I have tried a couple different formulas for my 4 month old. First we tried enfamil with iron. She was pretty gassy, so we tried the enfamil gentlease. It seemd okay, but she constantly spits up and still is gassy, and occasionally constipated. I read that the iron can make them spit up alot. I also read that some babies do better with simalac. All the older ladies and grandmas in the family swear by simalac, but I'm thinking it's because it was the only formula before enfamil, etc... I just bought a small can of Simalac with iron, hoping maybe it will be better. Are any moms out there going through this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
K.--
If you are willing to switch again, try Nestle Goodstart. My son had the same problem, but more severe, and Goodstart was the only thing that worked for him. It was a lifesaver. Enfamil was bad, and Simalac was worse for him. It might be worth a try! Good luck.
Our son had a hard time with all "regular" formulas. We finally ended up giving him regular old Good Start, and it was fantastic. He took to it quickly and we didn't have problems with gas, constipation or spitting up. At the rare times he did get gassy or whatever, we gave him some mylicon drops and that helped.
Good luck - hope this helps!
J.
(mom to Chase - 3 years old)
My daughter had problems with gas & heartburn, she would constantly scream and pull her knees up to her chest. After a doctor suggested we put her on maintenance doses of Zantac, we decided to try other formulas. We switched to Prosobe and never had a problem again. A few weeks before she turned one we started giving her regular milk-based formula and at 1 she went to milk immediately and never had another problem...
Good luck, I know how hard it is.
I know one important thing to remember is not to switch the formulas around because that could be causing some of the porblems that you are having. Gas, spitting up etc. I personally preferred the Enfamil with iron because even though my daughter spit up alot it seemed to be the best for her compared to breastfeeding. After being on the formula for 1 month or so she did pretty well. If your 4month old is still having problems after trying the formula for a while call the peditrician.
I have a few friends who were experimenting with different formulas for different reasons but all 3 are using Nestle Good Start. I think they say it is easier to digest. I also think it is a little cheaper.
Well my son young was very consitpated, but we were using Enfamil w/ Iron and that wasnt good. He was so constipated it hurt me to watch, we then switched to the Enfamil Gentlease. Now yes she will spit up alot, because he did, and got through it within a couple months. This I believe is the best. I've tried many others and this one was the best as far as constipation.. now we never tried the Enfamil Lipil I think itds a (non- spit up) one. It might work but switching formulas too many times can hurt her too. I would say stay with the Gentlease and it will be fine withing a couple of months okay? We've been using it the whole time and he is 11 months old and doing just fine now! Good luck!
S.
P.S otherwise make sure you ask your doctor!!
We had a similar issue with our son suffering with severe gas from the formula. We switched brands several times, but finally tried infant simethicone drops (Mylicon is a popular brand). It was as though we had a new baby! And we were able to elimiate the drops a few months after as he got older and no longer needed them.
I don't know why pediatricians don't think to recommend the drops...they are not systemic, are colorless, odorless, tasteless and can be used with every feeding. The simethicone drop formulas are about the same with each brand, so go for house brands like Walgreens or Target (Target was actually cheaper).
Best Wishes
Hi I had the same problem wiht my son and he ended up on Alimitnum-Similac. He was a projectile vomiter though and that was all that would work for him. We tried it all and that was the last one we could try.
I saw that you moved here from Colorado. I also moved here from CO. I have a 6 year old boy and 2 year old girl. If you are interested in chatting email me ____@____.com.
You could always try Nestle Good start. It is supposed to be less constipating for babies. They do have the Good start with the DHA and ARA. I believe the good start has partially digested enzymes (or something) so it is supposed to be easier to digest. GooD Luck!
I have seen a few recommendations on the Lipil formula... or formula with DHA and ARA. That is just added lipids to the formula that can help with brain and eye development, but a lot of babies have a hard time digesting it and will get consipated and gassy... so I would not recommend you trying that. More than half of the people I have known with babies were not able to use it because it was too hard on the babies stomach. It is the same as the regular formula with iron... just has extra lipids added to it. Have you talked to your dr about these problems? The dr. could probably help you better than the responses from people on here, because the dr knows your babies history... and should know about all the different choices you have. Good luck, I hope you find a good formula! (I have also heard good things about the Nestle Good Start too... but my son was 6 months before ever having any formula so I never went through trying to find one that was easy on their stomach. He had a lot of gas when he was young, and gas drops worked AMAZING for him to releive the bloating, but that was gone around 4 or 5 months old.)
Hi K.,
My daughter was really gassy and constipated once I stopped nursing and switched to formula too. Here is what I found: Enfamil Gentlease worked best for her, but before I found that out I was switching from Similac to Nestle Goodstart and back to regular Enfamil again. Her DR told me that all the switching could be irratating her as well and told me to stick with one, so I started exclusively using Gentlease and after about a week I noticed an amazing difference. I now swear by it and would definitely recommend it to anyone. At this time she was 6 months old, so I also started feeding her foods that were easy to digest and good for her GI tract: organic sweet peas, pears, prunes, peaches, etc. and that helped with the constipation too. I hope this helps and welcome to Minnesota- don't let this freezing cold weather scare you, its not so bad all the time :)
If you keep switching and trying new formulas that could be hard on a little tummy and maybe creating more problems. I dunno just thinking it takes time for digestive system and everything to get use to something.
I've heard wonderful things about Carnation! I've never tried it though.
