Switching Formula's

What kind of formula were you using and what kind did you switch to? With Iron? Milk-based? Try Soy or Lactose free formulas that are iron fortified if you haven't already. I tried switching formulas again and again to sooth my son's discomfort and found all milk-based formulas are basically the same--Soy formula did the trick for my baby.

I don't know if this will be any help, but maybe it will. When my son was born he went straight to formula bacause my milk hadn't come in yet. At first he was on Similac. When my milk started to come I still had to supplement with formula bacuase I did not have enough coming in. He didn't want to drink the Similac anymore. I insisted on swicthing him to Emfamil. I was told this is closer to mother's milk. It took him a few feedings to get used to it but he finally did. So my advice would be to try it for a few days. You might even want to consider looking at a soy formula. That worked for my niece when she wasn't liking her formula. I hope some of this info is helpful!! Good Luck!!

try EARTH'S BEST, it's the only one that didn't give my son horrible gas

M.

Hi J.,
I went through the same thing with my son when he first started formula. I ended up switching 3 times till I finally found one that didnt bother his tummy. You may have to give it a couple days just to make sure. If you havent already you may want to try the Nestle Good Start. This is the only formula that doesnt upset my sons tummy and it was recomended to me by a girlfriend who had the same problem as well. If after trying several differant types and nothing works you may want to discuss trying a Soy based formula with your Dr. but only if he or she recomends it. Good luck to you!

Hello there,

When My son was fussy when he was a newborn I tried enfamel gentelesse (I don't know if I spelled it right) but it is in a purple can. I had him on that and he was not fussy anymore, he was on that unitll I switche him to the next step kind.

Yea I was going to say it must be gas also! Try the drops! THey do work!

HI! J.:
Make sure you check with his doctor. We switched my son's formula from Enfamil Lipil with Iron to Enfamil Nutramigen for a few months but that was at the advice of his pediatrician. He was also breastfed. It's really hard on their little system to just switch so please check with his doctor.

Hey J.,

My son was extremely gassy as well, and the only formula that helped was Nestle Good Start. It's an all whey based formula that is easier to digest than other formulas that contain casin protein. The other thing I did for gas with my son was give him acidophilus powder in his milk, a teaspoon a day. Check with your pediatrician about this first, but you can get it at Whole Foods or any natural food store, and it helps build up the bacteria balance in the digestive system with eats up gas. Hope that helps! Good luck!

When my daughter was young we switched her formula a few times before we decided on the soy formula. It did wonders for her fussiness.

If that one was worse, try another one possibly. I know when my daughter was about that young, I had to try 3 formulas before one would be much better. Have you tried Enfamil Gentlease? It is suppose to cause less gas and fussiness. It worked the best for my daughter.

Good luck,
B.

My son has had a lot of problems with formulas. What kind are you using?? So far out of all the gentle kinds out there and a go at soy my son does best with the enfamil gentle ease. Ask your pediatrician they will give you a sample can. You should talk to your ped anyway becasue you may have a baby that is lactose intolerant or allergic to dairy thats where the trying all the different kinds come into play. It stinks I know. Get some gas drops as well that will help somewhat. You will have to go through a process of elimination to see what is the casue. My son is now 5 1/2 months old and we tried switching things around again and it got him all constipated so back to the gentlease we go. The Soy totally backed him up too. Good luck it is a hard frusterating process. It takes about 3 days on one formula it seems to see if it makes a difference or not. Even though it cost more for the small cans do that until you find one otherwise you'll waste more money on the big cans that don't work. Also switch to bottled water. If you are using tap there could be something irritating there as well!!
Gripe Water also works wonders. It is 12 bucks a bottle at Wild Oats or Whole Foods, but man it worked with my son!!!

J.,

You should talk to your pediatrician and possibly ask for a referral to a pediatric GI doctor. My 6 month old is highly intolerant to dairy and soy and he has reflux. Fortunately I'm a breastfeeder (I can't have any - not even trace amounts - of dairy or soy in my diet or he goes nuts). But based on my experience and what I've learned, many kids who are intolerant to dairy are also intolerant to soy because the proteins are really similar. You may need to switch to a hypoallergenic formula. They sell two kinds in the grocery store: Similac Alimentum and Enfamil Nutramigen. They are the first level of hypoallergenic (realizing that nothing is truly hypoallergenic - just less hypoallergenic). If those don't help, you may need to get a prescription for Neosure... which is an even more hypoallergenic formula. Usually, food intolerance problems show up around 3-4 weeks of age. That is when my son started having serious problems too. He was fussy before that but it got bad around 3-4 weeks. You should also talk to your pediatrician about reflux. My son has been on Prevacid since he was tiny and that combined with me eliminating dairy, soy, eggs, caffeine and chocolate from my diet has made a world of difference. Keep in mind that it takes quite a while for dairy products to clear your baby's system. Like 3-4 weeks. But once you eliminate what is bugging him from his diet, you should start to see improvement within a week or so (based on my experience!) We ended up with a referral to a Pediatric GI doctor and that has been pretty helpful too. Regular pediatricians don't usually know much about food intolerances. Good luck!

T.

Has your baby been fussy all along or has it just recently started? It might not be the formula J.... I breastfed my daughter but she went through a period of extreme fussiness at around 3-4 weeks of age too. It was worst in the evenings and the only thing that seemed to help was to keep her moving- bouncy chair, swing, rocking chair, car rides, holding her while sitting on a big exercise ball and keep bouncing! Be patient, I've heard that most babies go through this around 1 month old, it lasts for a few weeks, and then it gets better. On the other hand, if your babe is having digestive problems/allergies to formula, maybe switching will help. Sorry I don't have much info about that. Good Luck :)

try one made for helping reduce gas and fussiness, but the trick is you have to slowly add the new formula and take away the other stuff. just switching will throw her body off. mix one scoop of the new stuff with one scoop of the old stuff for a couple days, and then do 1.5 scoops of new and a half scoop of the old.

Hi J.,

Certain formulas can case gas and that could be what is making him fussy. I would try switching to a soy base or an organic base. I would also give him about 4oz or so of water after. This may help relieve the gas.

Hope this helps.

L. C
Nutritionist
www.Herbalmom.com

He probably just has gas, and in that case, switching formulas won't do anything. Give him some mylicon infant gas drops - all mommies with gassy kids will swear by mylicon - and see if that helps. It always helped my little ones fussiness go away.

Hi J. R. My name is C. and i have two children 20 and 16. well this is going to take some time. you can't just switch the milk like that your have to do a little at a time because it takes there little stomachs time to get use to the switch. what you will have to do is each day give him the first milk and every other bottle give him the other milk and see how that goes for him.

try the lactose free formula. and dont forget that your baby may be developing colic. natural food stores have a homeopathic remedy for colic. it works wonders and is worth every penny! lactose free formula would help with colic too. good luck and remember that colic wont last forever, even know it may seem like it!

I would definitely suggest trying Baby's Bliss GripeWater. I was told about it by my pediatrician for my daughter and it does really work. It's all natural and made me feel better about giving it to my daughter instead of Mylicon which isn't all natural. You can read about it at blissbymom.com which also has a store locater for where you can buy it. You can also go to ColicHelp.com to read more info. It's a little expensive but REALLY worth it. Give it a try. You'll love it!

Oh, I also switched to Isomil Advanced Soy formula. It was the only one that didn't give my daughter gas.

Whether you are using a milk or soy based formula (especially milk based) your son's system may not be able to handle it. Talk to his dr. about possible milk allergies and switching to a soy based formula. If you are already using a soy based formula, you may try Alimentum. It is the gentlist formula on the market. It is not really milk or soy based, even though it has both properties in it, but pre-broken down for his stomache. The can says it will help w/colicky uncomfortable babies in 24 hours. However, the 16oz cans are $25 per can...Talk to your Ped. He/She can prescribe the formula and there are companies that can fill that order, bill the insurance, and send it to your door for free. If you are on WIC, they will give you a specific company (North American something) but your Ped. should have some information as to who you can go through...If not, call you're WIC office! They should help you even if you are not enrolled.

Talk to your Ped before you switch, though. It may be gas, but if it is allergies, that needs to be addressed. Also, normal formulas take 3-5 days to make any real difference.

Take care!
M. M.

Unless your baby has some sort of adverse reaction you should give him more time to adjust to the new formula. The old formula is still in his system. So, there is no way to know if the new formula will be a sucess yet. Good luck.