Switching off Alimentum? Don't think its helping...

[Butterfly89]

So my LO was BF and FF for 2 weeks til my supply decided to disappear overnight, then just on Goodstart for til 4 weeks when we switched to Alimentum because OH and his family were driving me insane saying his problems were from his formula. ("MY kids were only on soy" "MY kids only liked ____ brand" "______is the best brand, I have 5 bajillion kids so I know best", etc....)

The problems being constant screaming for 6+ hours (sometimes over 10), extreme gassiness (both ends!), curling his legs up and going red in the face and looking pained ALL the time, unable to settle or sleep for more than 20 - 60 minutes, and constant waking when he finally did sleep.

The doctor said it wouldn't hurt to try, but she was sure he didn't have an allergy (even got 2nd and 3rd opinions, they all said most likely no allergy). But she said it could help him in the mean time til his system matured a little. Her final "diagnosis" was colic from an immature digestive system and maybe some minor silent reflux. She prescribed an antacid but we gave it to him 3 times and he vomited it up immediately right after which he had never done before. So that didn't work. And honestly, I didn't want him to be taking a drug forever.

Alimentum did sort of help I guess but a week later we took him to a baby chiropractor - this helped immediately. He went from crying 10 hours at a time and only sleeping 1 hour stretches at most to being able to sleep 4 hours and waking only 3 times at night to feed then settling almost right after. AMAZING!!!

Anyway, since he's been on Alimentum, he's had awful dry skin and prickly rough rashes on his face and sometimes neck. The doctor said its baby acne/sweat rash but nothing harmful... But he seems annoyed by it at times and constantly rubs at his face or rubs it on my shirt and whines. He had beautiful skin on the Goodstart and people always pointed it out how soft/clear it was for a newborn... but not now, poor thing.

He's also had no improvement in gassiness aside from after the chiro appointments and his stools are loose/sticky/greenish and sometimes even a bit mucusy. It was never like this before. He also has a way harder time pushing it out. He used to struggle with gas, but pooping was never an issue on Goodstart... It took him 6 hours today to poop and he was screaming/crying/grunting/thrashing around the whole time. =( This is pretty usual now. He also never used to spit up and now he spits up usually an ounce each feed.

I honestly feel like its doing more harm than good really and if he isn't allergic, and not severely reflux-y, then maybe Goodstart would be better? What do you think? The doctor said that its basically up to us as long as we aren't constantly switching formulas and that she doesn't feel there is any NEED to be on alimentum but its not hurting him either. However, I would rather him be on regular milk based if he can.

I am sticking with RTF instead of powder anyway. How do you switch from alimentum to regular? Can you mix them? Like one ounce GS, the rest Ali? Or do you have to keep them separate? I'm a little worried combining them might throw something off. Like maybe feed him 4oz of Alimentum then put the 1oz GS in the empty bottle...? Or switch like one feed a day of just GS?

Or is it ok to just completely switch? So confused!!

 

[ruby09]

My son is also drinking alimentum (although he does have a milk allergy) and I would say that if I didn't have to use it, I wouldn't. We went through almost every formula before deciding on the alimentum. First of all, it's so stinky! Second, it's very expensive. If you don't think it's helping your son, I would switch.

I've heard a lot of good things about the goodstart, esp from mothers of colic babies. My hair dresser told me her son had the worst colic and she went through every single formula before discovering the good start was the only one that worked, which is ironic bc it's one of the most affordable formulas. If you think he does better on it, why not save yourself the agrivation and the $? And let any unwanted advice go in one ear and out the other. Bottom line is, no one knows your baby like you do. Just bc soy worked for your in-laws, doesn't mean it will work for you. Some ppl can just be so pushy, but they don't realize not every baby is the same.

As for the switch, I always did it cold turkey (however usually when I did a switch it was bc my some couldn't keep the milk down). This way is faster, but you need to give it a few days for him to adjust before getting an accurate assessment. A lot of people switch the milk by increasing the new one and decreasing the old one by one ounce a day (you can mix them in the same bottle). This way will take longer, but it will be easier on his tummy.

That's so interesting about the baby chiropractor. I'm gonna keep that one in mind as my lo has so many tummy issues, and I'm always open to new ideas.

Hope your son feels better soon!