Switched to hypoallergenic formula

chelseajeanene

The pediatrican switched my son to nutramigen today. He's been on enfamil gentle ease but I guess that wasn't gentle enough. For a week he's been pooping 1-2 times after every bottle and not normal consistencies, loose and yellow or diarrhea. My poor little guy has such a terrible diaper rash now because of it and needs mediated cream. She said he has acid reflux and he's eating more to make his belly feel better so that's why he's going poo so much, so now I have give him rice cereal to make him feel more full too. Did anyone else have this happen and have success with the hypoallergenic formula and how long until you saw results? This stuff is insanely expensive which blows..

ChristaG22

Yes! It was horrible the amount of pain she was in and now she's on the liquid gold like your babes- except she on similac alimentum. It's made a huge difference and I have a different baby now. She's poops about twice a day, whereas she pooped constantly on the other stuff. She doesn't scream in pain as she drinks and she drinks less because she's not trying to smooth the pain. I noticed a difference within a few days but a total difference after two weeks or so. One day I just realized that I wasn't struggling to feed her anymore. What a relief!
It is expensive but worth every penny I think. I plan to switch to powder at about 4 months to save money. But if she can't tolerate it I will switch back to the ready made.

Dot30324

FYI call your insurance company! Many cover that formula with a doctors note

Dot30324

PS how old is your lil one? Not too early for rice cereal?

chelseajeanene

Dot30324 said:

PS how old is your lil one? Not too early for rice cereal?

I mentioned that script to the doctor and I don't think she understood what I meant so I'm gonna have my hubby call his insurance rep later since I'm not on his plan. If I can get it through insurance I will be so thankful! But he's 3 months old today. I personally didn't plan on giving him cereal at this age but she said 8 teaspoons a day will help him feel more full. So I'm going to see what happens. He definitely doesn't need it for growth though because he's huge. As of today he's 17 lbs 12 oz and 26 inches long! He's grown 7 inches and 11 lbs since birth, I can't believe it

chelseajeanene

@ChristaG22 oh my god you're making me so excited! I hate when he screams during a feeding, he doesn't do it every feeding though, mainly just night time. I'm using the powder but when you started did she spit up a lot of it? He got the bottle down really easily but he's been spitting up. I don't know if it's the formula or just because it's new

babynum1rr

DD is on Nutramigen and also rice cereal. She has a milk allergy which was causing her to be really gassy and projectile vomit. She also has acid reflux and would cry and fuss all the time and especially while eating! Her acid reflux was making her projectile vomit also. Her ped put her on Zantac and recommended that we add a tablespoon of rice cereal for each ounce of formula. She is much better now!!! She downs her bottle and seems happy! Pooping a lot and spitting up is normal for the first week or so, maybe a little longer but his body should regulate soon! DD was pooping so much, it was hard to keep her clean and dry and she got a yeast infection. We got an anti fungal cream and it was gone within a few days. We use a&d now to prevent diaper rash. Hang in there momma! Hopefully it works just as well for you as it does for us!

chelseajeanene

I'm so glad it's been working for your babies and now I'm so hopeful it will!!

TahoeAugust

LO has a milk protein allergy and after about 3 different hypoallergenic formulas we found that Nutramigen works best. He had an awful red hard rash on his poor face and after about a week and a half he is perfectly clear. We get a discount since it is perscribed and is treated like a medicine for him.

chelseajeanene

@TahoeAugust how did you go about getting the prescription for it? Also since its prescribed to you get it in bulk? How does that work?

TahoeAugust

@chelseajeanene Our pediatrician wrote us a perscription after seeing how bad his face was. He perscribed 8 large cans and then we need to have him call in for more. Its annoying but saves a ton of money... I feel less bad about not being able to breastfeed now though... He also referred us to an allergy specialist and we're going next month. We moved to Poland right before LO was born though... I'm not sure how it would work in the states. It's pretty straight forward though, so it might work the same way...

chelseajeanene

@TahoeAugust I feel the same way, I only breastfed for 3 weeks but I wasn't producing enough and had to supplement. But thank you for all the information!

chelseajeanene

I just started crying tears of relief. My friend works as a nurse at his pediatricans office and she just called to check to see if his pooping has calmed down since he's been home. I didn't even realize it but he's had 2 bottles of the hypoallergenic and he hasn't pooped since! He hasn't fussed with any gas either. He's been peacefully napping for a few hours...I am so impressed. I wish I switched to this sooner

ChristaG22

She doesn't spit up, but she never did. She had silent reflux.

missliz53

My LO had horrible acid reflux too. She used to wiggle and scream when we fed her, but unlike your baby, she under ate. I had been pumping and bottle feeding her, but she was sensitive to everything. We were both miserable. We ended up spending a week in the hospital to get her on track.

The GI specialist put her on Nutramegin thickened with baby oatmeal cereal in addition to Nexium and Erythromycin. The Erythromycin is a very small dose, but it helps to empty her stomach faster so there isn't as much to reflux. The speech therapist had us feeding her on her side so the milk would pool in her cheek rather than her thoat if she took a huge gulp.

Unfortunately, our insurance doesn't cover Nutramegin, but so far we haven't had to buy any. Our Pediatrician is buddies with the rep so she gives us a case of the powdered stuff every time we have an appointment which I am so grateful for because that stuff is more expensive than filet Mignon.

Another thing that has really helped (I have no idea why it works) is she goes to the Chiropractor twice a week. She stopped having huge spitups immediately and her silent reflux episodes have gone way down too. Every few days she has a small spitup, but it's usually cause she was eating too fast and we didn't pace her enough.

Hang in there. Unfortunately reflux is a mechanical issue and they just have to outgrow it.

tlc11934

Glad to hear he's feeling better. Hopefully this formula works for him. I'd skip the rice for now though and definitely get a note from your dr for insurance. DD1 had a lot of reflux/colic and tried out several formulas before we stuck with Alimentum. The dr told me it takes up to two weeks for the LOs system to adjust to a new formula so don't be concerned if he continues to poop/have weird consistency. DD1 and DD2 couldn't handle powdered formula. They would throw it up. We had to use the ready to feed.

chelseajeanene

He usually had me up until 4-4:30 in the morning because he wouldn't go to sleep and was very fussy during the night. After only 2 ounces he passed out at 12 last night and only woke up one time to feed between 12-7 am. I see a sleep trainable baby in my future! Seriously what's in this formula!?

babynum1rr

@chelseajeanene yay! When DD started the formula, she started sleeping better too! Usually 8+ hours straight before waking to feed. That's so awesome that it seems to be working for him!

chelseajeanene

I have a couple questions now that he's been on this formula for a week. The formula has done wonders for his sleep and gassyness but he's still pooping way too much I think. Today it was 5-6 times. He was going more then this before the switch but I'm still concerned. Is he still just getting used to it or do you think he has something else going on?

babynum1rr

It took my daughter about a week and a half to 2 weeks before she became regular. I'm going to guess he's still adjusting. Hard to tell sometimes because all babies are so different. If you're concerned though, don't hesitate to call your ped and ask!

chelseajeanene

@babynum1rr thank you! He has his 3 month appointment on the 15th so he does have an upcoming appointment either way so that makes me feel a little better. I think it is just adjusting but it's so hard to tell

babynum1rr

You're welcome! sometimes I wish babies came with instructions and it wasn't so much trial and error! Haha how has he been doing?

chelseajeanene

@babynum1rr wouldn't that be nice lol he's going a lot better. He's still pooping a lot but it's definelty starting to slow down finally. He didn't wake in the middle of the night with a dirty diaper last night and that hasn't happened in weeks so I'm feeling better. He hasn't need gripe water since starting nutramigen so I'm a happy mommy!