Nutramigen and Alimentum Users

Midwest_Girl

We are trying Nutramigen for a few weeks instead of breastmilk because of a very gassy, colicky baby with reflux, but I have a question... I thought formula fed babies only ate every 4 hours? We are on day 2 of Nutramigen and my 2.5 week old does not go that long (besides at night). She acts starving after about 2.5 hours. I know these formulas are broken down like breastmilk, so does that mean the babies won't go 4 hours between feedings? I'm worried about over feeding her! Thank you for any info/advice on these formulas.

rab2006

I was still trying to BF DD at around 2-3 weeks and she was eating every 2.5-3 hours and were told not to let her go over 4 hours. We started Alimentum around 7 weeks (???) and she eats 4 oz. every 3 hours during the day, even now b/c her reflux is so bad that she can't keep anything more down. I know with Nutra. and Alimentum, with it being more broken down, it digests faster - so ur LO could very well just be hungry. It could also be a growth spurt. IMO, I would feed when LO is hungry and not worry about if it's been 4 hours or not.

mommy411

Why are you supplimenting??? Just take dairy out of your diet! If you are giving BM and special formula it is not going to make a difference. LO is still getting the milk protien in YOUR BM.

SO stop eating raw dairy 1st to see if thats the problem. Unless you want to stop BFing. You are going to screw up your supply!

WaitingForMyMiracle

You could take pp's advice and cut out raw dairy first and see if that makes a difference. It wasn't enough for us and I just couldn't handle cutting all hidden dairy, too.

DS takes Nutramigen and he still eats every 3-3.5 hrs. Newborns don't usually go 4 hours without eating regardless of what they're eating.

Watch for her hunger cues and feed her. At that age, DS was eating about every 2.5 to 3 hours!

Midwest_Girl

I am pumping my milk every 2.5 hours still because I plan to switch back to breastmilk either when her digestive system is more mature or after 2 weeks if the Nutramigen doesn't work. We went through this with our first daughter and it was HELL, so we decided to try the Nutramagin and use it if it helps because our baby is in SO MUCH PAIN. I have cut out raw dairy, but I think I need to cut out all cow's milk which seems like a daunting task. Especially because I'm not a big meat eater and I usually consume a ton of dairy. Also, my baby won't latch, so my plan to BF for a year has already turned into exclusively pumping and I know I won't be able to keep up my milk, so I will have to supplement anyway.

mrsjazzsinger

DD is mostly BF but we've supplemented with Alimentium and I haven't noticed her eating more frequently than normal.

Also, it takes more than just one day of cutting out dairy products to notice a difference, DD had the same problem and we had to supplement for about a week until my BM quit irritating her.

Make sure you pump in place of the feedings you give your LO formula though! 

Edit: Whoops, posted at the same time as you Looks like you already know what I wrote! Good luck with everything and I hope things get better for your LO soon. 

jacksjerseygirl

There is no definite rule that ff vs bf babies eat X hours in between. DS is on formula and sleeps 12 straight at night but eats about every 2 hours during the day (40oz per day). He does this so that he can build up his calories to STTN for such a long stretch and he is a big boy. 

Perhaps, your baby is ready for you to increase the number of oz they are getting at each feeding which is why they are feeding so frequently around the clock. 

Also if your baby has reflux you should talk to your pedi. Nutramigen is not going to help IME with the reflux - we add rice cereal to his bottle. 

Midwest_Girl

We know the Nutramigen won't help with the reflux, she was already put on Prevacid for that... Poor baby. But, the Nutramigen is for the severe gas. She screams, literally, in pain. Mrs. Jazzsinger, I'm interested to know how it worked for you to use formula for a week, then switch back to breastmilk. I'm hoping that will work for us too. Did you have to cut out all cow's milk or just raw dairy?? And did you notice a major difference? Were there any other things you noticed you couldn't eat?? My older daughter had this same issue with the gas/colic and I still breastfed and she was fine at about 10-12 weeks, so I'm hoping I can put this baby back on breastmilk sooner if the dairy free works, but otherwise, I will put her back on at 3 months when her belly seems better.