Fussy newborn, switched to Nutramigen, any experiences or advice?

[Crritter]

My son Cameron is about 3 1/2 weeks now.  We had tried regular formula in the hospital and he reacted bad to it.  They ended up rinsing out his stomach and switching him to soy that night.  He was fine till about 2 weeks, happy baby, slept most of the time, very easy.  My first one was so colicky that it was great!  Anyway, around 2 weeks, Cameron became very fussy, he was fine in the day but would arch his back and scream at night.  I would be up with the poor little guy from about 11 pm till around 5 or 6 am.  In that time I may get him to sleep for about 2 hours overall, but it's not a good sleep and I can't put him down.  The pediatrician switched him to Nutramigen last Tuesday and told us to try it for a week.  The first night he slept for 4 hours, got up and ate, and went back down for 3 hours.  I was shocked and pleased.  That was the only good night we have had though.  He doesn't sound as gassy and we have been using the Mylicon drops at each feeding, but he still is so fussy and sounds like he is in pain at night.  Over the weekend it had began to happen in the day now too.  He just seems miserable when it starts and he spits up this formula too.  Not just after eating, but he'll wake up an hour or two after eating and will begin to cry and gag, when you pick him up he will spit up quite a bit.  He makes faces like he's got a bad taste in his mouth, quite often, I think it might be reflux, but never had this happen with the first one, just teh screaming, no spitting or gagging.  I'm worried that this isn't normal, but the Dr. is not in today, the other nurse told me to stick it out a few more days, sounded like colic and the formula may take more than a week.  Anyone have this problem?  What worked for you?  

[pertykitty]

id be concerned too! my son was on nutramigen. he was fine other than spitups. my best friends son was only a few months older and was on nutramigen but he did the same thing. he had to be placed on reflux meds. he outgrew it, but did the same gagging and faces. does he poop? is there another dr you can see? id get another opinion, poor little guy shouldnt have to go weeks suffering.

[Crritter]

Thanks for your reply!  I would rather see his Dr. just because with my son I took him in a few times and he was seen by another Dr. (it's a big practice) they missed the RSV and I was told it was a cold.  The next day I called back the nurse and they got us in ASAP since my son had problems with his lungs (had pneumonia at 3 months).  They caught it and it was bad.  I just feel better seeing the Dr. that is farmilliar with him.  Anyway, is the gagging common with the Nutramigen?  They switched off of the soy thinking it was hard on him to digest it.  He did poop twice last night though, but he goes about every other day, so I was really happy that he went, and that he did it twice!  We did not have any spitting after they switched him to the soy formula, not till he got on the Nutramigen, but his gas and some of hte pain seems a little better.  Still doesn't not sound right to me though.  If it's colic I can understand, but I don't get the gagging and spitting up so far after eating.  As for the tummy, he just screams like he's in pain, which I remember my first one doing.  Nothing helped him till he got around 4 months old and then it magically stopped.  They felt that this might be different though because my first one had a difficult temperament from day 1, diagnosed with colic at 3 days.  This one is laid back till the night comes, but now he's just getting crabby a lot more.  Right now he's peaceful though, curled up in his bouncer, but I have a 3 1/2 year old that gets up in the morning so I need to be able to function, not to mention I have to go back to work in another 5 weeks.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[brentlie]

My DD had some of the same symptoms.  I BF her at first and she cried day and night.  She hardley slept at all.  I ended up supplementing her with formula because I thought she was not getting enough to eat.  If you would get close to her with your face she would latch on to you and suck what ever she could get and when she would eat it would be frantic like she had not eaten in days.  Dr. finally swiched her to neutrimigen and said it could be a allergy, things got some better but she was still spitting up alot and when she would spit up it would be really hot and already curdled and it would shoot out of her mouth.  We then found out she did infact have acid reflux and got her on meds and things started going up from there.  I would go back to the dr. or swich dr.'s that is what I had to do to get her straight.  The first ped. just told me babies cry she was fine.  I sympathise with you.

[pertykitty]

now that i remember my friend then switched to soy. nutramigen is for babies that could have an allergy, its milk based, but supposed to be the easiest to digest. some babies just scream and cry, colic i suppose. i understand about wanting to go back to the same dr. i used to put the mylicon drops in the bottle at every feeding and it helped. sorry i cant help more.

[rubyolivia]

Not that I have any help or advice for you...just sympathy...my brother had the most upset tummy ever and was on nutramigen. That poor kid cried and cried and that formula stunk so bad! lol

[Crritter]

Thanks Brentlie!  My little guy latches on to anything too and thinks he needs to eat all of the time.  We have the similar spit up, sometimes clear but lately it's been dark white and smells almost curdled.  It does shoot out some and seems explosive when it happens.  Our Dr. was hoping that switching formulas would help and said if it did not within a week they would look at prescrbing something, which I am guessing would be for reflux.  He just didn't want to start on meds without being sure.  Especially since I had one colicky baby.  I think I'm gonna try to make it through today and get little Cameron in ASAP tomorrow, the nurse for our Dr. is really great.  I had no idea what to expect on this formula.  I even stopped nursing for fear that it was something I was eating.  Now I'm a little upset that I did stop, I'm still getting about the same reaction, and my milk supply has gone way down.  At least I know it's not from something I'm eating, it would be harder to rule things out quickly that way I guess.  My sister is still ruling things out with her 5 month old, can't eat dairy or gluten, it's been tough on her.  Can I still expect spitting from this formula?  It's so spendy and I want to be sure it's working.

[Crritter]

We tried the regular formula (milk based) and it was awful, did the same thing to my first baby.  They switched to soy in the hospital and actually rinsed out his tummy to clear the milk based stuff out.  He lost nearly a ound from his birth weight due to all of htis and gained it back quickly on the soy.  The Dr. said the Nutramigen is the next step, not soy or milk based I guess, I don't quite get it, but it's mostly broken down so easier to digest and better for those for have certain protein allergies.  We use the Mylicon religiously, thanks though, learned that with baby #1, will never have another baby without it.

[pertykitty]

well nutramigen is milk based but there is something different about it i cant possibly remember .  my son is 8 i cant remember that far back. poor little guy. sometimes they have to outgrow certain things. or experiement till you find the right formula.

[over40club]

All three of mine used Nutramigen....my DS who is 3 months is on it now....the first two also had to be on reflux meds. Sounds like you may need them also for your little one, I would definately ask your Dr. The reflux meds and the Nutramigen did the trick for my first 2. The last one just needed the Nutramigen for a bit. All of mine were early so that is probably the reason I'm guessing. Good Luck

[Crritter]

Thanks, I'll ask about the meds, don't know what else they can switch to for formula.  Do they outgrow it or are they on this stuff the whole time?

[blessed_mommy]

You may want to try Similac Alimentum.  My DS was on Nutramigen and did rather well.  I BF my DD but that was terrible for her.  Something in my diet was making her miserable and I spent almost 3 weeks trying to figure out what is was.  I finally switched to formula and she did much better.  Alimentum, like Nutramigen, is milk based but broken down to the simplest form so it is much easier to digest.  My DD still spits up now and again but the gas and the screeching pains have left.  Good luck!  I've been where you are.

[Crritter]

Thanks, I was wondering if Alimentum is smilar to Nutramigen.  The Nutramigen is lactose-free and for babies with a cow's milk protein allergy.  Since they pulled him off of milk based formula and switched to soy, I assumed the Nutrmigen was not milk based, they told me it was different.  They also told me to be sure to start my other babies (if we are so blessed) on the soy right from the start since we have had problems with the milk based formula.  I will ask about the Alimentum as well.  I think you can get that one in bigger cans too.  Thanks again.  Little guy is resting from the night, hate to let him get overtired, but he is starting to wake again, seems to be in a good mood now.

[brentlie]

My DD out grew the reflux in about 3 months after we started on the meds.  My Dr. told me projectile spit up is a dead give away it is acid reflux.  Some dr.'s do a upper GI to determine if that is it and some just give you the meds.  My DD took Zantac and regulan.  He told me to try it for a few months then stop and see if she still needed it and she was fine then.  Her spitting up got much better on the meds.  And when she would spit up it would only be a trickle down her cheek not like throw up.  I hope this is what it is with your little one and it clears up as easy as mine did.

[Crritter]

Thanks for the input.  I'm just waiting for the Dr. to get in tomorrow, can't wait.  Poor little guy is just so upset at night, and now he realized he's awake and not eating, just ate 45 minutes ago.  Looks like it may be a long afternoon.  Thanks again, I really appreciate everything.  Any advice or suggestions, etc. is so appreciated.

[over40club]

Yes they do outgrow the problems and my other two went on reg milk based after around 4 months or so....the nutramigen and alimentum are the same type formulas just different companies....my first two were on the zantac and reglan for a little bit and went off it after they got off hte nutramigen....when mine got the combo of meds and nutramigen they were like different babies...they slept and did not fuss...They only thing is that these formulas are expensive!! but worth it for a happy baby....oh, they will poop more often also...that was one of my babies problems...they had a hard time with constipation as well...My DS is now on half soy and half nutramigen and will ween him to soy in the coming month. Good Luck...see your dr. about the meds.

[Crritter]

Thanks!  I have noticed that the formula is expensive.  So far we have been using the samples from the Dr., will run out in a few days though.  I agree, it's worth it if I can have a heappy baby and one that is not in pain.  good to knopw that we may be able to go back to soy after this.  There was a great sale on soy formula and we bought 9 cans a few days after the little guy was born.  So did not see this coming or we would not have done it, but it was a great deal on Similac Isomil and they are huge cans.  Reglan is for nausea though, I didn't know that they put them together, I'll have to ask the Dr., glad to know it gets better.  Good luck with your little one!

[Crritter]

I forgot to mention about the pooping hting.  My first son would only do it about every 5 days, it was awful.  He was regualr, on the fifth day, but was so crabby by then.  This one goes about every other day now, it's gotten better.  I'm glad my kids aren't the only ones with weird pooping schedules.  My sisters kids all went a couple times a day.

[Wooly25]

I am going through the same thing my DD is 2 weeks tomorrow.  She is great during  the day, but screams for hours at night.  Seems gassy, and passes alot of gas.  She usually gets bad the night before she has a BM.  I am using the Playtex aire-vent bottles, and didn't read where it said you have to use their nipples (DD didn't like the slow flow ones).  Anyways, I just switched today to the fast flows and she seems to do alright with them.  I am also using those gas drops, so I guess we'll see how tonight goes.  I to am going back to work at 8 weeks, and don't want to have to deal with a fussy baby at night if possible.  I feel your pain.  

[jenvan]

There is something called Gripe Water that you can get at some health food stores. It is for colicky, gassy and fussy babies. I have heard it works very well and is highly recommended. I guess it is just something I am keeping in mind in case. Good Luck.....and congrats!

[tmv]

I tried all of them after 6 weeks of bf and crying and cramping with my ds. We ended up on Lactofree from enfamil. without the milk sugars. I propped him up in his bouncy seat for an hour after feeding (burped him really well first, as he was hard to get to burp). In 7 days, he was better. I hated to give up bf. My 2nd didn't have any probs and bf 13 months. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you have a good support group. I could not have made it if it hadn't been for my mom and aunt coming over and swaddling him and walking around. Sometimes I just went out on the back deck and cried and thought that I was a worthless mom. He outgrew most of it, still can't drink whole milk.

[archer0000]

My son was on Nutramigen IT WORKED MIRACLES!!!! My son is now 7 years old, he was also put on reflux medication and it went away when he was about a year old! He has not been on any medicine since then or had any problems.  I wanted to tell you that My son had a hard time passing a stool it would take him days and when he did use the bathroom it was so hard The nutramigen changed everything stopped his colic, his bathroom problems and FINALLY got a good nights sleep!!! So I would definatley recommend it!

[Crritter]

Thanks gals!  We had a better night, but still a lot of crying till around 1 am then he calmed down some.  He still seems miserable though and keeps gagging and spitting up so I'm waiting to hear back from the Dr.  I know exactly what you gals mean by having to walk away and cry.  Unfortunately I have had to do that as well, but he's okay most of the day, it's the night that is so unbearable.  He was bad yesterday in the day though and slept for a good 4 hours undisturbed last night.  It was great, but I had woke up and pretty much just stared at him till he woke up.  I have heard of gripe water and may try it, the vent aire bottles didn't work well with our first one, so I decided to stick with the playtex nurser with the drop ins, they work pretty good and I can push the air out before I feed him.  I also keep him upright for quite awhile after feeding.  I always worrying that he'll spit up and choke, or if it is reflux it will be worse.  He loves the bouncer chair, but prefers to be held.  I can't help soiling him, poor little guy is so upset.  It just seems like this magic formula should help a little more, but I guess this is about as good as it will get, I hope they try something for acid reflux just in case.  

[mdlasure1]

We had the exact same problems with my son. We have tried everything...including Nutramigen. It made him so gassy that none of us got any sleep! We finaly have a happy medium...Nestle GoodStart Protect Plus with probiotics, Zantac 2x a day, and Mylicon at every bottle. You can als just buy probiotic caps and add a little to bottles. He also had thrush from the reflux, which was the source of much of his pain. Hope you find a resolution soon!