Why is feeding not fun???

We had a hard time with Andrew the past couple of months. His spit up had always been excessive, but we thought that is what babies do, they eat and then they spit up. But when it came clear that he was uncomfortable and in pain, we went to the doctor. It was strange because for me the formula seemed to do better than breast milk, and the doctor kept on insisting that breast milk is going to be the gentlest thing for his digestive system. So the second time I went back concerning this issue he was screaming bloody murder so the doctor took me a little more seriously...

Basically we went full force to tackle the problem. Usually they would try one thing at a time and see if it worked, but it was the week of Christmas, and we just needed to get through the holidays with a little peace. So she put us on Zertec, for the reflux, probiotic (which I strongly recommend) for the gas (it helps promote the good bacteria in his belly, so it can help heal any damage from the reflux, etc.)and a milk protein free formula( Enfamil's Nutramigen® with Enflora™ LGG®) just in case this was all do to a milk protein allergy.

We noticed an improvement within a few days. After two weeks we switched to Enfamil Gentlease because we were out of formula and couldn't find that one we were getting. The only reason we felt comfortable doing this is because we found out he did not have a milk protein allergy (this was great news for many reason, but selfishly because this formula was extremely expensive, hard to find in economy containers, and it was really stinky.) Then about a week later we ran out of probiotic (which is not a prescription) and we weren't sure if we needed to continue with it or if it was a one cycle type thing. Then another week passed and Andrew was getting cranky all over again.

Since so many things had happened within a short amount of time I wasn't sure what was going on. So on his two month appointment we re-evaluated. Doctor said if we didn't notice a difference between the formulas, to stick to the Gentlease. She then said that generally we only need one cycle of the probiotics, but if I felt like it was making a difference to continue on with it. And then I found out that the Zertec was weight sensitive, so that was probably what was wrong. Sure enough they upped the dosage from .7mil twice a day to .9ml twice a day.

Now for some interesting stuff that I learned. Since we were having problems with what I thought was my breast milk, I was fine giving Andrew formula since he seemed to be doing so much better on it. I later found out that I might have what is called "lactose overload". Basically your milk comes out in two parts, the fore milk and the hind milk. Basically you need both, the hind milk is really important for the baby to get. But if you aren't emptying your breast enough or stretching out your pumping (like I ended up doing because of all the business during the holidays) your hind milk (the fatty part) becomes less and less. The fore milk is more sugarly and for some reason causes more gas and fussiness in babies. So that is probably why Andrew was so gassy.
Now this is just my opinion on what happened. He was gassy because he wasn't getting enough hind milk. That in turn made his reflux get out of hand. Then his tummy was getting irritated because of the gas, which overall leads to a miserable baby.

Now very important thing I just learned since I started daycare, which should have been a no brainer...I was making his bottles as we needed them so I wouldn't have to worry about heating up his formula. Well in daycare you have to have his bottles premade, so I was looking into getting a formula pitcher to make large quantities all at once. Well I was reading the review, and they said it helps with the gas intake. So I started to think about it. Every time I was shaking a bottle I was creating millions of bubbles, and they weren't settling out. So basically his gas problem wasn't getting better because he was taking in so much air while he was eating. I swear I need a manual!!!

mel