8 Week Old So Miserable... Allergy, Intolerance to Formula or Colic?

My granddaughter was also very cranky, gassy and cried most of the day and night. My daughter breastfed her from the start, but because of the GI problems started her on soy formulas, switched to Neutramagin and finally found comfort with Neocate and Zantac, as recommended by the pediatric gastroenterologist. At one year of age , they were able to slowly introduce Carnation Good Start and by age 2 she was on cows milk, off the Zantac and eating everything offered to her. No food allergies at all and she is 8 years old now. Hang in there,,,, it will get better.

my daughter was like that we start to warm her formula up and do only an oz or so then burp then an oz more and burp we made sure to burp very often and we also switched to the soothie bottles because they help reduce collic and it seemed to help

I'm not sure I have any helpful answers, but my now 11 year old daughter has acid reflux and when she was a baby she had both the acid reflux AND colic - so yes, it is very possible to have both. The reason I know is because I was breastfeeding initially for 3 months, but when I stopped and put her on soy formula the colic symptoms went away - gassiness, etc.. However, the acid reflux symptoms stayed on strong (crying, spit-up/projectile vomit, back arching, etc.) Ultimately a year later we found out she had an allergy to milk - likely why she had colic from breastfeeding because I did drink a lot of dairy. Anyway, yes - continue to pursue the concept of acid reflux AND colic. And by the way, my daughter is still on Zantac (loves it - it's an acquired taste) but what I found was that it can take 1-2 weeks to really get into your system to help - AND - as the baby grows the dosage needs to be adjusted - so stay on top of that and if you see symptoms starting to worsen hop on that right away - because with the 1-2 week delay you want to increase that dosage earlier rather than later. During the colic period she preferred the football hold sometimes - gentle pressure on the tummy helps. Also - this was a godsend for me - for some reason Baby Einstein videos absolutely positively distracted her from the pain, so when she was crying, if I popped one of those in the t.v. she was distracted and usually stopped crying - I'm sure you've already figured out that preventing/minimizing crying is the key to life - once they start crying the acid reflux just flares up really badly and they'll keep on crying forever (I remember a 6 hour episode - I'll never forget it) - so clue in to what will start her crying and always try to prevent it - and - I hate to say this - but sleep is of the utmost importance to her - my baby couldn't nap anywhere but at home - so we soon found it was easier to rearrange our lives to be home for naptime than to have a crying baby away from home. Another tip - they say acid reflux babies have a strong pain tolerance - so watch out in the future for injuries. I had read they can even have broken bones and not complain much. Sure enough to what I read, my daughter had a broken ankle that was undiagnosed with the x-rays - she hobbled around on it for 3 days before they diagnosed it as broken. Those acid reflux babies are special - hug her and get all the rest you can for yourself - the days are long but the years fly by. Good luck to you momma.

Good news! I went through a similar situation with my son. Regardless of what people say, my son was breast fed and STILL so very unhappy (with some tired and unhappy parents by the 8-week mark). My sister-in-law recommended a video and it got us through until the Zantac kicked-in or he out-grew whatever GI issue he was having. If you haven't watched this video and tried it, I would HIGHLY suggest at least giving it a shot. It was sad to not be able to snuggle with our little guy but at least he wasn't in constant agony. He's now 16 months old and is doing great.

http://www.amazon.com/Happiest-Baby-Block-Crying-Longer/d...

Good Luck and Stay Strong!

My son also was very uncomfortable seeming. He wasn't a big cryer, but he wouldn't sleep well and was always fussy and spitting up - and I was breastfeeding, so I don't think that matters if they have reflux. Don't worry about that aspect. At 8 weeks I realized that it might be reflux and he was put on Zantac. That helped for a little while, but at 6 months he was had been miserable again when sleeping and so was put on Prilosec. Definitely better, but unfortunately nothing is a hundred percent with reflux. He's happy, but he still has issues sleeping. Does your daughter arch her back a lot, or a double burp. or fuss after spitting up or burping. My son would always burp, fuss, and then spit up in that order. You could sometimes here the gurgles. He also seems to have a lot of issues with gas. Best of luck, and it sounds like you are doing all the right things in trying to get help for your little one. The GI will be able to give you more information, but you can also try Mylanta which is a coating agent that works in a similar fashion to Prevacid. You would need to check with the Ped about dosing, but I think my son at 14 lbs dosage was 2.5 ml every 5-6 hours. I think this a conservative dosage. Best of luck - I know how frustrating it is and how little sleep you are getting!!

I can imagine this is so hard for you - I too had a DD that ended up on neocate (after trying to breastfeed her and watching her curl up in pain, and then eliminating dairy, soy, berries, nuts, and eggs from my own diet). And as a mom who wanted to BF this was hard, but it was the best thing for my baby - so I did it. Neocate worked for her (although it took a bit for her to adjust to it) and she is now a happy, healthy kid who can eat anything. While it could be colic and reflux, not all of the other "hypoallergenic" formulas will work. Some still have a dairy base and that may have caused the spitting up. I also agree that it can take a week or so to see any difference. The neocate is the "strongest" out there in terms of how much the proteins are broken down, so if it is an allergy/sensitivity issue this will address it.
Hopefully the GI doc has some additional support for you. It sounds like you are doing everything you can - and that is the number one thing.
Also, most docs won't do an allergy test this early because they are not very reliable as most children will grow out of any identified allergies this early.
Good luck, and try to enlist the support of others - if only to come over to hold the screaming lil one while you take a break. Please take care of you too - your daughter will thank you for it!

Hi, So sorry you are going through this. I don't have any great advice but to say that we experienced the same thing. Our son had no allergy and was on Nutramagin and Prilosec. I am not sure how much it really helped. I also tried all sorts of organic remedies from Whole Foods. Nothing really worked. I think he was just colicky. We saw GI specialist, but it really did not determine much. He was a terrible sleeper and is still somewhat of a picky eater. He didn't have that "typical" colicky period which they say is crying for a certain amount of time at a certain time of day . . he would just cry all the time. Now at 18 months he is a happy, REALLY busy little boy. He did not start sleeping through the night until about 13 months . . and that was from 7pm until 4am. He now sleeps until 5:30ish (still early, but better than before). The biggest difference I notice between him and our other 4 year old is that he seems to have a lower tolerance for discomfort . . . maybe a bit of understanding his constant crying as an infant. All I can say is that you WILL GET THROUGH THIS. It is SO HARD, but it does get easier.

I'm sorry your daughter is having a hard time. We discovered my son was lactose intolerant at 5 weeks of age. I was breastfeeding at the time so I had to eliminate dairy from my diet. The pediatrician told me at the time that it would take 2-3 weeks for the damage in his stomach to repair itself; they were the longest weeks of my life. If your daughter is having a reaction to something you may need to give the new formula time to see if it makes a difference. :( I hope things get better soon.

It's hard to pinpoint an allergy when they are this young. I will tell you that my son had severe colic- gassy, screaming, all day long. He was a breastfed baby. When he was 4 1/2 mos, I stopped breastfeeding, and he got better almost overnight. He had multiple food allergies that I would have figured out on my own. He was not allergic to dairy, thank goodness, and did much better on formula than breastmilk (even though I eliminated most allergens from my diet). The reason I say this, is even if you do donated breastmilk, if your son has an allergy to something such as dairy, then the problem may not go away unless you know that the person donating the breastmilk is not eating that allergen.
I think seeing a GI specialist is the way to go here. It could be that the formula has caused an irritation in the digestive tract, and they can be quite stubborn to resolve. If this is the case, you won't see a marked improvement when switching formulas.

The iron would definitely cause a problem, lots of people are sensitive to it's effects. Maybe have her just eat a small amount, burp her really well and often. Keep her upright as much as you can. Usually when mine seemed to have an upset tummy I would stand up and just hold them and swing my body side to side, the motion soothed them and would often times make them fall asleep..... it also helps get your waistline back in shape :)
Motion, honestly, is one of the best ways to keep a crying baby from crying. Put her on your lap face down and just jiggle your legs some, this also helps them to get the gas out. Poor baby. Hopefully you will get more answers at your next appointment. Right now, just do motion therapy, I hope it helps.

Has the pediatrician not tested for milk protein allergy? It is a simple blood test or can be done with a scratch test. Seems like that is the logical way to start. At the same time test for other common allergies such as soy and eggs. Some dairy free formulas contain them.

My granddaughter was having similar problems and a blood test indicated she was allergic to milk protein and soy, eggs, etc. She drank a dairy free formula. It may have been Alimentium. This helped reduce the amount of gas and discomfort to a reasonable level.

Sounds like you may be trying too many different things and not giving any one thing the opportunity to work. Hypoallergenic doesn't necessarily mean it's dairy free. Check the label. I'm not familiar with neocate formula but if it's dairy based and she's allergic to milk protein it will not help her.

You need to find out if she's allergic to milk protein or if she's lactose intolerant. Either way, a dairy free formula, used for at least a week or two should help her.

Try a Naturopath also or even instead of. Ours is in Mystic, CT. Maybe she can recommend one in your area.
CorinaRN
Definitely get some infant probiotics while you wait though!

I second the idea to look into donated breastmilk. There are milk banks around, and if it is prescribed by a doctor, insurance will often pay for it. I also know someone who fed her baby exclusively on human milk privately donated by people in the community for the first 6 months. (She had her own screening procedure worked out)

I'm sorry you're having to go through this. We went through a very similar time with our 8-week old premature daughter. I couldn't breast feed much b/c it would burn too many calories but I pumped for the first 3 months (so painful and I was miserable). We ran around town trying every possible formula to ease her pain and crying but to no avail. So, yes, I believe that it was colic. We ended up on on the purple labelled Enfamil (Gentlease?) and put spoonfuls of of oatmeal into the bottles to help thicken it. We fed her more often and with lesser amounts. Stick with the zantac (or prilosec) - it took about 10-12 days to take effect. I was about to give up until a friend said to stick it out for 2 weeks. It's terrible but hang in there, it will end! My heart goes out to you. It was 4 years ago now but her screaming still haunts me. Take care and just do whatever you can to keep yourself sane.

I am a breastfeeding mother x3, and with my first child I was unable to. My first child had colic and reacted badly to all types of formula. The only thing to do is to just deal with the torture of the screaming and gassiness, I know it is difficult, but the "only answer when a baby can't tolerate formula" is breast milk. Sorry to hear that isn't possible for you. Some babies just can't digest the formulas out there. There is breast milk banks that you may want to look into. I know it sounds strange, but they are controlled well and the mothers can only donate their milk by strict policies. Some of these breast milk banks have donated milk to Haiti's neonates. It might be worth a try, for your babies health and happiness. Good luck.
Check out the answer to- "Why use donor milk?" here:
http://www.hmbana.org/index/faq#why
Doctor's can actually prescribe breast milk for babies who really need it for numerous reasons- one of them being allergies to formula.

Hi R., So very sorry to hear about your little baby's GI issues. Shaklee has an all-natural and organic product called Shakleebaby Massage Oil. It contains organic sunflower oil, lavender, and chamomile to moisturize and soothe. Many customers have found it wonderfuly soothing for colic. If you are interested in reading about it, just go to my website at www.emilytaft.com and type "massage oil" in the search box. I am here to answer your questions; please feel comfortable calling or e-mailing me anytime - ____@____.com or ###-###-####. I wish you the best and hope this is helpful. E. Taft

R., I'm so sorry you are going through this. I just came from a nutritional conference and heard from some very happy parents who had children much sicker than yours (believe it or not!) who did so well on a children's supplement. Totally safe - given to preemies through feeding tubes, formulated by the top food scientist in the country and world renowned in the infant formula world. Instead of putting your baby through tests, eliminating everything, and using medications that just mask the symptoms (and don't seem to do a very good job at that!), why not take a look at this. I have a colleague whose child had 60 food allergies - yeah, I know - SIXTY!. He was allergy-free in a short period of time. I live near you and would be happy to meet you by phone or for coffee to show you this in person or on line. Do you have 20 minutes?

Dear R., i have a 4 month. When she was only 6-7 weeks she was absolutely miserable. The doctor said she had colic or gas and suggester milicon. I tried it but didnt have much luck then i found what i now call my miracle its called COLIC CALM its available at CVS in the baby aisle. She cried for 11 hours non stop one day i gave her colic calm 10 minutes later the baby was asleep. I have a bottle of this stuff in my purse at my moms and in the house. Best part its all natural and safe for your baby. I have recomended this to everyone i know with babies. Its my little miracle hehe. Let me know how it works out for your little one.

My two week old was diagnosed with milk protein allergy (two years ago). I was breastfeeding and she would spit up and have projectile vomiting with red tint (blood), she cried almost non-stop. After a few days in the hospital and then finally telling us what the problem is, she was put on Alimentum, which she drank but really hated. I stopped eating all dairy and went back to breastfeeding again in five days. She's been the happiest infant since, with no digestive problems. The doctors at Children's Hospital Boston said that this is VERY common in newborns and usually misdiagnosed. They just can't digest the cow's milk protein, especially with all the junk like hormones/antibiotics in it. She has since outgrown this allergy and can eat yogurt and cheese now just fine.