What Do You All Think?

[Scout]

Yes-you need a doctor for her that you LOVE! I have taken my kids to the Dr. that was the first one to see DS1 when he was first born...why? Because DH and I really LOVED his bedside manner-and he is very, very thorough, which helps a lot! When DS2 was born the Dr. on call the next day was, to put it nicely, an A**! She told me that my son would likely have some problems because he had simian creases on both hands. I was all alone and panicked, looking at my newborns face for traces of downs syndrome, only to find out that 30% of the population have them and usually they mean nothing! You need to feel comfortable with her ped. I have had my Dr. check his iron levels before just because he was bruising easily and I worried about cancer(my mom was just DX at this time and my cousin's DD passed away at 2, so I was super sensitive right then) and he did it without question. He probably thought I was crazy but, he did it and called me right away with the results when he got them. THAT is what your child's pediatrician should do...keep looking, you will find one you Love!:hug:

[Play Care]

Very sad that they made you stop breastfeeding. If that was your choice, that's fine, but if they said that was your only option then that is a very wrong statement. It takes work, but you could easily EASILY have kept breastfeeding by altering your own diet.

Eh, my friends daughter is allergic to dairy and soy. They tried an elimination diet and her daughter was still having issues. Even with careful label reading we assume there were trace amounts of dairy/soy in something. So frustrating we couldn't pin point it (and we tried!!) This went on for a few months. She had to quit breast feeding and switch to a formula without those things and the change was instant and amazing. To be honest, my friend felt terrible that her desire to breast feed exclusively the first year trumped her daughter's health.

[littlemissmuffet]

Change peds. Try and find one that specializes in preemies.

My dd (now 8 months) has been on enfacare since 6.5 months. They started her on the other low-birth weight formula - neosure - and she went between having diarhea to constipation, always puking. After many fights with nurses, docs and dieticians, I insisted she be switched to enfacare... and she's done extremely well on it ever since.
Perhaps you could try neosure ffirst or a few weeks and see if there is a change. If not, it's likely a dairy allergy and she will need to be put on something else (alimentum is often recommended) - but you NEED an informed ped/ preemie dietician to ensure you have the right "recipe" (scoops to water ratio) that will give her enough calories and nutrients for growth and brain development.

DO NOT put your daughter on another regular forumla (i.e good start as mentioned above). She NEEDS the low-birth weight formula (or alternate dairy-free formula with adjusted recipe) until the recommended age the NICU docs gave you.

[Hunni Bee]

Change peds. Try and find one that specializes in preemies.

My dd (now 8 months) has been on enfacare since 6.5 months. They started her on the other low-birth weight formula - neosure - and she went between having diarhea to constipation, always puking. After many fights with nurses, docs and dieticians, I insisted she be switched to enfacare... and she's done extremely well on it ever since.
Perhaps you could try neosure ffirst or a few weeks and see if there is a change. If not, it's likely a dairy allergy and she will need to be put on something else (alimentum is often recommended) - but you NEED an informed ped/ preemie dietician to ensure you have the right "recipe" (scoops to water ratio) that will give her enough calories and nutrients for growth and brain development.

DO NOT put your daughter on another regular forumla (i.e good start as mentioned above). She NEEDS the low-birth weight formula (or alternate dairy-free formula with adjusted recipe) until the recommended age the NICU docs gave you.

Thanks so much for the preemie perspective. I totally understand that they want her on a preemie formula, but I'm not going to have her unhappy and in pain because of it either. Her ped totally dismissed my concerns. Although I live in a pretty large city, everybody goes to the same few pediatricians. I think I'm going to take to the Children's Hospital and have them direct me from there.

And about switching her to a different formula on my own, although my best friend suggested the same thing, I wouldn't dream of it. Way too risky.

[littlemissmuffet]

Thanks so much for the preemie perspective. I totally understand that they want her on a preemie formula, but I'm not going to have her unhappy and in pain because of it either. Her ped totally dismissed my concerns. Although I live in a pretty large city, everybody goes to the same few pediatricians. I think I'm going to take to the Children's Hospital and have them direct me from there.

And about switching her to a different formula on my own, although my best friend suggested the same thing, I wouldn't dream of it. Way too risky.

Oh I absolutely agree. My babe was miserable on the neosure, so I did some research and found that most kids who didn't do well on neosure do well on enfacare - and vice versa. Though, if trying the neosure preemie formula doesn't work, I'd think there's a dairy allergy causing the issues.

I think absolutely the first step is finding a new ped and it sounds like that's your next plan. It's really sad that the current ped show no interest in helping a first time parent - especially one of a high risk child.


Just a note to the poster above that recommended the good start brand of formula - preemie formulas are given to preemie babies primarily to help with brain development. Many parents are under the false impression (because it says right on the can) that it's primary use is to help the baby gain weight - but this is really a secondary goal. My local NICU has seen many babies end up with what could have been preventable delays, medical issues and mental problems because parents went home and put them on regular formula because a) parents weren't properly informed that these forumlas help with brain development and fuction, and think the baby is gaining enough so they can switch to regular old forumla; and b) the preemie formulas are so expensive (we currently pay around $200/month - which is steadily increasing as our dd eats more )!

[Heidi]

http://www.enfamil.com/app/iwp/enf12/product.do?dm=enf&id=/Consumer_Home3/FeedingSolutions/EnfamilEnfaCareLIPIL2#sixth

[crunchymama]

I'd start looking for another ped ASAP and in the meantime try the same formula in a different type--ie, if you use powder now, try the ready to feed kind or vice versa. My daughter could only handle the ready to feed stuff or if we used powder it had to have been mixed a few hours in advance of feeding (refrigerated of course, then heated before feeding).

[Hunni Bee]

I'd start looking for another ped ASAP and in the meantime try the same formula in a different type--ie, if you use powder now, try the ready to feed kind or vice versa. My daughter could only handle the ready to feed stuff or if we used powder it had to have been mixed a few hours in advance of feeding (refrigerated of course, then heated before feeding).

We had the ready-to-feed stuff at first...it made her wickedly constipated. She poops regularly now, but all the other symptoms.

Darned if I do, darned if I don't.