What I've learned about baby formula

[Dawn in Ohio]

Maybe baby formula isn't so bad...

 

After breastfeeding five babies, I have finally had my first experience with formula. My daughter has been jaundiced for five weeks. So on Thursday my doctor and I decided that I should stop breastfeeding for 48 hours to find out if she had breast milk jaundice (or if there was a more serious problem going on).

 

I was prepared for this to be a difficult 2 days for Grace, but to my surprise she did great. She didn't have any problem drinking from the bottle. She didn't even act bewildered when I first stuck it in her mouth. (I was a bit offended. :confused1:) She slept 7 hours straight Thursday night and 9 hours straight Friday night. This is by far the best she has ever done at night. It felt so good to get a good night's sleep. And then the most surprising thing was how content and happy she was. She was so peaceful. No fussing at all. With breastfeeding, she is hard to burp and often twists around as though her tummy hurts or she has gas. With the formula, she was very content.

 

I am kind of depressed right now. I started nursing her again yesterday evening. And she was up 3 times during the night! And she is having trouble getting back to sleep after each feeding. She keeps waking from her sleep with bouts of crying. She'll draw her legs up and get all tense, as though her tummy hurts. So what do I do? I love breastfeeding!! I can't imagine not nursing my sweet baby. But she obviously felt a lot better on the formula. With breastfeeding everyone tells you that you are doing what is best for your baby... but now I'm not so sure. Ugh!! I am very frustrated right now.

[Twinmom]

I'm really not an expert on breastfeeding, having never personally done it (all my kids are adopted), but I wanted to offer you :grouphug:s! I'm so sorry about this. I wonder if your doctor can offer you any suggestions on dietary changes for you before you decide to permanently put her on formula. Perhaps something that you are eating is affecting her and can be removed? Maybe he'd have some other suggestions?

 

I'm sure you'll do what's best for her either way...:grouphug:s...I'm sure it's tough.

[3lilreds in NC]

:grouphug: This breastfeeding thing can be hard, I know! I had a terrible time with my first dd and only lasted 6 weeks.

 

Have you reviewed your diet at all? It could be that you're eating something that's bothering her. Chocolate is a big one that babies often can't tolerate. Dairy can cause problems. Caffeine can be bad.

 

I know there are many breastfeeding gurus around who will give you better information, and I am not going to tell you to stop breastfeeding. She will most likely outgrow the tummy aches by 3 months or so. Now you've had a peek into the other side with no tummy aches though... and it's very tempting. Trust me, I know. That's why only 6 weeks with #1 for me.

 

If you do end up giving her a bottle, it will NOT make you a bad mommy. You know that, right?

[Tammyla]

Just sending out a big hug.:grouphug:

[Laura Corin]

Have you reviewed your diet at all? It could be that you're eating something that's bothering her.

 

 

Hobbes was miserable with wind when he was small, but as soon as I cut out milk from my diet, he became much more contented.

 

One thing we did with Calvin was to give him a bottle of expressed milk at bedtime - he seemed to drink it faster, to take in more, and to sleep better.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[TammyinTN]

:grouphug: Hugs to you! My first daughter bf a total of two weeks..she was miserable. Second daughter didn't even attempt it...third child bf for 30 months and he got a bottle each night at wake up time from Dad. If your little one is more content with bottle feeding...do it and without any guilt. The sleep alone would be awesome. Hugs to you and your little one!:grouphug:

[mommylawyer]

If you feel passionately about continuing breastfeeding your little one, I agree with previous posts that say to talk to the doc about changes you can make in your diet. (All 3 of mine did the tensing up tummy thing until I stopped drinking milk - which I love, but gladly gave up.)

 

If, at this stage of your life, you feel that formula is the best thing for your baby, then do that. But do try to explore what you can do before you give up.

 

There really are SO MANY benefits to breastfeeding - just weigh those before you completely switch to formula.

 

:grouphug: to you and your little one!

[TraceyS/FL]

I would definetly cut stuff from your diet and find what she is reacting too. It could make all the difference in the world.

 

Dairy and chocolate are the first 2 i hear to try. Someone should be able to pop in with a better list, but i know with my middle one cutting cheese out was the first thing that helped. That was hard for me too....

 

Lots of :grouphug:

[Mom2GirlsTX]

I've done both breastfeeding only and formula only, one bio and one adopted, so I'm a split decision :D

I would see if you could modify your diet, and then make the decision. :001_smile:Whatever you do decide, I'm sure you will raise a loving, healthy baby! Hugs:grouphug:

[Mandamom]

one who had to take all milk (casein, whey and lactose) out of my diet while nursing my ds (my girls had no problem with it) and later all wheat in order to make nursing a success.

 

Whether your choose to try eliminating foods from your diet or staying with formula I wish you luck.

[Ellie]

I don't believe in "breastmilk jaundice."

 

Did you call La Leche League? That would be the *first* thing I'd recommend.

 

Did you know that 80% of all breastfed babies are jaundiced?

 

I know that jaundice can be a bad thing, but I'd sure check into some other things before abadoning it, including being sure that nothing *you* are eating is causing her distress. Dairy is the biggest culprit; eliminating from *your* diet might make a big difference.

 

Also, do you sleep with her? I can't tell you what an improvement that made in my rest when I began sleeping with the baby.

 

In the end, if you decide not to breastfeed, it will be ok. Millions of well-adjusted adults were bottlefed :-)

[dirty ethel rackham]

I really wouldn't bother with talking to a doctor about diet, or actually anything to do with breastfeeding. Talk to someone who actually knows something about breastfeeding. Talk to a La Leche League leader or board certified lactation consultant. They will know MUCH MORE about breastfeeding and overcoming difficulties than 99% of doctors. The fact that this doc recommended formula to diagnose "breastmilk jaundice" shows that he does not know much about the subject. I cannot believe how medical schools will allow someone to become a pediatrician with such a gaping hole in their knowledge about the biologically normal way to feed a baby.

 

Okay - rant over, but I would definitely look into the following problems:

Food intolerance - is she allergic to something you are eating. Milk products is a common one and it can take up to 3 weeks to get all the proteins out of your body. However, if she had a cow's milk-based formula, I would doubt that this is the cause.

Foremilk-Hindmilk imbalance - what do her stools look like? Are they bright yellow or are they greenish and somewhat frothy? If they have a green color, it could be that she is getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk (which has the fats she needs for brain development, weight gain, etc.)

 

Here are some links that might be helpful:

Breastmilk and jaundice

Gassy Babies

 

BTW, my rant above was not meant as a judgement against moms who formula feed their babies, it is against doctors who are ignorant (willfully or otherwise) about breastfeeding and against the system that refuses to train them better.

[nmoira]

BTW, my rant above was not meant as a judgement against moms who formula feed their babies, it is against doctors who are ignorant (willfully or otherwise) about breastfeeding and against the system that refuses to train them better.

Thank you for saying this. My only regret is that I cannot rep you...

[Kelli in TN]

I really wouldn't bother with talking to a doctor about diet, or actually anything to do with breastfeeding. Talk to someone who actually knows something about breastfeeding. Talk to a La Leche League leader or board certified lactation consultant. They will know MUCH MORE about breastfeeding and overcoming difficulties than 99% of doctors. The fact that this doc recommended formula to diagnose "breastmilk jaundice" shows that he does not know much about the subject. .

 

 

I found this to match my experience with jaundice, except my doctor's advice was the exact opposite of the OP's doctor's advice.

 

My youngest had jaundice that just would not go away. He was lethargic and uninterested in nursing. He just laid on the bilirubin pad all day and slept and slept and slept. Our doctor was very concerned about his bilirubin levels and his lethargy. She called me on a Friday and she said that she wanted me to bring him in on Monday for a another blood test but first she wanted me to set an alarm clock and nurse that child every 2 hours whether he wanted it or not. She apologized for asking me to do something so very exhausting but she felt like a marathon nursing weekend might be just the ticket to flush the jaundice out. And she was right. We went in on Monday, did the heel prick and by Monday afternoon the hospital sent a guy over to get the machine out of our house! He was about 6 and 1/2 weeks old before we got free of the jaundice!

[jail warden]

I just want to give you permission to go to the bottle, if you feel like that's best for your family. I know that it can make you feel like a failure if you switch, but you're not.:grouphug:

 

I'm not telling you to switch, just giving you support if you decide to.

 

I know that there is always a 'best' way out there and sometimes, we just need to know it's okay if we choose another direction, and it helps to have someone tell you it's okay whichever direction you take.

[Niffercoo]

Thank you for saying this. My only regret is that I cannot rep you...

 

I did it for you! I couldn't agree more with her post!

[EKS]

I agree with the others, try to see if something in your diet is causing her distress. For example, I discovered that this flax cereal I was eating caused my younger son to have bloody diarrhea.

 

The other thing you might want to try is giving her breastmilk in a bottle, just to make sure it was the formula itself that helped and not the delivery method.

[abbeyej]

Dawn, do you know anything about foremilk / hindmilk imbalances? It sounds to me like it's possible she's getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. The foremilk is thinner, has a higher sugar content, and if a child is getting too much of it (relative to the higher fat hindmilk), it can cause gas and upset tummy.

 

Weirdly, only one of my kids seemed to have a problem with this. The solution for us was to nurse only on one side for any nursings within a period of time (about 4-6 hours -- so any time baby nursed between 8am and noon or so would be on the right, then afternoon would be left, and some time in the evening back to the right, etc). Rather than the typical X minutes on this side, then switch, etc. Staying on one side means that baby gets the foremilk and then the hindmilk as well -- switching too often can mean baby only gets the foremilk on both sides...

 

I doubt that your little one has a dairy intolerance, or I think you would have seen signs of that while she was on the formula.

[Aunty Social]

First of all....:grouphug:.

 

I haven't read all the posts, but it sounds like your baby might be allergic to something in your diet. My ds SCREAMED night and day for the first 3 months of his life. We found out by accident that he had allergies. I cut out milk, and there was a dramatic increase, but still not great. Wound up that he was allergic to milk, soy, oats, wheat and bananas:001_huh:. Poor kid, here i was trying to comfort and nourish him, and i was making him sick! Needless to say, the sleep deprivation kicked in and we switched to special (read expensive) formula. Almost overnight he was a different baby. We had some bad habits to break as far as sleep and attention that had formed out of the chaos of the first few months, but he really settled down and thrived on the formula. It was a little hard on me, because he was my last baby and I wasn't really ready to wean.....but sleep is a precious, precious thing and that radical of a diet change wasn't doable at the time!

 

BTW, he's 6 1/2 now, and is a wonderful, intelligent, sweet boy....so formula really won't screw your baby up for life!:D (and before the flames start, i think bf is best in general, but sometimes circumstances call for something else)

[Alenee]

I don't believe in "breastmilk jaundice."

 

Did you call La Leche League? That would be the *first* thing I'd recommend.

 

Did you know that 80% of all breastfed babies are jaundiced?

 

I know that jaundice can be a bad thing, but I'd sure check into some other things before abadoning it, including being sure that nothing *you* are eating is causing her distress. Dairy is the biggest culprit; eliminating from *your* diet might make a big difference.

 

Also, do you sleep with her? I can't tell you what an improvement that made in my rest when I began sleeping with the baby.

 

In the end, if you decide not to breastfeed, it will be ok. Millions of well-adjusted adults were bottlefed :-)

 

:iagree: Talk to people who are pros at bf'ing. I would think it's something in your diet too. Loved sleeping with baby next to me...it solved some of the colicky nights. :grouphug:

[Mrs Mungo]

With foremilk/hindmilk imbalance baby's bowel movements do not look like a normal breastfed baby's bms. They will be green and somewhat frothy looking. It definitely can cause gas and baby to wake frequently to eat because they aren't getting the fatty part of the milk that fills them up. In this case baby has been on formula so it may take a few days for bms to get back to yellow, buttermilky and seedy.

 

Babies sleep better with formula because it's harder for them to digest and their bodies sort of shut down to help them do that. It's not because they are more content.

 

While "breastmilk jaudice" exists in the sense that some breastfed babies will continue slightly elevated (but not dangerous) levels of bilirubin longer than average. It is now usually called "late-onset jaundice" but studies do suggest that component in breastmilk sometimes interferes with a liver enzyme which helps in secrete the bilirubin. Usually, switching to formula for a couple of feedings is all that is necessary in this case. But...this isn't a type of jaundice that is dangerous, it's low-level and will usually go away on its own even with continued breastfeeding, it just takes longer than is typical.

 

Some doctors will refer to "breastfeeding jaundice" when baby isn't nursing enough. In my experience nursing every two hours around the clock for 48 hours will usually get rid of it. The problem is that a jaundiced baby is a sleepy baby and baby often won't wake enough to nurse or will be difficult to keep awake. Nursing is more work for baby than formula feeding (one of the benefits since it encourages proper jaw development) and it can be easier to get baby to eat a whole bottle than to keep them awake long enough to get plenty of hindmilk.

 

I find it doubtful that baby is allergic to dairy in this case since baby is seemingly tolerating formula well. There are other common culprits such as corn, wheat, etc. The Baby Book by Dr. William Sears has a good section on elimination diets for breastfeeding moms.

 

Keep in mind that if you haven't nursed for a couple of days it may have affected your supply in a number of possible ways. It's possible you have an excess of foremilk which is causing overactive letdown, baby will gulp very fast and swallow a lot of air. It's also possible your supply went down a bit and baby is nursing more often at night in order to get the supply back up. It may just take a few days for your body and baby's body to get readjusted.

 

I definitely second (or third!) the idea of calling a local LLL Leader. They are usually very helpful and supportive.

[TravelingChris]

I am not going to give you recommendations about breastfeeding since I didn't do it but suggest you follow advice from others who posted before me about contacting LLL or some other breastfeeding expert. If for whatever reason you do continue to bottlefeed, your child will not be hurt by that. I had to bottlefeed mine due to my health and needing to take medications that could be passed to my kids. My kids all are very smart and while one had ear infection problems, two others didn't. Two don't have food allergies, and one does.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Kelli, You are so blessed to have a doc who is knowledgeable about how to manage these situations. As a childbirth educator and card carrying LLL member, I can't tell you how many women do not have such a great resource.

[CactusPair]

I agree wholeheartedly with everything said before me. But I do have a question.

 

What kind of formula did you try?

 

I hope to have another baby one of these days and may, because of medication issues, have to use a bottle. I bf the other dc and don't know a hoot about formula.

 

I've heard all kinds of stories about tummy troubles & bottles, so I'm very curious about which one worked well for your dd.

 

Good luck to you (and do talk to LLL):001_smile:

[Dawn in Ohio]

Wow! I am overwhelmed by all your kind, helpful replies. You are such an encouragement to me! I am still frustrated by how well Grace seemed to like the formula... but not as frustrated as I was this AM after a bad night's sleep.

 

Right now Dh and I are tempted to give her a bottle of formula each evening before bed and see if it helps her sleep better. I don't know. I am not ready to give up breastfeeding, but I have had a glimpse of the "other side" and can see that it wouldn't be as bad as I always imagined. :blush:

 

I'm going to read over all your posts and respond to some of your specific suggestions. I really appreciate the time you've taken to try to help me through this. Thanks.

 

[Dawn in Ohio]

Have you reviewed your diet at all? It could be that you're eating something that's bothering her. Chocolate is a big one that babies often can't tolerate. Dairy can cause problems. Caffeine can be bad.

 

 

I am wondering if there is something in my diet that is a problem. Lots of you suggested that. But as someone said, if milk was the problem then Grace should have had trouble with the formula also. :confused: The Similac she was taking was milk-based, so I don't think dairy is the trouble. I will try cutting out caffeine for a few days and see if that helps. I haven't had chocolate in 3-4 weeks. In fact, my diet has been quite boring and predictable lately.

 

Breakfast:

plain oatmeal with cinnamon, walnuts and a splash of milk

coffee with milk

 

Lunch:

salad with all kind of veggies, plus meat/cheese and salad dressing

maybe fruit

(sometimes instead of the salad I'll have an omelet with lots of veggies and a smidge of cheese)

 

Snack:

fruit

 

Dinner:

meat (pork, chicken, salmon) with a couple veggies

maybe fruit

 

Snack:

plain yogurt

raspberries

 

So for the breastfeeding experts out there, what do you think? What would you change? I think I'm getting enough calories. When I counted them up once it looked like at least 1800 calories. I don't have trouble with the amount of breastmilk that I produce. While Grace was on formula, I was pumping 6-8 ounces at each feeding. And Grace is gaining weight well. She is up over 3 pounds in one month.

[Dawn in Ohio]

 

One thing we did with Calvin was to give him a bottle of expressed milk at bedtime - he seemed to drink it faster, to take in more, and to sleep better.

 

 

I have lots of breastmilk in the freezer now, so I'll definitely give that a try. Thanks! :)

[Tree House Academy]

I bottlefed both of mine and we never had problems. Sounds like maybe this is more your desire to nurse her and, in that case, I would do whatever you feel is best for HER. I know that sounds harsh, I don't mean it to be...but if she is doing better on formula, then I would put her on formula. You can still bond with your baby girl! Some of my most fond memories was holding my boys as they ate (from a bottle) and loving on them as they slept when they finished.

 

Best of luck to you!

[Dawn in Ohio]

Also, do you sleep with her? I can't tell you what an improvement that made in my rest when I began sleeping with the baby.

 

 

My usual approach to newborns is to have them start the night in their crib. Then when they wake during the night, they come to sleep with me and nurse. I might move them to the playpen by my bed at some point during the night. With my other babies this worked great and I felt like I got a decent night's sleep. With Grace I have to be careful to burp her well after each feeding. So I can't fall asleep while she is nursing. If I let her snack away while I sleep, she ends up very fussy, with lots of gas.

[Dawn in Ohio]

I really wouldn't bother with talking to a doctor about diet, or actually anything to do with breastfeeding. Talk to someone who actually knows something about breastfeeding. Talk to a La Leche League leader or board certified lactation consultant. They will know MUCH MORE about breastfeeding and overcoming difficulties than 99% of doctors. The fact that this doc recommended formula to diagnose "breastmilk jaundice" shows that he does not know much about the subject. I cannot believe how medical schools will allow someone to become a pediatrician with such a gaping hole in their knowledge about the biologically normal way to feed a baby.

 

Okay - rant over, but I would definitely look into the following problems:

Food intolerance - is she allergic to something you are eating. Milk products is a common one and it can take up to 3 weeks to get all the proteins out of your body. However, if she had a cow's milk-based formula, I would doubt that this is the cause.

Foremilk-Hindmilk imbalance - what do her stools look like? Are they bright yellow or are they greenish and somewhat frothy? If they have a green color, it could be that she is getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk (which has the fats she needs for brain development, weight gain, etc.)

 

 

I had read a lot online about breastmilk jaundice before going to the doctor. I just couldn't drop the fear that maybe there was something more serious wrong. Ya know? So I actually WANTED to do the short stint with formula. My doctor didn't push me into it, although she did give it as an option. I wasn't unhappy to use formula for a short time... I was just bummed by how well it went. Does that make sense?

 

I don't think a foremilk-hindmilk imbalance is the trouble either. Her stools are bright yellow/orange and kind of seedy. They've never been green. I suppose I could try nursing her on own side per feeding just to see if that helps.

[Dawn in Ohio]

First of all....:grouphug:.

 

I haven't read all the posts, but it sounds like your baby might be allergic to something in your diet. My ds SCREAMED night and day for the first 3 months of his life. We found out by accident that he had allergies. I cut out milk, and there was a dramatic increase, but still not great. Wound up that he was allergic to milk, soy, oats, wheat and bananas:001_huh:. Poor kid, here i was trying to comfort and nourish him, and i was making him sick! Needless to say, the sleep deprivation kicked in and we switched to special (read expensive) formula. Almost overnight he was a different baby. We had some bad habits to break as far as sleep and attention that had formed out of the chaos of the first few months, but he really settled down and thrived on the formula. It was a little hard on me, because he was my last baby and I wasn't really ready to wean.....but sleep is a precious, precious thing and that radical of a diet change wasn't doable at the time!

 

BTW, he's 6 1/2 now, and is a wonderful, intelligent, sweet boy....so formula really won't screw your baby up for life!:D (and before the flames start, i think bf is best in general, but sometimes circumstances call for something else)

 

Thanks for sharing your experience.:001_smile: I am kind of emotional about this whole thing because this baby is our last. Weaning would be tough because it would finalize that somehow. Yet when I think about starting back to school shortly and how thin I'm gonna be stretched, I wonder if using formula and having a peaceful, easy baby would be better. All of my kids need me. And when I am sleepy I am not a very good homeschooling mom.

[keptwoman]

Dawn, I know you really want to keep breastfeeding, so I'm saying this with that in mind. Bottles of formula are a slippery slope to weaning. Partly because a baby may prefer the faster/less effort method of getting the milk and mostly because unless you are pumping at the same time it will affect your supply. If you want to do an evening bottle, I'd definitely stick to expressed milk, and use a teat with the smallest hole you can find so baby still has to work for the milk.

 

I've seen so many people start with one bottle of formula and end up weaning not long after.

 

Like others I'd be suspecting a food reaction of some kind.

 

Good luck with finding the answer, breastfeeding can sure be hard work at times!

[Dawn in Ohio]

With foremilk/hindmilk imbalance baby's bowel movements do not look like a normal breastfed baby's bms. They will be green and somewhat frothy looking. It definitely can cause gas and baby to wake frequently to eat because they aren't getting the fatty part of the milk that fills them up. In this case baby has been on formula so it may take a few days for bms to get back to yellow, buttermilky and seedy.

 

Babies sleep better with formula because it's harder for them to digest and their bodies sort of shut down to help them do that. It's not because they are more content.

 

While "breastmilk jaudice" exists in the sense that some breastfed babies will continue slightly elevated (but not dangerous) levels of bilirubin longer than average. It is now usually called "late-onset jaundice" but studies do suggest that component in breastmilk sometimes interferes with a liver enzyme which helps in secrete the bilirubin. Usually, switching to formula for a couple of feedings is all that is necessary in this case. But...this isn't a type of jaundice that is dangerous, it's low-level and will usually go away on its own even with continued breastfeeding, it just takes longer than is typical.

 

Some doctors will refer to "breastfeeding jaundice" when baby isn't nursing enough. In my experience nursing every two hours around the clock for 48 hours will usually get rid of it. The problem is that a jaundiced baby is a sleepy baby and baby often won't wake enough to nurse or will be difficult to keep awake. Nursing is more work for baby than formula feeding (one of the benefits since it encourages proper jaw development) and it can be easier to get baby to eat a whole bottle than to keep them awake long enough to get plenty of hindmilk.

 

I find it doubtful that baby is allergic to dairy in this case since baby is seemingly tolerating formula well. There are other common culprits such as corn, wheat, etc. The Baby Book by Dr. William Sears has a good section on elimination diets for breastfeeding moms.

 

Keep in mind that if you haven't nursed for a couple of days it may have affected your supply in a number of possible ways. It's possible you have an excess of foremilk which is causing overactive letdown, baby will gulp very fast and swallow a lot of air. It's also possible your supply went down a bit and baby is nursing more often at night in order to get the supply back up. It may just take a few days for your body and baby's body to get readjusted.

 

I definitely second (or third!) the idea of calling a local LLL Leader. They are usually very helpful and supportive.

 

Thanks for all the feedback!! I will check out the Sears book about elimination diets. And maybe I'll call LLL.

 

Our case was definitely a case of "breastmilk jaundice" rather than "breastfeeding jaundice". Grace's jaundice did start around day 5 as is typical, but at a month was still there. She wasn't sleepy or nursing poorly. And like you said, her bilirubin wasn't dangerously high. Just still somewhat elevated.

[Dawn in Ohio]

I agree wholeheartedly with everything said before me. But I do have a question.

 

What kind of formula did you try?

 

I hope to have another baby one of these days and may, because of medication issues, have to use a bottle. I bf the other dc and don't know a hoot about formula.

 

I've heard all kinds of stories about tummy troubles & bottles, so I'm very curious about which one worked well for your dd.

 

Good luck to you (and do talk to LLL):001_smile:

 

Hi, CactusPair,

We used Similac Sensitive R.S. I don't know a thing about formula either. The doctor had a bunch of samples of that kind, so that is what we used. And Gracey gave it rave reviews. ;) Good luck!

[TraceyS/FL]

Breakfast:

plain oatmeal with cinnamon, walnuts and a splash of milk

coffee with milk

 

Lunch:

salad with all kind of veggies, plus meat/cheese and salad dressing

maybe fruit

(sometimes instead of the salad I'll have an omelet with lots of veggies and a smidge of cheese)

 

Snack:

fruit

 

Dinner:

meat (pork, chicken, salmon) with a couple veggies

maybe fruit

 

Snack:

plain yogurt

raspberries

 

 

I'm not an expert by ANY means, but the nuts and veggies caught my eye. My middle child could not handle me eating brocolli. Oh my it was U.G.L.Y. I'm not a big veggie eater, so she might have reacted to more. #3 was more on the dairy side.

 

#1 was my Soy Formula baby :D

 

I'd check the book for the elimination diet stuff & :grouphug: to you.

[Ellie]

Right now Dh and I are tempted to give her a bottle of formula each evening before bed and see if it helps her sleep better. I don't know. I am not ready to give up breastfeeding, but I have had a glimpse of the "other side" and can see that it wouldn't be as bad as I always imagined. :blush:

 

You know, whatever you decide will be fine. Five years from now it won't matter whether you kept nursing her or not. :-)

 

But if you really want to keep nursing, you gotta not do formula.at.all.

 

Here's the thing: God made it so that you make milk when the baby nurses, and you make as much as your baby needs. If you give the baby a bottle at night and it keeps her from nursing for 6-8 hours (or even 4 hours), you'd get sleep, but you wouldn't be making milk. Baby would be fussy because there wasn't enough, and then you'd supplement with another bottle, and then you'd make even less. (And BTW, this would be true if you had a nursing baby who slept that many hours all by herself. It's one reason that La Leche League recommends co-sleeping, so the mother will be more attuned to baby's waking and can nurse during the night.)

 

So if you want to keep nursing, this would be the deal: Eliminate dairy from your diet. Don't supplement with anything, including a pacifier during the day. Take baby to bed with you and just go to sleep nursing. When she wakes during the night, just hold her in your arms and roll over so she can nurse on the other side, and go back to sleep.

[1bassoon]

All I have to say -

 

Happy Momma = Happy Baby.

 

That's all, sweetie!!!

[SABE]

I agree that your baby is likely sensitive to something in your diet, and I also agree that dairy isn't a likely culprit if baby is tolerating milk-based formula so well.

 

Are you still taking prenatal vitamins? 2 of my children were a lot happier once I quit taking prenatals and switched over to a regular multi-vitamin instead. I guess the excess iron in the prenatals bothered them.

 

I think cutting out caffeine is a great place to start. Also, you might want to consider keeping a daily food diary and record of baby's symptoms to see if you can spot any correlation between the two.

 

I hope you're able to figure this out quickly.

[Dawn in Ohio]

Two weeks ago I posted about my fussy breastfeeding baby. I was considering switching to formula. I wanted to thank everyone for their support and good advice. I am still breastfeeding and Grace is a lot less fussy. The only change I have made is to cut out dairy almost completely. I think that has helped. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks! :)

[dirty ethel rackham]

Dawn,

 

I am so glad you found a solution and that you have a happier babe!

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Great! I had issues with my younger with dairy. I had to cut out all dairy proteins. I am so glad you found out what the issue was.

[sleepy]

That's great, I'm glad to hear nursing is going well. Enjoy your sweet baby. :001_smile:

[Ellie]

:hurray::hurray::hurray:

 

SO many babies cannot tolerate the dairy products their mommies consume, even though the national dair counsel or whever wants us to think that milk is good for every body :-)

 

I couldn't drink *any* milk the whole time I was nursing my second baby. I shouldn't have done it with my first, but I didn't get the right information :-/

[Laura Corin]

TI am still breastfeeding and Grace is a lot less fussy. The only change I have made is to cut out dairy almost completely. I think that has helped. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks! :)

 

I remember the relief when I cut out dairy and Hobbes changed his nature overnight. He became the easygoing kid that he still is today.

 

Laura

[Mrs Mungo]

Two weeks ago I posted about my fussy breastfeeding baby. I was considering switching to formula. I wanted to thank everyone for their support and good advice. I am still breastfeeding and Grace is a lot less fussy. The only change I have made is to cut out dairy almost completely. I think that has helped. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks! :)

 

I'm glad things are working out and you and baby are happier!

[Jennifer3141]

I think it's fantastic that you actually did the work to find out what was irritating Grace.

 

I did the allergy diet with my kids for that first year I nursed each of them and it was hard but worth it!

[keptwoman]

That's wonderful! Congratulations!!

[*anj*]

I hope this isn't terribly redundant, but I haven't yet read all of the other posts. I just want to suggest that she sounds gassy. If the formula you gave her was a milk-based one, her problem probably isn't milk related. I would suggest that you cut out cruciferous vegetables, garlic, maybe onions, chocolate, and beans, and then see what happens. Don't give up the ship just yet. Your milk is the best thing for her, as long as it's the best thing for her. Do you know what I mean? So see if a few dietary changes on your part do the trick. I wouldn't personally call a doctor about this, I'd call someone from La Leche League. They are really a lot more savvy about breastfeeding than your average OB is (no offense at all to OBs--this is my experience combined with something that was told me by an OB resident.)

 

If after all that it still seems that your baby is better off with formula, then do what you need to do. But I'll bet you can fix this by changing your diet.

 

Oh wait! I just remembered something else: wheat/gluten containing foods. My friend has two girls who are both very sensitive to gluten, and one of them probably has Celiac Disease, but they haven't been able to test her yet. Anyway, this happened when she nursed them while eating a regular diet. The older girl (the one who seems to have CD) would get super bad gas, difficulty sleeping, extreme constipation when she consumed gluten. You might want to try eliminating gluten from your diet. :grouphug:

 

ETA: I hate it when I post before reading the whole thread. I just saw your post saying that you cut out dairy and have had good results. I'm so glad that you found the problem and were able to fix it. Oh well...pay no attention to that woman behind the curtain! :)

[kidsnbooks8]

:grouphug:Dawn:grouphug:

 

With our last little guy(and he is our last also) my milk never even came in!! I had sucessfully nursed for what seemed to be forever and with my last one nothing cooperated.

 

My water broke 2 weeks early( all my babies were late except for 1(2 days before dd) and they always had to break my water except for that 1) I never went into labor and had to have pitocin for the whole labor, every time they stopped the drip my contactions stopped. I was so bummed, baby #9 and my body was not cooperating!!

 

Of course we tried to nurse and nothing, 3 days later and still nothing, my poor baby.:sad: Any how we went ahead and gave him the formula and I am so happy we did, it was the best thing we could have done. Happy baby and happy momma. We both got enough sleep, I had plenty of help for feedings, all the kids loved this, and I seemed to get back to "normal" much quicker than with all the others. To this day, this is the happiest baby we have, he has always got a big ole grin on his adorable little face.(he is the one in the avatar)

 

It was very hard to accept, but only for a very short time and I do not regret it.:001_smile: