My Daughter Is Still Super Gassy And I’ve Tried Everything? Should We Switch To Lactose Free/soy Formula?
I’ve tried EVERYTHING to help her with her gas, and nothing is working. And its beginning to really bother me. The doctor never seems really worried… But she’s passing gas CONSTANTLY and LARGE amounts at a time. It very uncomfortable for her… and we’ve tried everything at this point.
Mylicon, playtex dropins, gripe drops (get rid of hiccups) bicycle legs, elevation after feeding and constant burping her. And she’s also on Enfamil Gentlease…. But nothings really helping. Should we switch formula again??? I am going to talk to her doctor about it, and the fact that I am positive she’s having reflux problems (can that have anything to do with gas)? I don’t know I just hate her being uncomfortable. Sometimes she passes gas easily…. but other times she strains and strains, and I just want to help her so bad. Any advice??? She’s 8 weeks.
Tagged with: Daughter • Everything • Gassy • I've • Lactose • Should • Still • Super • Switch • Tried
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Gas has nothing to do with reflux. A little spitting up is normal for baby to do. Maybe she can’t handle the milk protein. She might have silent reflux which shouldn’t be a big problem. My daughter going to be 8 weeks tomorrow. She been vomiting like cross the room ( doctor says). She been not gaining the weight like she should be doing. They are now treating her with reflux. She was vomiting all that she ate in one feeding and her stomach would empty. She would be crying after wards because it hurt when she vomiting She still gassy and burping still. When they swallow a lot of air they will cry. She probably swallowing a lot of air during a feeding. I woud feed her 1 ounce and then burp her. And see if that helps. Dr. Browns bottles does help has well. If she gaining weight then don’t worry about the reflux.
Reflux has nothing to do with gas. Reflux is where the acid in the stomach comes up into the esophagus Other signs are the baby is arching their back when eating, squirming around during feedings, screaming during feedings.. Have you tried the Dr. Browns bottles. My son had gas issues we tried everything. Our doctor said that the best thing to do was to change his bottles. We went from the drop ins to avents and finally to the Dr. Browns bottles and they worked like a charm.
The straining sounds like it might be constipation from switching formulas. Talk to your doctor about switching because switching so much could cause problems for her stomach.
Edit with your new information: Spitting up has nothing to do with Reflux. I would talk to your doctor about the reflux so that they can put your baby on medication for it. Our son is currently on Zantac twice a day and when he still has problems Mylanta. Even though our son has started the new medication ( which is working like a charm ) it doesn’t help with spit up our doctor said that some babies just spit up more then others and its normal.
My pediatrician told us that babies are the gassiest up to around 8 weeks, then it usually starts to go away. My daughter is now almost 17 weeks and still super gassy and spitting up, etc. We’ve tried everything now except soy formula. Breastmilk was the worst for her. Now we have her on lactose free Similac Sensitive and it seems to be doing great. We think she’s lactose intolerant, like me. I say give it another week or two and see if things improve and if they don’t, then try lactose free and if that doesn’t help, try soy. Talk to your pediatrician about it some more, too.
Hi, I’m sorry you are having so many problems. I was in your place about a year ago. I thought my son was having gas problems. I took him to the doctor and told her how he was arching his back and screaming from the gas. As soon as I said he was arching his back the doctor said it was reflux. He was put on Zantac which was a whole different story. We constantly had to increase the does with his weight and regardless of what the doctors say it made his BMs few and far between. As we were able to decrease the Zantac his BMs became more regular. I do think the reflux has huge effect on the digestive system. I would not switch formula again, because I don’t think that is the problem. If it is reflux the Zantac is worth it! Good luck to you and realize this will pass. My baby went from being cranky and irritable to mr. funny man. It just took time.
Let me guess, this gassiness started at around 1 month of age?
Tell you Dr you want sample tin of an “EXTENSIVELY HYPOALLERGENIC OR AMINO BASED FORMULA” – you can trial a standard hypoallergenic formula (HA) as mentioned above but dont get disheartened if it doens’t work (it depends on how allergy/intolerant/sensitive she is to the proteins or lactose or both). It’s time to start elimination…if you are feeling sorry for her, go straight to the amino acid based formula’s and work up from there.
The reason I went straight to the formulas as opposed to addressing the reflux issue is because thank God we didn’t experience that but I understand it is very difficult to deal with but Zantac has been the meds that only worked for all my friends
The second reason I thought of her primary food source was due to the comment about how she tries and tries to pass gas “other times she strains and strains”…unless the reflux is caused by tummy troubles with her formula (digestive system) that part is unlikely to be caused by the likely reflux (arching back and crying directly after a feed?)
I believe your baby has an immature digestive system and is finding it hard to break down some proteins…very normal and i believe more common than the stats would tell us.
While waiting for your appointment you COULD try a lactose free formula for now. For some unknown reason, it’s more gentle but you may find you have to change to the amino based formula which is a bit bitter but they get used to it
I wouldn’t let my enemy drink Soy.
Watch her stools for mucous, blood and REGULAR green poos (are they waterish even while formula fed). does she appear to be straining but not constipated?
Follow your gut instincts that something is wrong but listen to other mums experiences and run them past your Dr. If they give you a good enough answer, then at least you tried.
You wont believe how sweet your daughter is once she isn’t having intestinal pains. Lots of babies go through it and she will be perfectly fine
This is one of the main reason I’m passionate about breastfeeding. I see this quite a bit.
She may have reflux AND an immature digestive system. Some cases of reflux (some not most and not all) are linked to the dairy issues (protein or lactose issues) so they may be correlated. You are your baby’s only advocate…you have the right for answers.
Here is where I always get my thumbs down…to find out what it is, in desperation as my Dr said all babies were fussy (I knew babies weren’t that fussy as it was my second baby) I gave in to relatives who told me to give weak anisee tea. I would never have eve accepted giving tea to my 5 year old daughter let a lone a 6 week old but I needed to know what it was…the anisee/fennel tea worked – we found out it was the milk i was consuming going through my breastmilk
Generally no. Switching from a formula with milk protein to soy protein will not solve the issues you are dealing with – because there are just as many allergies to soy protein as to milk protein so it is highly possible the baby will have the same reaction. That astounded me, but I looked it up as well….and surely the American Academy of Pediatrics says the same thing.
“Although many parents think soy formula is the obvious alternative for formula-fed babies who are allergic to cow’s milk, the fact is that 10% to 14% of infants with a cow’s milk allergy also have a soy protein allergy so a hypoallergenic formula should be considered, says the AAP. Hypoallergenic formulas should also be given to infants who have had a severe gastrointestinal reaction (abdominal pain with bloody diarrhea) to cow’s milk, since anywhere from 30% to 64% of babies will also have a similar reaction to soy.”http://kidshealth.org/research/soy_updat…
If this is the issue the best alternative is a hypoallergenic formula (such as enfamil nutramigen) – but those cost about $30 for a 12oz can. I’d first try lactose free (which really helped with my son) And, I’d ask your doctor for a sample of one of these formulas to see if this may help. Generally it works pretty quickly if it will work at all.