My son is 9 weeks old.. He was on Similac advance however that caused constipation and major gas and used the gas drops constantly so I changed him to Enfamil Gentlease, now three weeks later, his stool is hard and its green, almost like he is pretty much producing turds, not the normal thin baby poop that he has had since birth. he has a fussy spell from 5-7 every night, he cries like painful cries, tears and all. The only way to soothe him is hold him close to you and rock him,. Now the last three days I cannot get him to eat over 2-3 oz at a time, after the first burp he burps spits up and refuses the bottle from then out, arches back and cries, I hold him up and give him his pacifier and then I keep trying again to feed him cause I know he has to be hungry, just something is bothering him that is causing him to not want the rest. I have read online and I am thinking acid reflux, my dr totally disagrees with me. She said if it was he will outgrow and is not concerned. UGH!!! So I called my pedi again today and said ok, he has only eaten 14 oz in the last 24 hours, he is refusing the formula, she told me to now switch him to soy, and maybe get a feeding chair to keep him proped up for 30 minutes following his feeding. I want to go with the dr. but my gut is telling me that something else. I just wanted your guys opinion because sometimes experience is better in my opinion. I know that may seem weird but I wanted to get your ideas. I did read that soy formula can bring on milk allergies, I don?t know how true this is, the dr. did not concur. What are your guys thoughts on what is wrong with my little guy?
Re: Questions I need your opinions...long :(
I would get a second opinion. If they have acid reflux they would spit up a lot too, DD had that as well.
I had DD on similac too and it was doing the same thing,so I switched her to emfamil gentlease and she did the same thing on that one. She wouldn't eat at all so then I switched her to emfamil premium lipil and she has done great ever since. I'm not sure what it was but switching helped my DD. Maybe you could try something else to see if that helps. GL
We went through the same thing.. tried sooo many different kinds of formulas just trying to get my DD comfortable.
Have you tried prune juice? Our pedi had us do that before we switched up the formula -- he could just be straight up constipated! We would make a 3oz bottle of formula like normal, then add an ounce of prune juice. I'd do this once a day for about a week and that helped her a lot, but not completely.
Soooo.. we tried Gentleease, then Soy formula.. and finally we ended up on Nutramigen. It's done *wonders* for my DD. She used to have the same kind of poops like your son, but has not had one semi-hard turd since we got her on this stuff. Its expensive, but she's FINALLY comfortable.
Hang in there, I know how hard it is to see them in pain and feel so helpless. You'll figure it out! It might be costly and it might take awhile, but you'll find something that works!
Gotcha.
Well, give the soy a chance -- it does help a lot of babies! Hopefully that works for you, if not then I think your next step would be Nutramigen or Alimentum.
But I agree with the others, dont let the pedi stop you from trying other things.. there is nothing worse than feeling helpless w/ your baby!
I know.. I just needed reassurance I suppose... I have a stupid question, where do u get those formulas that you named? Are they a brand? I am sorry I have never heard of them
I am scared to try other things and my pedi makes me that way, I dont want to mess up!!
Nutramigen is an Enfamil brand, and Alimentum is Similac. You can buy them anywhere you'd buy regular formula (I get mine at Walmart or Target). They are about $25 for a 16oz can. Not cheap, but I tell you what.. its worth it.
PP is right though, try the soy first. If it still doesnt work though, dont be afraid of the more expensive stuff. It's completely safe, just a lot easier for the baby to digest. The proteins are already broken down so their little tummies dont have to do the work.
Yep, talk to another pedi. ASAP.
DD -- 5YO
DS -- 3YO