Hi

>I'd like to share first-hand accounts of other
>children with the mother.  Because I'm LI, which I
>developed as an adult, my account isn't very helpful
>to her.

My DH is LI and so we were on the lookout for it in our son.  He didn't gain
weight very well, had chronic ear infections, a permanent bloacked nose,
terrible nappy rash and awful runny (to the point of liquid sometimes) BM's.
He also was very colicky and had reflux (projectile vomiting after feeds).  We
were convinced that he was LI but our GP (family doctor - we are in the UK)
wasn't and would not help us to change him to soya.  In the end when he was
about 14 months old I was fed up of him having antibiotics for ear infections
every 6 weeks, fed up of him not putting on weight and definately fed up of the
awful nappies!  I took him off all cows milk products myself and put him onto
regular soya milk (formula soya milk wasn't widely available like it seems to
be now).  The improvement was so dramatic (from losing & gaining a couple of
ounces on alternate months he put on almost a pound the first month!) that the
doctor had to agree he was "probably" LI although he wouldn't say for sure.  I
then argued my way to an appointment with a dietician and she confirmed that
"more than likely" he was LI.  Since he came off cows milk (hes now 26 months)
we've had no more ear infections, his nose cleared up and his BM's hardened up
to be what I would call normal.  I can tell when hes had something he shouldn't
(ie sneaked some ice cream when hes out with my Mum) because he has a
disgusting nappy and gets an immediate bright red almost acid burn looking
nappy rash as soon as his skin comes into contact with the BM.

When I got pregnant again I didn't want to take the chance of going through all
that again with baby number 2 so I started buying Nutramigen.  Its twice the
price of regular formula milk and its costing us a fortune but our Doctor won't
prescribe it for us without a definate diagnosis from a paediatrician.  As we
at present have a happy baby who has gone from a birthweight of 7lb 3oz to
almost 12lb in 7 weeks without any health problems at all I am not prepared to
put him through any kind of milk challenge yet and feel that the longer I put
off contact with cows milk the better it will be for him so we are just
continuing to buy the Nutramigen over the counter.

HTH

Sally.