J.G. asks from Phoenix, AZ on August 02, 2011
Switching Baby Formual
Hi moms! My 3 month old son has had a lot of gas the past 3-4 weeks, to the point of him screaming. He has even gone as far as not breastfeeding :(
I have been giving him Gripe Water & that seems to pacify him, but I would love to find out the problem & solve it rather than keep pacifying him. At daycare, he usually has 2 feedings of pumped breastmilk & then any others similac advanced formula. I have received 2 cans of the similac sensitive & was wondering how I would go about trying that out to see if that helps his gas & cramping? I know when I first talked to his pediatrician about formulas, he told me to pick one & stick with it, but would that just be brand? These last 2 days seem to have gotten worse, his screams are loud piercing ones that scare me, but once you put him in a sitting position rather than a laying down one, he is all smiles. I just dont know what to do.......
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I hate seein my lil boy like this :(
So What Happened?™
Thank you to everyone for their responses. I have decreased my dairy intake and that seems to have helped quite a bit. :)
More Answers
S.H. answers from Honolulu on August 02, 2011
Use Mylicon Infant Gas drops.
That worked for my daughter as a baby. She had BAD gas pains.
And she rarely farted or burped, though I tried.
Their organs are still developing, as well.
Burp your baby. Often.
Bicycle his legs, massage his tummy in circular motions.
Or, does he have Reflux????
And monitor what you are eating. That can cause gas, too.
1 mom found this helpful
A.M. answers from New York on August 02, 2011
I'm sorry you are experiencing this! I know the feeling of juggling with formula! My now 15 month old was started on Similac (this is what was used in the hospital)...and I breastfed only for the first month (it didn't work out for us...I wasn't producing enough and he wasn't gaining)..On the Similac he would drink fine, but spit up A LOT! Sometimes it seemed like the whole bottle...I talked to our ped. about it, and since she never actually saw him spit up, she said he was fine and advised me to not switch. (And he was gaining weight...I just felt bad he was spitting up so much...but being my first baby, I wasn't sure and listened to his ped.) It wasn't until last Fall when there was a recall on Similac...I then switched to Gerber Good Start...he did sooo much better on it. Hardly ever spit up...it seemed less "foamy"...definitely a different consistency...the recall was the best thing that happened to us. I strongly believe that certain formulas are better than others for each baby. If you are feeling the need to try a different one, I say go for it...I wish I had gone with my instinct and switched earlier...good luck!!
1 mom found this helpful
L.A. answers from New York on August 02, 2011
speak with your ped, but if you change formulas, you've got to give baby a chance to get used to the new one, might take a week or two before you can tell if he's any better or worse. switching too frequently won't be diagnostic.
D.W. answers from Gainesville on August 02, 2011
I'd give the Sensitive a try since he's obviously having an issue. Try it for a while and see if it helps. It's not like you have been switching formulas around every other day. Babies/adults can develop sensitivities at any time and given that he is breastfed (which breastmilk is very easy on the system) I would have gone with an easily digestible/sensitive formula from the beginning if I'd needed to supplement.
D.M. answers from Denver on August 02, 2011
I would check w/ your Dr. again too. Does he spit up? My son became very colicy about 8 weeks... and it turned out he was not able to digest milk protien. This was Dx from a stool sample (blood and mucus). Solution - cut all dairy out of my diet and wait two weeks to make him feel better OR switch to a partially digested formula (in our case Nutramigen). I would talk to your Ped again before another change. It could be so many things. Good luck : )
J.K. answers from Phoenix on August 02, 2011
Try cutting out dairy from your diet. Sometimes that upsets little bellies...
K.P. answers from Seattle on August 02, 2011
This happened to us when my son was little. We tried many different kinds and still had the same problem. So we tried a Soy formula and it worked great. No more tummy issues and he was a lot happier. Now that he is older he is drinking lactose free milk.
If you are still nursing watch what you eat because that is what he is getting too.
K.F. answers from Phoenix on August 03, 2011
Sounds like both of my babies. I would try reflux medication. If that doesn't help I would eliminate all dairy from your diet (since you are breastfeeding) to determine if it is a cow's milk protein allergy). You can try supplementing with a hypoallergenic formula. My son had reflux and the original medication they prescribed didn't work, we had to switch to Prevacid and that helped immensely. He also had a cow's milk protein allergy. Both of my kids had this and they have both seemed to outgrow. Good luck.
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