Formula and Constipation - Still Struggling

Hi L.! I am sure you are at the end of your rope by now. Have you talked to your pediatrician? Mine always advised not changing cold turkey. It's important to give it a chance (about 2 - 3 weeks) to allow for their bodies to get used to it before you can tell if it is working or not. The baby might not eat the new one because it is unfamiliar and they have no idea what they are getting at each feeding. I would definitely give your doctor a call, or any health line a call and get input. Keep us posted and good luck!

Hi L.,

I had a ton of trouble with constipation in my now 6 month old daughter. Our ped recommended changing formulas as the first treatment. We went through pretty much all of them too(you know how many there are out there) and ended up on the regular Nestle Good Start with DHA and ARA mixed with pear and prune juice. We tried the soy version but that caused constipation too, at least in my baby it did. We still do a mixture of pear and prune juice. More juice, less water.

Hope you find a successful combo!

K. T

I went through all of this and the only formula that worked was Enfamil Gentlease for my daughter. I also want to add that I disagree with continuing any baby on a formula that is giving them pain and discomfort. Our family doctor disagreed with that concept as well.

much to many people's amazement, soy is not always the best option for bebies. many are allergic and it's not that easy to digest. and contrary to previous beliefs, iron is not usually the contributing factor to infant constipation. many times it's lactose. i had a similar issue with my son and did some research. try a low lactose or lactose free milk base formula. enfamil has gentlease (low lactose) and lactofree. i use enfamil gentlease and it has worked wonders. it has 1/4 of the lactose as regular milk based formula and it has partially broken down proteins for easier digestion. it's no more expensive than the regular formula, it's just not available in bulk. alimentum is for babies with milk and soy allergies and is all chemicals. nutramigen is for extremely colicky babies (and expensive). try the gentlease and you will see a huge difference! i saw a difference after one feeding!

I am having the constipation problem currently with my 9 week old. I'm told by the pediatricians that switching formula is a last resort. I have been giving our son 2oz. of apple juice 2x/day and it seems to be working pretty well. The doctor said if apple doesn't work, we would go to prune juice. It was a bit surprising to me that they don't change the formula unless there are allergies or unless the problems are extreme. My daughter is 15 and I recall changing her from Similac with Iron to Similac without or low iron.

If you haven't already, I would check with the ped. before going any further.