I would first like to start by saying that I am unable to breast feed, so formula is my only option. I have a one month old who started on Nestle Good Start formula. After a couple of weeks I noticed that she was extremely gassy and was burping and spitting up constantly. Also, her poops were multicolored and extremely smelly!! In addition, she was becoming very fussy and would cry and cry, unable to be consoled. She would pull her knees to her chest and it seemed that she was very uncomfortable. I took her into the clinic and it was suggested that I try Similac Soy formula. After a week of using this formula, I was still not satisfied. While I noticed the amount of gas had decreased, she was now unable to poop. When she finally did, it was hard as a rock and she could only go a little at a time and would cry while going. I am now trying my third formula...Enfamil Gentlease. I just started it and hope it is going to do the trick. Has anybody else experienced something similar?? Does anybody have any advise or encouragement?? It just breaks my heart to see her so unhappy and I want to do whatever I can to make it better!
I swear by Target brand. They have regular and soy. They are also half the price of brand name formulas. I absolutely loved it for my son. There were less bubbles, so less gas. He spit up less. And it has all the same ingridients as brand names. It has to pass the same FDA requirements. ALso, a friend's doctor told her to use Target brand. HOpe this helps!
Every baby is different. When I breastfed, my friend told me to start with Good Start because it was a better transition formula. I tried Brandon on that & he was fine. I also worked in an OB clinic so had a lot of free formula. I tried him on Similac & Enfamil & those two did not work what so ever for him. So, you just have to try different ones unfortunately.
Good luck!
IF you do use formula. Use Carnation Good Start. My sister used that on her kids and I've used it on my son when he was little. Good Luck.
Crystal
We used Good Start! Everyone I know that used it had good luck. I'm sorry I can't be of more help...it's so hard!
Amber,
We used Carnation goodstart with my oldest and it worked wonderful.
My youngest didn't take to it very well, he was gassy on it as well.
I use the Sams Club brand of Enfamil Gentleease with him. It works pretty good, but his poops are a little firmer, sometimes hard. One thing that added to the firmness of my son's poop was he was having his bottles made by 3 different people at one time (that's when I had the most problems). If more than one person is helping make the bottles, make sure they are making them the same way and correctly. The water should be measured out first and then the formula should be put in. Make sure you/they aren't "packing" the scoop of formula.
We still have an issue with Gas sometimes, so we use Gas drops. You can pick up a generic brand and it does the same as the name brand, but it's cheaper.
I was unable to breastfeed too and both my children are lactose intolerant. I used enfamil soy for both of them but the trick for the hard stools is to add a little prune juice to the bottle. Prune juice will naturally increase the water in the bowls but it isn't addictive so you can't hurt the baby. Just use a little at first and increase and decrease as you feel necessary for the stools. There is so much iron in those formulas that constipation is really common. I also started using the generic mylicon (baby tums) when they seemed really gassy. It also helps.
We went through the same situation, and finally ended up on the Target version of Gentlease (because he didn't like the taste of the Enfamil Gentlease). The one thing I would say is that you should give formula some time to work before switching again because it can take a while for those little tummies to adjust to something new. Good luck, and congrats on the baby!!
I would stick with the Gentlease for awhile- we had similar issues and it worked well for us. We were told not to switch until we were sure we needed to. Good luck!
We had good luck with Similac Advance, and our little guy was super gassy as well. However, it's expensive, so we switched to the Target Brand with DHA and ARA, and we LOVE it more than Similac. It's very fine and silky, and as another post said, it's less foamy and produces less air bubbles. Plus, it's 1/2 the cost of the Similac. Good luck!
Amber,
My sister went through the same thing with my niece. She chose to bottle feed right from the start, and I think she went through 5 or 6 formulas before she found the right brand. I have 3 chldren and when was ready to wean I found that with my 2 child that you might have to try a few. My oldest loved Enfamil with LIpil, my second would not even swallow it, we used good start with him, now my third I am still in the stage of seeing what he likes, he is almost 5 months and he so far got really contipated and fussy with the Enfamil, so my dr recomended carnation good start and not only was he constipated boy did he have rotten smell gas. I am currently tying similac with his cereal and for the past few days he seems fine. You have a lot of good advice from all the other great moms on this board I just thought you should know that this is normal. I think my sister pediatrician had her stick tying one formula for a week, and keep a journal. The journal wil help you keep track of how she is after she is fed. If she is throwing up a lot and is really fussy check with your dr and ask about reflux. I called my sister because your post reminded me so much of what my sister went through with my niece. My niece was diagnised with reflux at a very early age and my sister feels the only reason she was able to use any formula and have a happy baby was when she finally got on the right medication. Do not let negative feelings pop in your head. It is hard being a new mom and you are doing what is best for your baby girl. I send you lots of encouragement, and I am sure you will find what is best for your little girl soon.
My son is almost 9 months old and I have been feeding him Enfamil Lactose Free and have had very good luck with it. He wasn't gassy or fussy anymore. Although the formula did make him constipated, I added a little corn syrup or prune juice with his bottle. Good Luck if you give it a try.
Hi Amber,
We had a similar situation with our boys and found the best results with Enfamil LactoFree. We started with traditional formula, then went to the Gentlease with improvements but no solution, and then went to the LactoFree. Switching brands/kinds of formula is kinda rough on babies' underdeveloped stomachs, so you want to try and not to change much.
The difference between a Lactose-free formula and a soy formula is that lactose-free is still cow's milk but has the lactose removed. Soy is made with the milk of soybeans.
Anyways, lucky for me I just so happen to have a nutrition book that compairs the nutrient content of many popular formulas! It even includes formulas manufactured by Wyeth Bright - who often makes "generic" formulas. Each brand has a different composition of nutrients, and so it forces you to choose what nutrients are more important to your baby than others in order to decide which formula is "best." For an infant, really ALL nutrients are important so you can't make a fair call unless your child had some digestion disorder.
The bottom line, there is not a huge difference between any brand. That being said, let me add a comment about the generics. We had to buy the generic lactose-free or soy during times when money was tight for us. One thing I did notice with generic vs. name brand was the CLUMPING. There was always a big difference in how much the generic formula clumped over the Enfamil - and indirectly that is important.
One thing that is very important for ALL babies fed ANY formula is ratio between the amount of formula and the amount of water. Directions on the formula are very important to follow - not for sales or to wake your baby, but because of electrolyte balance.
When the generic formula would clump all the time, it did not dissolve very well in the bottle, and it was difficult to get the proper ratio of food to water. This can increase risk to the electrolyte balance and the amount of nutrients the child is able to absorb, so for me, I always purchased the Enfamil when we could afford it. I hated the clumping because it was more work for me to break it up all the time or try and remove the clump, or heat the formula HOT so that it would dissolve completely, then make the child wait for it to cool down, etc.
I know it's frustrating and tiring to watch your child upset all the time. Keep working with the pediatrician on finding a formula because I'm sure there is one that will make her happy.
Also, the constipation IS due to the iron content in formula. We added 1 tsp. of 100% prune juice to one bottle feeding each day, and it cleared the problem up within 24 hours. If for some reason they didn't poop 24 hours after getting prune juice, we gave 1 1/2 tsp. and that for sure did the trick. We did end up having to do this each day until their first birthday (unless they got diarrhea - which happened too).
We also used the Mylicon gas drops because they did reduce the amount of after meal fussiness - something we were desperate for with 2 of them. It was the difference between sleeping through the night or NOT when we gave it to the last bottle before bed. This lasted until they were eating more and more solids than bottles - so towards the end of the first year.
Sorry this is so long, but I hope you find it helpful. Good luck!
Contact a peditrican that deals with allergies because if it is a allergy solids may soon hurt her also.
My nephews daughter was born early and had this also due to a blockage her younger sister had the same thing so ask a gastrial doctor please if this could be where the problem is.
I hope you and baby have a happy life together.
Have you ever thought about a breastmilk bank? That would be my option if I couldn't breastfeed. I know there is one near where I live, you could research it.
Brekka
I have found that goats milk resolved the issue with not only my children, but also my neice, who had the problem to an extreme. There is powdered goats milk. I have found it at woodmans, otherwise walmart and woodmans both have the liquid form in the dairy, but look carefully.
Amber I have 4 kids and they all were spitters and were on Soy formula and that helped them alot. My one son had alot of tests because of spitting up and fussy when cried but, nothing was wrong. I would try the soy formula it's gentle on there stomach. Good luck it's no fun seeing you child cry of being uncomfortable.
Another poster said to try prune juice in the bottle. We had to do that with both of our boys. We had them on Similac Advance which helped them with their gas issues (my second was horrible). We did pear juice instead of prune. It can take a while for it to kick in so don't put it in every bottle just starting out. You'll have to tweak the amount you use until you find what works for your little one. My boys needed about 1tbsp.
Oh and gas drops are amazing. You can add them right to the bottle (after you have mixed in the formula and water) or you can give them a dose straight from the dropper (either before, in the middle of, or after a feeding).
When she does get constipated a warm bath can work wonders. I would take my boys into the tub and make sure that their tummies were covered by the warm water.
You could also try gripe water, I never did, but I have heard it helps.
Good Luck!
Amber -
I had this very same problem with my daughter, who is now 6 months old. I switched her to the Wal-Mart Parent's Choice brand of formula (milk-based w/ DHA & ARA). I tried all three (Enfamil, Similac and Good Start). The Parent's Choice brand had less of an acid in it than all three of the others. I can't remember the name of the acid, but it starts with an 'L'. For some reason, this was a majority of her problem. It seems cheap to switch her to the store brand, but for some reason, it's the only formula that worked with our daughter (and very beneficial to our budget). We also found out that she has acid reflux, and now she's on Prevacid. Our world in now a much happier place. If the Enfamil doesn't work for you, I would give the Parent's Choice formula a try. If not, you might look into acid reflux. It's a very common problem, and can be easily medicated. I know exactly what you are going through. Stick with it and eventually you will find something that works. You know your daughter the best, and can figure out what is working and what is not. You do need to get feeding to be more of an enjoyable thing for your daughter, though.
My little girl had a similar problem. I would strongly recomend the Good Start Soy formula. Something about Good Start is so gentel on little tummies, and seems to make the hard poop problem some better then other formulas. Even if you compare the smell of other soy formulas to Good Start, it is much milder and seems less harsh. As for the pooping, that is just a side effect from soy formula, if you put a little Karo syryp in her milk (like every night bottle or something like that) then that will help keep her poop softer and easier for her. Good Luck!!!