Hi! I usually post about my 3 yr old refluxer but now its my 3 month old. Ack. He was fine on breast milk but it dried up with the stress I was having with Adam. So we tried Enfamil which he ate well but it didnt agree with him - lots of gas and crying. We switched to Similac and he seemed better for 3 weeks or so., But now he's got lots and lots of gas and is severely constipated. He'll go 4 days without pooping, getting more miserable each day. First the doc told me to try a tsp of prune juice in water once or twice a day. It didnt work too well. Then we brought him in to see the doc - he said we were giving him too much prune juice because his poops were dark green. So give him water twice a day and rice cereal in his bottle at night. That didnt work too well either. He pooped within 24 hrs the first time we tried this. But then back to no poops for 4 days until we gave him a suppository. It was still dark green and very hard. And he was turning crimson to get it out, poor little guy. I just bought Nestle's goodstart with comfort protein but he's still gassy and uncomfortable. What to do next? I'll call the doc again on Monday but in the meantime, I;ve always found better answers from Moms! Could it be lactose intolerance? How can I tell if it is? Any advice would be appreciated as always!

Phyllis

What about trying Nutramigen or Alimentum over the weekend? These two formulas are hypo-allergenic and are much more broken down than the Good Start even. I'd kind of think that if he were lactose intolerant he'd be throwing up along with the constipation, although I could be wrong. My theory, if I had to take a guess at one would be that his little system is having a little bit of trouble adjusting to the intact proteins in formula (duh, I guess that's obvious huh :P ). I mean, breast milk has intact proteins as well but they are just absorbed and digested differently than that of formula. If it were me I'd try a more elemental formula such as the ones above, (of course ask your doctor first :wink: ) they are so broken down that they tend to give some kids diarrhea when they are first put on them so hopefully that would get him moving a little. Also, it will give you an idea of whether or not he's lactose intolerant I would think since they are hypoallergenic.

Also, our GI has us give Shae MOM or colace when she is having difficulties...not sure if you can give a three month old that stuff though.

THANKS Roni! I think I'll try the nutramigen. I had high hopes for the Goodstart because I got the kind with dha & ara in it. But I'd much rather he not have the constipation. Then on Monday, the doc is going to hear from me and we'll pressure him to acknowledge the problem! I'll keep you posted...