Soy based formula?

eMiLee920

Does/did anyone have their preemie on a soy-based formula? LO was on Special Care 24 in NICU but was extremely gassy. They switched him to Good Start Gentle for 2 days then GS Nourish because he needed the higher calorie. While he's been much better with Nourish, he's still screaming from gas and we can't put him down to sleep. We just had our first ped appt and she said we should try a soy based formula for a week before going straight to Alimentum cause it's so expensive. I texted one of his NICU nurses to update her on his weight and she said soy formulas are bad for preemies because it interferes with calcium absorption. Now I don't know what to do or what formula I should put him on.

kathyn21

my pedi wouldn't let us put her on soy formula bc of that reason. we went straigt to alimentum b/c of gas. HTH!

ShelbyMadison04

I actually had the same exact question for our ped's office this morning and I'm waiting for the dr to give me a call back! DD is on Neosure and I have been telling the dr for over a month that she is really gassy/fussy. It's only getting worse. I was originally told once she hit 10lbs we could d/c the Neosure. She has to be atleast 10 lbs now, if not more, so I wanted to know if I should switch her to soy or sensitive or if there was something else they recommend.

PhDMomma

I usually lurk, but thought that I should comment on this one.  My son is on a soy formula, which was recommended by his pedi.  That said, he was also a later preemie (born at 33 weeks and 5 days).  He had symptoms similar to what you are describing with your LO.  We use Gerber Goodstart Soy and have been since November.  Our only real issue with it has been that is is sometimes constipating (not such a huge issue now that he eats solids), and we ended up having to help LO poop with some juice early on. 

I didn't talk to the NICU about it, my pedi practice sees a fair number of preemies, they even have a nurse whose sole job is dealing with and administering synagis.   LO has been growing fine, he was 5lbs 5oz  and 17 1/4 at birth and at 9 months actual was 17lbs and 28 inches.  The pedis in the practice seem to think that his progress is good. 

This is rambling a bit, but the attitude that our practice took, was to start with soy and then if LO was still getting sick to use a more broken down formula like Alimentum.  Thankfully, we didn't have to.  Part of the recommendation could depend on the age and size of your preemie.  We stopped increasing the calories about a week after LO got home from the NICU.