When we realized G had colic, my husband wanted to switch to Enfamil because they have one called Fussease which supposedly helps with fussiness and gas. We went through one can and didn't see a difference, so we went back to Similac AES. Our pediatrician later told us that it can take up to 2 weeks for a baby's digestive system to get used to a new formula.
We stayed with Similac AES for a while and then my husband decided he wanted to try soy. We got Parent's Choice soy (which was half the price of name brands!), but G seemed to get worse...so we went back.
After that switch, it seemed like his poops were different. They were harder and he spit up A LOT more. (The doctor says that babies spit up more between 2 and 6 months of age). Hubby did some more research and found out about Similac Alimentum which is marketed as a "hypoallergenic" formula for food allergies and colic. Of course, wouldn't you know it...it's flippin expensive! We started out with a bottle of the pre-mixed stuff...what a pain! It has to be refrigerated! Then we found the powder at Babies R Us...it's $26 for a 16 ounce can compared to $21 for a 23 ounce can of AES. It annoys me that it's not part of the deals because it's a small can. (Right now you get a $5 gift card from BRU when you buy two 23 ounce cans of Similac).
At first I thought the Alimentum was great. His poops were back to normal and he seemed to burp easier...but it doesn't seem to help the spit up. Sometimes he doesn't spit up at all, but other times he spits up A LOT.
I don't know if we'll ever find the perfect formula for him.With all the choices out there, it'll drive a new mom crazy. I'm ready for real baby food!
I just stumbled upon your blog via a comment that you posted on another blog, but I thought I'd weigh in to the formula issue since I'm also a first-time mom trying to figure it all out!
ReplyDeleteWe were using Similac Advance with our daughter, and then our daycare provider said that she seemd really gassy, so we switched to Similac sensitive - which is lactose-free, or not as lactose-y as the regular formula, but not as expensive as the Alimentum stuff.
Cut to a few months later and we were getting really tired of paying so much for formula, and upon examining a list of all the ingredients, we decided to go with generic formula! It's about $10 per canister cheaper, and since we go through about 1 and a half cans per week, made a huge difference cost-wise (and at about 6 months she didn't seem to need the sensitive stuff anymore - at least the daycare provider didn't notice the switch!). (Besides - sometimes babies are just really farty anyway!)
That's what worked for us!