Enfamil Nutramigen vs similac alimentum

are they pretty much the same thing just differnt brands? My doc said i could start dd on alimentum & he has some at the office we can get be4 we buy it since it expensive & we dont know if its going to work but i sent dh to get it and the doc gave him samples of enfamil nutramigen. I was confused but it seems like there pretty much the same.. what should i do?

Message edited 12/27/2010 2:12:50 PM.

Re: Enfamil Nutramigen vs similac alimentum

DS was on Nutramigen for a week and was switched to Alimentum. It almost put him in the hospital... He had a severe reaction to it. He was doing ok on the Nutramigen but was still having some issues with his milk protein/soy allergy. So the dr tried Alimentum. Must be something in it to cause the bad reaction. He then went onto Elecare...Try one and if it seems to work, stay with it..

Re: Enfamil Nutramigen vs similac alimentum

yes and no

Allimentum is designed for babies with fat malabsorption - that is why it contains MCT oil (medium chain tryglycerides), but is mostly marketed for milk protein allergy b/c it is a hypoallergenic product with hydrolyzed proteins.

Nutramigen is marketed for milk pro allergy and colic and does not contain MCT oil. There is another product that is marketed for fat malabsorbtion - pregestimil. Also has hydrolyzed proteins and hypoallergenic.

Why do you need it? Colic or allergy?

But I prefer nutramigen for these reasons;

Only nutramigen powder contains a probiotic lactobacilius gg that helps to heal babies GI tract that was damaged from the allergy. Has 100% success rate in stopping blood in stool within 2 days.
Second ingredient in Allimentum is table sugar - 11tsp per day. The issue with sucrose is that when a baby has allergy, the first enzyme removed from gut boarder is sucrase - therefor sucrose may not get completely digested, making a bad problem worse.
Has recommened levels of DHA (greater than .2%, contains .3%) unlike allimentum that only has .15. Important for centeral nervous system development and immune function.
Lastly, it works , quick (for colic) and you can get free samples from the company on their helping hands program and get rebate checks by calling them. My Sim. rep doesn't have a program like this.
OHH...and nutramigen may be covered by your HMO.

HTH!

Message edited 12/27/2010 2:23:21 PM.

Re: Enfamil Nutramigen vs similac alimentum

Oh..to answer above post,...very rare a baby will have reaction to milk protein in allimentum and nutramigen. They then need to go on to a amino acid product - like elecare, neocate or nutramigen aa. Basically, the proteins were not hydrolyzed enough to avoid alergic reaction. This is more rare though...small amount of babies need a product like this. But man...they are expensive....sorry!!!