Could Your Baby Have MSPI?

When we brought our newborn daughter home from the hospital, we were thrilled. Since we adopted her, I was unable to breastfeed, so we immediately started her on formula. She seemed perfectly healthy, happy and content. She was a good eater, and was really enjoying her milk based formula.

However, when our little girl was about 2 weeks old, her demeanor changed from content and happy to irritable and uncomfortable. She didn't seem to enjoy eating as much any more either. Her weight gain was also a little slower than it should have been. This was somewhat concerning to us, but we kind of wrote it off to gas or maybe colic.

It wasn't long before our poor little newborn was constantly uncomfortable and tensing up. She would arch her back and cry as if in pain. I new something wasn't right. Then, I discovered bloody stool in her diaper. This was an immediate red flag. We discussed everything with an oncall pediatrician, and he told us that it was possible that our baby girl was lactose intolerant, or had a milk allergy. So the first plan of action was to give her only a clear eloctrolyte solution to drink for 24 hours, and then start her on a soy based formula.

I was glad that there was a possible solution, and we did just as the doctor said. Once we started the soy formula, I could see a difference almost immediately. There was no more blood in her stool, and all was well. Or.... so we thought. The "honeymoon period" with the soy formula lasted only about a week for our little girl. After that, she was uncomfortable again, and she had more blood in her diaper. So, back to our pediatrician we went.

This time, it was pretty clear that our little girl had MSPI, which is a milk and soy protein intolerance. This is very different from having a milk allergy or being lactose intolerant. Lactose is a sugar in milk that lactose intolerant people are unable to digest. That wasn't our issue. My daughter was unable to break down the proteins found in milk and soy, and this was causing her little stomach and intestines to bleed. This was scary for us, and we just wanted to see our little girl thrive.

Fortunately, there is a special kind of formula made for babies with MSPI. It is a hypoallergenic hydrolyzed formula, which means that the proteins in the milk are pre-broken down, making it much easier for the baby to digest. Some of the most popular formula brands make a version of this product. We started our daughter on this type of formula, and we haven't looked back! It worked wonders, and her little digestive system hasn't had any more problems.

The best part is, most babies with MSPI will outgrow the condition by the time they are 1 year of age. Most commonly, they will outgrow the soy protein intolerance first, followed by the milk protein intolerance. So, we don't anticipate that our daughter will experience any long term effects of having this condition.