OK, so I can completely understand how this might come across as being one of those posts that could be，you know, privileged, or tone deaf, but I don't think that it is even if it might come across that way.
This is about something which really bugs me, but in order to get into it I need to give a little bit of context. My son was diagnosed with CMPA which stands for Cow's Milk Protein Allergy. It's not hugely uncommon and it's not life threatening, and he's actually really lucky in that his skin symptoms have been pretty mild and sporadic and even his gastric symptoms which have been tough for him and for me and for his dad haven't been anything like as bad as they could have been. Thankfully we've not had any 'raspberry jam' type nappies or issues where we thought there was bleeding going on, and I'm glad of that because I think I would panic so much at something like that, because I've panicked enough with the symptoms he did have, partly because knowing how to manage them has been just a case of trying anything and continuously trying our best, but knowing that our best isn't fixing the issue and sometimes doing our best has been the hardest thing we could do.
We're finally at the point where we have a diagnosis and because of that we've been referred to the allergy clinic, we've been advised that we'll go through a process called The Milk Ladder and we have been prescribed a hypoallergenic milk which is "hydrolysed"; I'm not going to pretend that I know what that means, but Google says it's a substance that has been broken down with either water, enzymes or acid, so I guess the protein which he can't digest has been treated to make it so he doesn't react to it, or to help his body learn to process it.
We went through a process to get the diagnosis which included a two week "exclusion" period, so he wasn't having any dairy and he was on one version of the milk and when he was still having issues afterwards he was put onto a second version. So there's Aptamil Pepti 1, which is for babies who aren't weaning yet and Pepti 2 which is for babies who are weaning. I believe there's also a junior version which is for very small babies or premies and that is just scary as anything to me. Premie babies and their parents are going through enough without a dairy allergy or intolerance considering that milk is the only food babies have for the first few months of their lives! There are a bunch of others - SMA do one, there's something called Nutromigen - but what our doctor tends to prescribe, as I understand it, is Apatmil.
Obviously, our situation is not unique and a lot of babies get diagnosed with CMPA or CMPI (Cow's Milk Protein Allergy or Cow's Milk Protein Intolerance - not sure what the difference is or if there really is one...) and I know some people see a difference if they move over to Kendamil Goat Milk, but we've used one lot of Kendamil before and bubs did not get along with it at all, and honestly, it is expensive as hell. Obviously if it was for the best for my son I would pay it, but our health visitor and doctor advised the route that we're currently on. I should also say, that's absolutely zero hate on Kendamil. I think they're an awesome brand and I'm pretty sure they're the closest to a local brand we could get for baby formula, but things like scale of production mean goat's milk is always more expensive than cow's and it's no different when it comes to formula.
So, Pepti milk, on prescription. Sounds great, right? Well, it is, but it changes the game completely not in terms of some things - it's made the same way, you don't need extra equipment etc - but in others, because I like Costco and other bulk buy types of ideas, not just from the perspective of saving money but also in terms of the security. There is a security which comes from having multiples weeks of months worth of formula in the house instead of still at the shop.
In just the time of my pregnancy and the time my son has been alive we've experienced formula shortages which weren't on the scale of that which was experienced through COVID but enough to make parents feel a sort of food insecurity regarding their baby's milk, and there have been a number of recalls across multiple brands for contamination of milk with a bacteria which made several babies rather ill. Their food Made. Them. Ill. As a parent, you're going to blame yourself because you chose the brand of food and you gave them that bottle, but even if you didn't buy any of the affected batches, that food gets recalled and then there is a scarcity of it. When you get a baby onto a formula, you don't keep changing it without a reason, so to not be able to get your brand or your line of product - like the hungry baby or the comfort milk instead of the standard - is an issue, so when it's in stock, you buy a couple. When you go to the shops, you grab a can or two to put to the back of the fridge so that whatever happens, you have some to spare. COVID kind of came out of nowhere, or at least it escalated pretty damn quickly and one of the things which was massively interrupted (though maybe more for Americans, I don't know, I didn't have a baby at the time) was baby formula production and so there was a shortage. We used to keep at least a full
Costco pack of formula ahead, so 3 700g cans, which was enough for about 18 days when he stopped having it, and we would be working through a pack of the ready made bottles because if we were out of the house it was just easier. When you're on prescription milk, you can't really do that.
With a prescription, if you need it earlier than expected it can feel like you're having to explain yourself as to why. When I ordered our last lot I told the receptionist that our son had been drinking extra bottles because of the heat and he wouldn't drink water. It's true, but it was also because he was as angry as a baby can be that we were changing his bottle schedule from what he was used to of five bottles at seven ounces a bottle per day to four bottles a day at eight ounces a time. So I tried something different of doing two eight and three sixes, so instead of the original thirty five ounces or the expected thirty two, I had him on thirty four. But two ounces or three ounces a day makes a difference. After only two to three days it's the difference of a whole bottle and that's before you think about using it for making weaning muffins or anything else, because we still don't know if he's allergic to anything else so obviously if I'm making him anything dairy free I just want to use his own formula because - at least in theory - I know that's safe, but using that would mean that I'm making his milk last even less and I'm concerned that the doctors would tell me that I can't then have a prescription and he would have nothing he could eat, or drink, I guess. It's also not beyond the realms of possibility for me to drop a can or knock it over and the lids are CRAP, so even if it is "on" a dropped can might end up all over the floor, and then obviously would need to be replaced. It's thankfully not happened to us yet, but it could and that scares me. It's also not stocked in most pharmacies so they have to order it in and it can take a day or so.
Because of all of this worry and this is where we come to the crux of what I have been getting annoyed about, I have been looking on Facebook marketplace and Vinted (even though Vinted technically don't allow formula to be sold there) to pick up a can or two which aren't the ridiculous Amazon prices of Pepti, just to give myself a bit of breathing space, but I get really angry at some of the listings.
I realise this is already really long so I'm going to try and cut a lot of the venting I did when I was dictating this one, but I get people who have bought cans on Amazon selling them to try and recover some of their costs, but some people have the gall to sell their prescription tins as though they paid Amazon prices for them. They're there with the prescription label still on them or in the paper Boots bag the way they come from the pharmacy and I honestly think it's not right. I know people take opportunities to make a quick buck but these people know how hard it is being an allergy mum and then they're trying to make money off of other allergy mums. It's not even like they're doing something like creating a local bakery which makes weaning muffins and caters to allergies or something, they're just selling something that was free to them at the point of use (because let's face it, prescriptions are not free. Aptamil aren't making it out of the goodness of their hearts.)
But some allergy parents, whether they have weaned their kid or they were wrongly diagnosed or they didn't get along with that particular brand, they get rid of their full cans for free to those who need them. I love those other parents. Those other parents have given me so much breathing space by meaning I have some spare so that I can wait for my prescription to come through, or I can make a batch of muffins for Little man to destroy and throw all over my kitchen, without having to worry that I'm risking the supply that we have for his bottles. And maybe it's wrong, but if I ever did need to get more so badly that I would need to pay for some of it from someone else, I would be looking at sellers who had bought it rather than were attempting to resell what they got for free, because it winds me up that much.
And don't get me started on those who list it as free and then say "I'm going to have to charge you X per thing..." No, love, you are not.
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