Hey All -
My daughter is 4 months and has been on the Similac Advance since she was born. She has always been very gassy (I think gassier than normal) and lately it has seemed worse. Yesterday I brought her to the doctor because she has been pulling on her ear, biting stuff and has showed less interest in eating (only taking 2-3 ounces when she normal drinks 6). I thought maybe ear infection or teething. The doctor said neither, that her ears were fine and that her gums showed no signs of teething. She said that maybe she wasn't eating because of the gas and upset tummy. She said to try either Similac Sensitive or Alimentum. She recommended going with Alimentum just incase she was having a sensitivity to milk. Well last night was the first time trying the new formula and probably the worst night. at first I just tried giving her the new formula because the doctor said it was fine to just switch and if she took it great. She ate a little but didn't like the taste so the next few bottle I made (8 pm and 12am) I mixed the 2 together. Well she had the worst night waking up every hour screaming like she was uncomfortable. Now even with the formula she has been on since birth she was pretty much sleeping through the night, going to bed around 730-8 and sleeping till about 2-4. Im curious to know what experience other moms have had with Alimentum?
UPDATE: Sorry a little late on the update. she has been on the Similac gas and fussiness for almost a month and its working great for her. it has eliminated a lot of her gas and her poops look much firmer. She is a much happier baby (aside from the teething)..
thanks
The Similac brand line and my baby did not get along well.
He did fine on Enfamil and Parent's Choice.
I have only had to use Alimentum with one of my kids and she is now 20, it was also only available by prescription back then and expensive.
I don't remember ever having any issue's with the switch, and I have done many formula switches with no issues.
I would recommend gradually switching if you are going to try it. Typically I have heard using one of those should be a last resort. One thing I wanted to mention though is my son was really gassy and I drove myself crazy trying to figure it out. He was really hard to burp too. I have heard of moms taking their babies to a chiropractor and have had great results. In hindsight I wish I had tried it . I also question that the doctor said she isn't teething as I know my son's teeth started to pop through at 6 mos so I would think they can feel something around 4 mos. It's been a little while but I remember my son drooling like crazy around that age.
Go buy some Mylicon Gas Drops. Add it to the water in the bottle before adding the powder then gently swirl the powder and water to mix it. This cuts down on the gas in the formula and in their tummy later on.
I have twins and had formula issues. One twin had a protein sensitivity and was having eczema issues. The other was gassy and had difficulty having bowel movements.
We ended up with Alimentum for the one with the sensitivity and got lucky that he drank it okay despite the smell. (As an aside, it didn't completely eliminate his eczema...just alleviated it and he eventually mostly outgrew it.)
But before we tried the Alimentum, we tried the Similac Sensitive and we tried it on both hoping we could just use the same formula for both.
The Similac Sensitive didn't help with the protein sensitivity as much as the Alimentum, but the Sensitive worked wonders for the one with the gas and bowel movement issues. He became much more regular with his bowel movements and didn't have to struggle as much to go.
So, it might be worth trying the Sensitive first as it's not as smelly nor as expensive as the Alimentum. The switch to Sensitive was a breeze for us.
It is probably the most disgusting tasting formular on the market. Try gerber Gentlease or Carnation Good Start. Both are great!
Isn't the Alimentum really expensive? Its a lot more expensive than the Similac Sensitive right? Unless you have a really specific issue happening (and it does not sound like you do), I would go with the Sensitive. It is lactose free, so should do fine for a baby with milk issues.
And I agree with the others, when you switch from one to another its usually best to do it gradually over a few days. Also, it takes up to a week for you to notice a difference since baby is still working the other stuff through their system.
I have major milk issues, and both of my sons did not do well initially on regular formula. For my first son, we used Enfamil Lactose Free, and when they discontinued that, we switched over to Enfamil GentleEase and he did fine. GentleEase has less lactose than regular formula, but does contain some lactose. My second son had issues too with regular formula, and was also having acid reflux problems, and the ped recommended Similac Sensitive for him. He did great and we used it until we were ready to move to cows milk. Future note for you: Both of my boys were able to switch right to regular cows milk even though as newborns they had problems with lactose. The vast majority of babies do fine with regular milk as they get older.
When we switched formulas we did it over 3 days the first day 2oz new 4 oz old second day 4oz new 2oz old 3rd day all new formula it was hard but it worked. And allimentum is a life savor that's what my daughter was on. But you must transition slowly or you'll end up with an upset baby and during the transition use gas drops and maybe the first week after until her tummy is used to the new and I warmed the bottles up
I found that making a complete switch with no transition never sat well with my babies. It was better when you gradually introduce it by mixing 1 part new with 2 parts old for a couple days, then 2 parts new and one part old for a couple days, then finally all new.
