Best formula?

Question

I have been breastfeeding my son exclusively for the past 11 months. I went to the dentist and was told that I have an tooth infection and to stop breastfeeding immediately until my appointment next week to get it fixed. He said the infection can pass through the blood stream to the baby. I am also taking antibiotics which his doctor told me can cause him to get a yeast infection, to make a long story short I had to stop breastfeeding him. Since I had no waring or saved bottles so I had to give him formula, Similac Advance w/ iron. He has been on it for 3 days now and has not pooped and is acting very different than he usually acts, crying for no reason, grunting which I am sure he trying to poop. What is the best formula for a constipated baby?

Answer 1

Your caregivers are unfortunately clueless about breastfeeding and are giving you bad advice.

Talk to a La Leche League Leader and/or a Lactation Consultant because these ladies know more about breastfeeding and what is safe than just about any doctor.

As you can see from the link below, amoxicillin is approved by the AAP for use in breastfeeding mothers.

http://www.kellymom.com/health/meds/aap-approved-meds.html#Antibiotics

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/3/776 (scroll to table # 6)

Amoxicillin is even given in pediatric doses sometimes. The ONLY concern that I can come up with is that *BOTH* of you would need to be on the watch for thrush while you're on antibiotics. (You could get thrush - yeast infection - in your breasts.) You should be taking acidopholis as a precaution so you don't develop thrush.

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ETA:
(THIS IS NOT A BIG DEAL! You just both take the acidopholis.....break open a capsule on your finger and then let him suck the acidopholis powder off of it. TOTALLY safe.)
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No, you can't pass your infection to your baby by nursing. (IF that were true, wouldn't you have already done so before you saw the doctor!?) It is *VERY* rare for mom to ever need to stop breastfeeding due to an illness. If a mother had a breast infection (mastitis) stopping breastfeeding would be the WORST thing she could do. There is no reason to stop nursing for a tooth infection.

Per Dr. Ruth Lawrence, "HIV and HTLV-1 are the only infectious diseases that are considered absolute contraindications to breastfeeding in developed countries" (Lawrence & Lawrence 2001).

http://www.kellymom.com/health/illness/mom-illness.html

Please refrain from calling the women who are trying to HELP you and giving you more accurate advice than your doctors as "Nazi's!" What a sick and insulting comparison! Nazi's killed millions of people....how in the world can this be compared!?

Answer 2

OMG!!!! You took breastfeeding advice from a dentist? The infection cannot pass through breastmilk! There are also MANY MANY antibiotics that are safe to take while nursing! Moms with mastitis get antibiotics all the time!!! As for a the yeast, a bit of yogurt and some probiotics are waaay better than formula and suden weaning.

Please talk to an actual lactation consultant ASAP and get that baby back to the breast. Noone should ever be force-weaned cold-turkey like that.

Answer 3

Contact your local La Leche League leader or a local lactation consultant. Most infections and antibiotics do not require weaning - your dentist may have been misinformed. Breastmilk is so much better than artificial baby milk for your baby that I would get a second opinion about whether you can continue to breastfeed. At this point your supply is probably fine so if you find out that it is ok to breastfeed with the medication you're on you will be able to go back to breastfeeding easily. Your son and his poor tummy will be so relieved! Formula in general is just a lot harder on their tummies than breastmilk.

Answer 4

Whenever you switch a breastfed baby to formula it will cause constipation period. It doesn't matter which formula you choose as far as that goes, because it's much harder to break down in baby's tummy. The good news is that it should pass in a few days. If you are worried about the fact he hasn't pooped in a few days, there is a home remedy that you can try. Take a tablespoon of Karo corn syrup and disolve it in about 4 oz of warm water and give the baby a couple of oz's of the sugar water ever couple of hours and the syrup water should act like a laxative and get the poop going without hurting baby's tummy.

Answer 5

I would ask his pediatrician for a second opinion. Yeah, some infections and antibiotics may cause problems when breastfeeding, but most don't. That being said, my sister had very good luck with Nestle Good Start w/ DHA and ARA when she switched to formula.

The stuff is probably hard on his tummy, but I think a lot of it is probably that he misses nursing itself.

Also, I've heard that concentrated or ready to feed is much easier on their tummies than powdered.

Answer 6

Constipation is very common with Similac Advance, it even happened with both my kids. The pediatrician told us to try Similac Isomil (Soy formula), it helped a little with my son. That was a few years ago with him, my daughter is only 6 months old. When she got constipated with Similac Advance, we moved her to Similac Advance Organic, she now poops regularly but she spits up a little more with this formula.

There is no easy answer for formula, it is basically trial and error. Every baby is different and their bodies will only take to certain formulas.

Our pediatrician also told us that we could try and add a little bit of "Stage 1" apple juice (like an ounce) to the formula when we mixed it. So an 8 ounce bottle would be 7 ounces of water and 1 ounce of apple juice, then 4 sccops of formula. Apple juice can help combat the constipation. Definitely ask your pediatrician before doing so, though.

Best of health to you and your baby. :)

Answer 7

I would get a second opinion.

I had two infected teeth (one when my son was 3 months and one when he was a year) and my dentist knew i was nursing and never reccomended i stop or change anything.

Also, the anti-biotics can be easily fought off (and should be reguardless of nursing) with pro-biotics. I actually skipped the anti-biotics the second time because the infection went away on its own.

Other than that.. get a low-iron formula... it's the badly absorbed iron that is causing his constipation.

I would seriously reccomend getting a second opinion and continuing to nurse though, they get so much from it, even in thier second year of life.

Answer 8

Not sure if there is a best formula. The one that was highly recomended by my doctor was Karicare Gold. With my children they both got a little constipated at the start but the doctor put me on to coloxyl drops, just a few in the bottle will help them go. Have you tried some water or a little prune juice.

Answer 9

i have no idea but i would give him some pedialyte while he is constipated i would of told u similac advanced is the best formula my aunt who is a pediatrician swears by it and my child never got constipated from it are u reading all the directions and giving him too much
my other aunt did that a couple years ago and almost killed the child cuz it gave her too much iron
i dont know what to tell u try to get the child to drink some water or pedialyte
best of luck
i would call ur dr first thing in the morning

Answer 10

I hope you find a LLL leader or lactation consultant to help you. I doubt that you really need to wean. Most doctors don't know if the illness and medication are compatible with breastfeeding, so they just advise you to wean. I think that's stupid. Now you're still sick, your baby is getting sick, nobody's happy and you're expected to get well? This whole situation will make everyone sick. Get help now before it gets worse. You can get through this.