Neocate Vs Elecare

ohmrs2014

LO started off using enfamil newborn but I switched her to enfamil gentle ease because I noticed she fussy and gassy after speaking with the doctor. Things seemed to be getting better but then I noticed her poops were becoming pasty like. Brought her back to the doctor and she said to try the Alimentum RTF and prescribed Zantac for acid reflux after describing how LOs demeanor is after eating. A week on that and her poops were worse, diarrhea and then very mucousy. I brought diapers to get tested on Wednesday night (last week) for blood and both came back negative. Made an appt for Friday and brought 3 more diapers. One diaper came back negative and the other came back positive with trace amounts. Doctor also said that LOs poops should not look like that.

She said we needed to try an elemental formula and gave us a script for Neocate but said to try both elecare and neocate to see what happens. We have been using the Elecare since Friday and LOs poops are already looking better. But sometimes struggle to get LO to finish the 3oz in her bottle. There are times she will drink everything and a few times she just wants an ounce or two and more frequently instead of the normal 2-3 hours. I also noticed that while she is burping just fine, she is struggling to pass gas and she bears down trying to push a lot. I have been giving her gas drops as well to help.

Should I try the neocate and see if there's a difference? Does anyone have experienced with both of them? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

pawcall

So, this is tough because I think most doctors would say that there's no reason a child would tolerate one but not the other.  They're both elemental formulas, hypoallergenic, no intact food proteins to have an allergic reaction to.  And none of this is untrue, HOWEVER, I'll tell you that my son (he's 5 1/2) is on a completely elemental diet with no safe foods whatsoever and he can't tolerate EITHER ONE OF THEM.  He was on neocate for a couple of years, then on elecare for a year, and finally we got him onto PurAmino and things got worlds better for him.  He threw up pretty much every feed on Neocate, he threw up about half of his feeds and got crazy rashes all of the time on Elecare, and he's a happy camper on PurAmino (which is another elemental formula, which again, shouldn't really be any different than Elecare or Neocate).

All of this is to say that it can't hurt to try Neocate, it's entirely possible that it might be better for her, for who knows what reason.  Good luck!!