How Do I Get My Daughter to Drink Nutramigen?

I used to keep my grandson very often. He wouls seem to get so very hungry before his next feeding & was not sleeping at night well at all. I came up with what I called his "Shake Bottle". I would pour his formula in & add abit of rice cereal & some mild baby fruit, mainly applesauce. I made the hole in the bottle larger so that this thicker liquid could be sucked out ok, after warming the bottle & checking it, I would give it to him slowly. He loved this & he slept so much better. This may help with the taste of the new formula she is having to drink, if you try this I hope it works for her,my grandson loved it! G. H.

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My daughter only liked it if it was really warm. Not so hot to burn her mouth, but warmer then room temp.

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Babies have to acquire a taste for new things. Try adding breast milk to it(2 parts breast milk/1part formula) for a week, then 1/2 bm/ 1/2 formula the next week, etc. She'll eventually adjust to the flavor.

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Just a thought about perhaps needing a paradigm shift about not having the dairy and soy. Your daughter is going to have to live with that for a while, right? My daughter cannot have gluten (wheat & barley), dairy, soy, and eggs. Rather than be ona "restrictive" diet, her diet actually broadened because it opened up a world of foods that had not been considered--not made a part of life.

She eats a variety of brieds, wraps, and even cake... all made from scratch with different ingredients. Her foods are all wholesome, "whole" foods, non-processed. She is glowing with health.

When she is in a restaurant, we sometimes call the manager over to talk to about ingredients, and we have never encountered a situation in a restaurant where she could not get a delectible meal without the ingredients she cannot have.

In order to not feel deprived, she made a paradigm shift in thinking about health in general.

If this diet will continue for your child in the years to come, your child may benefit with you behind her in every way with a lifestyle change.

There are many excellent websites and cook books about allergy-free cooking, dairy-free cooking, etc. Yes, you give up a lot, but with a different approach, you can also gain a lot of variety.

Hi K.,
My daughter had to to use the Nutramigen as well. I always mixed breast milk w/it, b/c she wouldn't drink it by itself, either. Have you smelled it, yuck! Who can blame them? I had planned on quitting breastfeeding around the same time, but just continued so she would have a mixture. Maybe since you'd be deluting the breast milk w/ formula, you could slowly start adding dairy back into your diet??? My daughter has no problem w/whole milk now; the Nutramigen is great b/c it is still milk protein, just broken down in a different way. After a couple weeks of being on a Nutramigen/breast milk mixture, I would say you wouldn't have to restrict so much. I'm sorry if I wasn't much help; I don't know what outside of breast milk that would make this any better.
Sincerely,
A.

Evidentally, nothing tastes as good as mother's milk. It may be that you have to make the switch cold turkey. Stop breastfeeding and pump as needed to relieve pressure. Your daughter will, of course, fuss at first. She will probably refuse to eat a meal. However, when she gets hungry enough, she will eat the formula. That may seem a little harsh, especially when she's fussing and crying and looking so pitiful. But the truth is, if the doctor has prescribed Nutramigen, then the formula is what's best for her. If your daughter has the same thing all 3 of my children had, then the long-chain enzymes in soy, milk, egg, and nut are tearing the lining of her intestines. That's what causes the blood in her stool (if she has that). Before you try cold turkey, though, try rice cereal. It sweetens the milk. I believe Beechnut is the only brand, though, that doesn't have soy, etc. in it. Make sure the hole in the nipple is large enough to let the thicker mixture come through (medium or fast flow), otherwise this will frustrate your daughter even more. If your daughter has reflux, then the doctor probably wants the bottle flow to be restricted and wants to keep the nipple hole small (low flow). It should take your daughter 5 minutes to eat each ounce of formula. If she eats faster than that, you will most likely see it all again (if she has reflux). And, of course, reflux if not treated, can erode the lining of her esophogus. So even though we are tempted to give in to our children's crying and relieve their temporary dissatisfaction, we have to keep in mind their long-term health. Hope this helps.

I think I would continue to breastfeed until she was at least 1 year old. The benefits of breastfeeding will far outweigh the benefits of the formula. I know it is a sacrifice to alter your diet but we sacrifice for our kids for the rest of our lives. We sacrifice that cute new outfit or shoes so our kids can have... I have been a mother for 21+ years and have made sacrifices from day one. Some are small, some are big but if the outcome is better for the child(ren)then every sacrifice is worth it!!Your breast milk is exactely what your child needs. It is wonderfully made to have everything she needs and a taste that she is used to and obliviously prefers. I do not have any advice for making the formula taste better. I remember that my youngest brother had to drink Isomil (30+ years ago). He did not like it and the drs. advice was when hes hungry enough he will drink it. I remember that he always spit up or threw up what he drank. It smelled horrible and left stains on the clothes and burp rags that Mom never could get out. Mom was so glad when she could finally trash all that stuff! She said if she could do it over again she would of breastfed all of us kids.Good Luck

You may try putting some vanilla in it. Also, consider as she is old enough to switch from formula to "milk" she may like the rice milk at that time. I would also suggest talking with a Registered Dietitian that works with food allergies.

Good Luck

Try mixing it with breast milk instead of water. That will make it sweeter and more familiar. That's about all I can think of, if she has allergies, you can't really mix it with much else. Make sure you pump a bunch before you stop nursing so you have it backed up. Later once she is used to it, you can mix less and less breast milk and more water.

W.

I was lucky, my little guy didn't balk when we tried the Nutramigen. But, a couple of tricks I've heard--since you're BFing, mix just a little of the formula in with lots of breast milk to start. Once baby takes that ok, increase the formula and decrease the breast milk until they're tolerant of both. Also, you might check with your pediatrician and see if you could try Alimentum instead. That's Similac's version and (although I think it tastes bad too) maybe your little punkin would like it better. Good luck!

K.,
All the responses are what I would have suggested except and please check with your DR before doing so, but I wonder if you could add Vanilla flavoring... I am not sure as to how much and if it would be ok for your baby to have that is why I suggest talking with your Dr first.

I BF my DD till she was 2 and she didn't want milk... so we had to add vanilla to it and then eventually added less and less.

Remember to do what is best for you and your family. :)

I would just continue to offer it over and over instead of one of her feedings. She will probably get hungry enough at some point to actually take it. OR you could give her the formula in the morning when she is the hungriest or when she wakes up from her nap when she is the hungriest.
I hope you get it all taken care of.
Good luck!

The stuff doesn't smell so great either. My daughter was on this from the time she was about 2 months old. So, maybe she drank because she didn't know any better. It could be that your little girl just prefers breast milk. Try doing 3/4 breast milk, 1/4 Nutramigen for a week and then go to 1/2 and 1/2 to eventually get her on Nutramigen. If that doesn't work, you may need to get with your pediatrician to see if he/she can put her on another formula for sensitivity. Good luck!

I am not sure of what food issues your daughter has but you could try any of the baby cereals and Karo syrup. I used to make my daughter a cereal or fruit bottle when she was an infant and she sucked them down. I just mixed the formula a little bit of oatmeal or rice cereal, and her favorite baby fruit and if I did not do friut i put a little Karo syrup in with the cereal( per pediatricians suggestion ) . The bottle should be soupy so don't mix to much . You will also have to make the hole in the nipple a little bigger. Good Luck

A little trick..Nutramigen is made from Enfamil, it takes really bitter. But the Similac Alimentium is better, The onlt difference between them is Similac add a littke bit of sugar to make it taste better, My son would not take nutramigen either, Good Luck. J. Peds nurse