Our feeding problems are over!

Andy has colic really bad for his first 3 weeks of life. So Gabe and I decided to do an experiment. We formula fed Andy for 2 days and 2 nights. First we gave him Good Start (the formual we had in teh house), and then we switched to Similac Alimentum (for babies with food allergic and lactose intolerance - specifically made for colicy, fussy, gassy babies). And Andy was like a new kid - he was happy and smiling, and slept well too! So on the third day we re-introduced the boob. First off, I wanted to see if he would take the boob OK again, and secondly we wanted to see what happened to him tummy/mood when we switched back. And cranky old Andy came back. But now we could tell that his cries weren't just fussy cries, but cries of pain. We could tell that he was having some sort of bad reaction to my milk. So after only 2 breastfeeds that day we switched back to Alimentum for the rest of that day, that night, and the next day (which is today). Andy happy Andy is back. So I am done breastfeeding.


I have a lot of food allergies myself and struggle with lactose intolerance, so we don't know what it is that is affecting Andy's tummy, but our family Doctor is almost 100% sure than Andy has at least 1 food allergy. We will have to be very careful when introducing foods to him in 5 months.


Since switching to formula, we have heard a few stories from friends about their colicky babies, and how formaula (this one particularly) helped them as well. I cried myself to sleep the first night we fed Andy formual and he was happy. I had a feeling that taking him off the boob would help him out, and I didn't want to give up breastfeeding. But after listening to him scream all day when we re-introduced the boob, and watching him struggle to pass gas, as he turned red and cried for hours was not worth it. I am sacrificing a really big thing here - I didn't get to breastfeed Owen either, and I thought I would get to breastfeed Andy longer than just one month. But it isn't meant to be. So I am done. And I am OK with that. Andy is a happy baby now (he even is smiling now and it just melts my heart!). I am sad for what I had to give up, but I would give up so much more to make sure my babies aren't in pain.


If anyone out there is struggling with a colicky baby, I suggest trying Similac Alimentium. It has worked wonders inour house!