Infantreflux.org | transition to alimentum

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July 20, 2008 at 10:43 am #54221

Anonymous
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okay, this question has probably been asked a million times, so sorry to repeat…

as you can see by my signature, madelyn has many many intolerances. i am maxed out emotionally, losing weight due to diet restrictions and stress, etc. i would like to try some alimentum with madelyn, but am concerned. we tried one other day, only for that day, and while she was great that day, she was very fussy the next day. i was tired of having a fussy infant on formula and try to keep my milk in at the same time (in the event she didn’t tolerate the formula) so we elected to go back to breastfeeding and i would just really toe the line with my diet and deal with the restrictions. this past week i took some blessed thistle to help increase my milk supply, which worked great but madelyn had a reaction to it, as she seems to with pretty much anything. she is fussy, rashy and won’t sleep. her reflux, however mild, kicked into high gear. now that it’s been about 30 hrs since i took the herb, she’s much better but my milk supply is going down. long story made a little shorter, i’m ready for a change. i would love to try alimentum again, but don’t know how long to give it. my dh agrees we need to stick with something and give it some time, and i agree as well, but i’m concerned. how long? i am looking for a miracle, as we all are. i would love for one thing to not be a question when she’s having a bad day, i.e. was it something i ate/took? thanks so much for everything! have a great day!

July 20, 2008 at 2:27 pm #54232

Anonymous
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I understand your frustrations! It can be so hard to figure these things out! It would take at least a full two weeks before you would see positive change from the alimentum. I am thinking there is corn in the alimentum but NOT in the ready-to-feed form…or visa versa…I hope someone will chime in and clarify on that.

The other suggestion I have is to make a gradual transition. Can you mix a few ounces at a time with your breast milk in a bottle and slowly increase the alimentum until she tolerates it completely? Sometimes babies need a more gradual switch to get used to the taste…BUT if she took it great full strength then you could always jump right in.

Definitely check out the corn issue though as I see it is one of her allergies. GOOD LUCK!

July 20, 2008 at 2:29 pm #54233

Anonymous
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i’m kind of in the same boat as you (the “what was it?” guessing game) as I’ve been on TED for 3 wks now w/ little improvement. Just wanted to suggest trying Fenugreek if you’re wanting to go that route (continued bf’ing). It always worked for me better than blessed thistle & maybe Madelyn wouldn’t react?! I took 3 pills 3x/day.

Sorry I’m not much help

July 20, 2008 at 2:32 pm #54234

Anonymous
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You sound just like me…I have been on a pretty restriced diet since McKenzie was about a month old. I am still breastfeeding, but I had to supplement with because with this restricted diet my body just didn’t produce either enough milk (although she was peeing and pooping) or rich enough milk…I am not sure which. We tried Alimentum and it was fine for about 10 days and then like your daughter McKenzie got super fussy..so I switched to Neocate. It has been MUCH better in terms of the fussiness. I am not sure about Medelyn because from what I think I have read on this website, Neocate is corn based (others can chime in if I am totally off the wall) but I know McKenzie couldn’t even handle the Alimentum, even though the protiens are broken down, she needed something even more elemental than that. Good luck!

July 20, 2008 at 2:45 pm #54236

Anonymous
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thank you for the replies! let’s see…

she took the full-strength bottle great, so we’ll see how it goes. i’m still pumping, but feel okay about not totally breastfeeding, especially if she’ll feel better. and we are doing the RTF b/c it does not contain corn. thank you so much for that!

as for the herbs, i’ve tried many. they were all very effective for my milk supply but madelyn does not tolerate them. within about four or five days after i start them, she becomes a mess and can’t sleep. i’ve tried fenugreek, blessed thistle, goat’s rue, just to name a few. all with the same sad result. this poor little thing can’t tolerate much.

boy, i’m PRAYING we don’t have to go the neocate/elecare route. i’m very fearful of the insurance company making it a big issue and not covering the cost if we have to go that way. have you had any of those issues, emily? what worries me is she appears to tolerate things until they build up in her system then we have the same situation we are in today. i don’t want to sit back and sigh, thinking we’ve got this licked and then ten days later get hit with a tidal wave! oy!

mentally, the diet is so very hard and i give tons of props to you mothers who are successfully doing it. for my health, mentally and physically, i hope that formula is the way to go. there are always so many unknowns….

never thought i’d be here again! wow!

thanks again! enjoy the rest of your weekend.

trigrl2008-07-20 14:47:35

July 20, 2008 at 2:55 pm #54237

Anonymous
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almost forgot! how will her stools most likely look? she’s run the gammot on stool appearance, so i’m not sure what to expect.

also, the last time we tried alimentum (the one day), the next day she was super constipated and i think that was one of the reasons she was so fussy. any word to the wise on helping this along? thanks!

July 20, 2008 at 9:24 pm #54247

Anonymous
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Gina,

unfortunatly I have an HMO and they don’t cover Neocate at all, but I have had great luck buying on ebay…in fact I have been getting it for cheaper than if I was using the Alimentum RTF (I was before) so that is just how I have been looking at it. I agree with the unknowns, and I wanted to give up breastfeeding so many times, but it was the ONLY thing that consitantly gave McKenzie comfort. My goal was to make it 6 months and I am two weeks away from that…I still don’t know what I am going to do, but I am just glad I am close to my goal. However, I did feel the same as you about the formula. I was sad to have to supplement, but McKenzie started sleeping through the night and got herself on a schedule of eating every three hours and was satisfied, vs. before eating almost every hour and still being hungry. Keep us posted on how it goes. 🙂

July 23, 2008 at 4:23 pm #54347

Anonymous
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emily–that is so great you are nearing your goal of 6 mos! congratulations!

well, the trial was a flop. she started projectile vomiting on the second night (something she’s never done) and was super fussy all day yesterday and didn’t sleep a wink until she passed out (fighting almost the whole time) last night at 1030. i prayed A LOT and have decided to just keep nursing. after discussing with dh, i feel a lot better and bolstered up. you also gave me the idea to have a goal, emily. with how fast a month flies by, i decided to just think in those terms and reevaluate at those intervals. i told myself it’s just like a 12 hr shift (i’m a nurse)…if i go in there thinking too much about 12 WHOLE HOURS, i find myself clock-watching. that’s how i was when i was thinking about 12 WHOLE MONTHS of this diet. now i take little bites of time and it seems more manageable.

i’ve been meaning to ask you, emily….what sort of restrictions do you have on your diet? what can’t you eat?

thanks again, everyone, for chiming in. i really appreciate the support. onward and upward!

July 23, 2008 at 5:06 pm #54352

Anonymous
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Gina, do you remember Sue? I think it was her second that had TONS of allergies, and I don’t remember what they ended up on for Taylor? Does anyone else? I will try to do a search but she sounds a lot like Madelyn as far as the allergies go.

I don’t think she ended up breastfeeding, so I’m not sure there is any help there, but I know she reacted to TONS of formulas, including the Neocate…

Let me see if I can PM her…

July 23, 2008 at 6:22 pm #54356

Anonymous
Inactive

i do remember sue! wow, i didn’t realize that taylor had so many allergies…i think around the time she was born, i was only casually looking in on the site. thanks so much for checking with her! i really appreciate it.

July 23, 2008 at 6:28 pm #54357

Anonymous
Inactive

oh, i wanted to add that madelyn is already doing much better now that she’s off the alimentum. i often remember how i would send up the victory flag too soon with riley, only to have a crash the next day, but…she’s back to smiling and sleeping, hardly fusses a bit when she’s got some good food in her belly. that does me a lot of good b/c i can see that this is worth it. i do, however, worry about giving her the zantac if i don’t have to. i only say this b/c i have a feeling it causes a bit of insomnia in her. it is hard, at this point, to discern ALL of the factors that could contribute to her sleeplessness, but i do remember that one night we gave her the zantac b/c she was refluxing almost constantly (when i had taken the blessed thistle) and miraculously, within 10-15 mins she was calm and not refluxing. however, she was a BEAR to get to sleep. just kept staring at us until the wee hours, of course not content to amuse herself

no harm in just giving it to her when she seems to be having reflux issues but not everyday if not needed???

July 23, 2008 at 7:45 pm #54358

Anonymous
Inactive

Hi Gina, Ann Marie PMed me. I’m sorry to hear about what is going on with you and Madelyn. We had a very hard time to Taylor as well, we tried every formula on the market without any luck. We even tried Neocate but she reacted to the corn syrup in it. Her reactions would be bloating, irritable, refusing to eat, and having a lot of problems passing BMs even though they were extremely soft. She seem to have done best on RTF Alimuntem since there was no corn in it but she was still having problems with the broken down milk proteins. We even tried Goat’s milk formula and seem to do okay, no worse. I just was at a loss as well, and so was the GI we were seeing. Our pediatrician was so upset since she was so miserable and we just kept on trying all different formulas without any relief, she sent us for allergy testing when Taylor was 5 months old so we could see has she was actually allergic/intolerant to- it came up as milk, corn, and corn syrup—but not soy. We had problems with the soy formula since it contained corn starches, corn syrup so she couldn’t handle it. We were then seening a pediatric nutritionist that did a lot of research on formulas and she came up with a formula that is used in the NICU it is call Ross Carbohydrate Free Soy– It contains no corn or corn syrup, I had to add my own carbohdrate which I used Brown Rice Syrup. Taylor seem to tolerate that formula so much better. I did 1/2 goat’s milk and 1/2 RCF as a transition just to make sure there was no reaction to the soy and then I went 100% RCF. But there is a formula on the market now that does not contain any corn it all and it is soy here’s the link http://www.naturesonedirect.com/orsoyfo.html They also make a dairy formula as well that does not contain any form of corn here’s the link

http://www.naturesonedirect.com/ordafo.html

Good luck, feel free to PM if you have questions–Just a warning I’m in the process of moving the the Comcast people keep in rescheduling my install so the only time I have access is when I go back to the old house… So I apologize in advance if my responses are very delayed!!

The allergy testing was the big step for us- leading us to the right direction and also confirming my mom instincts about her intolerances. I wished we would have the allergy testing earlier on since by 5 months she developed an eating aversion- she refused to suck on bottles or anything, she only lets the formula drip in her mouth while I had to hold her and bounce on a exercise ball as she was drinking her bottle–basically I was shaking the bottle in her mouth! I really couldn’t go anywhere! I completely understand the frustrations.

July 23, 2008 at 8:44 pm #54365

Anonymous
Inactive

oh sue, thank you so much! that is such great information. while researching the formulas, i came up empty too b/c of the corn. interestingly, of all the things madelyn had major difficulty with (full body rash, mucousy green/brown/foul-smelling stools, horrendous diaper rash, irritability, trouble passing bms, etc), corn was the only thing that gave her bloody stool. i have to admit, i was pretty shocked. i had been following a strict diet and was shopping for quinoa. the store i went to didn’t have any but they had quinoa/corn pasta. who would’ve guessed corn could reek such havoc?

how is taylor now? i would love to hear an update.

thank you SO MUCH for the link to the organic formula. wow. that will be such a lifesaver if i decide bf is for the birds and she can tolerate soy. we never officially got her tested, but after all of those things were out of my diet, we saw a new baby. in actuality, i just took soy out b/c it is so common for babies who are sensitive to milk to be sensitive to soy. i wasn’t taking a risk, as miserable as she was. that would be great if she wasn’t intolerant to soy, at least for my diet. i don’t think i’ll risk it yet, though i’m wondering if as she gets older, she will be able to possibly tolerate something else, perhaps the nature’s one?? did you find that with taylor?

boy, i hear you on not leaving the house. when madelyn was having bad days, we didn’t leave at all! riley was climbing the walls! he actually said he couldn’t watch anymore tv! ha!!

praise God, she is very different from riley on the reflux front. the only time she appears to really reflux painfully is when i’ve eaten something i shouldn’t. other than that, she can get some mylanta and the kid doesn’t make a peep unless she’s hungry or overtired. it’s truly amazing.

thanks again to you and ann marie for PM’ing you. what a wealth of info this place is! my dr/the kids’ ped says ‘wow, you’re always teaching me something…’ and it’s all b/c of the info on this site.

take care!

July 23, 2008 at 9:46 pm #54371

Anonymous
Inactive

Gina,

I am glad that Madelyn is doing so much better now that you are back to breastfeeding. I will give you the rundown on what I am avoiding: dairy (all), soy , gluten, eggs, chocolate, citrus, peanuts, treenuts…I feel like I am missing some, but I am not sure. lol. For a long time I wasn’t doing fish or beef either, but McKenzie seems to be doing OK with them now. My diet is actually much broader than it used to be. I used to just eat apples, bananas, carrots, sqash, chicken/turkey and rice stuff…but now it is better. Enjoy Life Foods (http://www.enjoylifefoods) makes tons of stuff that does not have the top 8 allergens in them, and it has been my saving grace. Also, I found after about a month of being totally “clean” that I have been able to have to sandwich from Panera (wheat/gluten) once a week wihtout any major reprecussions. Actually, ever time I have trialed anything McKenzie seems to be fine for hte first few days, but around the third day she just gets super fussy and wakes up with insane cramps at night. She did have blood in her stool around one month old (when I started this crazy diet) but that went away very quickly, and at least visable blood has not returned. And the random hidden blood test have been negative.

July 23, 2008 at 10:54 pm #54375

Anonymous
Inactive

I LOVE ENJOY LIFE FOODS! i agree, they have been my saving grace, too! i haven’t been able to find the bagels, yet. have you? if so, are they good? i was thinking about ordering them if they’re good, b/c you can order from their site…

wow, you certainly WERE limited there for awhile! and i’m sorry to hear you have to avoid chocolate. yikes. i eat so many cocoa loco bars and enjoy life chocolate chips, just to act like i’m having dessert
i’m in the same boat…no dairy (all), soy, wheat, gluten, eggs, nuts (all), beef, herbs of any kind, vitamins even (she gets crazy when i take vitamins! i’ve tried several…she can at least tolerate me taking my citracal! at least my bone density won’t suffer too much, lol). i’m about 10# below my prepregnancy, it’s been a trip! i laugh b/c with riley i had to be dairy free and that really sent my weight down, but nothing like this. i wish i could be one of those women who can really stuff it in while bf! that would be fun, i think!

one thing that concerns me and let me know if you’ve heard this…i’ve heard that once you’ve removed wheat and gluten from your diet, it is extremely difficult (read: next to impossible) to reintroduce it into your diet and tolerate it. i wonder if that’s true??
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