Lots of questions! Need lots of advice!

JoAnna - posted on 07/25/2010

We have tried three different formulas. Now we are using Enfamil AR to help with his reflux. Seems to be helping with that, but now he has issues having a BM. He is on Lactaloose once a day plus suppositories. Don't know which was worse, spitting up all of the time or screaming to try to poo. :( I

Aicha - posted on 07/25/2010

have you tried breastfeeding? you could do relactation here is a link http://www.llli.org/NB/NBrelactation.htm...

Alyssa - posted on 07/25/2010

My son was on Zantac to and it made his poop runny to and upset him tummy for about the first few times. We switched him formula around a lot . Maybe you should try Similac Sensitive. We went through every formula and finally found one. I would try each one for about a week or so and if it didn't work we would move on. I would just keep trying until you find what works best for your son. Similac sensitive is good. Hopefully you find something that works!

Kristy - posted on 07/25/2010

There is one formula that is really gentle, and it is fairly easy to switch to. It is also made by Enfamil - its called ProSobe. Its more gentle then the Gentlease, and the A.F. the reason that it is more Gentle is because it is lactose free, a soy based one. It can sometimes help with the 'gassy' part too. I was told that if the formula causes too much gas, spitting up etc to change formula becase Lactose can be hard on the babies stomach, as well as their digestive system. It is something they grow out of, usually. Good luck

Maci - posted on 07/24/2010

My daughter had the same problem and zantac didnt really do that for her. the stomach doctor put her on soy milk with rice cereal in it he said that just milk was upsetting her stomach it seemed to work ut i think its something they have to grow out of.

Cheyenne - posted on 07/22/2010

one reason is probably because u are switching him so much. i used gentleease form the beginning, and then around the 3rd month we tried regular(enfamil) he pooped alot different because he wasn't used to it. so we have used gentleease ever since. but he is still fussy and that's how baby's are. and actually we tried similac when he was first born but there are so much stuff in similac and so tough on there tummies. my sister in laws, mother in law works at a hospital and she reccomendes enfamil or goodstart. but its ur desion. just trying to help

Amy - posted on 07/22/2010

you may want to get a 2nd opinion. If you don't feel that things are getting any better. another thing you may want to try is putting rice cereal in his bottle. this makes the formula thicker so it stays down better and in turn less reflux and a lot less laundry. They also sleep better at night with cereal in their tummy. and yes you can give him cereal. regardless what the doctor says. You may want to try him on a soy formula. Has the doctor ruled out a milk allergy? My twins were eating stage 1 baby food by 8 weeks and rice in their bottles by 4 weeks. my daughter did a lot of grunting at night when we would lay her down. So we elevated one end of her mattress with books underneath it. so her head was always higher then her body. She had reflux and that is how we handled it.

Medic - posted on 07/22/2010

I went through this just recently with my 6 month old. My older son was just gassy but it took until my daughter was 12 months old to figure out not only did she have GERD but she was also Lactosintolerant. So finially we tried similac soy and it got better she was no longer in pain but even with the Prevacid she still spit up alot so the dr told us to add one tsp of rice cereal to every scoop of formula and it worked wonders. Now at 6 months she is off the medicine but she still needs her formula thickened because it just flows out if it isnt.

Jackie - posted on 07/22/2010

I had a similair problem with my LO. We found out that she was allergic to Milk Protien. We put her Similac Alumintum. Smells awful but worked wonders. It's a pre-digested formula so the baby doesn't have to work so hard to break it down in their tummies. Although, I'm sure Good Start and Emfimil had very similar products.

Laurie - posted on 07/22/2010

I appreciate your time and input! The doc is going to test his stool to see if there is anything wrong. If not, we will start the switch. THANK YOU!

Jennifer - posted on 07/22/2010

I initially liked the Good Start with cultures but made my son (with reflux) spit up more for some reason and gave him more tummy aches - basically every kid is different and hopefully you find one!

Sherry - posted on 07/22/2010

Hi Laurie, sounds like you have a bit of a dilema. I can't comment on switching formulas (we never have had to-- We're using Goodstart with Omega 3 and 6 but it's also available with B cultures to help baby's digestive trac) We swear by it! it's made with a Whay protine instead of a milk protine so that might help your babe. but it is rather expensive! Seems to me it's the most expensive brand we've seen but it's so close to what mama would make if breastfeeding .. its our personal choice. Now my neighbors granddaughter on the other hand has been on everything under the sun and STILL they haven't found a formula that works for her (be careful not to change formulas so often that all you do is give your baby an upset stomach-- I would worry about that) It should be switched gradually-- the more gradually the better I think.

Your babe is 11 weeks? my son was pretty much glued to my hip at that age. Though we did invest in a mat that had a play arch on it... once he figured out that if he reached high enough to pull on something it would make noise then he wasn't attached to me quite so much (but that didn't happen until he was about 3 months almost 4) and absolutely hated tummy time until he figured out how to roll a bit then there was no stopping him..

thumb/soothers: some babies just don't take to either. My son prefers his suckie (nuk passifier) but it didn't stay in his mouth for more then 2 minutes initially.. now he only gets it at bedtime after his bottle has been taken away (and it's beside him I don't physically give it to him it's just THERE) Be sure to ALWAYS check that the size is correct for his age and that it doesn't pull apart (Nuk is pretty awesome we just upgraded to one for 7-18 months a size 2) Now my Nephew who's 1 month younger then my son won't touch a soother and doesn't suck his thumb either.. every baby is different. I think he hasn't figured out how to self sooth just yet... you can try rubbing his brow gently while your cuddled up, rubbing his hair by his ear stroking his cheek... you'll find that after a while he'll start doing that .. but it might take some time... then again he might just like mommy's smell/feel (a shirt you wore last night from during the day used as a blankie might help)

His poo... dark green/gray and sticky with yellow specs seems to be the norm and loose but not runny. I don't know what his meds will do to his poop. Another possibility is not necessarily his medication but rather the frequency of changing his formula that could be the culpret. I hope you find one soon that works for you and your baby.

All that being said my suggestion-- you can take it for whatever it's worth, which is virtually nothing-- is switch him to Good Start with Omega 3 and 6 and B cultures it's about $30 a can unfortunately, or you can buy the concentrate cans which you add water to for about $47 but those are Alberta prices from my understanding it might be different where you are. gradually switch him over (I'd say about scoop a week per bottle) and see how that goes.. as long as baby is gaining weight a gradual switch should be fine and would be alot easier on his tummy.

Hope that helped

Laurie - posted on 07/22/2010

Thanks so much!!! I definitely think I am going to try Similac if I switch again...will let you know what happens!!

Jennifer - posted on 07/22/2010

Yes zantac can make poop runny - my son was on it for a while, but pediatrician switched him to prevacid as is more effective anyway. As for formula's maybe he is lactose insensitive. Had lots of issues and trials with formula when daughter was small and finally tried Similac sensitive and worked good for her. You might just have a biased doc who likes Enfamil. My family doc personally told me to try the cheapest food out there first and sometimes u need to switch as even the Walmart brand for ex is the basically the same as Enfamil. And don`t worry about milestones if that is reason you don`t want ur kid super clingy -my daughter was/is the worst for clinginess. She sat up at 4.5 months on her own and she didn't really roll or crawl (but because she was very big not because she wasn't strong enough) and walked by 10 months. And try not to get him to suck thumb that us hard habit to break. And sometimes kids won't take soother no matter how hard you try - trust me I have tried with both kids from birth til about 3 or 4 months and tried about 5 different nipple shapes - and nothing! Is frustrating but in the end is one less habit to break. But yeah maybe try a lactose free formula (soy should only be last resort), but I guess maybe Nutramigin is lactose free? But he is young so will have hard time with belly and stools maybe like my kids did. It gets way better when they can 'play.' I sometimes have to put my son into the jolly jumper so he can poop (he is 4 months today though)! Oh and remember can take a good 10 days to verify if a new formula is workin or not. Hope you find a remedy soon.