Baby Formula - Clinton,MD

I would recommend you stop switching formula's! Spitting up, fussiness, and gas are all COMMON IN ALL BABIES! As is moving between runny and firm bowels. Not a reason to flip through formula's. It takes up to two weeks for a child to get used to a new food, especially infants with baby formula, which is hard to digest, and will cause intermittent loose bowels, then firm bowels, as the child passes things in the formula his body can't use.

Stay with one formula, you are causing way more problems switching to different formula all the time. The problems you listed are what babies do, they get gassy, they get fussy, they spit up, they have intermittent bowels. Its not cause for alarm, stick to one food for him.

Soy causes horrible gas!!!! we had the same situaton with our son when he was little. We later found out that he is lactose sensitive so you might want to try switching to a lactose-free formula by Similac. DON'T use Enfamil either!!! The stuff in that is hard on most babies lil tummies and will cause all of those symptoms! I'm not even sure how that company is still in business.

First of all how old is your baby? Second, you should be talking with his pediatrician. He could be lactose intolerant or have an allergy. Only change formulas after discussing it with the doctor because frequent changes are difficult for their delicate systems. Do not run out and give goats milk, rice milk, etc. they do not have enough nutrients for a child under the age of 1. Good luck.

I just have to say that I never switched formula without the doctor telling me which ones to try. He even gave me samples of most of them and theat helped so much.

My 3yr. old had reflux and horrid gas bubbles and when the Doctor finally switched him to the Enfamil Premium Lipil it was like night and day. He was also taking Reglan the whole time and we had started putting the Mylicon Gas drops in every bottle before adding the water and formula powder.

He was able to stay on that throughout his infancy and then switch to milk well.

As the other people have said, you need to make sure you're giving him a week or two to adjust to a formula before ruling it out. Different children require different formula, and it can definitely be trial and error to determine what works best for your child.

Also, powered formula, liquid concentrate formula and liguid ready-to-serve formulas can also effect babies differently.

We went through something similar when my son was a newborn. I was breastfeeding but he was having major problems and was losing weight from spitting up so much. Our pediatrician pushed us to stop breastfeeding and try several kinds of formula over the course of a week. All it did was make things worse and landed us in the hospital with a dehydrated baby that was more than a pound under his birth weight at 10 wks old. After having several tests run it was determined that he had severe acid reflux which needed to be treated with medication, as well as feeding him Enfamil Lipil formula thickened with rice cereal (*ONLY do that with doctor recommendation)

i used hypoallergenic nutramigen for my daughter and helped alot
have you explored if he has any allergies? my daughter had a milk protein allergy
good luck

He is having issues because these formulas are cow's milk based. I cannot recommend one, but I suggest not using soy. There is a concern of the effects of the phytoestrogens found in soy on babies and young children. Soy formula also has a higher aluminum content.

Wow...I would say that's a lot of formulas but I know we went through about four different formulas over the course of six weeks starting when our child was a month old. We would know within 48 hours if he was going to tolerate a formula very well. He ended up on Gentlease for about 4 weeks before again exhibiting signs of reflux and intolerance before we finally went hypoallergenic with Nutramigen. He was diagnosed with food allergies at one year (which we already knew by then). Just keep working with your pedi.

I agree with M R, that a LOT of different formulas. How old is your son? Are you giving him enough time to adjust to each new formula? When my son was under O., I found the pre-mixed formula to be easier on his tummy as opposed to the powder. He seemed less fussy & gassy.
I would definitely ask your pediatrician what to try and how long to give it. Good luck!

It would be best to first ask the child's pediatrician since he or she knows all about your baby's health history. That's a lot of formula changing for a young one - how old is he? Of course, the pediatrician might be directing these changes but if you're the one making these decisions you may wish to stop switching it up and get info from the pediatrician. All the change could be contributing to his myriad of issues.

I would stay away from cow's milk and soy, both of which are hard on the baby's digestive system. Soy also has phytoestrogens which can affect the hormonal system as well as the thyroid. These days many children are also allergic to soy and milk. Has he been tested for that? Instead I would try goat's milk, which the baby can tolerate better. My niece (6 months) was put having a lot of the issues you described and was put on a combination of goat's milk, carrot juice and distilled water (a third of each) and is doing much better. I do not agree with the poster who noted that all babies have it so don't worry. This may possibly be true in the very early months, but it should regulate itself out. (my little one who is now a year, although breastfed, had only a little spitting up, no fussiness, gas, constipation or alternating bowels) Still having these problems are signs that what ever he is being fed he is not doing well with.

MR has the right advice.

When I started chemo and had to move my daughter to formula, we asked our pediatrician, and he had an opinion on brand vs. generic, but we never experienced these issues.

Depending on his age, medical history, etc. it would be most advisable to speak with the pediatrician for more guidance.

Good luck.