Switching between formulas?

[BlueberryPancake]

Hi, I have sadly had to stop BF my 5 month old because of drugs I have to take. No option but to do a complete switch.

He is drinking fine from the Playtex bottle but has long cries in the afternoon and evel=ning and his poo is very liquid. I am feeding him C&G, should I/can I try another formula to see if it's better? Cheers, BP

Nothing wrong with switching formula, BP - it's a myth that it is something 'wrong'. If he's miserable, then try something else.

You may have already asked about this, and gone into it, but there are very few drugs which mean you have stop bf, especially a baby beyond newborn.

Are you sure you have to? Seems v. drastic, especially as it leaves you with a baby who's unhappy on formula

Yeah I 'm afraid, it's a prolem with my thyroid gland and although it's not critical, the drug regulate hormones and they are very strong. I was advised to stop BF for the time being and I'm pumping to keep milk up and will return to BF if I can. If all goes well I might be off the drugs in 4 weeks.

Wow - good luck with the pumping and returning to bf, BP. I am still wondering if it's necessary, sorry!! Thyroid meds are not usually a contra-indication to bf....the intention is to downsize or upsize your thyroid production to normal levels, yes?

www.ukmicentral.nhs.uk/drugpreg/qrg_p1.asp#Thyroid%20Drugs might help you talk about this a bit more with your doctors.

BP - I had this problem with C&G too. I personally chose farleys which was much better.

Thanks Tiktok I'll look into this. Do you know if should stop BF if on antidepressants ? Cheers

BP - anti-depressants can indeed be used with bf, and there are lots of threads on this in the archives. The site I linked to below has something on it, as does the Breastfeeding Network website.

My experience is that many docs will say ' you can't bf' when there is really no justification for it. They think they are being 'better safe than sorry' but in fact the sorryness comes when someone stops (or suspends) bf unnecessarily and the baby has formula, unnecessarily

www.breastfeeding.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=38 should also help you decide about bf and your meds.

Blueberry, here's another link - just put 'thyroid' in the search box:

toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT

Bear in mind it is a US site.

BP is your thyroid under- or over-active? Sorry for being nosy but mine is under-active & I'm on 150mcg Thyroxine a day & am still bfing 9mo ds. No-one has ever said I shouldn't & obviously gp, mat hospital, hv etc are all aware of my medical history.

Hope you find something that works for you - I know I'd be gutted if I had to stop bfing just now as am nowhere near ready for it. Am very for you.

p.s. sil switched between about 5 different formulas before finding one that suited dnephew. Even once he'd settled on a brand sometimes if she couldn't get ready-made cartons of his usual milk she'd get different ones. He's a gorgeous healthy wee boy so it obviously didn't cause him any probs.