When Your Baby Has a FPIES Reaction To Baby Formula

Many tend to assume that dairy is the trigger. Yes, dairy could be a culprit. Commercial baby formula usually contains soy, coconut and corn ingredients as well. ANY one of these ingredients could be a culprit.

When a baby does not tolerate commercial baby formula, the next step is usually an extensively hydrolyzed formula (EHF) like Alimentum or Nutramigen. These are made from casein or whey (aka dairy protein) that is broken down into smaller pieces so that the body does not recognize the dairy protein anymore. It is only helpful to go to an EHF if cow's milk is the known trigger (or if that EHF does not contain the allergen). Casein/whey EHF is recommended because milk allergy is the most common in babies.

While dairy is one of the top FPIES trigger, it is not the only trigger. It may be helpful to narrow down the potential trigger. Of course, we have to consider baby's age, history of reaction, parental comfort level, access to allergist, baby's rate of growth. This gives us more information and allows us to make a "better educated guess". My top thing to rule out first....corn!

1. Because corn free formula are super limited
2. Many meds contain corn (ie. baby Tylenol).

Makes sense to know sooner rather than later if your baby is FPIES to corn. The last thing you want is to suspect if your sick baby is having a FPIES reaction to corn ingredients in meds.

Love, Mun