Mom Having Trouble with Formula

A lot of children that are allergic to milk are also allergic to soy, so a change to rice milk might help - but you should definitely talk to her doctor first in case the problem is being caused by something else.

T.,
My 2 1/2month old daughter is also having problems with reflux. She is now taking previcid in the morning and zantac twice a day. She is some better but her gassiness causes her a great deal of pain when she burps. My doc says that most babies out grow this around 4 months, We are a preemie so it might take us longer. We elevated the head of her bassinette and I keep her upright for a while after each bottle to help it stay down better.
R.

Hi T.!
Congrats on your new sweet little girl!
Our son was very gassy and colicky for the first few weeks and we ended up switching to the Enfamil Gentlease formula. (or, a generic of the same) That seemed to help him out a good bit. He still had some bad days, but nothing compared to when he was trying to digest regular formula. Hope this helps you as much as it did us!
Good luck and congrats!

J.

hey T.! i am sorry but i can't offer any advice about the formula part, my first child used enfamil and my second used similac adv. with no problems!
However, i read that your baby is having diaper rashes..i know it may sound odd (or atleast it did to me) but my doctor told me to use maalox on diaper rashes.. and boy does it work!
when she told me that, i was like what the heck?!? lol
but usually when my baby has a bad case of rash on his bottom... i will use it durin the day and at nite i will put it on him and the next morning it will be completely gone!
Just thought i'd share this bit of info! hope your little one gets better

A lot of babies have problems with Soy. The gassiness may have been a problem with lactose in regular formula. The runny stuff may be an allergy.
If you want to go back to regular formula, I suggest the Nestle Goodstart. My baby had a milk allergy and was on Alimentum until 9 mos, then the doctor had me use Goodstart when we gradullly switched over. She said it was the smallest protein and the easiet for babies. See the doctor, though. She may have the allergy too.
And make your switches gradually. Have you ever seen a dog when its food was changed fast? It's pretty gross and it's the same for babies. Poor little thing may just be having trouble adjusting.
Good luck.

Hello. My son had the same symptoms and we had to put him on Neocate. I nursed then tried Soy and nothing helped. About 2 weeks after starting the Neocate he was a totally different child. We get the Neocate off Ebay and it cost about half of what it does at the pharmacy. Good Luck! I would ask the Pediatrician to check her stool for blood. That would rule out an allergy.

It's probably best that you talk to your childs doctor but I also think you were quick to change formulas.Her system is new and sensitive and probably just needed time to adjust to the formula before you switched.My oldest was on enfamil with lipil which was good but from my understanding (atleast where I live) WIC doesn't offer enfamil anymore,they switched to similac advanced (what my second was put on).I was told it's the same thing,just cheaper.But make sure you dont keep switching to often,that will most certainly upset her tummy.As for gas,trying making sure she's in an upright position while feeding,you can try to burp her half way through the bottle and burp again once she's done,you can give her mylicon drops which work well also.And you can buy those playtex bottle with the drop in begs.I used that with both my children as well as the playtex nurser I think its called,it had holes at the bottom of the bottle that release the air.All those things could help with gas.

I had a lot of issues when my baby (now 8 mos) switched to formula at 6 mos. Ours was the opposite problem, though -- he was constipated, could only poop with a laxative or suppository, had hemorrhoids, and screamed when it was time to poop. I tried so many formulas before getting Lipil (I don't know why I didn't try it first- yes I do - I wanted use the Organic SImilac - which was apparently the problem!). It's the one that says "the closest formula to breastmilk". He had been underweight before taking this formula - he has quickly gained it back. And he seems to love it - he gobbles down cereal made with it, whereas I couldn't get him to eat it before, and he loves the bottles. Plus, he poops like a normal boy! It has made all the difference. If you don't hear anything better, give it a try. I hope she feels better!

sounds like all the same symptoms Conner had when he was that age...the doctor switched formulas over and over before realizing he had reflux and put him on Enfamil A.R. plus Zantac and within a week he was doing great. Be persistant with her doctor so they help her! Good Luck!

Hey T.. My daughter had the same problem. At first, Similac Advance was fine, but the more she drank the more fussy, gassy, colicy, she became. My ped switched her to the Soy Formula and for a few days, thought it worked but didn't. They then tried her on Alimentium by Similac. It is expensive, and at first, didn't seem to work. But, then the doctor suggested to put rice in the bottle. So, we did. And it worked! Now, nine months later, she is on Simaliac Advance again, and will soon be able to drink whole milk. As far as the rash goes, I am sure she does have a rash, try to let her go without a diaper every once in awhile. It hard to do, b/c you don't know if she'll go to the bathroom, but I put pads down on top of towels, and she was fine. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

What about reflux? Soy is a major allergen and really shouldn't be given to children...

My son is on the soy formula and it works for us, but my sister had trouble with formulas and finally she found that the Nutramigen (don't know if it is spelled write) works for her. Her son had a lot of fussiness and spit up and the doctor finally put him on that formula. He was still spitting up a little, so the doctor advised her to put cereal in his bottle. Since he was an infant he has had cereal in his bottle and everything is great. He is 8 months now and rarely spits up. Don't know if it will work for you, but it is something to think about and talk to your doctor about. And as for as the rash, I would use Flanders Butt Cream. It works wonders. Use it one time and the rash is gone!

Hey T. your best bet is gonna be to take her to her Pediatrician b/c they can best diagnosis what is causing her different reactions but I can tell you one of my daughter's could not take the soy milk either (she was spitting up a lot also) so they told me to give her something called Nutramigen by Enfamil...it is more costly but if your on WIC and get a prescription from your pediatrician they will give it to you. I'm not sure what the difference is but it worked for my daughter b/c she couldn't take regular formula or soy...so call the peds and also ask them about his formula. Hope this helps I know your anxious to help your baby (and yourself) be more comfortable...Good Luck and God Bless!

Call you pediatrician and tell him your concerns and what your baby is doing. He should be able to give you free samples of different formulas--don't be afraid to ask him for some, that is why companies give them to doctors. Also, you can join some free online baby web sites that snail-mail you coupons for free formula. Google 'baby formula coupons' and you should get a couple of the 'Mommy help' forums ran by the different manufacturers.

Good luck!!

Hi T., I am new to Mamasource and just read your post. Not sure how your litle one is now, but my son is 7 months and had the same problem. He is still on the Similac Lactose Free, and was taking 2 doese of Zantac a day. We weaned him down to one dose/day and then to one dose every other day, and now he is completely off the Zantac. He is doing fine, and starting his Stage 2 solids now!

Hello T.

I a mother of four children, I would try the senitive formular and see how that works. You need to leave her on it at least a week to week and 1/2 to see if it stops. I'm also a grandmother and this is what we had to do with my daughter's baby who is now 4 months old. He had the same symtoms and she changed him to senitive and it really worked.
A.

Hey T.! Congrats on your little girl!! I would definately call your pediatrician about the formula since they know best usually. Sounds like you're going to need a better formula, but the are pretty pricey. When I switched to soy formulas in the beginning my son spit up a bit too and had some serious poopy diapers. I think it just might be the adjustment, but don't go too long waiting. Have you tried Tylenols Infant Mylicon drops? They worked pretty well for us when we needed them for the gas, and also burping him while he laid across our legs belly down. The slight pressure on their belly this way helps provide some more gas relief and an easy burp. For the diaper rash I really love Triple Paste. It's about 12 bucks for a little tube, but it last awhile and is so worth it! I can only find it at CVS and you should really lather her bottom up good with it. Make sure you get the paste one and not the cream that's for dry skin. Let her little bottom air out too as much as you can without a diaper....just don't do it after a bottle feeding :) I hope this rambling helps you some!!! *Butterfly kisses sent to your baby*

I had a lot of problems from day 1 with my second (now 9 months) I nursed at first and she puked,cried and pooped all the time!! We found out by a simple test(after lots of other craziness) where they put poop on a little piece of paper that there was blood in her stool, which means an allergy (can mean other things too.) We tried an ellimination diet for me, but tooo many gastro problems, so we placed her on the best hypoallergenic formula out there, neocate, expensive $45/can! But we were able to make her more comfortable (in regards to the allergy, she also had some other gastro issues) Then after a few months we began reintroducing soy and she is now at 9 months tolerating a soy formula and the specialist is wanting us to introduce a milk based formula to see abou ther milk protein allergy. Parents (me included) don't realize formulas are milk protein based and then the special ones are soy based unless you go to the 2-3 that are hypoallergenic. Also Beechnut is the only baby cereal that is soy free. I hope all this info helps, but it sounds to me like maybe your baby has a soy allergy. Good luck. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
M. j