Formula - Rock City Falls, NY

Sorry to hear about your baby's upset stomach. My daughter has suffered from stomach problems pretty much since she was born. She was both breastfed (low supply issues) and formula-fed early on. She had all the classic symptoms of reflux, however it still took about 1 month before we started trying medications. It then took a few more weeks for the doctors to decide she was allergic to milk and then she was placed on Elecare. It helped a lot, but she still has relfux and is gassy. What I did notice with the Elecare is that my daughter became very constipated. One GI dr told me that because of how Elecare is made (breaking down the amino acids in the milk proteins) it can lead to less bowel movements. However, her other GI dr said that she didn't think the Elecare should cause constipation. I don't know who is correct, but I do know that my daughter became constipated once she started the Elecare (we deal with it by using 1/2 a suppository when necessary).

I know Elecare is expensive, but I think it is worth it. I have done a lot of research as to where to buy it, and the cheapest I have found it is directly from the company. You can order it online at www.resstore.com or call 800-986-8502 (a box with 6 cans is $189 including tax and shipping and handling). Best of luck.

How old is your child? It could be that is her fussy time. Many babies go through an evening fussy time. For my daughter, I gave he a little cap nap in the evening 30-45 minutes, just to help her get through til bed time. It really helped with the fussiness!! My daughter also had reflux and some gassy issues. It was explained to me that babies can go through an evening fusiness because of all the trapped air in them from the day. So, to burp all day long, not just after a feeding. So, while you're holding your baby, you can just gently pat their back. If you think of it like a carbonated bottle, if you gently tap it for a long time, the carbonation will settle down. Same with their bellies. We tried that and the catnap and it really helped us.

from everything i've read about babies 4-8 is the prime time for them to be fussy. often it's the time when all the parents, other kids etc...are getting home, the house is busy, it's dinner time, and there's just a lot going on. hell, my 3 year old gets fussy that time of day too!

neocate, it is covered by insurance, and then after a yr, try introducing milk, soy, rice milk. what are the allergies?
i have three kids, one with severe allergies, as well as my husband who has severe food allergies and asthma.

good luck!

also, look on the food allergy initiative web site.

I would ask your pediatrician because you might need to add something like rice cereal or something to make it a little thicker. It might not be enough for her. That is a tough one. I hope that she gets better. It's so tough when you can't tell what is wrong!! Good Luck!!

Some one else just wrote in that their child was put on that formula. Her name is marisa H, and its under milk protein allergy. I wrote to her too. My daughter has a milk allergy and was put on alimentum but is mostly breast fed. How old is your baby? My daughter cried from 3:30 pm to 12:00am until she was 10 weeks old then it got less and less. Now thank God she hardly ever cries. I will tell you the same thing that I told Marisa... I think it takes a baby a while to get their digestion working well and they are still in pain for awhile. I have the book Colic Solved by Bryan Veatabedian, a pediatric gastro. and he has written in his book that it will often take 4 weeks for a baby to feel better after they have been placed on the hypoallergenic formula. It is so hard to have a baby cry for hours like that and I felt like I would never live through all the crying Vanessa did. My only suggestion is to take turns dealing with the crying when one of you are walking her the other one should get out of the house to get away from it to be able to deal. Vanessa whould scream so loud and high pitch that my husband and i would wear ear plugs to help deal with the noise level. It was so hard to deal with because I knew she was in pain and I couldnt help her. I think i cried almost as much as she did. The only way we could get her to calm down was a car or stroller ride. My only other thought is make sure your daughter doesnt have reflux too. (mine has reflux) Some signs are projectile vomit, puke breath, gaging or dry heaving. If i can be of any help send me a message. I know what it feels like to have a baby that cries a lot and i think it was the hardest time in my life.
E.

how old is she? what are the allergies and how was she diagnosed?

im just asking as your symptoms also sound like colic. my daughter wasnt diagnosed as colic as she only cried inconsolable crying for 2 HOURS every day from like 5-7. colic defination is something like 3 hours. in general alot of babies have unexplained fussy crying times daily in the afternoon to early evening from 2 weeks to 3 months peeking at 6 weeks. is she older than 3 months? if not, this might just be her. also if this is the only reason she is put on your formula, you might want to research further. as someone else said, when it comes to fussyness, switching formulas isnt necessarily the answer. the dr is assuming her stomach is bothering her, however others think reflux or sensory overload or just thats the time(i think its all over the world like that). there isnt always a reason. now if you are 100% certain about allergies or she is older disegard this. either way i highly recommend a baby carrier, pacifier, swaddling if able, and white noise. it didnt stop the crying but it helped. good luck!!!

Two of my children were on Nutramigen made by Enfamil. It worked like a charm and was worth every penny. It is a hypoallergenic formula. My 1st child within 2 days was like a new baby, no more crying and fussing. My 2nd took about 7 days to see a difference, but they were both very happy on it. Maybe ask your pediatrician if formula switching is an option. Also some insurance companies will cover the cost of these specially prescribed formulas, you just have to do some checking on that. Allimentum made by Similac is the evuivalent of Nutramigen, just a different brand. Good luck.

It could be colic or the formula is making your baby gassy. Babies magic tea is a wonderful home remedy which was very helpful for my similar baby.

I won't repeat what has already been said. But further, my fussy acidic alimentum drinking baby girl has gotten better as time has progressed. And when nothing else would calm her, putting her in her infant swing w/pacifier and mommy touching her soothingly (or singing, talking soothingly) was an absolute miracle cure for the worst or meltdowns. Good luck!

My son was on Alimentum from day one. We later found out at 7mo old that he's allergic to milk. I started taking him to a chiropractor that also specialized in chinese medicine. His reflux improved by 50% the first visit. He was able to tell where my son was having problems, i.e the gut. He performed very gentle acupressure & other modalities. He also did a muscle test to see which formula was aggravating his body.Maybe there's something in the formula thats not agreeing w/ her body. I also used chamomille essential oil at night to calm him & he would go right to sleep.Have u tried massage after a bath & before bedtime?
Hope this helps & good luck!

I offer first my compassion and love as I know how difficult it is to have a fussy baby! As the author of a cookbook for children and adults with food allergies and Celiac disease, I can say with certainty that food allergies could be the culprit. You did not say how old your daughter was...Did you try other formulas or is Elecare the first one you have used? Is she also getting any other foods, juices, breastmilk or anything else? Where is she in the growth charts used for infants (they factor height and weight by age to yield a percentage)? Was she full term? Do you have a good pediatrician?

I have 3 food allergy children that were once food allergy babies and YES, they cried. And yes, I followed my pediatrician's advice and used the medications like Maalox, Zantac syrup for acid reflux. Then I learned that food allergies in infants and young children had the exact same symptoms as acid reflux. If you get to the source of your baby's issues, you will not need medications, stool softeners, and other remedies that can cause other problems and have mostly have no safety studies for infant use. Please let me know if I can help you further.
Love,
L. Lundy
Author, The Super Allergy Girl (TM), Allergy & Celiac Cookbook
www.thesuperallergycookbook.com
Watch our FOX 5 NYC New Debut to see a moving health story: www.theroostercrows.com and click on the link that says "FOX 5 NYC Video"

I have a 9 week old, same thing, literally hours and hours of painful crying every night from like week 8. It's still bad, but no where as bad as it was. We tried the alimentum, a week straight, then breast milk a week straight, then milk formula and soy formula. I saw absolutely no difference, and my pediatrician said usually he doesn't. She did however have severe acid smell to her breath, and signs other than the typical reflux signs - not much spit up, but she would be better while eating, then scream, likely because the acid came up, then I would offer her more to eat since I thought she was screaming still from hunger, probably that temporarily washed the acid down while eating, but got worse after because she was fuller. It was severely painful for her. We had to keep her upright for 1/2 hour every feeding, tried zantac, maalox, but honestly Prevacid has been a miracle. She still crys for a couple of hours, but she has times of just being content, and doesn't have that really acid smell or painful cry unless she has bad gas, which we can work with more (positions, etc). Just thought you'd like to know you're not the only one. It's so hard to watch these little ones in pain. I just wanted to let you know, in my humble opinion, that it shouldn't take that long for a special formula to work, and if it does, it probably would've happened on it's own.

she might just be colicky. my kids would cry from 5-8 every night. there was nothing you could do to calm them, they would just wear themselves out. try not to overstimulate when it gets close to that time.

A couple of questions: How old is your child? And is it 4-8 am or pm? If it's 4-8 pm - I find that's a common time for babies to cranky. They're often overtired which makes it hard for them to do anything, even sleep. Maybe try starting her bedtime routine earlier and see if that helps her to calm down.
I am a big fan of slings - and if you have to walk around with her anyway, at least you'll have your hands free. If it's 4-8 am, using a sling may make it easier to hold her while sitting even - and you won't be afraid of dropping her as I was in the middle of the night. Depending on the position you put her in in the sling, it also may help work out any gas she may have. Good luck!