Parents of kids with MPI: Please read and vote

[donna_issabella]

Well, as we have our second with MPI - and it seems #2 has a few other intolerance - I have started to wonder why.

The is a postulation I have read that our generation was exposed to cow's milk before the age of 1, hence the increase of kids with MPI in this day and age.

My MIL told me with great satisfaction that DH was put onto diluted cow's milk from the age of 2-3 months, after her samples of formula ran out. I understand cost was a huge issue. she said that see, DH is fine. I wanted to retort, Yes, but your grandkids aren't. However cost being an issue and MPI and other intolerances being a relatively new field, I did nto think it fair to make her feel guilty for something she did not intend.

So out of pure curiosity, have any of you here with kids that are MPI stories of you being on cow's milk before the age of 1?

[Edesanja]

Interesting DI...

[First Time Mom]

I'm a twin and back in the day the doctor told my mom that you cannot bf twins and the best food for us (we were a month premature) was Carnation (some milk stuff in a can) . Then we started solids at 6 weeks (so, in reality, 2 weeks corrected). My sis was fine but I puked everything until I was 3. The doctor's said "my stomach had not fully developed but in reality, I think it was probably severe reflux. Today, I cannot stand the smell of milk and milk, ice cream, cream, all give me tummy pain (I can do yogurt).

My dd had bad milk protein allergy to the point where she had blood in her stool from shortly after birth until around 8 weeks (when they figured out the problem). My ds had severe reflux- puked 15x a day until 6 mths, gained no weight between month 2-3. He's still on meds for reflux but does not throw up anymore.

[deb]

I'm guessing that DH and I were both on cows' milk before 6 months. I know my mom did BF for a while but not too long, and odds are that MIL didn't BF long or at all. We're both mid-40
s now, and in that day and age formula and cows' milk were pretty common for babies; my MIL was trying to foist ice cream on Josie at 4 months. And BTW, while we can eat yogurt, we're otherwise MPI; the girls can have very limited quantities of cheese and cows' milk, but VERY limited, and even so, lots of gas and some behavioral issues.

[scarlettsmom]

Interesting question.  I was on reg formula at first, but couldn't tolerate it.  My parents tried many other formulas and finally ended up on soy, and they were about to go to goat's milk.  I was allergic/intolerant to EVERYTHING for the first two years or my life.  Then at two it was like a light switch and I could eat normally.

Not sure about dh.  I know his mom bf him for two weeks, then went to formula.  I wouldn't be surprised is he was on cow's milkmearly.

Btw - I've hear that about carnation milk too!  Crazy.....

Oh, and i've always have upset stomach an never knew what it stemmed from.  After being on a strict ED with Gwynnie, any obvious dairy does a number on me.  I actually just decided to try to permanently remove it from my diet.  I have never felt so good as when it was gone while on the ED.

...will be interested to see all responses.   

[MLK]

 I was put on reg formula (after my mother was told that 3 oz of BM per feed wasn't enough for a newborn!) and not sure when I went onto cow's milk - from every story I heard I must have had reflux until 2, possibly MPI. My younger sis was put on Carnation evaporated milk (the things they did!) from birth and used to puke up all the time my mother said. Now as an adult the only dairy she can tolerate is a small amount of yoghurt or parmesan cheese. She has all sorts of bowel issues too - IBS I think.

I'm not sure about the association though - weren't all babies put onto cows' milk before 12 months until only just a few years ago? My niece is 9 and the recommendatino then was to switch at 9 months - by the time my DS1 was born 6.5 years ago it had changed to 12 months.

Definitely wouldn't recommend Carnation for babies though!I wonder about the advertising campaign that must have started that trend, and all the adults suffering because of it....

[Mashi]

As far as I know, my sister and I were both breastfed until a year-"ish"...that's all my sister remembers from when he first was an infant and she was breastfeeding, what she remembers from conversations with my mom.  But the "ish" is all I have.   My son was MSPI, my sister's oldest was MSPI (and as an older child has developed lactose intolerance) and her 2nd and 3rd LOs were MPI.  My mom was born with celiac disease that was not treated properly as a child (was only discovered the year she was born so they were not fully sure the extent of the disease and diet when she was a child) so my mom always had severe digestive issues and such. My sister is pretty sure she remembers as a kid and teen my birth father having issues with milk.

Lan, my sister's oldest is 14 next month and she was still recommended to use formula or BM until 1 year, so might be a regulation that depends on location?

[firsttimemummy]

I was wondering if it has to do with changes in farming that are causing more problems (eg more chemicals/intensive farming, etc etc) ....

Just out of interest my DS is MPI (so am I) and we are fine with everything apart from cold cows milkv... a friend told me that as long as the milk is heated to 72C it kills the whey part of the milk protein .... this works for me and DS meaning we just boil up some cows milk in the morning, let it cool and he can drink it fine (I know this isn't the case for everyone, but even if it helps one other person that is great!!!)

[Mashi]

I was wondering if it has to do with changes in farming that are causing more problems (eg more chemicals/intensive farming, etc etc) ....

Could be, but I also think that a lot of it is just awareness. I know my son for instance was brushed off by anyone my mom's generation and my grandma's generation as "oh just a colicky baby" or "oh, he gives her a hard time, that one, such a screamer!" and those kinds of comments...that's how things were looked at 20, 30, 50 years ago. I reckon there were a lot more kids with food intolerances back then who didn't know it! (Even my mom who was diagnosed with celiac was not treated properly because they just didn't get the fact that every morning after she ate her huge mandatory bowl of porridge she moaned and complained that she didn't feel good was not ever connected to the fact that they knew she was intolerant to the stupid porridge in the first place! She was just seen as a whingey kid who didn't want to go to school, etc etc).

[firsttimemummy]

 :oThat's very true Mashi - when I first suggested DS may be MPI to my Mum (as he always had a runny nose) so said that "those boys down the road from us always had snotty noses when you were a child" - meaning that some people just have that.  I pointed out that maybe they also had MPI!!!!

[*Liz*]

Interesting DI - but just to be a total PITA both myself and DH were extended BFers. DH until about 18 mths, and myself until 2 years. Neither had a bottle or formula at all.

I assume DDs MPI comes from me though - as I had 'colic' for over 6 mths. Mum says I was exactly the same as my children are, so I must have had reflux and MPI, but I was left without treatment. Mum gad lots if feeding issues with me as well.

So for us I think genetic rather than environmental.

[deb]

I personally think there may be some of each. Cows are fed far far differently now in the States from when I was a child my own kids' ages, and the hormones that make cows produce more milk hadn't yet even been invented.

[MLK]

I cried for hours at a time until I was 2 - no mention of reflux or MPI, I was just a "bad baby". That's what it was like 40 years ago!

[my3girlsjde]

Interesting. All of Dh's family were 'carnation' babies and ALL of their children (all 7 grandkids) have a problem with milk. I was EBF until 3 mos and then put on Similac, DH couldn't tolerate the carnation and was eventually put on Similac too.
Really interesting - thanks for posting this Eis severley MPI (weight loss and blood in stool even when bf) and can't tolerate ANY kind of formula. I've been wracking my brain thinking what did I eat when pg as I craved milk. I went through a phase for about a month where I was drinking 4 litres of milk (1 gallon) myself every 2 days.  Same with my twins abd they were MPI with horrendus reflux.

[Katet]

DS1 was I suspect MPI as a baby, but not diagnosed but not a settled baby, he is very self limiting on dairy (as am I ) both of us have been diagnosed by blood tests as Allergic to Allergy but only a Moderate reaction (I think self limiting & no real milk, only dairy products in diet helps)  Certainly when I tried cows milk with Ds1 he threw up every time.

I was BF until about 3mo, then "sugared milk" with solids from that age. My Mum (70yo) was given milk from 1 week old because her Mum had "nerves" (Mum & her sisters were brought up by the maiden aunts)

Having worked in Immunology, can I say I think there are many who believe the postulation... certainly when I was talking to an old colleague about Ds1 throwing up cows milk (at 13mo) she then went through his whole first year & I asked my Mum about what I was fed & it was thought to have a correlation. Not sure at what time DH was BF to as MIL has passed away... interestingly DH is also rather self limiting on dairy too.