Am I going to screw him up?

RumbleLina

DS is super gassy to the point that he is no longer sleeping at night. Whenever he gets to sleep he starts to get gas pains and screams and cries in pain so I have to sit up all night soothing him and bicycling his legs. I am thinking it is my milk from my diet but I am not 100% sure so I thought I would give him formula for a day or two to see if this helps his gas. While I would rather give him BM I would rather have him happy and pain free.

My questions is: If I do switch him to formula to figure it out will it cause him a problem even more with his stomach? Has anyone tried this before, is this even an ok thing to do?

I know that I can change my diet and try to figure it out but I do not feel like I can handle that at this point and I seriously do not think I can stick with a diet change in general, call me a bad mom if you must.

LittleGus

Is he like this all day?  Does he have trouble laying on his back?  DD was diagnosed with reflux at about the same age your DS is....might want to check with the doctor before throwing in the towel with BF. However, if you decide to switch to formula, then no, you will not mess him up   

cupcake25

Switching to formula is not the answer. Formula is milk based unless you get the hypoallergenic expensive formula. Have you ruled out reflux? My LO was like this and we finally got a reflux diagnosis and she is feeling better. I also limit my milk intake, no ice cream and no drinking milk.

Nurse122705

Don't give formula.  Nothing is harder to digest then formula + bottles cause more gas.  The change in your diet might be something very simple, should that even be the problem.  BM is the most natural & easy to digest thing for a tiny tummy.

Some babies just can't pass gas easily, they outgrow this problem.  It can be a real PITA but it will pass.

jcole32444

I agree with the others, check with your pedi about reflux.But you can try formula for a couple of days. it doesnt have to be super expensive stuff try somthing that is suppose to work on gas.like enfamil gentlese or similar product.

tklangel

We're having this same problem.  I have also stopped drinking milk, but I do still have cheese and yogurt occasionally.  Also- it was recommended to use infant probiotics, so I'm picking those up and starting that today to see if it helps.  I totally know how you feel about wanting to do the formula thing though... it makes me feel so bad when something I ate gives him gas!  I'd rather have him be happy than be BFed.

RumbleLina

CaraM01:

Is he like this all day?  Does he have trouble laying on his back?  DD was diagnosed with reflux at about the same age your DS is....might want to check with the doctor before throwing in the towel with BF. However, if you decide to switch to formula, then no, you will not mess him up   

He grunts and strains all day with random bouts of pain but nothing like it is at night. During the day he sleeps in his swing or on the couch so he is on his back then and it doesn't seem to bother him. I am not sure why it is worse at night. He is also currently on a small dose of Zantac to help his spit up issue and that seems to be getting better but it isn't helping his gas at all.

I pumping right now so I will still be able to continue with my supply. I don't necessarily want to throw in the towel but I am lost as what to do to help him.

saraboston

Sounds like you need to visit your pedi--they can diagnose a milk protein allergy if he has it and if necessary tell you which formula will help because not all will. (My sister's 14wk old has MPA). It could be something else all together and you don't want to stop BFing if you don't need to.

dee1369

I would definitely talk to your pedi - I have no advice but they probably will.

jd80

I have also heard positive things about probiotics helping stomache issues.  My LO gets one bottle of pumped milk each evening and we started adding the probiotics to the bottle last week.  I'm not sure yet if it is helping, but it hasn't hurt.  You also could try gas drops.  We usually give LO gas drops several times a day and they seem to help. 

pomrom

My dd had stomach issues from birth and we tried a few different things. She had blood in her stool and would poop every five minutes she was also so gassy and miserable and would cry a lot if you laid her down flat on her back. I could not bf and we ended up on the Nutramigen (hypoallergenic formula) and it took about a week for the blood to go away and her pooping to slow down a little. But the only thing we could do for her gassy issues and the fussing, grunting, legs straight out and crying was Mylicon Drops. They were my savior with her and the next time I go to the store, I will be picking them up for this little guy. They are on the expensive side for a baby gas remedy but soooooo worth it.

Rachel*Neocate

So much to say!!!

I agree with PP that switching to formula may not be the best option, but it depends truly on the whole circumstance, i.e. baby and mommy's happiness.... It sounds like your LO could be having trouble with your diet. 

My LO is  6months old and starting around 7 wks he was having terrible gas, green runny mucousy stools with blood.  Before that he had ezcema and nasal congestion (possible silent reflux) my doctor told me to cut out dairy, long story short through an elimination diet I was able to figure out he has problems with dairy,soy, eggs, and tomato.  I have been avoid those in addition to nuts and shellfish ever since and he is thriving.  No mucuosy/bloody stools, no ezcema, hardly any gas (normal baby/people gas) he's gaining weight great.  Being on an elimination diet is HARD work and I do feel sorry for myself sometimes but honestly I wasn't ready to give up BFing and I'm trying to remind myself it's not forever.  There is some research that suggests kids with food allergies who are BF'd have a better chance of outgrowing them.

Then on the flip side there's formula... also a perfectly acceptable and personal choice, and in no way will "screw him up"  I was formula fed as an infant, and  I like to think I'm fantastic LOL!  BUT regular on the shelf formula is milk based, so if you LO is having trouble with the milk in your diet more than likely he'll have trouble with regular formula.  You could try soy formula but 50% of babies with milk intolerances also have trouble with soy becasue their proteins are so similar.  So then you could try a "hypoallergenic" formula like Alimentum or Nutrimagen.  They are milk based as well but their proteins are broken down farther than in regular formula making it easier on your baby.  However, some babies are so sensitive that even these formulas don't work...that's when you go to an "elemental" formula such as Neocate or Elecare.  They are amino-acid based formulas, basically broken down into completely free amino-acids, doing all the work for you LO.   Also, as a side note, when switching to formula or between formulas it can take approximately 2 wks for symptoms to improve, so sticking with a formula or formula change for 2 wks is important to really see if it's working (or not working!).

I know that's a lot of information, but I encourage you to read up on ALL your options, especially before you stop nursing completely.  Let me know if you have any questions!  Hopefully I can help