Hey All,

My DS appears to do better on the formula, Alimentum, then on my breastmilk. It appears that he refluxes less and cranks a lot less on formula then my milk. I have NO desire to stop breastfeeding but I don't know what else to do. I've been milk/soy free for a long time and went down to a complete elimination diet but nothing seemed to help. Any suggestions on what else to try? I really don't want to stop feeding him . . .but I can't give him something that makes him feel worse. Suggestions?!?

Thanks!
Lisa

That's such a hard situation, Lisa! :hug:

How long has he been on Alimentum? Just wondering. If not very long, you may want to give it another few days and confirm that he is doing better on it.

And, if you do decide to quit the b/f, he did get four months of the "good stuff." Josh wouldn't latch and I pumped for about 4 wks, then had to call it quits.

It sounds like you have tired everything, if the formula makes him feel better then you may have to go that rout. I know how you feel. I gave up breastfeeding Sebastian and I really felt like I missed out. Now with Emma I have had to cut out a lot of food, but it is working for her, so it is totally worth it.

I agree with Miori though, I would keep pumping and give him a few weeks to make sure that it really is better. You would not want to dry up and then have the formula start bothering him.

Good luck with whatever you decide:hug:

Go with your instincts on this one, it is a really hard one, if you are sure it is the formula, and not just meds etc... and also with a total elimination diet, I would make sure to be eliminated for at least a month to decide as dairy can stay in your system that long.

Good luck with the decision!

Lisa, that's a really hard call!:hug: Like you, I never wanted to quit, but luckily formula never made a difference for Ava, so I just kept on keepin' on.

I say that if the formula makes him feel better, go ahead and stop bf'ing. It will be hard for you, but if it makes him feel better, then I think it's worth it.

I agree w/the others, at the end of the day, it's what's best for baby, and while it normally should be breastmilk that's not the case for all babies. I think Rachel's (Scarlet) suggestion is good though about doing the elimination for a month to make sure everything that he could be reacting to is out of your system. Like Katey said, once you dry up it would be hard if not impossible to go back.

But Miori is right too, you can always take comfort in knowing that he did get 4 mos. of the good stuff, I also pumped for 3.5 weeks and gave up due to sheer exhaustion. I always wished I had been able to keep going as my boys did gain well on my breastmilk but they did fine on formula too and I was starting to develop PPD around the time as well so it was the best choice for all of us for me to stop trying to burn the midnight oil by pumping 'round the clock. But I am also glad I tried and that my boys did get some of that "good stuff", even if it was only a few weeks worth I know from reading that that even just getting that very first early milk was very good for them.

I'm just going to parrot what everyone else said--if he's really doing better on Alimentum, keep it up and see if the improvement continues. In the meantime, go right ahead and pump just in case. It is so hard to give up b'feeding; however, if it comes to that, know that you have given it your best shot and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. :hug:

Hello,
My doctor suggested Alimentum for my little guy also. He was having the same problems, and still is but they are much better. He told me I could try to pump 3 x's a day and put cereal in the breast milk. He told me 1tbls to 2 ozs. If that didn't work he said we would have to try the Alimentum. WEll that worked really well. Rylan has been much happier and even sleeps through the night in his bouncy chair. He won't sleep through flat on his back. But the cereal and meds seem to help the most.

Lisa - BIG HUG I know what you're going through. Safi's doc wants me to try alternating one week at the breast and one week on Alimentum and I am so afraid that the end result will be that I have to stop BF. I agree with everyone that at the end of the day you have to do what works best for your litle one. However, seem a little premature to stop pumping and decide right yet.

Case in point, Safi was AMAZING last week! Meds appeared to haev kicked in and we thought we were in heaven...until Fri....she's been miserable since. My point being that we were premature in thinking the meds were doing it and we could relax. Obviously, its back with a venegence so last week was an anomoly.

So, that said, I would encourage you to continue to pump for at least a month if possible to be really sure its the formula doing the trick.

Again - BIG HUG - I never thought it would be so hard to contemplate having to stop BF, even if it might help the little one. Still, so hard, so painful..........for mom.

Whatever you decide know you did what was best for as long as you thought it was best and that's all any of us can do.

:)Sarah