# Preemie formula and upset tummy



## WantsALittle1

Was anyone else's LO discharged from the NICU with a preemie-specific formula to add to a couple of bottles of breastmilk a day? We were told to give our girl two bottles of breastmilk with Neosure added daily on top of her vitamins.

I don't think she's tolerating it well because when we give her bottles with Neosure + vitamins (iron, Poly-Vi-Sol), she tends to have explosive, loose stools that make her scream and cry. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, was it the Neosure or vitamins, and was your doctor sympathetic to you stopping the Neosure?


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## Crayz

Hmm. I ave no experience with this as my LO came home on regular formula just fortified to 24 calories. She also took the Poly-vi-sol for awhile and it made her constipated.

I would ask your pediatrician. I would imagine the formula doesn't agree with her tummy.


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## WantsALittle1

Crayz said:


> Hmm. I ave no experience with this as my LO came home on regular formula just fortified to 24 calories. She also took the Poly-vi-sol for awhile and it made her constipated.
> 
> I would ask your pediatrician. I would imagine the formula doesn't agree with her tummy.

Our Ped really wants her to be on the Neosure :( I don't understand why my breastmilk needs to be fortified... Isn't breastmilk supposed to be the perfect food for a baby, even if it's a premature baby?


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## Crayz

I'm sure it's just to give your LO extra calories. I think it's fairly common for preemies to go home on fortified formula just so that they continue to gain steady weight. The Poly-vi-sol is because breast milk doesn't have vitamin D I think? Or that it doesn't have enough (i'm not positive on that) and the iron is because babies get most of their iron in the last weeks of pregnancy, when you have a preemie, they don't get that storage of extra iron because they weren't in your body during those weeks to get it!

I stopped giving LO the Poly-vi-sol (eek). It was so nasty and she HATED it. Her NICU doctor told us it really isn't supposed to be mixed with formula, so giving it to her straight was a nightmare. They did blood work on her and they didn't tell me she was anemic, so I'm not too worried about it.

Plus she's on enough medication. It's like my whole day is already a struggle of feeds and meds, I couldn't take it anymore. The other two meds are a must, so I figured the Poly had to go.


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## WantsALittle1

Crayz said:


> I'm sure it's just to give your LO extra calories. I think it's fairly common for preemies to go home on fortified formula just so that they continue to gain steady weight. The Poly-vi-sol is because breast milk doesn't have vitamin D I think? Or that it doesn't have enough (i'm not positive on that) and the iron is because babies get most of their iron in the last weeks of pregnancy, when you have a preemie, they don't get that storage of extra iron because they weren't in your body during those weeks to get it!
> 
> I stopped giving LO the Poly-vi-sol (eek). It was so nasty and she HATED it. Her NICU doctor told us it really isn't supposed to be mixed with formula, so giving it to her straight was a nightmare. They did blood work on her and they didn't tell me she was anemic, so I'm not too worried about it.
> 
> Plus she's on enough medication. It's like my whole day is already a struggle of feeds and meds, I couldn't take it anymore. The other two meds are a must, so I figured the Poly had to go.

Bummer that you have to give so many meds :( Are they mainly for the stenosis or are they all supplements? 

I wonder if our LO's upset isn't from the Poly-vi-sol too. Maybe TMI, but did your little girl have explosive green poops when she was on it? That's what we've been battling for the last 2 weeks. We cut out the Neosure today just to do an experiment and the green poop seems to have gone away, but we just gave her the Poly-Vi-Sol so I guess we'll see :/


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## Crayz

She takes diuretics for the heart issues and Zantac for her reflux ( which reminds me, need to call the doctor for something stronger). But each is twice a day, sometimes 3 depending on how bad her reflux is.

She definitely had the black/green poops on the poly. Since we stopped giving it to her they're normal color.

I think all infant poops are on the "explosive" side though, lol.


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## confused87com

my little boy went home with nutriprem2 to give as well as breastfeeds. he developed horrific reflux and after several hospital trips and people accusing me of over feeding him i reaslised it was the formula, i stopped it instantly. he still had all his medication but was like a different child after


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## WantsALittle1

confused87com said:


> my little boy went home with nutriprem2 to give as well as breastfeeds. he developed horrific reflux and after several hospital trips and people accusing me of over feeding him i reaslised it was the formula, i stopped it instantly. he still had all his medication but was like a different child after

Wow, how awful. I wonder why hospitals don't give warnings when they send babies home on this stuff. It sounds like intolerance of the various neonatal formulas is pretty common--ya'd think they'd tell you that it's a possibility. :p


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## Crayz

Apparently milk protein allergy and reflux go hand in hand a lot. My daughter is on a hypoallergenic formula because the others with milk made her reflux SO much worse.


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## WantsALittle1

Crayz said:


> Apparently milk protein allergy and reflux go hand in hand a lot. My daughter is on a hypoallergenic formula because the others with milk made her reflux SO much worse.

Poor LO :( Will she ever get to come off these meds, including the diuretic?


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## Havmercy

When our son was discharged after 6 weeks, they wanted us to continue to mix neosure with his breast milk. NOT..We stopped completely. They said breast milk is only 20 calories and the neosure is 24 that he needed it for weight gain. Well, I'm totally against formula so we didn't give it to him.I spent too many hours building up a surplus of breastmilk to turn around and give him formula. We did continue the poly-vi-sol though. We just mixed it with 30ml of breastmilk each morning. He is 4 months now, (2 adjusted) and weighs 12lbs 2oz


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## WantsALittle1

Havmercy said:


> When our son was discharged after 6 weeks, they wanted us to continue to mix neosure with his breast milk. NOT..We stopped completely. They said breast milk is only 20 calories and the neosure is 24 that he needed it for weight gain. Well, I'm totally against formula so we didn't give it to him.I spent too many hours building up a surplus of breastmilk to turn around and give him formula. We did continue the poly-vi-sol though. We just mixed it with 30ml of breastmilk each morning. He is 4 months now, (2 adjusted) and weighs 12lbs 2oz

We quit the Neosure too. It was agonizing for our little girl, lots of gas and poopy pain. She has been fine ever since! She is on Poly-Vi-Sol and iron and is much happier now. We won't know about her weight gain for another few days, but she looks pretty chunky to me :)


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## mommy0629

I'd say you did 110% the right thing by stopping the Neosure and I wish I would have been that insightful because I'd probably still be breastfeeding if I had :( I understand they want these little preemies to gain weight but we're DRILLED over and over and over how PERFECT breastmilk is and then you have a preemie and all of a sudden our milk isn't good enough. :shrug::growlmad:

I could cry right now at the loss of breastfeeding. They sent lo home with instructions to breastfeed for 15 minutes then give a 2 oz. bottle of bm fortified with Enfacare. Lo had explosive poops after EVERY feeding, terrible gas and the worst diaper rash. I honestly thought it was from my milk!! The pediatrician recommended trying just the Enfacare made with water just as a formula. Well the rash went away and the poops got more normal. Sooo, on top of having to breastfeed THEN bottle feed THEN pump every 3 hours round the clock and the exhastion from it combined with it _seeming_ like she actually did better on just the formula I stopped bfing and pumping :(

Now we're two different formulas later because the gas came back with a vengence and she developed moderate silent reflux. She's now on Gerber Good Start (I put her on it because I'm tired of these doctors' advice) and she does ok but I'm soooo sad that we're not breastfeeding. I should have just did what you did and stopped the damn formula in my breastmilk and just kept straight breastfeeding. I 110% blame the loss of breastfeeding on them *insisting* I fortify my milk the the preemie formula and feed her with a bottle.


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## WantsALittle1

mommy0629 said:


> I'd say you did 110% the right thing by stopping the Neosure and I wish I would have been that insightful because I'd probably still be breastfeeding if I had :( I understand they want these little preemies to gain weight but we're DRILLED over and over and over how PERFECT breastmilk is and then you have a preemie and all of a sudden our milk isn't good enough. :shrug::growlmad:
> 
> I could cry right now at the loss of breastfeeding. They sent lo home with instructions to breastfeed for 15 minutes then give a 2 oz. bottle of bm fortified with Enfacare. Lo had explosive poops after EVERY feeding, terrible gas and the worst diaper rash. I honestly thought it was from my milk!! The pediatrician recommended trying just the Enfacare made with water just as a formula. Well the rash went away and the poops got more normal. Sooo, on top of having to breastfeed THEN bottle feed THEN pump every 3 hours round the clock and the exhastion from it combined with it _seeming_ like she actually did better on just the formula I stopped bfing and pumping :(
> 
> Now we're two different formulas later because the gas came back with a vengence and she developed moderate silent reflux. She's now on Gerber Good Start (I put her on it because I'm tired of these doctors' advice) and she does ok but I'm soooo sad that we're not breastfeeding. I should have just did what you did and stopped the damn formula in my breastmilk and just kept straight breastfeeding. I 110% blame the loss of breastfeeding on them *insisting* I fortify my milk the the preemie formula and feed her with a bottle.

Oh I'm sorry, hon. What would happen if you tried BFing now? Do you still have *any* milk supply left? If so you could bust that pump out and work it back up to higher volumes...

And I agree with you. I was so pissed that I was told (repeatedly) that breastmilk is the perfect food, perfectly designed for whatever gestation your baby is born (whether preemie or termie!) And then they send us home with vitamins, iron, and formula. Our daughter had an awful NEC scare that resulted in abdominal X-rays, suppositories, all kinds of stress. It turns out the stupid breastmilk fortifier they were giving her was causing awful constipation and distention. Grrr. I understand the need for vitamins and iron, but geez, leave nature alone when it comes to calories! If the breastmilk caloric content is too low, tell Mom to eat a bucket of ice cream a day! I am so frustrated with formulas!

But really... there is nothing wrong with formula if that's all you can do. Please don't let it get you down. It exists for precisely these extreme circumstances, and it does its job well when it's not causing all sorts of upset. You are doing everything in your power to provide for your LO, and we can only do our best! I know it's disappointing to have to give up on BFing (my girl will NOT latch or suck, so I've given up too), but in the end what matters is that you gave it your best shot. Totally understand your frustration, but you are still your little girl's hero!

xoxo


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## mommy0629

WantsALittle1 said:


> mommy0629 said:
> 
> 
> I'd say you did 110% the right thing by stopping the Neosure and I wish I would have been that insightful because I'd probably still be breastfeeding if I had :( I understand they want these little preemies to gain weight but we're DRILLED over and over and over how PERFECT breastmilk is and then you have a preemie and all of a sudden our milk isn't good enough. :shrug::growlmad:
> 
> I could cry right now at the loss of breastfeeding. They sent lo home with instructions to breastfeed for 15 minutes then give a 2 oz. bottle of bm fortified with Enfacare. Lo had explosive poops after EVERY feeding, terrible gas and the worst diaper rash. I honestly thought it was from my milk!! The pediatrician recommended trying just the Enfacare made with water just as a formula. Well the rash went away and the poops got more normal. Sooo, on top of having to breastfeed THEN bottle feed THEN pump every 3 hours round the clock and the exhastion from it combined with it _seeming_ like she actually did better on just the formula I stopped bfing and pumping :(
> 
> Now we're two different formulas later because the gas came back with a vengence and she developed moderate silent reflux. She's now on Gerber Good Start (I put her on it because I'm tired of these doctors' advice) and she does ok but I'm soooo sad that we're not breastfeeding. I should have just did what you did and stopped the damn formula in my breastmilk and just kept straight breastfeeding. I 110% blame the loss of breastfeeding on them *insisting* I fortify my milk the the preemie formula and feed her with a bottle.
> 
> Oh I'm sorry, hon. What would happen if you tried BFing now? Do you still have *any* milk supply left? If so you could bust that pump out and work it back up to higher volumes...
> 
> And I agree with you. I was so pissed that I was told (repeatedly) that breastmilk is the perfect food, perfectly designed for whatever gestation your baby is born (whether preemie or termie!) And then they send us home with vitamins, iron, and formula. Our daughter had an awful NEC scare that resulted in abdominal X-rays, suppositories, all kinds of stress. It turns out the stupid breastmilk fortifier they were giving her was causing awful constipation and distention. Grrr. I understand the need for vitamins and iron, but geez, leave nature alone when it comes to calories! If the breastmilk caloric content is too low, tell Mom to eat a bucket of ice cream a day! I am so frustrated with formulas!
> 
> But really... there is nothing wrong with formula if that's all you can do. Please don't let it get you down. It exists for precisely these extreme circumstances, and it does its job well when it's not causing all sorts of upset. You are doing everything in your power to provide for your LO, and we can only do our best! I know it's disappointing to have to give up on BFing (my girl will NOT latch or suck, so I've given up too), but in the end what matters is that you gave it your best shot. Totally understand your frustration, but you are still your little girl's hero!
> 
> xoxoClick to expand...

Thank you for the kind words :flower: My supply dried up and I tried a few times to see if she'd b interested in latching to see if relactation was worth a go but she won't. I wouldn't be as bothered by it if we could just find a formula that her tummy was happy on already. Lesson learned, doctors may have fancy degrees and I'm grateful for the care my lo got in the NICU but sometimes you just have to trust your mommy instincts.:flower:


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