Tired & Formula Woes
Joshua was not happy last night, he is a SCREAMER. Tried switching to the cheaper powder Parent’s Choice Formula for the first time yesterday night. He was gassy and just upset. So, I went and bought cans of Enfamil, (which is EXPENSIVE) and he seems a lot happier with that. (Enfamil at room temperature is what we used in the hospital.) So, I guess that’s how they get you to buy the stuff…they give you free samples at the hospital, the baby gets used to it, and then you have to buy it! He was up at 10:00pm, 11:00pm, 2:00am, 3:00am, (then we switched to Enfamil) - he was up at 5:30am, slept until 8:00am, which was a NICE nap for mom! My mother in law was up with him some of those times, so that was nice.
Can you mix different types of formula, or is that unsafe to do? Like, if I put some enfamil in a bottle, then put some prepared Parent’s choice in a bottle, would that slowly aclimate him to it? Or should I just go all out and switch it in a few weeks? The Enfamil is super convenient, but MAN, $8.00 for 4 cans (I think the cans are 8 oz, they might be 12 oz.) The powdered Parent’s Choice is $10 for a can of powder that makes 60 ounces or so.
Any ideas?
Posted by: DramaQueen | 04-19-2008 | 02:04 PM
Posted in: Life as Mom | feeding
Jessie -
We have mastered the colicky, gassy baby boy scenario, so I will give you the advice that is in my arsenal and then if you want to bounce anything off of me, feel free to call or email me. Both boys were extremely gassy - I did breast feed, but Noah was on formula for four months after I stopped nursing. First of all, if he likes the enfamil, I would get some of the enfamil powder and see if he will do that because the powder is less expensive than the pre-mixed. I would also get some of the Nestle Good start - It seems to taste the best and I could usually get it for pretty inexpensive at Target or Walmart or Babies R Us and always seemed to find coupons. Definitely start trying the powdered - I wouldn’t mix powdered with pre-mixed however there is no harm in mixing the powders to try to get him to the lesser expensive. With the powder formula you really want to make sure that it is completely dissolved and my boys did much better with it heated to room temp or a bit warmer. On the expense front - go to each of the formula websites - If you sign up on their mailing list or “club” they will send you a bunch of free formula and coupons, which always helps. Look online for coupons as well. Noah would only do the Good Start and he was allergic to milk so it had to be Soy which was even more, so I spent a lot of time tracking down coupons. For the gassiness… Keep him upright during and after he feeds at least 45 degree angle or more - that helps him to not reflux. Burp him well about every ounce or two of each bottle. You can use the mylicon drops if those things done work - we also liked the “gripe water” - you can find a place to buy it by going to their website. Swaddle him tightly after eating and burping which is comforting for most babies - a little bit of heat on the tummy also helps - we used a “rice pack” - you can make one easily by sewing two squares of flannel or other soft fabric together like a little pillow and filling it with rice - then you can heat it in the microwave and hold it against his tummy. Hopefully I haven’t overwhelmed you with information, but we have definitely walked this path and I know how helpless you feel many moments with your first baby feeling like you don’t know what the heck you are doing. Please don’t hesitate to email or call. We are so excited for you!
I was just talking to my sis-in-law about this. She said she did combine to slowly get them used to the newer cheaper stuff.
That’s been one of my concerns as well as we prepare for baby. Wondering if our little one will like the cheap stuff.
Jessie we always used the powered enfamil. With Alyssa we had to use the soy formula because the regular made her fussy. It was a lot easier to work with that the cans of formula. We also bought the largest can of powered we could find. I also found that Target was the cheapest place to find it. As you know I grew up in a grocery store I saw what formulas would be recalled all I can say is stick with the enfamil. Just think of the price as an investment into a healthy child.
Thanks for all the helpful tips! I’m sure we will be using all or some of them! This is Jessie’s husband with an update: turns out the problem was the NIPPLE we used when we brought baby home. We decided to use some cuter bottles with longer plastic nipples, instead of the type of rubber nipples we were using at the hospital. We switched to the other nipple, and that did the trick! Go figure!
Another issue was apparently he was working on a BM for a while, because he finally had a BIG!!! one last night, for which there was much rejoicing. Sadly, I missed it as I was representing our family at my sister-in-law’s birthday party, but I heard about it when I got home!
Do what works and give the baby time to adjust. It’s patience waiting for things to work that is the hardest. We’re changing how David goes down for sleeps and it is a bear.