My 8 week old has been having some rough nights which seem to be gassiness. It's not consistent, but every couple of days, he seems to have a hard time with gas and spitting up. He takes similac advance infant formula. At what point do you experiment with "gentler" formulas? or do I just ride out the next few weeks and assume his digestive system is going to mature and chalk this up to normal newborn gas? My first son had terrible reflux and colic issues, so he was put on soy pretty early and did very well with it-- so I have kind of a scued view of what is considered "normal"--- since my first was sooo sensitive. Thanks!
Hi J.,
My son started out on similac also, but didn't handle it well. He was spitting up a ton and very uncomfortable all the time, so at around 6-7 weeks old I switched him to Nestle Good Start and that did the trick. He was a much happier baby after that.
Lynsey
Most of the time it is not the formula, but the feeding itself. He may be gulping formula and getting more air. It seems that you are saying that he is usually gassey at night, if he is fine throughout the day, I wouldn't switch formula, but wait it out, it usually resolves after a few weeks. If you feel you need to switch talk to your ped, try Similac Sensitive. My niece had great success on that. And it is less expensive than the good start and the other name brand.
My almost 8 month old son has been on Similac Alimentum for a while because he has silent reflux (acid kept going up and down his throat, but never out, very painful). We tried Advance and he had a horrible reaction to it. One of my friends balked when I told her that we tried Advance -she said that Advance is very hard for babies with any type of gassiness/sensitivity to digest well (her son also had reflux). She likened it to drinking cement. I would switch to sensitive for a few days and see if it helps. You can always go back to advance after a month or so - once his digestive system matures a little bit. No need to make him suffer for even another day.
Also - the type of bottle/nipple makes a diff - use one that's known for reducing gas (born free is good).
Good luck!
after feedings.. sit him up in an infant seat or on your lap.. keep his back and head up.. so he can digest better.. make sure he or she burps... then put to sleep.. it might help.. if no better.. see the ped about changing formulas..
After breastfeeding exclusively for the first two months, I too ran into the same nighttime gas issue after a month or so of introducing the similac advance formula. When gas drops really didn't work, I switched him to soy. Almost immediately I noticed a huge difference. We did that for about 4-5 months. In that last 2 months switched him over to similac sensitive (milk based but lactose free) which has worked well too. I am hoping that slowly re-introducing regular stuff as he gets older and his system matures will work so that he is not lactose intolerant.
I never even asked my doctor to change formulas, I had mentioned several times that we were having serious issues at night and really got no great response from her, so I did it on my own. Only when we went to his 6 month appt did I mention that I had switched him to soy with success and got a "oh good, that's great".
My doctor told me that even at 8 weeks they are still bringing up fluids from being in the womb. He put my daughter on the soy formula for a while until things cleared up. It also depends on what bottle you are using. We started using the vent air bottles and she was getting less air when she was drinking. Using these bottles she wasn't spitting up as much. In the beginning it was really bad. I was changing my clothes just as much as hers. But by changing to the vent air bottles it did get better. Also try putting Mylicon in his formula at every feeding. That helped too. Hope that this helps and good luck!
Oh wow my baby has acid relux really bad and we gave her mylicon. get the colorless one other wise their clothes get stained. but it works. and Alimentum formula but it is very very expesive. Oh when they get really acidy you can hold them over your forearm face down with their head held off to the side in the plam of your hand. Its a special hold so you should ask the ped to teach you how to do it. the baby;s leg and arms hang off to either side so your arm so to but slight pressure on the abdomin. or you could put a towel down on the washing macine or dryer and then the baby on it face down. something about the motion or vibrations helps releive the pain. also I use to have to hold my daughter up for a while after she ate. good luck
