Constipation/diarrhoea in formula fed baby

[melise]

After major problems breastfeeding I had to resort to formula for my 5 week old daughter. The problem I have is that Aptamil gives her diarrhoea and SMA/Farleys give her constipation really badly. Family have suggested mixing the two (don't worry I'm not going to). Although changing her milk all the time can't be good for her digestive system surely this cycle isn't too good either! Any suggestions would be welcome (sorry first time I've been on this site haven't got the hang of the abbreviations yet)

melise - is returning to breastfeeding an option for you? When did you stop? This can sometimes be the answer for mothers who can't find a problem-free formula. What does your HV say? There are some 'speciality' formulas that claim to help with digestive difficulties.

I stopped breastfeeding at about 10 days so doubt that's an option. Haven't seen the HV for a week and not due to see her again until next week so will pop into the drop in session tomorrow. Any idea if the speciality milks help? Will try anything at the moment!

I'm not sure, but I thought that SMA traditionally had a creamier consitency, and produced a firmer poo. I know that once they introduced the prebiotics into Aptamil it caused horrible runny poo in dd2 and really bad smelling farts, she seemed really uncomfortable with it.

We changed to Hipp organic (because it was the only one I could find without prebiotics), and she had constipation for a few days afterwards (we gave her cooled boiled water in between feeds), but just as I started panicking her stomach settled down, and then she was fine with it. It might be that if you do change again, you stick with the new formula for a week, to see if it is the change that causes the constipation.

I hope the HV offers you some helpful advice. Good luck.

yes i use hipp organic too and my ds4 is ok on that, his poos are firmer than bmilk poo but still squidgy, but not so much that they leak out of the nappy

i also offer him cooled boiled water, esp on a hot day.

Thanks for all your advice - saw the HV today and she said this is quite normal for a 5 week old to have an "immature digestive system" - it takes a while to settle. Will stick with actamil for now but will look at switching if she doesn't settle down in the next couple of weeks (thanks for the info on prebiotics too)!