Tummy Aches

My son is now 6 months old but we had the same problem with Similac. Nestle Good Start seemed to work okay, and now we use Enfamile with Lipil. I would try a different brand before you switch to soy. Just remember that it will take 3-5 days to see a difference. You might also try infant gas drops. When he was that age we put it in every single bottle.

Have you tried the baby gas drops (Mylicon or Simethicone)? I didn't have a great need for them with either of my girls but I did use them a few times.

With my second son I had trouble with his formula. We finally went with Carnation Good Start. It stopped all of the uspet stomach, gas, and spitting up. Good luck!!

Hi S.. I have a daughter 3 months old and 3 older kids. I do exclusive breastfeeding except for the occasional formula bottle when I have to be away from her. My "feeding philosophy" is to just make sure they're comfortable and healthy. If that means formula, great. Breastmilk is best but not always the best choice for every woman. However, I read a GREAT book called "Colic Solved" which talks a lot about reflux, milk protein allergy, and watching your child's feeding signals to determine what may be wrong with them. It is written by a pediatric gastroenterologist. Anyway, though, I will tell you that I have discovered my child is milk-sensitive, which means that she is great with my milk but if I eat any dairy products it makes her have a tummy ache. It is not the lactose, it is the milk protein in cow milk. So, I eliminated all dairy and after about 2 weeks (it takes time for the dairy to get out of the baby's intestines) she is now all better. If I try to sneak some dairy I am paying for it (with her crying and fussing) later. The lacto-free formula was not the answer for us. It was the soy formula that she tolerates. Also, it helped my daughter when I "bicycled" her legs - that helped her toot and get some gas out. On the gas drops - they didn't seem to help us much so give 'em a try but don't expect miracles. Whatever change you make, though, give it some time (at least a week) before deciding if it is or isn't working.
One last thing, I would respectfully disagree with Rachel who suggested raw fresh goat milk - any unpasteruized milk does not have the bacteria removed from it and a young baby's tummy might not tolerate that. I DO NOT have any personal knowledge of this but it's just my opinion. I think there must be a reason we can't eat those types of cheeses during pregnancy.

When my son had gas really bad, we bought the gas relief for infants in the pharmacy section. What seemed to help the most was cuddling him and rubbing his belly in slow circles working my way from the top of his belly to the bottom of it. That seemed to help him get rid of the gas. My son did wonderful on Enfamil with Iron if you are wanting to switch formula. Hope some of this helps.

I would try to exclusively breastfeed. Please don't give your baby water at this young age. I know it sounds funny but water can be toxic in a young baby. I am a pediatric nurse.

My son went thru the same thing and it was determined that he was lactose intolerant which meant I could not breast feed and had to put him on Enfamil lactose free formula, he was a different child with the very first feeding. Try breastfeeding alone and if it continues try the lactose free formula alone,if that does not work he may have other allergies,Keep in touch with your pediatrician they usually have samples of the formulas to give you to try. When they get that gassy over the milk they cant eat well therefore not only are they in pain but they are hungary as well.

Hi S., It really sounds like he is having trouble with the formula... Try the soy and see if it doesn't make him feel better(and eat better). Hopefully by the time he is 1 he will outgrow the milk intolerance ( our granddaughter did :) )
Doesn't hurt to try :)

Enfamil Gentlease is formulated to help infants with gas. If you do not want to change formula, you may want to add a few drops of Mylicon Gas drops to your baby's bottle to also help with gas. Below is a link to the Enfamil website for the Gentlease formla. Hope this helps!

http://www.enfamil.com/app/iwp/Content4NoBlurb.do?dm=enf&...

Hi S.
So sorry to hear this, your little one doesn't need the pain of gas. The soy is more like breast milk. My boys could not deal with the Similac that is harsh. There is an organic of both type of milk. Our grand daughter spit up like crazy and got fussy with Similac and her mom started using the organic and she is doing great! So try this. Or check into a natural product that will enrich your own breast milk along with whole foods vitamins that will give your baby immune support, and just totally breast feed. My oldest daughter-in-law is really into nutrition and she breast fed her daughter for almost 2 yrs. These nutritional products have made all the difference in the world. Her daughter is so healthy. Keep in mind that these feed the baby vital nutrients for all developements from brain function to skin. Just do good research on what you want to take.
Enjoy your little one, you will learn more life lessons from them than anyone in your life.

We had exactly the same problem with our son. It's the iron that's making him gassy. You need to find one with low iron or no iron, which is hard to do, but that should help.

My son had issues with has and I switched bottles to the "Dr. Browns," they worked wonders. I would try that before giving him soy milk. The Dr. Browns bottles are made to reduce the amount of air they get, and they really work. I've had several moms recommend them. You could give gas drops a try too. Good Luck!

C.

The best formula that I have found is Carnation Good Start. It has live enzymes like natural milk in it to help the digestive track. I highly recommend it. Also watch your diet. Try to stay away from tomatoe stuff and spicy stuff. Anything that would make you have gas will make your baby have gas.
Take care and stay patient. You are doing a great job.
T.

Enfimil Gentlease is good for babies with gas. Check out the Enfamil website. Nothing is quite like breastmilk, so it may difficult on his digestive system to go back and forth.

Any formula with iron is going to cause constipation/gas. Since he is also nursing and getting the iron from that, I would suggest doing a non iron added formula.

My son did the same thing. We put the Mylacan gas drops in this bottles. It helped reduce the bubbles in his bottle alot. You can get them at walmart and the equate brand works just as good as the name brand.. I hope that helps..

I was unable to nurse my first son for very long and when we were attempting to switch over to formula we had a lot of problems until my sister recommended Carnation. After I stopped nursing my second son we tried enfamil and immediately went to the Carnation. I didn't try anything else with the third. At four months he was switched over to the Carnation without a hitch. We also learned to keep Phayzyme on hand for upset tummies, because some nights there is just nothing else you can do!

I would suggest trying fresh raw goat milk. It's the 2nd best for babies. Is there a reason you are doing formula??? If your milk supply is low there are some things you can try to boost your production. I nursed 5 babies and never had a shortage. Formula is a last resort in my opinion. You are asking for alot of health issues later. I don't think Soy is very highly recommended but you could try it. Stay away from Carnation. I've heard it's the worst!! R.

My middle son had a hard time with formula and then later with food. Iron can be pretty rough on a baby's tummy. I used almost every formula there was and finally used Good Start. I tried the soy and could not tell a difference. But the Good Start worked.

My daughter had problems with both Similac and Enfamil. Lots of gas and had a hard time having BM's. I switched over to Good Start and never had any problems after that. You can also use gas drops. I used those as well and found them to work wonderfully. If you go to www.eopinions.com and search on Good Start formula you will find a long list of people's opinions on this formula (both good and bad). I found a lot of people having similar complaints/problems with Similac and Enfamil that I was and those were resolved with Good Start. The problem seems to be with the amount of Iron. Good luck!

have you tried using dr.browns bottles they are supposed to help reduce spitting and gas.

I had this same situation with my daughter and she acted the same way when she would eat, fussy during feedings almost like she was in pain. I started adding formula into her diet around 3 or 4 months and I used Parent's Choice Gentle Formula, which is meant for babies with fussiness and gas. We also used the infant gas drops after her meals. I think both of these things helped, but I also think sometimes it just takes certain babies awhile for the digestive tracts to adjust. I'm sure there are several good options out there, that is just what worked for us.

It's common in newborns that they suffer from tummy ache. Use babies magic tea to get rid of gas pain. Also drink this tea and pass it to your child through your milk.

You can go to Wal-Mart and buy Equate Infant Gas Relief Drops. It seemed to help my baby when we had that problem. Hope it helps you.

C. B

try any lactose free formulas this dont mean he is lactoseintolerent it is just lower in lactose and it helped my two that i baby-sit! jess

This happened to my daughter, We quit anything with Iron, It gives them bad tummy aches. A little bit does ok, but the formula that say w/ Iron has extra. Good luck. We switched to Carnation Good start! The best thing I ever did.

Similac Sensitive is the BEST!!! He may be lactose intolerant (my daughter is) and that can cause the tummy aches. As soon as we switched to the Similac Sensitive, she was fine!!

S.,

I always had very good luck with Carnation formulas. I, too, breastfed and used formula. When I weaned my girls, they went totally on Carnation with no problems at all.

Good luck.

I just read 25 responses to your question and I cannot believe no one else has suggested that your baby may have reflux. Please consider this as a possibility. Your baby does NOT have to spit up to have acid reflux. The symptoms you've described sound like classic reflux to me. If he is in pain while he is eating, there is no way that the formula or breastmilk is instantly causing gas. The pain is caused by the stomach contents burning his esophagus. My daughter never spit up and had very painful reflux....just like you described, she wanted to eat but them screamed in pain. It's awful and I feel terrible for you and him. It's very hard to deal with.

Here are a few things you can try to help. While breastfeeding, keep him off his left side. So, when you're on your right side use the football hold or just recline and have him lay his tummy to yours. After a feeding either hold him over your arm on his tummy or lay him on his tummy on an incline (prop up pillows and stay with him). These positions keep the stomach contents away from where the esophagus enters the stomach. You can also try to do smaller, more frequent feedings so his stomach doesn't get too full. I hope that trying these things makes a difference. It helped us some but we did have to use medication as well. It was a lifesaver! We tried Zantac first which helped a little but switched to Prilosec and her symtoms completely went away. There was no question that she needed the medication once it started working. It takes 5-7 days to fully get in their system. I was so lucky to have a lactation consultant and pediatrician who were very educated on reflux and they were so helpful. If you aren't finding that kind of help, keep looking. Best of luck and hang in there!

Don't use anything with iron. It will make them gassy & constipated. So many of the formulas have coconut oil in them which is also bad for them. Check out other options.

HI S.! Mine did this on Similac Adavance also. Try the Similac Sensitive. Similac Sensitive is a milk based formula but is lactose free. I am not sure where you are from but you may want to see you you are elligible for your local WIC program. They can support you with your breastfeeding goals and assist you with a good breast pump. If you are elligible you can also receive coupons to help you pay for the formula that you use to supplement.

I agree with others about changing formula... but have you looked inside your his mouth? the whole "He squirms around when he's eating and will cry and then stop, eat some more, and squirm and cry again." Kind of sounds like thrush to me.You would see white patches over the insides of the checks and tongue that wouldn't wipe off, that would cause painful eating. If so since you are breastfeeding you could have it also. If you haven't elimnated this already might be something to look into. They treat moither and baby, by "painting the baby's mouth purple" and using cream for mother. Hope you figure everything out :)

My newborn was nursing and being formula fed with the similac soy with iron and she seemed to be very gasy and constipated. Now she is on Nestle Good Start for Immune (not soy)Systems and she is no longer constipated and very happy.

I also found that enfamile seemed easier on the tummy and they do have a low iron product. It helped tremendously with my daughter when she was that age.

Similac did the same thing with my son. I had to stop breastfeeding at six weeks because I couldn't keep up. We changed to Carnation Good Start and it helped the gas pains.

I agree with the breastfeeding only idea. This really helps most babies. Even lactose intolerant babies can have mama's milk. I suggest you invest in a good pump and build your milk supply (that way you can have bottles if you need to go out, etc). If you are worried about making sure he is getting enough, or would like support or advice as to how to cut formula out (you probably don't want to do it all at once), contact your local LLL leader. At http://www.llli.org/ you can find your local leader in the upper left hand corner. The women are voulenteers who have kids and have been through and seen it all. They welcome calls any time. I hope something works out for you, whether it's a return to full-time breastfeeding or somthing else! It's hard enough to have a new baby, getting your baby better helps you get better!

K..

Does he squirm all the time while breastfeeding and formula feeding? If at formula feeding he could be allergic to the formula. If breastfeeding maybe its something your eating something that isnt agreeting with him. Its about figuring out what is bothering him. Try giving him water in a bottle thruout the day. It helps flush out their system I gave my son water in a sippy at 5mths and in a bottle when he was a couple of months old.

Hope the little guy gets releif soon.

Try a soy formula. Also, feed him a bit earlier than you normaly would. Dont wait for him to show signs that he is ready to eat. That can actualy cause more gas, and tummy aches because he will eat too fast. Take a day and start feeding him 30 min. earlier each time, until you see that he is feeding at a nice calm pace. Then set up a schedule around that. Keep him nice and warm, and let him have some tummy time.

One more thing, dont forget to breath. I remember what it was like having a 2 mnth old baby boy when I was 19. It is stressfull when your baby cries and you cant make him feel better. Relax and talk to him very gently, or sing to him. Making him relax will also help with tummy aches.... for both of you.

-J.

My son had similar problems when he was about 10 weeks old. He would just arch his back and scream sometimes. The mylicon drops helped some, but what helped the most was when we switched him to the Enfamil Lactose Free formula. It is still milk based, just without the lactose. I figured if that didn't work the next step would be to switch to soy formula. It did work though and the screaming and arching of the back quickly ceased. Once he turned a year old we were able to go ahead and put him on milk per the usual recommendations with no problems to speak of. I guess his little digestive system just needed a little time to mature to handle the lactose. He is now a 3 year old little man who eats everything with no problems. Hope this helps you...good luck!

Hello S., I can relate to a child that gets very gassy. The first thing I would suggest formula wise is Enfamil Gentlease. Although I will tell you it is expensive. My son did do well with the soy formula, but I have heard of children who stayed on soy not being able to tolerate milk when they get older. For this reason I switched my son to the Gentlease. Another thing I found that helped is the gas relief drops. There are several brands and they all seemed to work the same. It's really which ever you prefer. You just add it to the bottle. Also you can try to ease his gas by massaging his stomach. If you lie him down on his back on your lap with his head facing away from you. Then you slowly with 2 or 3 fingers knead his stomach making a circle in a clockwise motion. Be gentle but also use a little pressure. It seems to help the gas to get moving. Of course if there is any way possible that you can just breastfeed all the time that would probably be the best thing. Although sometimes that doesn't work out which I truly understand. I hope this helps you out.

I know it can be very frustrating and worrisome to have a fussy baby. Have you thought about cutting out the formula completely and just going completely to the breast? My nephew had the same problem and now at 5 months he is doing a lot better on the breastmilk. It is a lot gentler on their little tummies and healthier too! You may want to contact your local La Leche League or ask a question on their website. Here's the link http://www.llli.org// You can type in 'fussy baby' in the search and it will have a whole list of answers. However, if going completely to breastfeeding isn't preferable for you I would try the doctor's suggestion and see how that works for you. Also lots of cuddling, warm baths and love to let him know you're there... Good luck and it will get better soon,
K.

Dear S.,
I'm glad to hear that you are breastfeeding part time. You should consider breastfeeding ALL of the time, and your little one's tummy aches might disappear. The more you breastfeed, the more milk you will produce--although you may have a couple or three days of round-the-clock breastfeeding to get your milk production back up to full capacity. If you are working, and breastfeeding all the time is impossible, then go in the bathroom as often as you can and pump. If you don't, and start relying more and more on formula, your milk will eventually dry up. The other thing that will help with tummy aches (colic) is a probiotic supplement. You can buy a good one at a health food store--ask the person who runs the store for a recommendation. You can get some that are already in liquid form--those you only have to squirt into your baby's mouth after a feeding. If you get a powder, you'll have to mix it with some milk or a little water and squirt it into his mouth. Here is a little story: my first baby had colic really badly--and I was breastfeeding all the time. After every feeding she would begin to scream and she would continue for about an hour or more. Now I know that she may have been reacting to something in my own diet (like cow's milk) but I didn't figure that one out until my third child. Anyway, I went to the health food store and asked the lady there if she had any suggestions. She didn't hesitate a moment. "Give her acidolphilous," she told me, and she sold me a supplement. After the next feeding I squirted a little of the acidolphilous powder mixed in sterile water into her mouth. It was like magic--she didn't cry in pain, and she never did again! (I gave her the supplement about once a day for a while.) Now I know that the very best probiotic for infants is actually BIFIDO BACTERIA instead of acidolphilous, and companies make special probiotics especially for infants. There are also several homeopathic remedies that address tummy problems. Find a homeopathic practitioner and request a consultation. The trained practitioner will ask you questions about your baby's health and habits, and can pinpoint the correct remedy for him. Best wishes!

(I am a 61 year old mom having raised four children. My youngest is 11 years old.)

I used the Enfamil gentlease with my daughter, and that helped her gas a lot, but I found that our best bet was using Enfamil AR, (she spits up quite a bit,) and adding a couple of mylicon drops. Worked like a charm and I have now weaned her off of those with no complications!

i would recommend enfamil "gentlease". it's supposed to be easier on baby's tummy...that's what i used when my son was that age.

I had the exact problem with my second child (now 13 months). #1 I have found with both of my children that Enfamil is easier on their tummies. #2 I bet a soy formula will fix the gassiness, therefore eliminating the belly aches. I feel your pain, I've had the same problems with both of my children and a soy based formula really helped. He should feel better in just a few short days! Good luck!

Oh yeah!!!My daughter had the same issue and the soy milk formula did seem to help.Although she did have colic (constant crying) and as most of us are aware no one is really sure what causes it. Don't worry it will get better as he gets older.

I had the same exact problem with my son, who is now 16 weeks old. After the 1st can of the similac advanced, I realized that this was not working for him at all. He would curl up and cry out of pain and gas. So, I tried similac sensitive. I have never used anything else since then. This formula has been a blessing!!! It is formulated for gassiness and fussiness. I would give it a try. It is a little bit more than the normal formula, but it is well worth it for my baby to be comfortable. I hope this helps you and your baby. Good Luck!

Have you ever tried another formula. I ended up using Carnation Good Start formula. I never had problems with it, and it was recommended by a family member. Or you might have to go soy.