently and cries out because of the pain. In these situations, inexperienced parents feel insecure because they don’t know what the problem is. There are various ways to counteract reflux / vomiting.
One possibility is with appropriatethickener (e.g. Aptamil AR based on locust bean gum) to thicken the baby’s familiar milk. Due to the high consistency, the food pulp stays longer in the stomach and a backflow of pulp is reduced. But the thickening has one big disadvantage: The baby will be with high likelihood of constipation have and then no longer cry because of the reflux, but because the stomach is bloated. Thickening the milk was not a good alternative for us.
But what in any case to recommend is are special Reflux seats for newborns. We have the BABYMOOV seat used and are very satisfied with it. With this seat that is Raised headboard. In this position, the baby lies and sleeps in the supine position raised upper body. In this way, the reflux of stomach contents and stomach acid can be reduced, especially after eating.
Image source: Pexels.com / Tim Mossholder
Baby’s milk protein allergy
We can still remember it as if it happened yesterday. It was Easter 2021 and we wanted to put our little one to bed. But then the big shock: Our daughter overstretched backwards, screamed and then couldn’t breathe. We have it immediatelyemergency call elected and a short time later drove to the children’s hospital with blue lights. Our odyssey took its course.
A team of specialists including neurologists, gastroenterologists, nutritionists and lactation consultants carried out every conceivable examination on her. Allresults were fine. The little one stayed in the hospital for several days for observation. Since such an attack no longer occurred, we were released. One day at home and another episode like this happened. We drove helpless and frustrated again in an emergency to the children’s clinic. Further examinations also showed no abnormalities and our daughter was only given medication (gastric acid blockers). So instead of simply fighting the cause, the symptoms were combated.
Does my baby have epilepsy?
Due to the symptoms, which also resembled an epilepsy, the disease was also present epilepsy in the room. A neurologist performed an EEG (electroencephalogram, an EEG is the recording of the electrical activity of the nerve cells in the brain). The result was a tremendous relief. Our little one does not have epilepsy.
The Sandifer Syndrome
During my two wives’ stay in hospital, as a worried father, I scoured countless medical reports, videos and studies on the Internet until I finally came across one Result came. It had to be due to the same symptoms the Sandifer syndrome Act.
In Sandifer syndrome, the baby arches back extremely, suffers from severe reflux and has to endure severe pain.
Image source: Purehealthyliving.com / What causes Sandifer Syndrome?
trigger for the Sandifer Syndrome can be a hyatic hernia (diaphragmatic hernia). This must be clarified in any case. But what was the trigger in the case of our daughter is one Cow’s milk protein allergy!
Avoid dairy products!
If your baby is also under severe reflux If the thickening of the milk, stomach acid blockers or special baby reflux seats only help to a limited extent, it is worth testing whether your baby is under one Cow’s milk protein allergy suffers.
If the baby is being breastfed, it is advisable to let the mother in completely dispensed with dairy products in their diet. If the child immediately feels better, it is most likely suffering from a cow’s milk protein allergy.
If you suspect your baby has a cow’s milk protein allergy and it is not breastfed, it is recommended to go to To convert special milk powder. All common milk powders are made on Made from cow’s milk and therefore contain whey proteins. If the baby suffers from a strong allergy, you can use powdered milk completely broken down protein (e.g. Aptamil Pregomin AS from Milupa, Neocate from Nutricia or Alfamino from Nestlé) can be used. Is the allergy less pronounced, an extensively hydrolyzed milk may suffice (very severely split protein). For example Aptamil Pepti Syneo from Milupa, Althéra or Alfaré from Nestlé. Unfortunately, babies don’t really like these special powders. No wonder – they don’t smell too good either! There are babies who get used to it quickly and there are those who cannot get used to it. In this case a powder can also be used Goat milk base be tested. goat milk contains compared to Cow’s milk less casein and more albumins, ie protein components that contain many essential amino acids and are easier to digest than caseins.
In the beginning it will be difficult to figure out which powder your baby will use like to like and at the same time well tolerated. Changing your own diet by avoiding dairy products is also not easy at first. But the effort is worth it. Our everyday life has been a lot more relaxed since then and the most important thing: The little ones are finally fine!
Image source: LIINI GmbH / Relaxed excursion on the Aare
LIINI® and the drinking temperature for babies
As a rule, doctors and specialist magazines say that the bottle has the perfect drinking temperature for your baby at 37°.
However, we have found that babies with reflux problems can process milk better at a drinking temperature of 40-45°.
With our bottle warmer, thanks to the three different temperature levels (37° / 40° / 45°), you can quickly and easily bring the bottle to the desired temperature with one click… completely relaxed and without stress!
You have too Have you had experience of reflux / cow’s milk protein allergy in your baby? We are very interested in your story.
You can also find more information on this topic at Greenforce.
