Formula Fed Babies - Have you had to switch formulas?

raceyt16

My son is 3.5 weeks old and I supplement breast milk with formula (1/2 and 1/2).  Just within the past week or so, he has become extremely fussy (especially in the evenings) when he is gassy or is trying to have a bowel movement.  I am debating trying out a formula that is catered to fussiness and gas - we currently use Similac supplementation for breastfeeding.  I'm not sure at what point the fussiness is "too much" and we should make the switch, though.  I have a call into our pediatrician and am waiting to hear back, but was curious if anyone else has made the switch.  If so, what triggered it and did it help?

Also wondering if it could be colic - hoping to get direction from the doctor there, as in the evenings sometimes he'll cry for a couple hours at a time while passing gas and kicking constantly.  Only rocking or other motion seems to help.

tyedyeme12

We started with enfamil newborn and LO just seemed to be spitting up more and just acting like he wasn't feeling too well, so we switched to the gentlease and LO just wouldn't eat it well. He wouldn't finish the bottle, and would still spit up badly. We switched to similac sensitive and that has helped a lot.

imrachellea

We had to supplement at the hospital since she was in NICU and by default they use Enfamil Newborn. She seemed to spit up more with that then BFing. When I give her formula now at home (2-3 ozs/day) it is Similac Sensitive and she does much better with it.

grace_ann

we are going through this now. we just started using dr Brown bottles to see if it helps and if he is still super gassy and fussy we will try similac sensitive

cyndi1439

We were on similac neosure and our LO was miserable for weeks. Our pedi had us try every possible solution before taking her off her formula (extra calories for preemies) but nothing eased her crazy fussiness and bubbly guts. We switched to nutramigen and two bottles later, we have done a complete 180!!! Happiest baby EVER!!

babymonster30

We are going through this too. Our hospital also used Enfamil Newborn during our NICU stay and we continued with it at home, but he became super fussy during bms and gassy. We tried Enfamil Infant, then Gentlease with no luck.  We now use Dr. Brown's bottles and are trying Gerber Gentle along with putting gas drops in every bottle and it seems to be helping.

raceyt16

Thank you all!  I just talked to our pedi's office and they recommended switching to a fussiness and gas formula (for at least 3-5 days to determine if it makes a difference) and to do gas drops proactively at every feeding.  It sounds like this is a lot of what all of you have done too, so fingers crossed it works!  I think we'll start with Similac Sensitive and go from there. 

notkateanymore

The Similac Sensitive was way worse for DS than the Similac Supplementation one. 

sleepymonkey

We first switched from Similac Advanced to Similac Sensitive and that did not help much. We're now giving her Gerber Good Start Soothe and that has made a big difference in her fussiness. Not completely gone but much better.

malos3

We started with enfamil NB and he constantly would spit up after almost every feeding. We are now using Similac sensitive (fussiness and gas) it has been so much better with almost no spit up.

Marchmellow2

I've tried pretty much all of them. Started with Neosure - he had diarea. Then Gerber Nourish - I didn't like ingredients. Then Enfamil NB which he likes. He spits up a lot and has gas issues so we gave him gas drops in every bottle..makes a huge difference. I switched to similac sensitive and he loved it and he did well on it except he wouldn't sleep. I think it's because the first two ingredients in similac sensitive are corn syrup and sugar. PURE Sugar! Really?!! Not cool. So I switched to similac total comfort, he hated it and wouldn't drink it AT ALL. Then E. gentlease - same thing, he would not take that one at all either. So now I'm back to Enfamil NB and now he's having major relux issues. The docs are no help either! They just say to keep trying formulas until I find one that's good. I really hate switching so much tho! I'm at a loss right now so I don't have any advice but I just wanted to let you know my experiences with them formulas so you can keep my experiences in mind

BTW, Dr. browns bottles also make a huge difference with gas!

raceyt16

Marchmellow2 said:

I've tried pretty much all of them. Started with Neosure - he had diarea. Then Gerber Nourish - I didn't like ingredients. Then Enfamil NB which he likes. He spits up a lot and has gas issues so we gave him gas drops in every bottle..makes a huge difference. I switched to similac sensitive and he loved it and he did well on it except he wouldn't sleep. I think it's because the first two ingredients in similac sensitive are corn syrup and sugar. PURE Sugar! Really?!! Not cool. So I switched to similac total comfort, he hated it and wouldn't drink it AT ALL. Then E. gentlease - same thing, he would not take that one at all either. So now I'm back to Enfamil NB and now he's having major relux issues. The docs are no help either! They just say to keep trying formulas until I find one that's good. I really hate switching so much tho! I'm at a loss right now so I don't have any advice but I just wanted to let you know my experiences with them formulas so you can keep my experiences in mind BTW, Dr. browns bottles also make a huge difference with gas!

Goodness - it sounds like you've tried them all.  How long did you try each one?  We are on day 2 of the Similac Sensitive and so far he seems to be less fussy and still sleeping okay.

Marchmellow2

raceyt16 said:

Marchmellow2 said:

I've tried pretty much all of them. Started with Neosure - he had diarea. Then Gerber Nourish - I didn't like ingredients. Then Enfamil NB which he likes. He spits up a lot and has gas issues so we gave him gas drops in every bottle..makes a huge difference. I switched to similac sensitive and he loved it and he did well on it except he wouldn't sleep. I think it's because the first two ingredients in similac sensitive are corn syrup and sugar. PURE Sugar! Really?!! Not cool. So I switched to similac total comfort, he hated it and wouldn't drink it AT ALL. Then E. gentlease - same thing, he would not take that one at all either. So now I'm back to Enfamil NB and now he's having major relux issues. The docs are no help either! They just say to keep trying formulas until I find one that's good. I really hate switching so much tho! I'm at a loss right now so I don't have any advice but I just wanted to let you know my experiences with them formulas so you can keep my experiences in mind

BTW, Dr. browns bottles also make a huge difference with gas!

Goodness - it sounds like you've tried them all.  How long did you try each one?  We are on day 2 of the Similac Sensitive and so far he seems to be less fussy and still sleeping okay.

I tried each one for about 2 weeks each. My LO was doing good on similac sensitive but knowing it was 89% sugar made me paranoid about every thing. Everytime he didn't sleep I would get all paranoid thinking poor baby is all amped up on sugar and then when he would sleep I would think it was a sugar crash. Just knowing all that sugar was in his body all day everyday made me crazy.

roxannebellistri

We switched to Enfamil Gentlease and it made a HUGE difference with the gas and fussiness. We were on Similac Sensitive but it wasn't helping at all ans then like stated about I saw that it's first two ingredients were corn syrup and  sugar, not cool