My 7 Week Old Is in a Lot of Pain!

I was going to suggest gripe water... have you added it directly to the bottles?
Even though you are experiencing the situation of not producing enough milk, if you supplement you're never going to start producing enough because the number one way to produce milk is baby suckling. I only add this because I regularly attend a breastfeeding group and it is what I hear from my doula after 3 kids.
I also agree with what has been posted about the cows milk (base for most formulas) intollerence that is so hard on a baby's digestive system.
I highly recommend going to see a lactation consultant privately, not in a hospital setting. These women have wisdom beyond anything you'll find on line.
a warm hand towel over the baby's belly can help the gas settle as well as the bicycle leg motion to get it moving out.
last tip, try if you can to pump at least during those times baby gets the formula or right after so your breasts can keep up with knowing when baby is eating.
Other ways to keep milk supply up is water, water, water, and getting enough protein in your diet.
Good luck to you and your baby!

when my babies had this problem i put a little bit of dark karo syrup in their bottles. It seemed to help.

I would try changing your diet. My girls were sensitive to things I wouldn't have thought twice about eating. For example there is some preservative in packaged spices (like taco seasoning) that gave my second horrible gas pains. ALso, nuts (especially peanut butter), granola, dairy, and lots of veggies were culprits too.
I also don't know how long it has been since a BM but a few days is normal if you are breastfeeding. My son, who is 3 months, only has 1 BM every 7-10 days. I have taken to the pediatrician many times and they say it is normal. As long as the consistency is still soft and smooth. Unless it is coming out hard I wouldn't worry about it. And if it is you should take her to the doctor.
Still with both things changed some days he still has some discomfort while passing gas and before and during his BM.

Try mixing 1-2 teaspoons for dark Karo Syrup into each bottle of formula. Both of my daughters experienced constipation when I switched from breast milk to formula.

A little prune juice (not apple juice) in the bottle worked for us (a teaspoon or two at most when you first try--don't overdue it or you'll end up making it worse. You can add a LITTLE more if needed if that doesn't do the trick).

J. im sorry your little girls has to go through that.You should try some mylicon for gas relief and some prune juice in a bottle.

I gave my daughter a small bottle of waterbwith a few drops of peppermint essential oil added. Peppermint can help with stomach/gas pain. Hope you find something that works!

M.
www.enidmg.com

J.,
My heart goes out to you and your daughter! I know how you're feeling. I didn't breastfeed, but my daughter had simular issues. We finally switched to Dr. Brown's bottles, Gentlease formula and used mylacone (sp?) drops, it finally did help. My daughter is 17 months old and we still give her the gas drops and she has always had tummy issues, so she gets a 2oz of Apple Prune juice mixed with 2oz of nursery water. It seems to work well for her. Good luck!
R. G

My baby boy that is now 14months old. He was getting really constipated at about 4 months old, so I took him to his doctor and he said to give him 1-1/2 teaspoons of Miralax everyday. That's a stool softener and it won't hurt the baby. It sure does help him. Also if the baby isn't allergic to bananas and can eat them, then try that also. It sure gives my boy the runs. Hope you find something good for your little one.

L.

Our little boy always had a problem with constipation and it was so uncomfortable for him. He is now 18 so it's been a long time ago but at that time the dr. would tell us to put a tablespoon of the dark KARO syrup in a bottle and it would solve all his problems. At that time, bunches on moms did this and our kids had no adverse effects. My sisters who have children now ranging in ages from 6 yrs. - 6 mos. do this too because they know how it helped our baby. Mylacon (spelling?) drops saved our lives for the gas issue. You have to give it to them with every feeding. I hated doing this but our pediatrician said it was doing him more harm by not. It just got rid of the gas and he was much more comfortable.

You have too many things that could be causing the problem. It could be something in your diet. It could be the formula. I've experienced both situations. My son screamed after having formula just once. The doctor me never to give him formula again (because of a history of allergies). I found everything from yeast to cinnamon has caused my children to have gas. Keeping a food journal and the effects helped me to identify the problem foods.

I would encourage you to stop the formula and to just do everything you can to increase your supply of breastmilk. Remember formula just tries to mimic the breastmilk. You will never have enough milk if you suppliment. Breastfeeding is supply and demand. To increase your milk supply I would suggest pumping with a good pump. Drink plenty of water and forget about losing your baby fat. I found that everytime I tried to limit my diet, my milk supply and quality week down. I know it is hard to breastfeed enough when you have a three year old and a newborn. I've been there, but you are the only one who can breastfeed your child. Don't limit the amount of time that you let your child nurse. You have just gone through a major growth spurt and your milk supply was not allowed to catch up because of the supplimentation.

Try to increase your milk supply. Also remember that the amount that a breastfeed baby takes in a bottle can be must smaller because of the quality of the milk. My daughter at 5 months only takes 3 ounces. My other two children never took more than 4 ounces in the time that they breastfed.

I know it is so hard to see your baby in pain. You are doing a great thing by breastfeeding. I did an obscene amount of research when I was breastfeeding and I do remember how stressful it was not knowing what was causing the problems as with breastfeeding there are SO MANY things that it could be. I have never heard that supplementing caused gas and think you should continue doing what you are doing if it works for you. Mylecon is the best thing you can do for gas. Especially when you have tried gripe water and have not seen results. Mylecon works on what is in the stomach so it is important to give it during or right after a feeding. Once the gas moves out of the stomach and into the digestive tract, it becomes VERY painful and the Mylecon can't reach it. Once I started giving it to my son at the right times, we both experienced a whole different world. It is safe and will give relief to you both. Good luck!

Try a teaspoon of Karo syrup and and 1/2 of prune juice in with her formula and see if that doesn't help. I had the same issue with my daughter after I went back to work. I was also pumping and put some breast milk in also to help with the transition from breast to formula. The mixture was the doctor's. Best of luck.
G.

You can buy malt suprax, ask the pharmacy dept, about it. Its something to help them have a BM, you mix it in the bottle of milk. My son stayed constipated & I had to give him that everyday in a bottle. The Pediatrician told me about it.
Also Pearce's Pharmacy in Bastrop sells a product called DeeWee's. Its for gas & tummy aches simular to colic. It VERY GOOD! And it will help the baby rest. We have used it in our family for 14 yrs!

My daughter was the same. I ended up restricting my diet, cutting out anything that may cause me to have gas, and hence her. With this I tried mylecon which helped a little. Tummy rubs and leg exercises helped too. For me, none of the special formula's helped, It was my doc's idea to supplement one feeding with the different kinds of formula for gas or upset stomach (the different enfamil) But we found that the regular enfamil with lipil worked best... the stuff for gas actually made her worse!

I don't know if it was any one think in particular, or if it was everything combined, but that is what worked for my youngest daughter.

I don't know if you have tried it or not but for the gas, I used Infants Mylicon. When i switched my son from Enfamil to Goodstart formula, he became constipated. At first we would use a Q-tip with valsaline and "lube" him, but we started using MiraLax. Just mix 1/2 a cap in 4oz bottle. It can take anywhere from 30 mins to 4 hours, but it works!!

my daughter had the same prob. and we swiched her to soy milk i dont know if yourve tryed it or not but she might be lactose intalarent. i know a lot of alex's gas went away after that but she was still constipated. we also had her on kristolos witch is a constipation medican that worked very well for her. shes 5 1/2 months now and is pooing fine so i think she grew out of it after we started her on cerael. but anywho i hope this helps and best of luck!

Youre right, it's the cow's milk that is causing the problem. Cow's milk was made for baby cows not baby humans. Your breast milk supply is diminishing because you are supplementing with formula. It is a supply and demand process. It will build up again if you gradually lessen the formula and stop supplementing and nurse more. A growth spurt occurs at 6 weeks usually and babies want to nurse more to build up the supply. If you unurse long and often, you will have plenty of milk. Try Mother's Milk Tea obtained at your local health food store. IT really works.
B. S. RN CCM and former lactation consultant

Have you contacted the doctor about this matter. If not, take her, this might be something more then just gas. When you say she hasn't had a bowel movement in 2 days, the first thing comes to mind is something else is wrong. Take her to the doc.

To help produce more milk, you have to eat as much as you did when you were pregnant. Also, try a tea called Mother's Milk from a local health food store. Drink a 20 ounce bottle of water each time you nurse to help her with her digestion as well. Switching formulas causes a lot of digestive problems because she is used to breast milk. Also, try aloe vera juice (sold at Wal-Mart) and activated charcoal (health food store) to help with the constipation. Hope some of this helps.

I had the same problem with my son when he was born and i went to a health store and bought some herbal drops for constipation, i'm not much into the herbal remedies but this did wonders for him. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it but he did not have any more problems and he is now 15 months old. Hope this helps.

Best of luck,
M. H

You have received a lot of good information concerning your daughter. I have a suggestion if you are interested in increasing your milk supply. Buy a bottle of fenugreek and within two days you will produce more milk than you thought possible *grin*. I had this problem with both of my children. I took fenugreek until my supply increased (about 2-3 days) and then I quit taking it. Please try it if you would like to increase your milk supply.

I love mamasource. Thank you everyone for helping all of us mothers. Good Luck J.! Let us know how it turns out.

My son had this problem. Give her some water. Also try sticking a thermomiter into her back side to help stimulate her. I would also check with her docter too. She may need some miralax. Breast milk does that sometimes.

I would also think a dairy allergy -- My daugther was like this as well and has dairy and soy allergies- I was BF and supplementing for poor weight gain-We tried all the formula's (do not try soy- if your baby is already constipated it will be HORRIBLE! it was for us!!!) Prior to finding out her milk allergy the best formula for us was Similac Sensitive (it was lactose free but not dairy free) and than we tried the hypoallergenic ones and she vomitted- so now she is exclusively breastfeed - i cut out all dairy and soy and she is a happy baby- still only poops every 2-3 days but is not in pain from it- You can increase your milk supply (I never thought I would get here) or pump an extra bottle and give it to her ( i still do this) Good luck!

Hay J..
I wouldn't give her anymore apple juice, it may make gas worse in some kids. I would call the baby's doctor about maybe changing to formula not cow milk based. And if you breast feeding, try to not eat any dairy based products for awhile, see if that helps her tummy. My 7 month old was so gassy and he spit up all the time til he was put on milk free formula and I cut out dairy.
I hope this helps. Hang in there. And remember try to take care of mommy too.

Are you giving your daughter a formula with iron in it? This maybe adding to the discomfort. If you are still nursing her from time to time watch the green leafy vegetables as this will cause gas from time to time. An old fashioned remedy for the little one is a little KARO syrup in the formula, or a little water down prune juice that is slightly warmed. I hope this helps, hang in there and God bless! JJ

It is most likely one of two things. You may need to switch formulas to something like Nutramigen or it could be that the bottles you are using are not quite right for your baby. Does it seem like she is struggling with the nipple? Making a lot of noises and swallowing air? Some types of nipples are a little too long for a tiny newborn mouth and it doesn't fit well so they have trouble with it. Nuk nipples (made by Gerber) or Medella nipples are smaller. I would buy Nutramigen AND 1 Nuk baby bottle and see how it goes.
Another thing to consider trying is to eliminate all dairy from your diet (still take prenatals, don't forget) because there is a good posibility that dairy is the problem making your baby gassy. If the gas x isn't working in the meantime, try mylicon, it might be the same active ingredient I am not sure, if so forget I said it =)
Burp more often too, you may be surprised how many you can get!
Good luck hun, I have been there with mine!

It sounds like it could be a dairy intolerance. Does your daughter spit-up a lot, sound congested like a cold, have eczema or any combination of these things? My son was not "colicky" but certainly fussy to the point where I had to ask whether that amount of fussiness was "normal". He also seemed to spit-up a lot, sounded congested, developed eczema and had green poops. My ped. suggested eliminating obvious dairy. I went further and eliminated all dairy and then ultimately soy (not an easy task) but wow...what a different baby! It was not an allergy, but an intolerance. The "congestion" was actually reflux that when he laid down went back up into his nose and ears.
There are great resources on the web for truly dairy free foods and after 1 year, my son can handle a decent amount of direct dairy, is fine with me eating it and nursing, but still reacts to soy if consumed directly (vs nursing after I eat it).

Good luck