The Formula Issue

Let me start by saying that today I officially begin blogging for real. I created this blog before my son Colin was born with every intention of writing often, but once the reality of working full time and having an infant hit home, the blog went by the wayside. I am officially a stay-at-home mommy as of one week ago, so I am determined to start blogging now! Here goes!

I am feeling like a bad mother this morning for not trusting my gut instinct. Colin is six months old today and has been spitting up a lot since he was born. Everything I read in the beginning said that was normal for a newborn. Then as he started to get older, I started to get worried. He seemed to be hurting often after he ate and the books said it must be gas. I can't tell you how much mylicon I have given that boy! Things did not get better. I just knew that Colin should not be spitting up as much as he was! He would soak himself and me after every single feeding. The backs of all the sofas and chairs in my house have been cleaned over and over from vomit cascading down them. I would go through around 10 cloth diaper rags a day. Colin would not only spit up following a feeding, but then also would continue to spit up randomly all day long. I changed his clothes up to 5 times a day and all the blankets that he plays on during the day would have to be cleaned every night. I KNEW something was not right. When he was 4 months old, I made an appointment with the pedi and they put him on two kinds of acid reflux meds, rantidine and another one that apparently makes the stomach muscles stronger to hold in food. We jumped right in and gave the medicine like clockwork. And still he spits up. He did not get better. I would start to tell myself that maybe there was a slight improvement...just trying to make myself feel better. There was really no difference. Also, I should note that Colin was breastfed for the first 5 months of life. We started supplementing about one bottle a day of formula when I went back to work, but 90% breast milk until almost 5 months old. He spit up from day one.

During all of this, I kept thinking that it might be lactose intolerance of some kind. I just had a feeling. However, when I would get out one of my many baby books (I hate them! That is another discussion later) and they all said that cow's milk was by far the best. They all said that babies are gassy and colicky and it does not mean you should change formula. They all said that switching to soy would not help. They were so discouraging! I started to think that it would be failure to use soy, so I did not try it. So fast forward to last week. I finally bought a can of soy formula just to try it out. And low and behold, Colin is a new man. He has been on soy for 5 days now and he has not spit up ONCE. NOT ONCE! All the diaper rags are clean in his drawer, all the blankets stay dry. He has not had either medicine in days. Literally a complete recovery. I feel like such an ass! I can't believe that my poor son suffered for months for no reason. I don't know why our doctor did not recommend giving soy a try. He never even mentioned the possibility! I should have trusted my own judgement instead of letting those stupid books talk me out of trying the other stuff.

I am an idiot, but I did learn my lesson. As a first time mother, I tend to be worried to trust my instincts in case they are wrong. I now realize that I am innately connected to Colin and if I think something is wrong, it probably is! Also, don't be afraid to try new things! And DO NOT listen to every word you read in baby books!!