Formula Issues

My daughter was colicy, she had extreme gas and horrible screaming/crying fits. I breast fed for the first 8 weeks before a pediactic GI told us to try Enfamil Nutramigen. This is a milk & soy free formula. When babies are born their GI tract isnt fully developed, milk and soy can both be hard to digest for some and create gas and acid reflux for babies. We found (through trial and error) that our daughter could not tolerate soy or milk, this is not that uncommon and usually by 1yr they grow our of the intolerance. Try the Nutramigen, it is expensive, but well worth the cost to finally have a happy baby. Our daughter also had Mylacon with every feeding and was perscribed an antacid. This along with the formula did the trick for us. Do keep in mind that it can take up to 3 days to see a change in your babies behavior as it can take that long for any irratant to leave her system completely.

Hang in there, its tuff dealing with a colicy baby, during our daughters bouts of crying I would tell myself "this too shall pass" saying that out loud to myself helped me get through soume tuff times.

Good luck!

Since you are not breastfeeding then I'm sure that you either can't or you made the choice not to, so don't let people's rude, opinionated advice get you down.
F.Y.I...If you decide to try the Nutramagen then check with your insurance company. A lot of them will cover it in full. You will just need to get a supply company. I used Apria Healthcare for my daughter. The Nutramagen is VERY expensive...can't imagine paying out of pocket for it. My daughter is very sensitive to everything. I have been very slow to introduce everything to her. She is now a year old and I have been feeding her the Nutramagen and she did really wonderful with it. She is off of it now and she eats everything and does great. Some babies (even breastfed) have very sensitive bellys. With my own four kids, they are all different! Talk to your pediatrician about the Nutramagen and if they decide to give it a try then feel free to contact me and I will explain exactly how I got it aproved through insurance. My insurance company told me it's not covered, but after talking to many different people I finally found out that it was covered. Good luck!
Just a reminder...
We all do the best we can as mom's. If somebody is asking a question about formula and they are not breastfeeding that does not give people the right to throw such harsh opinions out there. There is enough guilt involved in parenting. Who needs other mom's throwing more around?? Please be respectful. If you don't have an answer to the question asked then try to keep your opinion to yourself. This site is for support , not harsh critisism.

It sounds like there may be a milk and/or soy food allergy. My daughter was on Enfamil Lipil, with similar symptoms. The pediatrician added Zantac, then Prevacid, without any relief. At that point, we were referred to a pedi GI dr. He switched her to Nutramigen formula, which does work for many babies, but not mine. In the end, he switched her to Elecare, a soy-free/dairy-free formula that is covered by insurance ($50 a can!). It did help, and it turns out at 11 months she had an allergic reaction to yogurt, and was tested by blood to find out she is allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts. Apparently a milk allergy is often outgrown (my daughter still has it though at 19 months).
I would definitely ask for a referral to a pediatric GI specialist. They deal with this all the time. Good luck to you. Once we got things under control, her behavior changed and she is a much happier baby.

My son had similar issues, but my doctor didn't try the soy formula because a high percentage of babies with milk protein allergies are also allergic to soy. We went through a series of formulas and took stool tests and found minute traces of blood in stool. Diagnosis was milk protein allergy and we put him on Neocate. My doctor had followed protocol and had no problem getting our insurance company to pay for the prescription formula unmtil age 1. By then he had outgrown the milk allergy and was able to drink milk. He also had problems with reflux so we ended up going to GI specialist at Children's Hospital. Your pediatrician should be able to guide you through all of this. Good luck.

My daughter was very similar and I tried all those formulas as well. I finally broke down and bought Similac Alimintum. It's a whole lot more expensive but it worked like a charm. I literally felt my daughter's body just relaxed when I fed it to her. Something else I do is use the ready med formula in the bottle. Neither one of my girls did very well with the powder b/c it caused major gas.

Now that my daughter is 4 months old I tried Isomil to see how well she would do and she's fine. I think it's just that their bellies are so sensitive at the beginning and it's hard to digest. My doc said thats why Alimentum is so good b/c it's already broken down for them. Good luck!!

I suggest trying Enfamil Nutramigen. It worked for my daughter. She had some of the same symptoms as your child. My daughter ended up having a milk protein allergy (that she outgrew by age one). Nutramigen worked great and was COMPLETELY covered by my insurance becasue she had an allergy to other formulas. Good Luck!

hi M.,

ask your doctor about acid reflux - my daughter had the vomiting, gas, pain, etc. you describe. we didn't figure out until she was 6 wks old that it was acid reflux, and zantac helped with the pain INSTANTLY. she still spit up until almost 10 months, but it didn't hurt her anymore, which was what counted.
anyway, good luck!

Hi M.,

I read your concern and relived my youngest daughters life from 4 months to about 6 or 7 months with formula issues. It is exactly the same scenario. I am a mom of 3 grown daughters, my youngest that I speak of is now 16. She slept all night from the day she was born until about 3 or 4 months of age. At that point, she began crying all night (colic) is what we thought. Her stomach would be hard as a rock, she couldn't poop, we would give her prune juice then she would get such diarrhea that her little bottom would bleed. The doctor kept swithching her formula just as yours is doing. Nothing helped, until......we put her on a formula with absolutely no iron in it. This solved the problem. She never went back on an iron fortified formula and she went back to her regular sleep habits. We of course had to supplement with an iron fortified juice, but that didn't seem to bother her. So it is worth a shot. See if they will put her on either a no iron formula or the lowest iron fortified formula and see what happens. Then you can either try to slowly raise the iron level as she gets a little older or supplement as we did. Unfortunately to this day, she does not like milk too much, but she gets her calcium from plenty of ice cream, cheese, and yogurt.

My son had problems with most formulas with his tummy the only kind he did well on was Enfamil Soy ... and the target Brand Soy we had the best luck it was bot bubbly and once we put him on that He had no more gas issues.

B.

Try Nestle Good Start formula. We had similiar issues a couple years ago with our son and the Nestle Good Start worked for him.

Good luck.

Hi M.,
My son was coliky as an infant.He had bad gas and watery poop. We later found out the he was allergic to milk and Soy.
I would try Alumentum there is another one out there but im not sure of the name. It is a bit more expensive. It is hypo-allergenic it might help if allergy is the problem.
I hope this helps.
K.

Both of my sons had allergy to both milk and soy formulas. One was on Allimentum, we had tried Nutramagen, but it made him very gassy. The Allimentum made him a little constipated so once a day he had a 4 oz bottle of apple/prune juice cut with water. He was young for juice but the pediatrician suggested it and it really helped. He was also on a presciption for the refulx - I think it was Zantac.

Our second son, had the same issue, he didn't respond to the above mentioned hypoallergenic formulas or the Zantac. He was a projectile vomitor and would arch back in pain when he ate. By 3-months we were sent to a GI doctor - after tying about 4 formulas, which takes time. He was put on a different antacid. He finally was put on an elemental formula, Neocate. This was very expensive, my girlfiend's insurance covered it for her, ours wouldn't. Hi vomiting was so bad that we mixed his formla wiht cereal that we gournd in a food processor. Watch cereals, many contain soy.

Hopefully you can find something that works, there is nothing worse than watching you child in pain when you are trying to feed them - somtheing that is normally so peaceful and bonding. By the time both of my children were 15-months old they were both on milk and they have no food allergy. You will get through this too.

Soy is nature's protein and it's unlikely that your child is actually allergic to it - she's probably reacting to something else in there, like something the soy is processed with. Many soy "allergies" are actually a reaction to the alcohol that most companies use to wash the soy. A high quality water-processed soy is an entirely different thing. The milk-based formulas could be tough to digest either because of the dairy itself or because of the other stuff that's in it, including the chemicals given to the cows or the contaminants in the grass they eat. There's no magic to cow's milk so I'd stay away from that for now. You could add a safe children's nutritional supplement (US govt patent and formulated by a world-renowned expert in pediatric liquid nutrition) to help get the nutrients in her and avoid the drugs that the doctors may prescribe. The company has a great humanitarian mission and its charitable foundation feeds over 43,000 people a day for free - for many kids, it's the only real nutrition they get. Then there are the millions of regular customers who do great and have no side effects! I'd be happy to give you more info on that and connect you with other moms - my friend Stephanie has a child who had 50 food allergies but is completely allergy-free after restoring the balance to his system. She'd be delighted to speak with you.

sounds like she may be allergic to milk and soy. try nutramigen or alimentum formula.

We also had issues with gas and reflux in the early monthes and then constipation a little later. We found that Similac's sensitive formula (orange container) or the Similiac Advance (blue) were best. All formulas except Similac contain an ingredient called palm olein, which can be constipating and cause gas. This alleviated all of our little guy's issues.

she may have a milk protien allergy or intollerance. You should take her to a Children's GI specialist asap. You may need to put her on a prescription formula if breastfeeding is not an option. Babies that have this can also have problem's with soy.

We had a similar problem with our now 4 year old. We used similac low iron and that helped alot!!! The iron was so hard on our daughter!!! We also used Dr. Brown bottles which helped with gas bubbles.Formula was available at Babys R Us 4 years ago, hope that helps you and your little one out..

Best of Luck,
C. M

Hi M.,
I would consider using Earth's Best formula, that you can get at a natural food store or Whole Food's Market. You will have to check in your area to locate one. (or look on the web) Not sure if that would help, you will have to look around. It seems like the newer formulas on the market are causing a lot of digestive upset in babies. Your doctor might suggest Alimentum if your baby is still having trouble digesting the other formulas. (although it is more expensive, but helps some babies)
Also, I'm not sure if you breastfed, but you might consider trying to relactate if nothing else seems to be working.
Whatever you decide, it isn't easy, having a baby that is uncomfortable can be very stressful. Try to get help from family or friends, or maybe a mother's helper, so you get a little relief. Hope this info helps.....good luck

While it sounds like there is a milk/soy allergy going on here, it could also be a chemical sensitivity. Are you buying the powder and then mixing with unfiltered municipal water? Chlorine can cause gastrointestinal problems and perhaps this is an element you haven't considered yet? Fennel seed is a great gas eliminator. I would add a little splash of fennel tea in with the formula as well.

Good luck with the poor girl. I hope you both find relief soon!

M. I had a friend with the same problem. They ended up giving the baby goats milk he's 6 now and is still on goats milk. they said he's lactose intolerent severe and the protiens in goats milk are very small and has more probiotics compared to cows milk. Hope this helps I'll see if I can get more info for you.

Could she be experiencing acid reflux? My son had similar symptoms...spitting up, very smelling burps, crying after he ate and burpped. He was on medicine for about 6 months until the little valve in his stomach matured. We saw a complete turn around after the first time that we gave him the drops. Now he is perfectly fine. Best of luck!

Hi M., keep your chin up, I remember what a difficult time I had finding the right formula for my son. He was having terrible gas pains and I tried every kind of formula. His Pedi was very helpful, although I admit I harassed them on a daily basis. My son would cry non-stop and he would also throw up more than half of his formula. I bought gas drops and we were prescribed prevecid which both did not prevent the gas. After 2 weeks he switched to Nutramigen formula which relieved his gas pains. It took a couple of days until the old formula was completely out of his system but then he finally started feeling better. He still threw up for a few more months so to alleviate that problem we added a tiny bit of baby cereal to his baby bottle. When he was 6 months old I switched to regular formula and he never had any more problems and he is currently not allergic to any food products. Good luck!

just coming to the end of our bout with colic. boy am i glad it's over. we found a natural probiotic that really helped, after reading research online. primadophilus reuteri. they carry it in the cold section of the vitamin store in hyannis, near pier 1 imports. here is the link to a product (which is outrageously expensive) and the study http://parentingsolved.typepad.com/parenting_solved/2007/...

hope that helps. we also switched to enfamil nutramigen, it's a hypoallergenic formula. got a sample and then a script. some insurance will cover the entire cost. ours does (bc/bs). we used that with great success with both out colicky boys. good luck.

Both of my daughters now ages 6 and 7 had severe colic they were put on Nutramigen formula along with a liquid drop medication that is prescription only I cannot recall the name but at any rate at the time Harvard Pilgrim my insurance actually covered the formula 100%. This made a huge difference with the colic it was night and day. Best wishes

My granddaughter had similar issues with formulas. She actually was nursed for the first month and screamed in pain
almost constantly. My daughter reluctantly gave up nursing to try formulas and Mylicon which gave no relief. The baby was taken to a pediatric gastroenterologist who put her on a prescription antacid and and said she had difficulty digesting any type of protein. He put her on a formula called Neutramagin. There was some relief, but that was not the solution. She then was put on Neocate, a very expensive formula, but it worked wonders. The baby finally became happy and contented. At one year, she started mixing the Neocate with Carnation Good Start formula, gradually increasing the amount of Good Start, lessening the Neocate until she did not need the specialized formula any more. She now eats everything, has a wonderful appetite with no digestive problems. Side note: after much haggling, the health insurance reimbursed them for most of the formula costs. Good luck with your new little one.

Yes! Change her! sounds like she is allergic to milk and soy proteins, which is highly common, both my kids are. I highly recommend similiac alimentum READY TO FEED- minute trace of milk protein and no corn syrups. You can get a perscription- i would also recommend going to GI nurse practicioner (I recommend Mass General, you can see them in Salem and other places) and ask about Elecare (wonderful formula for allergic babies) and Neocate (also wonderful, but is constipating so need to feed pear juice too) good luck, the formula dance can be awful, I've tried every one and highly recommend these! Hopefully you will see a change within days!

I have no advice, but I wanted to address something one lady said. She recommended giving your daughter honey. Please don't! It's not safe to give to children under the age of one. I wish you all the luck in the world, though, as you try to find out what's going on with your poor little girl.

Maybe she needs the hypo allergenic formula like nutrimegen (sp?) if she does ask your dr for prescription because some insurance companies will pay for some of it and its pricey. I would say if she's having problems w/ the regular, gentle, and soy that that's probably what she will need. Good luck give your doctor a call and atleast talk to who ever is on call no need to wait till tomorrow if she's that miserable.

Unfortunately, I can't help with a choice of formula. However, my daughter was very gasy also and it bothered her a lot. Someone suggested that we switch to Dr. Brown bottles and it solved the problem for us. She still had some gas but it was minimal and it didn't bother her at all.

I hope this helps!

My girlfriends son had very similar issues (all the sam e simptoms w/ both breast milk and multiple formulas); turns out at about 8 weeks old the pedi determined he had acid reflux. My taking a prescripting med for the reflux (not sure which one) and switching to Dr. Brown bottles she noticed a huge difference (no more pain, just lots of spit up...which she could handle). Her son is now 9 months old and off the meds completly now that his stomach valve is mature enough to close on it's own.

Good luck, and congrats on the new addition!!

You have received some good advice - here's my sympathy - I had a preemie who was both breast fed and formula supplemented - reflux and gas and constipation and soy/milk protein intolerance. So I know how hard it can be to see you baby suffer!

Milk/Soy protein intolerance is not quite the same as a milk/soy allergy. This requires a different approach than allergies. If it is determined you baby has MSPI a prescription formula is probably the way to go. You need to really read the labels - http://mspikids.info/ can help with a list of ingredients to avoid.

In the state of Connecticut health insurance is REQUIRED by law to cover the expense of PRESCRIPTION formula. Of course, they'll deny the claim and you'll have to appeal with a letter from your doctor. I included a copy of the law with my appeal, as did my son's doctor with her explanation. You would also need to convince your pediatrician that your child needs a prescription.

Reflux - besides meds, try elevating the head of your baby's crib or your own bed if you co-sleep. Really helps!

Gas - the NICU nurses gave me the best advice for gas - massage (you must learn the proper way or it will create more pain) and then heat on the tummy. Those toots will never sound better than when your baby stops crying and passes gas.

Contact laleche league and ask for their help to breastfeed... there's no reason why you can't produce milk at this point. I'm a doctor and frankly all formula is garbage and her reaction is fairly normal for a healthy child. Please try to breastfeed... it's easier, it's so much healthier for you and your baby. Good luck.

PS. I've know women who have adopted babies and are able to breastfeed!

Hi M.,

It sounds like your little girl is not tolerating the soy, I would call the dr.'s office and let them know. I would also ask about refulx. Both of my kids had it (one very severe) and the symptoms sound very much like what we experienced. There could be something else going on-ask about other possibilities that could cause this.

With my 2nd-she was at the point where she was either sleeping, actively crying or fussing. There was never a point during that time when she was "content" and I realized that something was going on (I breastfeed both her and my son). I found that the nurse practitioner and docs tending to downplay my descriptions of how much she was crying. Finally when I took her in again and reported that the medicine was not helping, I got a referal to a pediatric GI. He was a godsend!! He never questioned my reports of crying, did a thourough work up and set up a treatment plan. Once we started with this it was like night and day! And it made me realize just how miserable she had been.

My advice:
*Talk to your dr right away about the problems with the soy formula and see if there is another option;
*Ask if there could be other causes-allergies, reflux, bowl problems.
*Keep up with the gas drops
*Other things to try: We found that reflux babies are less fussy when you hold them a lot (I used to put them in the biorn or a sling)
Keep her proped up when sleeping-both my kids slept in a bouncy seat until about 4 months (those papous seats are great too); think about a swing-that seemed to help my daugher (and us!) get some sleep.
If you don't feel things are getting better-push for follow up or a GI consult.

Hang in there-I know how awful and helpless it feels to watch your little one be so miserable.

I suggest you try Similac Alimentum (it is pricey). I am actually breastfeeding, my daughter is 4 months, but we had to be on that formula for a week when she was 2 weeks old because she was screaming in pain - she was allergic to cow's milk in my breast milk. I went on a completely dairy free diet and we are breastfeeding successfully now. So your little one might be temporarily intolerant to milk and soy, Alimentum is dairy based but has broken down proteins that are easier to digest.

Hi,
It seems you got alot of responses. I didnt read them, but for us we switched to Nutramgin. It is $$, but my insurance covered it for one year(dr wrote prescription). It helped but her colicky wasnt cured completely. Also, recommend the DVD Happiest Baby on the Block. Good Luck.

M. sorry for your heart break, have you tried the Nestle Good Start, has several breat milk proteins and was gentle enough for my son who was breast fed.

Best of Luck

J.

Both my boys had the exact same problems. We put them both on Alimentum and it worked like a charm!!! Give it a try, good luck!!