Formula Feeding Help

I experienced the same exact thing with my daughter. I finally switched to Enfamiil Gentle-ease formula and it all eventually lined out. She immediately stopped crying with her feedings. Good luck, I know that it's very frustrating.

My sister had the same problem with her son, and she put him on Enfamil Gentlease. The switch has made a world of difference with him! He too was spitting up quite a bit, and she brought it up to the pediatrician. He told her that if the baby didn't scream or projectile vomit, then it wasn't anything to worry about. I hope this helps.

Hey N.. I am sorry you are having all these formula problems, I know that could be stressful with a new baby. But...my first son showed those signs with his first 24hrs of life and the nurses at the hospital switched him to soy formula(isomil in similac) and we started buying prosobee(from enfamil)and we had no more problems. Even after we had our second son we started on soy formula and he had no problems. I hope this helps. Congrats and good luck!

T.

My now 3 yr old had very similar issues and we found out she worked well with a Soy based formula. Soy is heavier and reduces spit up. The nutramegin was not heavy enough and she spit up 3x as much. The soy will harden the stool, but we simply made sure we added a little extra water. We also gave her a suppliment called acidolphilous (?). It is the good bacteria that your body produces that breaksdown and composes byproducts within your digestive system. It also helps a new Mommy w/IBS. You can find it online or in a health food store (not GNC- a real one). You can look for a powder form under the brand name Rhino on e-vitamins.com. Good Luck!

hi N.. if she's having trouble with milk-based, i would try soy. be careful, soy can cause constipation as well. i would check with your pediatrician on what to do before you do anything else, though. you don't want to switch formulas too much because your baby will need time to get used to each one. and for the gas, try mylicon. it's over-the-counter and most moms swear by it. you can give it with each bottle. good luck :)

We had this problem with my son. You might want to try the Gentlease forumula by Enfamil. This made a huge difference with my son's eating. Also you might try a different type of bottle. We used Avent bottles because he was getting too much air with the Playtex drop in bottles. I have heard a lot of people reccommend Dr. Brown bottles but I have not tried them so I am not sure what they do.

Hi N. I was just wondering how much and how often you are feeding your baby. I know that sometimes if we feed opur babies to much they tend to spit up more often. Maybe try giving her less formula more often. So i would suggest that she would probably take 2 oz every three to four hours if she still spits up alot then try 1 oz every hour and a half. As far as the constipation goes my pediatritian told me to give half an ounce of water a day but do not replace a meal with it. Let me know if that helps any.

Hey N.,
My daughter had alot of gas too. So we switched to gentelese and also used mylicon. It worked great for her. Another, suggestion would be a lactose free formula.

N.,

Enfamil does make a formula for babies that have gas and spitting up problems it is called Enfamil AR, my youngest son was on it since he spit up alot. Also might want to make sure that your baby isnt lactose intolerant, milk base formula might be upsetting her stomach causing her the gas and spitting up problems. Just a couple suggestions. Hope it helps

Try the Enfamil Prosobee Lipil with Iron. She might have a milk intolerance, which she will most likely outgrow. I accidently grabbed an Prosobee at the store instead of the regular and had the same reaction from my daughter that you are. She was allergic to soy like me. Mylicon helps greatly with gas.

Hey N.,
My 8 month old son has reflux and also has had really bad gas and issues with spitting up. We tried Enfamil Gentlease and that worked really well. It is already partially broken down proteins so he really did well with that. We then switched to Enfamil AR once he was a little older because with the Gentlease he was digesting it so much faster he was eating all of the time. The AR has added rice starch in it so it helps to reduce spit up. My son was also on prilosec but I have weaned him off and he is doing great with that formula. Good Luck!

I started with Similac, went to Enfamil and then Nestle Good Start. With the Similac and Enfamil, she spit up more and had more gas. With the Good Start, she hardly ever spit up and did not have much gas. They take out some the extra components in milk that the baby does not need, which makes it easier to digest. If you sign up at verybestbaby.com, they send you some really good coupons too.

try thickening the formula up with some cereal. my son has to have his formula thickened, if its not he throws it back up. he was on so many different kinds of formula i didnt think he would ever get straignted out. but once we used cereal to thicken up his good start supreme (powder) it worked. good luck!!

Consider relactating, your baby is not tolerating formula well at all: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/relactation.html

Good luck!

My daughter was born 3months early weighing 2 pounds. (She's 4 years old now) I breast fed for 6 months and switched to formula after that. We had the same problem, and my pediatrician was excellent. She suggested that we take her off the formula with iron (we used the same one you use). The iron causes constipation. Also, to help with the gas we gave her gas drops (Mylicon Infants Gas Relief Drops)for infants, you can find in the baby section at any drug store or Walmart, etc.

As far as the spitting up goes, we gave her the same amount of food over a longer period of time. For example, if she drink 6ozs at a time, divided into 2, 3ozs now and 3ozs half hour or hour late (You can try this in increments of 15 minutes apart, until you find what works for your little one), the spitting up should decrease after you find what works without her being hungry. Ask your doctor if she has reflux. That's what our daughter had.

And don’t worry she will grow out of it in a few months. Soon you can continue to give her formula at one sitting vs. multiple times. Let me know how it goes.

Hi! My name is A. and I am a child care provider. I currently run a small in home nursery. I can say that the formula I have seen the most success with, and the best tolerance with regarding gas and spit up, would be Nestle DHA & ARA. It is healthy and easy to digest. You can also try adding some rice cereal to your formula (about a spoon full for every 2 ounces) this helps with spitting up and acid reflux, but can sometimes cause gas, but Mylicon (simethicone drops) are very effective in treating gas. If symptoms persist, I would make an appt with the pediatrician, these symptoms can be a sign of serious reflux, or possibly a more serious condition called pyloric stenosis, which usually develops between 1 and 2 months of age. Hope this helps!! A. J

You should try Nestle Good Start. It is broken up a little better I think, and my boys took to it very well.

when i switched from breast to formula we had the same problem. We started off with similac and it gave her terrible gas, then we tried the infamil lipil and it gave her gas and constipation, but when i strted her on the wic program they gave us nestle good start supreme w/ iron and DHA/ARA. she did really well on it. it is very gentle and she has only spit up a caouple of times on it, her gas was greatly reduced, as well as the constipation problem. she still gets constipated sometimes...almost all iron fortified formula will do that.

You could also put gas drops in the formula they are safe and it helped my daughter who was a premie and got gas quite a bit. We to also used the enfimal lipol with iron.

To me it sounds like she really doesn't need the iron. That can cause constipation. Call your doctor though to see what they say.

I had the same problem when I switched my son from breast to bottle at six weeks. After trying several things we went with Enfamil Lipil Low Iron. It took a few days for the other to clear his system, but once it did he was a new child. Iron is h*** o* a baby and some just don't handel it as well as others. My son also had acid reflux and had to be on meds, but we had less spit up, gas, and constipation with the low iron. Also, don't over feed her. I guess it has to do with the acid reflux, but anytime my son would take more than usual (even as little as an ounce) and then try to roll over or sit up, he would spit up worse than usual. Hope this helps. A.

Try burping her more often. Both of my kids spit up A LOT, until I tried feeding for about 5 minutes or less, than burping, than 5 more, than burping, etc. Sometimes it would take forever to get a burp, but it's the only way I could get them to stop spitting up all the time.