More formula issues...:(
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Topic: More formula issues...:(
Posted By: denny25
Subject: More formula issues...:(
Date Posted: 03 December 2008 at 7:31pm
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So Ava has been on formula for 1 1/2 weeks now apart from one feed which i express.
She's still constipated. Ive been giving her water and brown sugar which works but then shes constipated again the next day - straining and grunting trying to go but only a small amount comes out and it is the consistency of clay. She constantly pulls her legs up for 10 mins or so after a feed and farts like a trooper!!! Should i wait to see if she is still adjusting to the formula (how long does it take for her to adjust from breast to formula?) or should i try her on a different formula. If so, how do i do that? |
Replies:
Posted By: kakapo
Date Posted: 03 December 2008 at 7:39pm
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Are you also offering her just plain water regularly throughout the day? |
Posted By: denny25
Date Posted: 03 December 2008 at 7:42pm
| A little bit - im worried about giving her too much because i have read about water poisoning (she is only 12 weeks old) |
Posted By: kakapo
Date Posted: 03 December 2008 at 8:04pm
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Hmm, I think because the weather is warming up and she sounds pretty constipated it should be safe enough to offer small amounts of water several times a day. Sorry I can't remember exactly how much a 3 month old should be drinking - you could phone Healthline 0800 611 116 to ask? But it could also be the brand of formula that's making her constipated and so you could try a different one. Another suggestion would be to express for a short time (to collect the watery foremilk) and offer that several times per day instead of plain water? |
Posted By: Peanut
Date Posted: 03 December 2008 at 8:40pm
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You should offer 50mls of water a day to formula feed babies - give in small amounts and not near feeds. This may help.
It usually takes 10 days for the body to adjust to a new formula so if you are coming up close to that time you may want to look at changing formulas. Just being nosey - what brand are you using? -------------  
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Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 03 December 2008 at 8:48pm
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You could add a little bit more water into her bottles. Maybe 5 mls. Ollie wouldn't take water on it's own until recently (and he's five months!) so we just added a tiny bit extra to his bottle. It certainly hasn't done him any harm - and neither did the brown sugar the one time I've used it. Both seem to have worked for us. We've also been through a number of different formulas trying to find the best for him.
Good luck - I'm sure you will find the answer soon. |
Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 03 December 2008 at 9:36pm
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I would actually try her on a different formula. It sounds to me like whatever one you have her on isnt agreeing with her.
Some formulas dont agree with some babies. Caden got terribly constipated on Karicare, but he is really really good on S26. I also used to add about 10mls extra water in his bottles and that helped alot aswell. ETA- When changing formulas I would just try Caden on the new one in the morning so if he was going to not agree with it I have the day to sort it out. I think some people wean them onto the new one by adding half the old formula half the new one, but I didnt like the idea of mixing two types. ------------- |
Posted By: LittleBug
Date Posted: 03 December 2008 at 9:41pm
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I also added 10mL of water to each bottle, Chloe has only just started sipping water on it's own recently. Now that she's a on solids I've been giving her stewed up prunes every few days which really helps. Other than that we tried the brown sugar thing, and then got some Duphalac from the Dr which we gave her about once a week until things came right a bit (she got more constipated when she started on solids). ------------- Chloe (4 years) and Oliver (3 years). |
Posted By: Peanut
Date Posted: 04 December 2008 at 8:13am
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I never added extra water to my bottle and DS would drink water quite happily from 3 months on. Its worth trying water on its own first rather than watering down bottles. -------------
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Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 04 December 2008 at 8:59am
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Caden turns his nose up at water quite often, thats why we added to his bottles it was the only way to get it into him.
He will sip it a little bit now but still not a lot. ------------- |
Posted By: LittleBug
Date Posted: 04 December 2008 at 9:31am
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I agree with Peanut... try giving water separately first. Chloe just wouldn't have it, but we kept trying and trying and now she drinks some. ------------- Chloe (4 years) and Oliver (3 years). |
Posted By: Troods
Date Posted: 04 December 2008 at 11:39am
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Not sure what formula you are using at the moment, but when I first tried Ems on formula we started with the Karicare from birth sachets. I found after a couple of days that Ems was looking really uncomfortable, squirming alot and struggling to poop, even though that was only on one bottle feed (the rest BF). So I found a different formula called Farleys Golden From Birth. It's not as popular as some of the bigger brands as there are only a few tins of it stocked at a time in a couple of my local supermarkets. Once I put Ems on that she was much better and pooping normally again. I found it also mixes a lot better than the Karicare. Ems is up to 2 bottle feeds now, the rest still BF and so far no probs with the Farleys. If you want to try it you might have to hunt around the local supermarkets a bit. The tin is only half the size of the other brands, and it's blue and white with a yellow rattle on the front. ------------- 
 Missed MC July 2011
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Posted By: BessieBear
Date Posted: 04 December 2008 at 5:16pm
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yeah like shena and kate i add 5 or 10mlsmore water to ryans bottles. but if he really struggle i give him a bit of brown sugar in th ebottle aswell, works a treat. when we were still BF he wasnt very blocked coz he was getting both and the breast milk kinda helped with the erm liquidating, lol. but i suggest you try her on another formula, s26 is really good. ------------- Sarah Mum to, Boy 07/2008, Girl 03/2010, Boy 05/2012, Angel 07/08/2014
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Posted By: denny25
Date Posted: 04 December 2008 at 7:29pm
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Im using Karicare Gold at the moment which is supposed to be easy to digest - yeah right!
I will give her another few days and then think about changing. |
Posted By: denny25
Date Posted: 04 December 2008 at 7:40pm
| Thats interesting - Ive just read a post on the Huggies site saying that some babies get constipated on the Gold formluas but are OK on the normal ones....hmmm.. |
Posted By: happymumma
Date Posted: 05 December 2008 at 9:26am
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Denny, we have Ollie on the plain old S26 rather than the Gold version and it's been fine. We also tried Nestle Nan which was alright too.
I think as some of the others have said, different baby's do seem to manage different formula better than others. It's a bit of a pain but it's all a bit of trial and error. And re the water,..if you can get her to drink water on it's own that's great - Ollie would just cry so adding it to the bottles was easier. Now that he can manage a sippy cup he is happy drinking water but he wouldn't take it from a bottle (I guess he expected formula and so was dissappointed when it wasn't!). |
Posted By: Peanut
Date Posted: 05 December 2008 at 10:44am
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I have also heard that about the gold. We are on the plain karicare and have had no real problems with it so might be worth swapping. Seen it is in the same brand it is fine to do a plain swap. -------------
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Posted By: Shezamumof3
Date Posted: 05 December 2008 at 12:45pm
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Yeah Ive heard the Gold ones cause constipation aswell so i never put Caden on them(except the NAN gold for a week and he was SOO terribly unhappy and in pain) thats when we tried S26 the plain one and he has been super good. ------------- |