Nutramigen

[nathansmom]

Hello! It seems as many of you use Nutramigen. I was just wondering what differences you saw in your children after switching to this formula (if any), and how quickly the changes were noticed? My ped wants to do a trial 3 days on Nutramigen (I am currently exclusively breastfeeding - 3 month old) and was wondering if 3 days is long enough to see any changes.
Thanks for your help!

[pamcrt]

Hi! My daughter Abby who is 8 months old is still on nutramigen and has been since about I think (everything is a little fuzzy for her first 4 months) 2 1/2 months and we started on a Friday and I saw a DEFINITE difference in her by Sunday night. She cried a little less... okay a lot less compared to what she was doing, her tummy problems seemed to diminish, although not completely go away just because she was a colicky baby and they usually have multiple problems, and she slept for more than 45 minutes at a time unassisted- which was a big deal for her. It took about a full week for us to see a full "turn around" in her but it was worth it. She was a completely different child. And I will say, I think it was because she was lactose intolerant and still is to a degree. She can not handle milk products unless they are in VERY small amounts and unless they are cooked- which seem to be when the proteins are cooked out of them??? But I don't have to worry about much anymore, she eats more than my other kids- she will literally eat anything you put in front of her, all "people" food- grown up stuff, she loves it.
We tried all different kinds of formula including soy but that made her extremely constipated. So I would say try the nutramigen, it is worth it and was worth it for us. The only draw back is the expense. But if your doctor is recommending it then they will most likely help you out with samples, etc., like my doctor does. Everytime I go in there they load me up with a case or two of the stuff to help lighten the cost of buying it. But if it works, you will do anything for your little one.
Good luck, keep in touch.

Pam

[accebersmith]

I think Nutramigen is the only one we *didn't* try, but, honestly, we think Gavin's colic wasn't digestion-related, so we didn't see a change until we tried other avenues besides feeding changes.

[mommyof2gurlies]

I would give the nutramigen longer than 3 days. My oldest daughter had ONLY nutramigen since about once month old. She did really well on it. She weaned from it to straight food at about 10 months. She thrived and gained weight really well.....
My 7 month old now has to be on lactose free formula. We just tried to switch her to gentleease...and its made her so sick. Shes had diarrhea for 2 weeks straight while they watched to see if she'd "adjust" (how nice of them huh??? This is their 3rd attempt at it, they say the older they get, they might adjust) Well, obviously she ISNT adjusting. We are going back to similac sensitive (lactose free)
I have NEVER drank milk in my life...im very very lactose intolerant. My husband doesnt either. We drink soy milk. My oldest was allergic to milk products till about 1 year, when she outgrew it....now she drinks soy and milk.
I think i would try giving it atleast 5-7 days...i dont really think 3 is enough...and i wouldnt just switch him 100% to it. You should start mixing it half and half with the formula he already has. Otherwise it will be too much of a shock to his little tummy. I know ANYTHING we gave our 7 month old really upset her tummy. Her digestive system was just too immature...its better now, but some things are still hard on her tummy.
Anyways...thats my advice for all its worth

[nathansmom]

Thanks for all of your responses. I am not sure if this is the problem or not, but I guess we will find out with a switch. I will keep you posted. Thanks again!

[mel5mel]

Payton has been on nutramigen since he was 2 mos old. within two days we saw a huge difference. We spoke to the head of Peds at a hospital that my aunt works at and he said to make sure thats its the right formula you need to give it two weeks. It is totally expensive but well worth the investment to have a happy healthy kid.

[ahoward]

I think we may be the only one's nutramigen didn't work for. We did try it for a couple weeks and saw no difference at all. We only saw a difference when we changed him to soy based formula. We even tried to switch back after being on soy for a while and he was awful! My ped thinks it was a lactose/milk issue! Sorry I can't be of help. If you see that the nutramigen doesn't work for you, you may want to try a soy based formula. It does cause some constipation and smells horribly but it was worth it for us! Good luck!!!!

Audrey

[aliki]

I am also breastfeeding, and my dr. suggested nutramigen or alimentrum...We tried alim. for two days and she screamed her head off and we so no difference, so we stopped it...I have also been on every king of elimination diet, and nothing made a difference....the dr. said for us to try nutramigen for 5 days, while I pump, if nothing has changed in two weeks. Although my baby has been to a GI specialist, and we know she does have an allergy, I am beginning to think her colic has less to do with tummy, and more to do with just sheer fussiness...however, we will try anything!! Sorry this sounds all garbled...I am totally exhausted right now from my very colicky 2month old!

[pamcrt]

That's okay, if we ever read anything garbled, we always assume sleep deprivation or the baby is helping you type!! As they get older they get good at that!

[karime]

Yeah, I don't think Levi's problem was due to his tummy either (although he does seem to be sensitive to milk formula). I breastfed him exclusively for the first 3 months and honestly I think that too many people blame colic on the mother's diet if she is breastfeeding. I'm definitely not saying that it sometimes isn't the problem, but I think people are too quick to jump to it. It's just so hard to not know why they are crying and I know that I was constantly trying to figure it out.