In the NICU Foster was fed Similac Neosure while they were trying to wean him off of the feeding tube. This food seemed to work great for him.
When he left he NICU and came to our room he was changed to Similac Advanced. This seemed to work well and he was on it for a few weeks but with his reflux and some gassy/fussiness issues we changed him over to Similac Sensitive. He liked the similac sensitive and it seemed to help with the reflux but with his zantac and that food he was SO CONSTIPATED... my poor little guy would only poop about every 4 days and every day multiple times he would writhe in pain and scream at the top of his lungs while pushing and trying to poop only to have nothing happen. It was terrible to watch him in such pain. When he would finally go it would be complete liquid which made no sense as to why he had to work so hard.
One of the pediatricians finally told us that we should change to "Similac Alimentum". It is a special food that has predigested proteins and should help his system since he wont have to digest it all himself. When we went to get Alimentum it only comes in a ca half the size that we normally buy and this half tub costs $11 more than the large one. It would be about $40 every 4 days. So, I read the Enfamil Gentlease information and it says that it has "partially digested proteins" so I decided to give it a try first.
Many people say that their insurance covers the cost of Alimentum so I decided to look into that. Well, mine doesnt cover it.... shocker. So I am going to write and appeal to this decision and get a letter from Foster's doctor. We will see what happens.
In the meantime, I am feeding him Enfamil Gentlease and so far I dont like the actual formula nearly as well as Similac BUT it seems to be working on the constipation.
Here are the differences:
-Enfamil doesnt mix in the water as well
-Foster needs to burp a lot more during the feedings with the Enfamil
-He throws up after feedings sometimes now which he never did before
-He chokes a little more since this formula seems to be thinner
All that being said....
drum roll please.......
HE HAS POOPED 2 DAYS IN A ROW!!!!
So for now, its worth it. We will see if the side effects get better!
We are a formula feeding household too. I miss breastfeeding, but it wasn't working out for us. Orion is on Enfamil Newborn. Thankfully, he doesn't have any feeding issues right now. He was spitting up a lot and sometimes threw up and had gas and fussiness issues, but we switched bottles to Dr. Brown's and now he only spits up here and there. Those bottles were a godsend for us. Maybe try switching up the bottle and that will help lessen the side effects? Yay Foster for pooping!!
ReplyDeleteWe have used dr browns all along, I love them!!! This spitting up just started with this new formula 2 days ago :/
ReplyDeleteMy sister's story soundes JUST like yours although no NICU. They too started on similac and then switched to similac sensitive BUT it made Colt horribly constipated so they switched to Enfamil and now he goes daily but his reflux isn't as under control as it was with the similac. Their dr sugguested a tiny amt of rice cereal to weigh it down since it is much lighter than the other formula and that seems to have helped.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you were having such issues with formula- but yeah for finding something that seems to help. Poor little guy... being pregnant I am fighting my own constipation battles so thinking of your LO having the same trouble makes me sad...def not fun!
ReplyDeleteBtw I forgot to mention I love your background :)
ReplyDelete