When should I change my baby's formula?

Question

I had a premature baby. He is 3 months old now. He started drinking formula after he came home from the NICU at 3 weeks old. He started out with Enfamil Enfacare. The hospital I had him at was a very big hospital in a bigger city. Where I live our clinic is very small and only has 2 pediatricians. They dont know very much about preemies which scares me! I didnt know when to change his formula. So I switched him when he was almost 2 months old. He is now drinking Enfamil Gentlease. He would cry and cry right before I changed his formula (with the Enfacare). With the Gentlease he doesnt cry anymore and doesnt spit up. But his stools are getting very dark green and watery. I asked his Dr. and she just said she doesnt understand why this would happen! I tried taking him to other Dr's but they just say I need to see his Dr. about it. She isnt much help. He was checked for infection so he's not sick, not crying, sleeping good, temp is normal. Does this mean I need to change his Formula?

Oh yeah, my Dr. suggested a Soy based formula. That was awful. My son went about every hour and threw up alot. So that didnt work out.

Answer 1

Hi, I also had a preemie, formula is one of the biggest problems I had. I actually pumped enough milk while he was in the NICU (3 weeks also), to feed him for two months. But, when i started on formula I had major problems. He was also VERY coliky (gasey), he couldn't pass a bowel and spit up a lot! So we changed him to Nutramigen (it is a soy formula for lactose intolerance), he was on that for a few months, but I had to change him because it was too expensive. Then my ped. (specializes in preemies), said to try goodstart (because he may have grown out of the lactose thing). He was fine on that (although his stools changed), for a month or soo, then the diearrea started, so I had to put him back on a soy formula. He was on that until about 10 months then I tried him back on Goodstart follow-up.. he was fine. He is now 12 months and on 3.25% milk and doing great!
Each time I changed his formula I did it really slow, also, the stools always changed. The VERY dark green ones freightened me also, but I was assured they where fine, and he was. It's the diarrea with stringy (or even blood) you have to watch for.

I hope I helped!

Good Luck.

Answer 2

I've had my son on Enfamil formulas since he was born. I remember when he was really little, his were also dark green and watery. It's normal. Stay on the Gentlease as long as he's happy and gaining weight. Oh, and check the Enfamil website. You can sign up there where they'll send you coupons in the mail. They sent me really good ones, sometimes $5 and $10 off, regularly.

Definitely get a new pediatrician! It's so important that you have confidence in your baby's doctor.

Answer 3

Your doctor is the only person that should change your childs formula and there is a serious problem if she can't tell you how to take care of your child. Enfacare has 22 calories and gentlease has 20, I'm sure that as long as he is gaining weight okay he can be on a 20 calorie formula. It sounds like your baby is lactose intolerant and you should try to put him on prosobee which is soy milk.

Answer 4

My daughter had chronic diarreah. She was on a special order formula for a long time and still continued with the watery stools. The gastro doc told me to switch her to soy. It did not change her stools at all. I decided to try the gentleease. It helped her bm's form a little. But Wic would not pay for it! So I decided on my own to try the Good Start Supreme with dha and ara. Her stools are more formed with it than they have ever been. She had no problems with changing formulas. I would try the good start supreme for your little one. Good Luck.

Answer 5

You seriously need to get a new ped! Even if you have to drive an hour, it's worth it! No one can tell you when to change your babies formula other than the doc. Now one can tell you what kind of formula your baby needs, other than a doc! So you need to find one that can help you!