Hayley is asking: “Does anyone have experience with a lactose free formula and are any brands preferred? Starting work in a few weeks and going to mix feed but regular formula did not agree with him and Plunket have suggested lactose free.”
Here are some answers that others mums have shared.
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I’ve just started using Karicare lactose free as of yesterday as my son gets very sick. It seems to be working ok so far and he sleeps better it’s so expensive though
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Call Nutricia and chat to the ladies there they will send out a sample sometimes a free whole can
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I used it found it great. I did try the Soy but it left this horrible film on the bottles and they didn’t like it. Karicare Lactose Free was much better.
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Karicare aptamil
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We use Goats formula and buy lactose free capsules from Naturally Healthy that remove the little amount of lactose that is in the goat’s formula. It’s great and have no problems or upset tummies at all
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If you prove lactose intolerance by purchasing and using 2 tins after seeking Drs advice I think it is then you can actually get your formula via prescription. You can choose from Karicare or s26 lactose free at 5 tins for the cost of a regular script I think with out any health care card is around $35 or something. Very few people know of or realise this is available but my sister got it with 2 of her kids and they both needed a different brand
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AVOID SOY AT ALL COSTS. Do a wee bit of research and you’ll soon find out why.
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We used the Karicare lactose free formula for our daughter and it was fine for her, the normal formula was just not good for her but is fine with my son.
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S26 gold worked for my daughter.
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They wouldn’t do anything to help my son until he ended up in hospital it can be hard to get prescription formula and they are only allowed on it for a certain amount of time before they have to be trialled on soy and if they are fine on soy prescription is then cancelled.. Anyhow… Try soy it good I used Karicare and had no problems with it with my son who has a dairy allergy
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From my own experience stay away from gold anything and try the goat first.
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Our boy is now 2.5 years and has lactose free milk but can handle some diary just not too much. He started it at 11 months after being ok on goat for a bit then started reacting to this. Once on lactose free he was the most settled he had ever been.
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Yes avoid the golds they have oils and make poop more runny. We used s26 lactose free for about 4 months then slowly moved on to nurture normal. It takes a long time for the lactose enzyme to build up in babies tummies we had problems after kid got gastro 3 times in a row. But he’s almost fine on normal stuff now. If he drinks our milk he gets the squirts. Or custard things.
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We have been prescribed Elecare. But prohibitive if you can’t get it on prescription. We can’t do dairy or soy and our specialist said at 10 months she is way too young to do soy.
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No useless stuff better off on goat or soy to see if that helps if not u might need prescription
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never had an issue and there was no time restraints one of my nieces was on it for 2 yrs and never once had to trial anything else. My sister had 2 kids on script formula at the same time even. The thing is you have to trial formulas yourself first to prove it works or they won’t give you a script
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Oh, yes I went to the doctors and he suggested a mild cows milk intolerance and prescribed Pepti junior / aptamil. Better yet, it was on prescription so it was free. And my little man liked it and had no adverse effects.
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We have elecare prescribed to us too and what a huge difference it made to my wee boy, be worth talking to your G.P about it as if he qualifies you can get it subsidised
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Good luck. Both mine are lactose intolerant. Son was on delact, worked great but expensive, had useless Dr who didn’t tell us about subsidy or refer us to dietician. Daughter same, had changed Dr before her, referral straight away, on prescription neocate, thrived. Research soy first before going down that road. Do what works for your son, every child is different.
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I used goats for my eldest son and had no complaints
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My son is also on Elecare by prescription from the doctor. He has GORD (reflux) but we noticed a considerable improvement in him holding down breast milk when I stopped eating dairy so the doctor said he was cow’s milk protein intolerant. We also tried Neocate but he had a really bad reaction to it – ended up having to take him to hospital – whatever you do, don’t try a new formula on the weekend. The doctors surgery should have tins for you to try out – don’t offer to purchase it, the tins we get are $100 each and are not big. Also, don’t let the pharmacy charge you for the formula at all, it took us 5 months of being charged for it by our pharmacy before we found out it was fully subsidised by the govt, and find a pharmacy that will give you your whole prescription at once, some will only give you 6 tins at a time.
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You might want to visit a paediatrician to prescribe the right one
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I use goats milk formula. Been great
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Breast milk is very high in lactose, so I doubt he’s lactose intolerant if he’s been fine until now. Maybe try goat’s milk?
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I got nutricare from the doctor but my baby doesn’t like it, I’ve been told its cause it’s not sweet compared to breastmilk, my doctor suggested a very temporary solution of adding brown sugar to sweeten it, then reduce sugar once baby is willing to take it. My baby is fine from my breastmilk as long as I don’t eat a lot of sweets and dairy, but formula is a whole other story. So I decided to express instead, since no breast pump fits my boob easily I have been hand expressing.
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There are two different formulas you can get on prescription form the dr. They have to apply for funding (which happened all within an hour of seeing Dr). You do have to meet certain criteria but is well worth trying to get it. One criteria is to try Soy but I just told Dr that was not going to be an option for us. IF one doesn’t work worth trying the other.
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Try A2 formula.
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Breast milk is full of lactose. Every mammals milk is, so if bubs is ok with breast then it isn’t lactose that’s the problem… More likely to be a protein intolerance… They changed the prescription rules a little while ago and you have to have tried pepti junior or soy before they can give you a script… Good luck with Dr tomorrow…
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If it’s a milk protein intolerance then NAN HA (hypoallergenic) formula is good. The milk protein in it is partially broken down making it easier to digest. Getting advice from a paed is a good idea.
