Help!

MrsRichard

So DS was breastfeeding but I can't keep up and now he is refusing the boob.  So the majority of his meals are formula.  When I give him regular formula he gets horrible gas and has issues so I have been trying different kinds.  I found one for sensitive tummies that happens to be milk-based but lactose free.  He has been doing great on it.  Well, the other day I decided I should look at the ingredients in the formula and was absolutely mortified when I saw that the number one ingredient is corn syrup solids and the number two ingredient is sugar.  Not happy!  So I was just curious if anyone had any ideas or solutions to help me out.  I just don't think it's fair to give my baby corn syrup when I try to avoid it at all costs!  I talked to someone about giving him a bit of acidophilus to help possibly.  Any input on that idea?  TIA!!

enail5

I don't have any advice about acidophilus, but isn't the sugar content awful?!  I received a ton of free formula from companies and used it for a bit until we realized the amount of sugar in it.  Have you checked with your pediatrician?  Also, if you're interested in still nursing you could call a lactation consultant.  We had great success with Meg from Beyond Birth.  Good luck!

MrsRichard

We went to see the pediatrician yesterday and she gave me a sample of some formula but when I got home I realized that even though the second ingredient wasn't sugar the first one was still corn syrup solids.  We saw a lactation consultant multiple times.  Unfortunately, DS isn't a very eficient eater so I would have to nurse him for 20 minutes on each side (40 minutes total) then I had to pump and give him a bottle of formula or breastmilk I had pumped previously.  All in all each feeding took well over an hour.  Plus he has to eat every three hours becuase he lost a lot of weight after he was born and hasn't been gaining it back at a very good rate. 

MrsNWT

ok, I'm a little lost here.  How old is your son?  Cause the situation you're describing about feeding 20 min each side, then pumping and then feeding again just 2 hours later....ok, that was my LIFE for the first 6-7 weeks with my DD.   She also wasn't an efficient eater, had lost tons of weight and so we had to do it that way.  I went to lactation 2-3 times a week, I was using a haberman bottle, and another type of device that I taped a capilary tube to my nipple so she would get my previously pumped breast milk at the same time she was trying to nurse and it stimulated her to suck better.  And eventually it worked.

 However I never fed her formula in addition as I was determined to get her to eat breast milk...but it was HARD!  I won't lie, I was ready to give up in week three, but the lacation support kept me going.  I was seeing Carla at Meridian Park Hospital.

 Now about the gassy issue with formula, did you try put gas drops in the bottles during the feedings, that could help some, and keep him on a forumla that might be less sugar.

PDX

What about pumping and bottle feeding breast milk? That might help you shorten the length of feedings and will limit his exposure to the formula sugars (which I was shocked by... I haven't looked at the ingredients yet b/c we haven't used formula since we've been home). Good luck