FF confusion- need help from experienced mums!

[beatnick]

hello ladies

Im in a bit of a pickle about feeding my LO.

He is on cow and gate and i make up sterile bottles of water for the day then add the powder to room temp water and warm it in a bottle warmer.

He started out on regular c&g and was straining and going for quite a solid poo every couple of days. In a panic i changed him to comfort milk and he has had this for 2 weeks.

the straining continued even though he was doing a poo every day and he was getting fractuous between feeds- really fussy and was pushing so much he was being sick after feeds.

i spoke to a MW who said the comfort milk can make their poo runny in their systems so even when they dont need to go they can feel it moving about in their belly and it makes them uncomfortable. she suggested trying 2 weeks on original c&g and see if he is more comfy as his poo will be more solid.

i started him on original c&g on sunday he has not pooed since and is straining away and whimpering between feeds. this morning he was not fussed over his bottle and spent the whole time he was awake pushing and crying.

a friend of my husbands family said she had the same problems with her LO and solved this by making up the feeds, keeping them in the fridge and warming them up, as adding the powder to the hot water made it dissolve better and seemed to be better for her babies belly.

im so stuck on what to do now. do i go back to comfort so that he is pooing, or hold out on the original forumla for 2 weeks and see if things improve?

im so tired of having a baby that every waking moment is red in the face and straining with not much happening. its making me so sad for him and i just want to see him happy.

do i go the old fashioned route and keep the bottles in the fridge and see if that helps? do i stick out with the formula or go back to comfort where at least he could have a poo each day?

im so confused about what to do ....does any one have any experience with this and can give me a heads up on how to help him?

 

[Lena]

We're on Aptimel comfort milk and although LO always seems to be grunting and groaning when he needs a poo, he doesnt appear to be in pain. When he gets like this i usually put him in his cot under his cot mobile so it distracts him while he tries to push it out and usually he gets it out. I think being flat and being able to pull their legs up helps move things along. I sometimes do bicycle legs and tummy rub to help him out a bit. Or i put him in his swing, for some reason that makes him do a poo. He usually poo's twice a day. We do what your friend said and boil the water and then 30 mins later make the bottles up with the warm water and put them in the fridge then heat them in the bottle warmer when he needs them. Just so he's not having bottles that were made up in the morning at night time then I only make them up 2 at a time.

 

[bathbabe]

my baby is on cow and gate comfort milk. I make my bottles up in advance. Apparently there is something in the comfort that needs the hot water to be able to work? If you dont want to use comfort perhaps try giving your lo a tiny bit of orange juice. That was what my hv suggested. Xxx

 

[MrsT&Ben]

I thought you had to make a feed with water that had been boiled for less than 30 mins?! Well thats what I always do.
Any who i've always made my feeds up in advance cooled then put them in the fridge until I need them then warm them up. Have you given your lo some cooled boiled water? Works a treat for constipation

 

[Lena]

The aptimel comfort container says to boil the water then let it cool for 30 mins to prevent scolding so thats what I do. Its still scolding hot though even when i've left it 30 mins so i don't think it makes much difference... or maybe my kettle just holds the heat really well

 

[MissTanya]

I make my bottles exactly the same way you do (but I also feed them at room temp, I don't warm them). My LO had very similar to you...but I think it was more a form of Colic, and unfortunately other than changing to comfort milk and anti-colic bottles (can recommend Dr Browns) there wasn't much more I could do.

For us it was trapped wind and I had to do alot of tummy massage and bicylce legs to help him release it (fart-arobics). But it did get better and improve in its own time, by the time he reached 12 weeks old, we noticed the worse was over and the situation was improving - I guess as his tummy matured more.

Sorry I can't help. I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and in my experience it was a form of colic, which he just had to grow out of. xx

 

[_Vicky_]

oohh the GREAT bottle making debate - I have always just made the water in advance (24 hours worth) and added powder and fed at room temp.

I dont have any expereince with C&G but was wondering if it may be worth trying him on a different brand? we started with SMA and it made an already colicky fynn bad (Sam has always had a cast iron consitution) we changed to Aptamil and never looked back - it may be worth a go although dont chop and change abotu too much.

xxxx

 

[Rhiannon]

we have fed rhys comfort milk since he was about 10 weeks old and i wont change it till i start giving him cows milk.

i make his bottles up with cooled boiled water every morning and store them in fridge.

xxxxx

 

[beachlover1]

your LO sounds like mine used to, Freddie is now 9 weeks old. He was totally bunged up on Aptamil normal, and eventually pooed a rock hard pebble. Enough was enough and i put him on aptamil comfort. He became VERY trumpy, stinky poos and trumps and would writhe around constantly. I gave it 4 weeks, and happened to mention it to a mate. She had had great success using normal aptamil PLUS before each feed giving 2 teaspoons of boiled water mixed with a teaspoon of Hipp Organic apple juice. It was reccommended by her GP when her bub was just 5 days old.

SO...I tried it!! I havent looked back!! he now has just the one dose of the mix in the morning and today he had 3 poos, nice and yellow and unless i hadnt smelt them....id never have know he was pooing. No red face, now grunting etc etc. Its worth a go, just make sure its only a teaspoon. My GP told me to mix brown sugar and water too, thats meant to work. I still give freddie an OZ of water each day as well when i remember.

I hated the comfort milk,.......dark green stinky poo to me just didnt feel right. x

 

[Mynx]

hello ladies

Im in a bit of a pickle about feeding my LO.

He is on cow and gate and i make up sterile bottles of water for the day then add the powder to room temp water and warm it in a bottle warmer.

He started out on regular c&g and was straining and going for quite a solid poo every couple of days. In a panic i changed him to comfort milk and he has had this for 2 weeks.

the straining continued even though he was doing a poo every day and he was getting fractuous between feeds- really fussy and was pushing so much he was being sick after feeds.

i spoke to a MW who said the comfort milk can make their poo runny in their systems so even when they dont need to go they can feel it moving about in their belly and it makes them uncomfortable. she suggested trying 2 weeks on original c&g and see if he is more comfy as his poo will be more solid.

i started him on original c&g on sunday he has not pooed since and is straining away and whimpering between feeds. this morning he was not fussed over his bottle and spent the whole time he was awake pushing and crying.

a friend of my husbands family said she had the same problems with her LO and solved this by making up the feeds, keeping them in the fridge and warming them up, as adding the powder to the hot water made it dissolve better and seemed to be better for her babies belly.

im so stuck on what to do now. do i go back to comfort so that he is pooing, or hold out on the original forumla for 2 weeks and see if things improve?

im so tired of having a baby that every waking moment is red in the face and straining with not much happening. its making me so sad for him and i just want to see him happy.

do i go the old fashioned route and keep the bottles in the fridge and see if that helps? do i stick out with the formula or go back to comfort where at least he could have a poo each day?

im so confused about what to do ....does any one have any experience with this and can give me a heads up on how to help him?

I have always made my feeds up the same way you do. Cooled boiled water in sterile bottles, ready for the day. The only difference being that instead of adding the powder to the bottle then heating, I do it the other way round, I will heat the bottle, then add the powder to the warm water. Takes the same amount of time and the powder seems to dissolve better in the warmer water You could give that a try and see if it works for you too?

As for the changing formula, this can upset their bellies anyways, and it can also take a couple of weeks for things to settle down so it might be worth sticking to the original stuff for a couple of weeks to see if your LO settles down on it

 

[dizzymeg]

minx - So do you boil the water, leave it in sterilised bottles and just leave it outside on your counter, or do you put them in the fridge?, then warm the water and add formula when needed?

 

[Mynx]

minx - So do you boil the water, leave it in sterilised bottles and just leave it outside on your counter, or do you put them in the fridge?, then warm the water and add formula when needed?

Yup I just leave them on the counter. The boiled water inside is ok for no more than 24 hours, so when Evie has gone to bed, I usually clean the day's bottles, then sterilise the next batch, pour the water in and leave em on the counter When needed, I warm the water then add the formula. Evie wont take her bottles at room temp so they have to be warm!