Transitioning to Formula - Springtown,TX

I would not switch formula throughout the day. i would buy one type and stick to that. babies tummys are still developing and the changing of the formula from morning, noon and night might be harder on his/her tummy to digest.

My daughter was both breast/formula fed because i couldnt produce enough milk for her. At six month she was on only formula.

She went through several types of formula until we found the one that worked for her. We did reg. formula to start with IRON and dha in it. But she kept throwing it up, We tried Gentle Ease but still threw it up. We tried Soy but caused her to have dirreaha.

We then switched to Parents Choice Lactose Free Formula with IRON and DHA in it. WORKED!!!! Turns out our child is Lactose intollerant like her Mama and Grandpa and Great-Grandpa.

Unfortantly she didnt grow out of it and is now on Lactaid Milk.

Try the one you think is best and stick to that one and if it doesnt work out then keep looking until you find the one that your child can digest easily enough and stick to that one.

Good luck and healthy drinking little one!

We are in the process of transitioning to formula also (my daughter is now 3 months old and I just started back to work on Monday). We use Enfamil Gentlease for fussy and gassy babies. It is derived from cow's milk and has iron, dha, and aha. The regular Enfamil with Iron is also good (must be - its the only formula our hospital used). I would NOT recommend the GoodStart brand by Nestle. It gave my little one such painful gas - she would cry for hours before it passed. And when it did...*WHEW*...toxic smells!! I agree with the PP - at this stage only use breastmilk or formula.

I hope this helps! Good luck with this transition!
A.

Babies need formula up until age one, so don't switch to soy milk or plain cow's milk. I'm not sure what the doc meant by "survived on milk, so anything would be fine." There are very important nutrients that they add to formula to get it as close to breastmilk as possibly, especially some essential fats that are not in plain cow's milk or soy milk. You might also want to do some research on soy, as well, as they're finding it's not nearly as healthy as it was touted to be. To minimize digestive upset, it would be good to gradually mix in the formula with pumped breastmilk (unless there's a medical reason why that won't work). Otherwise, you might want to switch to one of the more easily digested cow milk based formulas. There's lots of options and you might want to check with the pediatrician's office as they very often have samples, so that you could experiment to find one that causes your baby minimal upset. It is typically best to find one that works for your baby and stick with that rather than varying them. Dr. Sear's website has a good discussion of formula (even though he's a BF proponent):
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/0/t000100.asp
(you have to enter your email address to get to the article)

First I want to say I'm a "working mom trying to keep up with everything" too! And you won't get any judgment from me on switching from breastfeeding. With my first, I breastfed for 6 months, and with my second I only lasted 3 months. It's really hard to do it AND work.

I agree with the other moms that you shouldn't switch formulas throughout the day, and that it may take a few tries to find what works for your baby. With my first baby, it was Enfamil only, had to be name brand. With my second baby, I was more relaxed, and discovered that the Target brand and the Kroger brand have the exact same nutrients in it as Enfamil and cost only half as much. She's now a year old and we're transitioning off of formula, and she did just fine without having the name brand.

A baby needs formula/breastmilk until the child is 12 months of age because he/she needs all the added vitamins that are not in other milks and needs it for brain development.
I would suggest similac w/iron unless he/she has milk allergies.

Hope this helps.
M.

My eldest daughter was a formula-baby after a couple of months of attempting to breastfeed & pump & pain & just not getting it to work! We used Similac with Iron until she was 12 months, at which point we switched to cow's milk. I can't fathom why your doctor would advise you that anything would be fine; your baby does need the nutrients in formula at this point. Stick with one formula, don't risk making her tummy upset by unnecessary changes.

I know everyone goes on and on about the wonders of breastmilk and anyone who doesn't breastfeed are robbing their children of important nutrients and brainpower, etc etc etc. It just doesn't work for some people, and those of us who can't do it shouldn't be made to feel like awful mothers. My six year old, who was pretty much exclusively formula-fed, is a very smart & healthy child. She's normal despite her terrible momma not breastfeeding. My two year old on the other hand, the one who is still nursing, is a terror. ;)