I breast fed my son until he was almost nine months. I have switched him to formula but it makes him contipated. When he poops they are like little pellets and I can see the pain on his face. I started with Enfimil Regular. My doctor told me to try the Lactose free formula which doesn't help and then the Soy formula which does help. I really do not want to have him on Soy formula. I have done enough reading to see there is too much controversy about it. It may or may not be good due to the natural hormones but I don't want to take the risk. I have tried switching back to see if the other two formulas worked, thought maybe it was his diet. So far the only one that works it the Soy formula. Does anyone have any suggestions for formula. It is very expensive and every time I switch I have tons left over that I don't want to use.
my duaghter had the same problem, but she ended up being allergic to milk! She wouls scream when she had to poop which was only once a week. This is when she was 3 weeks old! She is now on Nutramigen which is a hypoallergenic formula. She has done great on it. She poops regularly and pain-free!
Check with your doctor first, but our son was about that age when he was approved to have whole milk for similar reasons. We mixed 10 oz. of whole milk with 1 serving of Carnation Instant Breakfast. It's a very common formula substitute for kids who need to gain weight (another reason to check with your doctor). The formulation is a bit different, but it contains the same vitamins and minerals, fat and sugar as Enfamil Next Step. It worked very well for us for a long time. It was much cheaper even though our son drank a ton of it in comparison. We also did not have the constipation issues. BTW, I felt the same way about soy for my B. and the doctors got on me for it, but I stuck to my guns. Until there is more research one way or the other, I don't want my B. being the guinea pigs! GL!
Almost all of mine were on soy formula, I know your concerns, my know 15 year old DD is vegetarian, and we sub with soy "meats". Of 7 kids only 1 could handle milk based formula, and all of them are fine, your baby will only be on it a short time of his life, all the research looks at it over a long period of time, So I really wouldn't worry about it to much, Even know I substitue w/ soy but with everything in life it must be in moderation, especially over long periods.
Know to the constipation my children had this problem even on soy based, what my DR had me do is add an extra once of water to the formula, and then give a little watered down apple or prune juice, about once ounce water to one ounce juice, once they were regular we went to every other day. I always used or substitued (when I ran out of WIC formula which I didn't always qualify for) the Wal-Mart brand formula, formula is regulated and they all have to meet govermant standards, just like prescriptions. Read the labels and compare you can see for yourself, and it SO much cheaper, at least until he is ready for milk, I would wait until at least 11 months before introducing it to him. I learned from my Dr with #6 who was born with only one kidney that it increases there chances of allergies later in life and that it can lead to, I believe it is kidney stones, his reasons were that little ones are not set up to hold the amount of calcium that is found in regular milk, this was from her kidney specialist.
I hope I helped a little, good luck, constipation is no fun!
I have three children and they all were on soy formula. We tried regular formula with my last baby and she showed signs of irritation and bowel issues. So I went straight to the Soy. They all were very healthy top 95% on the drs. charts and did transition to the whole milk without any problems. My concern is that switching formulas too often my cause some stomach upsets. Good luck.
Have you tried goats milk? It is very easy to digest and babies do very well on it...Find a farm
I've had a couple of kids with that issue in my daycare. Ask your pediatrician about Myralax that worked for 2 of them.
Have you tried increasing his fruit and juices? If the only problem your having is BM with the cheaper formula I would suggest the Myralax.
A.
I had to use the expensive formula on my daughter for the same reasons. I don't remember the name it is by Enfamil, however I used the liquid concentrate you mix in a pitcher with water, it did the trick and she had no more tummy issues. She had reflux young and I had her on different formulas, most of which caused constipation. It is the predigestive brand of formula, look at your store. My daughter also LOVED cold bottles, so I would make a pitcher of it, poor out the bottles for the day and keep them in the fridge. I had them ready and handy and could grab and go. She and my son loved cold bottles. Both had colds young and the Dr even recommended them to be cold so to lessen the mucus factor. Having cold bottles definitely helped me on the run and at night. I wish I could think of the name of the special formula, it is expensive but worth it and your son is heading to being off the bottle anyway..
I had the same issues from early on with my son. My doctor told me that a huge portion of new babies are born lactose intolerant. I breast fed for awhile but that is somehow different, I don't remember why the doctor said. Anyways, it's really expensive now for us but my doctor said the lactose issues are usually cleared up by the time the baby is 1 year.
