help with what baby poo should be like on aptamil??

[bella20092013]

I have posted this in a couple of places as I am not sure which is the best forum for a reply. I have a 3 week old baby who i tried to feed from the breast for 7 days, she just would not stay latched on so i tried pumping for a further 2 days but could only get an ounce an hour and ended up with mastitus. I decided to start feeding aptamil instead. She took to the aptamil straight away and started drinking more than it said on the pack, about 9 feeds a day totalling on average 26oz, HV said this was fine and was juss feeding on demand. In the hospital while breastfeeding she had had nitrates in her wee and green 'brocoli' poo, and a couple of seedy mustard nappies after having the expressed breast milk. On aptimal her poo became hard and pale green, but after giving her an ounce of water at each feed she did a couple of mustard seedy poos a day. Then after about 2 weeks on aptamil she started pooing at every feed so was doing about 9 mustard seedy loose poos a day. I have never formula fed before (breastfed other daughter for 1 year) so was not sure if this was normal. I took her to the doctors who said it sounds like a cows milk allergy to be pooing so much and gave her nutramagen (sp?). She took to the milk well but after 2 days has become unsettled and was still pooing after each feed but a thicker texture, and is starting to strain to poo after each feed instead. She is also more sicky on it (was not sicky on aptamil). I spoke to my friend just now who fed her baby aptamil and she said he did a poo after every feed for 6 months until he was weaned and they were runny yellow and seedy. I am thinking maybe my DD just had normal aptamil poos now? She has no other signs of allergy apart from she was born with a slightly stuffy nose which she still has. I'm so confused and don't want to feed her this special milk that is making her unsettled if she does not need it? My partner spoke to a nurse at work last night who said yellow runny seedy poos is not diroeah. But doctor thinks 9 poos a day is excessive?

[bella20092013]

Since being on this special prescription milk she is just drawing her legs up all the time in pain and has pretty much cried for a whole day, before she hardly cried and has slept 18 hours out of 24 since birth and his been a very laid back baby. Now she seems in pain all the time and keeps turning red and straining and pulling her knees up. I have been to out of hours doctors but they said she seems fine maybe has colic. But she was fine before starting this new milk. I am so confused.

[Zara1984]

Hmmm the aptamil poos sound normal - like what my DS was like when he was a newborn. Mustardy, seedy - the only difference from bf poos was they weren't as yeasty smelling and bit less runny. I don't think it's strange for a newborn to be pooing that much. The prescription milk really sounds like it's not agreeing with her and perhaps making her constipated, if I were you I would maybe switch back to Aptamil?

Maybe give the Aptamil phone line a buzz as well about this, they were actually really helpful answering feeding/poo queries etc (and were faster than waiting for health nurse etc to get back to me too).

Also she might be very gassy too - DS found passing wind very painful until 18 weeks. Leg bicycling etc may help.

The Aptamil poos you describe sound very normal IMO but this new formula definitely sounds as if it's making her uncomfortable.

[Zara1984]

passing wind painful until 8 WEEKS sorry!! Don't want to alarm you there!

[Zara1984]

This BabyCentre visual poo guide might be helpful? DS's poos on Aptamil as a newborn were somewhere between 3-4, creamy seedy, mustardy in colour.

[bella20092013]

I just weighed her and she has gained 2lb in 9 days? That seems alot? Maybe she was pooing so munch because she was wanting so much milk?

[tiktok]

bella, one of those weights is almost certainly wrong....babies don't normally gain 2 pounds in a week.

I agree with the suggestion to call the aptamil helpline.

Doctor diagnosing cows milk allergy because of frequent pooing - ?????. Def. worth a second opinion.

[bella20092013]

I've done the weight 5 times but it still comes out the same, that is quite worrying, it seems an awful lot.

[countingmyblessings]

Formula feed babies do poo more than bf but 9 per day seems excessive. Cow's milk protein allergy could be possible. Breast milk is much better absorbed by the body. Did you get your baby checked for tongue tie? it may have been the cause for poor latch.

[bella20092013]

They said they could not see a tounge tie, she just seemed to put her tounge to the roof of her mouth and the nipple went under the tounge against her gums (ouch!). She would just latch on and pull off over and over again and scream.

[Twinklestarstwinklestars]

My 5 week old has always pooed loads, he's on sma comfort but on normal sma he was the same. My hv said its normal as he's drinking loads he puts on about 8oz a week

[tiktok]

bella, the weight now might be right....but the previous weight might be wrong.

What sort of scales are you using?

[rallytog1]

9 a day sounds like a lot. DD has been on aptamil since 21 days old, before which she had donor milk. From the start of formula, she did maybe one poo every other day and is roughly still in the same pattern at 15 weeks. HV has told me this is normal.

Between about four and nine weeks though she really did struggle with trapped wind tho - doing all the things you describe. We just had to wind her a LOT and wait for it to pass. Doctors and HVs just said it was normal and one of those things that no one tells you about new babies! So maybe the wind is just that and unconnected with the new milk?

[bella20092013]

I just read in 0-5 nhs book that some babies poo as little as once every few days and some at every feed. I'm so confused.

The first weight was right as the health visitor did it! 2lb seems so much to gain in a week. I will phone the health visitor first thing tomorrow.

[LittleMilne1990]

Hi.
I have the same problem with my 6month old :(
Running poop 2/3 times a day on aptamil so health visitor said she was allergic so gave me special milk(nutramigen) and she is so bad on it cries all the time doesn't sleep very well :( I wasn't sure if running poops was normal for aptamil milk either.. so confused!

[FartnissEverbeans]

Maybe you're worrying about the poo itself too much. If the baby is happy and seems otherwise comfortable, then maybe it isn't a problem?

DS has always been on Aptamil. For a while it left him a bit constipated, so we moved to comfort milk. After a week of that he was pooing at every single feed. He was fine! They weren't big poos - more like big wet farts (sorry ). It stopped after a few weeks and now he poos once a day.

I wouldn't be keen for my baby to go on a prescription formula unless it was really necessary.

[Whatsername17]

My dd pooed at every feed (ebf) until around 8 weeks I think. I introduced formula at 3 months and I'm gradually weaning her onto formula (Supply issues, leading to very unsettled couple of weeks where she got so frustrated on the breast it led to a nursing strike led). She still poos two or three times per day. She's a big baby though. She had already doubled her birth weight and was gaining 9oz per week on breast only until my supply suddenly dipped.