I was chitchatting back & forth via e-mail (or was it Twitter?) the other day with my blog buddy, Julie. I confessed to adding a little rice cereal to Mason’s bottle, and she was looking for a few details.
Which got me to thinking. In the nine weeks since my son’s arrival, we have changed his feeding methods many, many, many times. I’m starting to think he’s a science project.
There was the attempted breastfeeding in the hospital. Disastrous.
And then the double fisting, er, I mean double pumping with the hospital grade pump. I felt like a golden guernsey, and got absolutely nowhere.
So we started supplementing with Nestle Good Start liquid formula.
Which was waaaaay too expensive, so we switched to Nestle Good Start powdered formula. (But we hoarded a case of the nurser bottles, just in case we’d need them again.)
In the interim, I kept trying to pump with my Medela Swing pump at home. My most successful day produced a whole, whopping 1-1/2 teaspoons of colustrum. And yes, that was the total for the day.
But he began projective vomiting, so we tried mixing the Nestle Good Start with Similac RS for sensitive stomachs. In the liquid form AND in the powdered form.
Then, we tried switching from the Medela bottles to the Dr. Brown’s bottles.
The Similac formula made him scream, so we went back to our Nestle Good Start.
But he kept on vomiting, so we tried mixing it with Nestle Good Start soy formula, in case he’s lactose intolerant.
Then we felt like he was sucking too hard, so we bought a faster flowing nipple. Until he started gasping and wheezing while eating, and we realized we were practically drowning the poor kid.
It seemed like he was doing okay on it, so I stocked up. Three cans of the powdered soy formula, and a case of the little 3 oz ready-to-feed nurser bottles.
And then he started projectile spitting up.
So, I decided to add a little rice cereal to his bottle (the ones where we’re still mixing the original Good Start with the soy Good Start). But I made the first bottle way too thick, and he couldn’t breathe while he was attempting to drink it. But the second bottle went way better (a scoop of regular, a scoop of soy, a scoop of cereal, and 4 oz of water); until he got frustrated because the nipple hole was too small for the thicker concoction.
Off I ran to Babies R Us for some faster flowing nipples. Four packs of Dr. Brown’s “Y” nipples, made specially for cereal feeding. And a pack each of level three and level four nipples, just in case the cereal nipples were too fast for him. “Just in case” is a big phrase in our house. My entire life revolves around those three little words.
And, while I was there, I spotted a can of the Enfamil A.R. Lipil powdered formula, which claims to reduce spitting by 40%. So I bought a can, “just in case” the cereal thing didn’t work out.
Anyway, I got home and sterilized all four packs of the “y” nipples, and attempted another feeding with the rice cereal. It was Way. Too. Fast. He finished his entire bottle in under 10 minutes, including burping him twice; and spent the rest of the evening in total agony. Beet red, screaming and crying, because he had swallowed a lead balloon.
Then my other blogging buddy Audrey suggested the Enfamil A.R. Lipil, so I decided to throw in the towel with the rice cereal & try mixing the powdered Enfamil with the powdered Good Start soy formula (which I was still mixing with the powdered Good Start regular formula).
But the Good Start soy formula and the Enfamil A.R. powdered formula don’t mix well. At least not in my son’s tummy. For the last 10 feedings, I’ve tried mixing the original Good Start powdered formula with the soy Good Start powdered formula; and sometimes the ready-to-feed Good Start original formula with the ready-to-feed Good Start soy formula. Always with the Enfamil. And always with the simethicone anti-gas drops. And sometimes with gripe water.
In any case, the last 10 feedings have been terrible. He’s been crying after every bottle, curling up his legs and balling his fists and clutching his poor little belly.
So, today I tried giving him straight up powdered Enfamil A.R. formula, without mixing it with the Good Start. Until I read somewhere that the rice starch in the powdered formula can be too heavy in his belly; and the ready-to-feed Enfamil is an easier transition.
So, tonight I ran to Walmart for five cans of the Enfamil A.R. liquid formula. We’ll see how it goes.
And that, my friends, is why I haven’t been updating as much as I’d like to.
Or, as my outgoing answering machine message says,
“Kris and Dave can’t come to the phone right now; because we’re either holding the baby, feeding the baby, burping the baby, rocking the baby, playing with the baby, changing his diaper, changing his clothes, making our millionth trip to Babies R us, washing his bottles, washing his clothes, or taking a nap. Leave us a message, and with any luck, we’ll call you back before he turns 18.:”
