Powdered formula giving wind but not ready-made stuff?

[flyingma]

I've been mix feeding (supplementing at the end of a BF session in order to settle bubs) for nearly 3 weeks now. I started using the ready made formula by Aptimel (1) which bubs chugged down no problems.

About a week ago I realised it was going to take quite a lot longer than a few weeks to sort out my supply problem so we moved from ready-made to powdered Aptimel.

Probably about a week ago as well, bubs started to get increasingly difficult to settle. The last few days, he seemed to be straining and crying before he had a poo or fart. His poos containing solids - which I understand is formula poos - seemed less frequent and what he did pass was mustardy paste like (presumably breast milk). He seemed also to need carrying a lot more than previously. Another mum at BF Cafe suggested Infacol which I have since cracked open and he has since passed a lot of wind and has been settling like he used to.

Is it possible that the powdered formula somehow give bubs more wind? I presume the recipe for both the ready-made stuff is the same as the powder stuff so presumably this isn't a problem with the brand of formula not agreeing with him?

Or perhaps it is the breastmilk that is causing the wind? Sorry if this has been asked before, I did try looking it up but I have limited time before he wakes up screaming again...

It's a lot more likely to be the formula (in whatever form) to be making him windy/colicky than breastmilk. Breastfed babies have less digestive issues than artificially fed babies.

What sort of problems have you been having with your supply? Who recommended you 'top up'?

Well he flutter sucked for days before this was pointed out to me. Spent day 4 trying to encourage him to suck with near enough nothing coming out but by the evening, he was tired hungry upset as was I. So introduced a top up.

Could not express or pump anything out so needed him to suckle to stimulate breasts. So the top up sort of developed from that.

Since then, we have started getting let downs and more of a flow. My local BF advice was supplement alternate feeds and express whilst he is FF but the BFeeds merged into the next feed so he never did the textbook thing of "coming off full". He either fell asleep or gave up crying in anger. He can actively feed for 2-3 hours and still not come off full. So I am switch feeding and doing compressions for 2-3 hours with carpal tunnel so that my fingers are all numb then needing to hand express. Nipples are red raw from the attaching and detaching.

So a bit at wit's end now...

could it be the water you're using to make feeds up? maybe you're not using enough/using too much? how old is he?
hope someone more knowledgeable than me will come along!

Mine never got on with the powdered stuff - I always bought ready mixed. At one point I worked out that it was about £7 per week more expensive which, for us, was no problem. It is so much easier too!

arolf - we tried using more water to dilute the stuff so that it was not quite as harsh but it does not really seem to make a difference. DS is 3 weeks 3 days old.

littledawley - that helps I just needed to know that someone had found this and it was not me over-worrying. The money's worth paying to stop the frantic cries (wind and maybe constipation) which I cannot do anything about.

Are you shaking the bottle of powdered formula to mix it? My SIL bottlefeeds and told me (in passing) that her HV advised her to swirl the bottle and rub it back and forth between her hands to avoid putting excessive tiny bubbles in the formula.

Not sure if it is that, I don't have any experience.

Yes, my son was bad on SMA powder (constipated) but OK on Aptamil powder, DD was terrible on ready-mixed cartons (colicy).

I also used Br Browns bottles (now called befree, I think?), they help disperse any bubbles in the milk, so the baby swallows less air.

All babies seem to vary - yours obviously prefers the cartons for some reason - I hear that they do taste different. Conversely, I started my dd on Aptamil cartons and when I switched to powder I found that she much preferred that......Infacol is good - it helps to get wind up well.

I also second what other people have said about trying different formulas. DS was on SMA and was fine so started DD1 on it, she was horribly constipated so changed to Aptamil (ready mixed). That was brilliant for her so I bought it for DD2 - she had horrible colic/wind so took her to a cranial osteopath who recommended Cow and Gate Comfort. That only comes in powdered form so I used that for about a month, then when she was settled on it I switched to Cow and Gate number 1 ready-mixed.