Formula Mums - Help!

[flamingpanda]

Hadley moved onto formula at 6 days old. She initially took to it really well and whilst there was a little constipation we eventually (on the advice of our GP) watered down one feed and got her moving again.

However a few weeks back I was starting to think SMA yellow was a bad match for her as her poo was often green and hard, she was full of wind and being sick. The doctor told us to try something different if we liked and it would do no harm. We spoke with our HV who spoke highly over Aptamil Comfort so we gave that a go. Now it sorted out her poo and that returned to a nice splodgy brown mess. However her sick became really watery. Also rather than bringing it back during a feed and just after she would be sick on and off for the entire time between feeds. We gave it a good week but in the end the sick was becoming too much, we were having to use towels rather than muslin cloths and I was becoming concerned with how much coughing she was doing.

So seeing as her poo was no longer an issue we thought we'd give SMA staydown a go. Now I have to say I really liked this milk, so did Hadley. She fed beautifully on it and always seemed so content. However after several days she became really constipated and the final straw was her screaming and screaming trying to poo. I had her nappy off at the time trying to calm her down and she was really struggling as it was hard. So we returned to the doctor on the advice of our HV and she was useless. She just told us she looks healthy and if she's not lost weight she was reluctant to prescribe anything. The HV had suggested she may either need gaviscon for the reflux or a prescription milk. Both of these ideas were rejected. We were told prescription milk "isn't very nice" and gaviscon is "a bit of a hassle". I did explain the amount of hassle wasn't an issue I just want her to be happy but all we got was another appointment for a weeks time to check up on her again and make sure she hasn't lost any weight. She suggested we try cool boiled water (we have tried this many times and she rejects it and screams herself to sleep). I asked about perhaps watering down a feed again, like we had in the beginning and she wouldn't OK that for us, she said that the problem would be not knowing how much she'd had.

So we went home and the pain continued. In the end and much trying with the water we gave her an SMA yellow 7oz but with enough water for 8oz. She took it (reluctantly as apparently she'd developed a taste for thicker milks now... ). Result! She pooed.

So the question was where to go next. We had a theory that perhaps if the SMA comfort was as gentle as the aptamil one then perhaps she would keep it down as she seems to prefer SMA. Wrong.

I really am at my wits' end. I just want her to be comfortable and happy. The doctor suggested we could mix milks but I wasn't convinced. Has anyone tried this? The only thing I can think of as a solution is keep her on the staydown and then just give her another milk every so often to keep her bowels moving. But how often and would this do any harm? I think it would confuse her, she's already starting to have preferences on the milks we've given her.

I've posted some threads about this before in the formula section but I thought I might try in here incase more people read and anyone has been on the same awful merry-go-round. I sort of get the feeling that everyone is putting us off in the hope she naturally grows out of the reflux, but they don't have to live with the stress of seeing her sick all the time or worse, in pain trying to poo.

Also just want to add the bottles she uses are the Tommee Tippee ones. We did try Dr Brown's but oddly they made no difference. The best combo of everything we've had was the TT bottles with variflow teats using the SMA staydown milk. That pretty much put a stop to the reflux (we just got little bits, which I guess is normal) but it was too much for her bowels.

Any help or advice would be greatly welcomed. Thanks for taking the time to read this. x

 

[skunkpixie]

Wont the doctor even prescribe something like Lactulose solution to help with her constipation so she can stay on reflux milk? I think you might be able to buy it over the counter. So maybe phone your HV and ask if it would be ok to give her the lactulose. xx

 

[flamingpanda]

The doctor said there were loads of options but she didn't want to give her any of it as in her eyes she's healthy and happy. It was a very frustrating appointment. I know when we can get the water down her that's enough to make her go so I understand what the doctor is saying but it's such a struggle. Sadly the only way we can get her to take it is to water down a feed but the doctor was quite negative about that. I do think it depends on what doctor you talk to sometimes. I just feel so guilty because every feed she's had since we took her off staydown has been a bit of a fight, she clearly prefers the thicker milk but I don't want to see her in so much pain.

 

[Shineystar]

sounds like reflux for sure!! id be harrassing them a bit more to try gaviscon.

I think any comfort milk or thickener can cause constipation, ours has it now and again and we have to keep an eye on her poops and when they are firmer and darker green we give her 2oz of water that day, which results in a runny poo next time. her poops are totally inconsistent.

Sounds like a bit more water helped your LO too, they said no more than 3oz per day

ive also heard you can get carobel on its own and add it to another milk that she gets along with? I think you can buy it online.

 

[flamingpanda]

Thanks for the reply, I had been wondering how much water was the right amount. At the moment it's very difficult to get her to take any by itself. We have another appointment on Friday and I think I will be a little firmer with what I want out of it. If I get into the same situation with her constipation before then at least this time I know that a slightly watery sma yellow will fix the problem.

The decision we have tonight is we have 3 milks in the house and we have to decide what to give her next. I'm leaning towards the staydown simply because she seems happiest on it (when she doesn't need to poo that is).

 

[aliss]

Oh big hugs! I'm not FF anymore but oh boy did I ever have a go around with my first FF & reflux baby. When you feed her, does she act any differently if she is held upright during/after the feed for a good 15-20 min??

 

[flamingpanda]

Thanks, it's really tough because we feel like we might be doing her harm swapping milks but we also feel like that leaving her on one that causes her pain. We seem to be in an awful unsettled cycle now. We've decided this evening we're going back to the staydown and we're just going to give water as and when we can to combat the constipation. Then we will speak to the doctor about something more permanent when we see her again at the end of the week.

Keeping her upright only works if I don't lay her down again inbetween feeds. The trouble is the moment she lays down and/or kicks about it comes back. The only time it does work is for the night feed, we never have too much sick on a night time (at least when we use the staydown milk) but I think it's because she's really good at going back to sleep. So we keep her upright for 20 minutes and when we lay her down she just dozes back off and doesn't bounce the milk back out of her tummy.

 

[mommy0629]

This is what I would do if were my baby - you said she does best on the stay down milk and the only problem with it is constipation right? And when you make it with an extra ounce of water her poop is fine? Just do that. I can't see anything at all wrong with that, all it's doing is giving lo more water and as long as her weight gain is good it's not like you're worrying about her filling up on the extra water and not getting enough calories. If the doctor was ok with you giving water then why not just add it to her formula bottles? Doesn't make any difference if you ask me. And if the dr. is concerned about knowing how much formula she's taking in per feeding, just go by the amount it would be without the extra water.

 

[socitycourty]

my Hadley has also had a myriad of digestive problems since she was born. i have had her on same formula for a long time as it causes her the least problems.

she has had constipation issues since 12 weeks old. our nurse suggested prune, pear or apple juice mixed with water to help her go, or even just water offered can help with the pooing.

she also told me that it can take at least 2 weeks to adjust to a new formula

 

[flamingpanda]

mommy0629 - Indeed, what the doctor said really made no sense to us. I kind of wish we'd seen a different GP but it's so hard to get an appointment we just took what we could get. I don't even think we'd need to water down every feed, just the odd one, maybe every second day. I think when we get her weighed on Wednesday we'll see if this is acceptable. I certainly don't feel she's losing weight, but they're so strict about her following the line on her weight chart. If she's not I think they'll interfere.

socitycourty - Can I ask which formula? We tried a little apple juice at one point to try and convince her water wasn't so bad but she was having non of it. She's quite a willful little thing for 10 weeks. I might give prune juice a go instead.

It's so nice to see another Hadley, we get no end of people thinking she's a he and them thinking we made the name up. The only person who had heard it before was a rather edgy midwife we saw who asked us if we got it from True Blood. But everyone else just looks confused by it.

 

[mommy0629]

mommy0629 - Indeed, what the doctor said really made no sense to us. I kind of wish we'd seen a different GP but it's so hard to get an appointment we just took what we could get. I don't even think we'd need to water down every feed, just the odd one, maybe every second day. I think when we get her weighed on Wednesday we'll see if this is acceptable. I certainly don't feel she's losing weight, but they're so strict about her following the line on her weight chart. If she's not I think they'll interfere.

socitycourty - Can I ask which formula? We tried a little apple juice at one point to try and convince her water wasn't so bad but she was having non of it. She's quite a willful little thing for 10 weeks. I might give prune juice a go instead.

It's so nice to see another Hadley, we get no end of people thinking she's a he and them thinking we made the name up. The only person who had heard it before was a rather edgy midwife we saw who asked us if we got it from True Blood. But everyone else just looks confused by it.

Don't worry about the doctor and their stupid chart (I HATE those things lol), no baby follows it perfectly and as long as your baby is fed and gaining weight, then nothing needs to be done. Don't let a doctor bully you, I know some of them are like that. If it only has to be like one feeding a day that you give extra water, then that's even better. I can't see how that would effect her weight at all, so if that's all it takes then by all means do it. Some doctors are idiots who completely forget how to use common sense, I swear LOL.

BTW - I LOVE LOVE LOVE the name Hadley!!

 

[socitycourty]

we did get it from true blood lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have her on similac sensitive. anything else and she projectile voms, horrid constipation and general misery.

i don't know if you are in the UK.....? can you get similc there? also have heard good things about gerber goodstart gentle

 

[flamingpanda]

I actually have no idea as the doctor wouldn't even entertain the idea of talking about a prescription formula. She said she was healthy and it wasn't needed.

We found the name online, apparently it was the name of Ernest Hemmingway's wife. It was only when we both felt we'd heard it before we realised it was in true blood. I love true blood, great TV show.

mommy0629 - Thanks, they can make you feel so guilty about those bloody charts. I don't know why they won't realise not every baby is going to follow a perfect line.

A little update, we gave her the staydown for her 3am feed and she loved it. Guzzled it down and slept through til 9am. She's had another and she is so happy and smiley. I feel we have the right milk, we just have to make sure she doesn't get so constipated this time.

 

[Kitty1979]

My HV told me takes at least 3 weeks for a change in formula to make a difference. We had to change LO formula from SMA to SMA comfort, I didn't think it made much of a difference at the start but HV told me to stick with it and it did help, that along with dr brown bottles.

 

[kristel_]

We also had this problem. Dr said it was a case of Use the staydown and gain constipation, or keep the reflux and keep the bowels moving. I wasn't having any of it. So we stuck with the staydown (which you can get on prescription btw) and gave little bits of water in between each feed (not too much or you'll get the reflux back until it goes down). Alternatively they can prescribe lactulose which will stop the constipation

 

[Shineystar]

hope things are improving for you, what we did with the water is give her 1oz of water at the start of the feed, so she is hungry and its such a small amount it was guzzled, then the feed right after. Found she took it quite well. of course you would only want to do this 2 or 3 times a day

it saved on wasting a bottle for water too, as we did it like this, fill with 8oz of water to correct temp, feed baby until only 7oz left then add 7 scoops of powder and gaviscon - worked well for us so just a wee tip