Our Switch to Formula

If you read my previous post, you know I was having a lot of trouble with breastfeeding. But we were determined to keep going, especially through the first 6 weeks (I kept hearing that 6 weeks was the time when it gets easier). But it turned out that Kylie herself became the reason to quit breastfeeding.

Kylie's first week home, she had the most perfect digestive system. She pooped everytime she ate and never spit up. Then after she spit up my blood, things started to change. (I'm sure the timing was a coincidence)

She started grunting and straining a lot and just pooping tiny bits all day long. At her two week appointment the pediatrician said it was normal - she was just learning how to poop.

When she was 3 weeks old she had started gagging and choking when we laid her flat, spitting up some, having at least one large (out the nose) spit up a day, and crying instead of just grunting with the gas. She also almost always had some diaper rash from what I'm going to call diarrhea.

At first I thought I found the answer by eliminating ALL sources of dairy protein. But then she started getting worse. I tried eliminating peanuts, tomatoes, citrus fruits, onions and garlic. And I already don't eat broccoli or cauliflower. I tried eliminating soy for 2 days and got frustrated.

This past Sunday (5 weeks 3 days old) she developed the worst diaper rash and spent hours crying on the couch with her naked butt up in the air, leaking liquid every 10 minutes.

Monday and Tuesday she pretty much screamed all the time. The only way I could get her comfortable was to put her on her belly over my knees or put her in the carrier. And she could fall asleep in the car. I was a mess. It was torture to watch her be in pain all the time. Somehow she kept sleeping well at night... maybe because she was so exhausted? But she did not nap during the day unless it was on my lap.

I finally decided that I could not find the answer by myself with my experimenting, so on Wednesday (5 weeks, 6 days old) we went to the pediatrician. I was SO scared that she was going to say it's just the mysterious colic and we just have to live with it. But she was very proactive. She gave us a prescription for Zantac and a sample of Similac Alimentum to try for 3 days. She said that she did not want to tell me to quit breastfeeding, but if it was this difficult for both of us I might want to consider it. (I think it was actually over for me that second. I had a reason to quit that wasn't just about me). I was wary about the Zantac until I read this post from Chronicles of a Babywise Mom.

It has been 3 days and we have a completely different baby. She still has a lot of reflux, and it upsets her, but nothing like the gas. She has been sleeping SO MUCH. The poor thing must have been so tired the past 3 weeks.

So now it's decision time. It's obviously something in my milk that's bothering her. Do I continue to eliminate soy, wheat, gluten, eggs, etc. until we figure it out? We decided that it's not worth it for us to go through all that effort and just be stabbing in the dark (I say "for us" because I know there are people who have done it and I give them huge credit).

So as of last night, Kylie is a formula baby. It does pain me to say that. But I am focusing on the positives and today I had a milkshake to celebrate.

It feels a little bit like starting over - all my research about feeding and sleeping was about breastfed babies. Feel free to comment with insight!