Warning: Ranting, Raving and TMI ahead. Proceed with caution.
(Or not, it's not really that bad unless breast feeding makes you squeemish)
I'm quite irritated at the moment and feel like getting on my soap box, if you don't mind. My baby is 4 months old and we think he may be lactose intollerant. I am, so his chances are good, and we've been having a hard time finding a formula that works well with his tummy. So, we tried the soy formulas and the lactose-free formulas such as
Alimentum and
Nutramigen and quite a few others, too numerous to mention, (ones for gassiness, fussiness, regular ol' stuff too, etc.,) but tipically within these two same brands. Now, don't get me wrong, I really like these two brands. The first is actually the one that our baby prefers, but that's in the regular fomulas such as the
Sensitive formula. (He's very gassy... gets that from momma LOL) but lately he's been having a bit of trouble. So, we decided to try the lactose free ones. (and let me tell you, this crap is too
expensive to be "trying" different formulas only to find that after a few bottles, it's not the right one!)
So, anyway, he won't take them. He makes these nasty faces and pushes his tongue against the roof of his mouth and then out, like he's trying to get the taste out. He didn't do that with the other Sensitive one. So, I tried the lactose free ones myself. OMG I thought I'd puke! These aren't just bad, they're
absolutely nasty! Disgusting! Gross! No wonder he didn't want it. Geez! Not that regular formula is the best thing in the world, but c'mon, does it have to taste rotten?! Like spoiled milk or something that crawled out from the back of the fridge, forgotten for months. Y U C K !
We tried adding a little rice cereal to help with the taste (we'd been adding rice cereal for a while because just formula wasn't filling him up anymore. (he's a big boy, but not fat at all. He was over 9 pounds when he was born!) The rice cereal helped a bit, he gets about 2 ounces down now, but that's about it... when he's been drinking 6 ounces easily, that's too little.
So, I decide to try to look up if I can add sugar or something to sweeten it up a bit. And I get
this result. So, I pick a few and read and that's what's irritated me the most. Other than the fact that I've almost gone broke and have about 20 different cans of formula in the pantry that he'll never eat, from trial and error. Honestly, why can't they make trial sizes?! other than the few you get from the hospital when the baby's first born, I mean.... but I digress....
I'm not picking on any site inparticular. I'm mad at the so-called "experts" who answered on
Amma's site. They had the nerve to say that ALL formulas have some sort of sweetner in them already and that there's no reason to add anything. They obviously have never tried the soy or lactose free versions of formula. Nor do they probably even have children of their own. I know the formula makers can't possibly have kids... otherwise they would give us mom's a break on the price or make those trial sizes I mentioned!
Anyway, who are they trying to kid?! Already sweet enough?! If that's sweet, then bitter or bad would probably kill a horse! Ugh!
Oh, and one expert (can't remember if it was from that site or one of the others) actually said that babies don't really know the difference between tastes/flavors (I'm paraphrasing badly) so it doesn't matter. Are you kidding me? I've seen the look on my baby's face when I've tried different things with him (please don't bash me, it's only little drops of stuff and only one or two at a time) and I see him either make a yucky face as with the nasty formulas, or he smiles with the taste of a popcicle or some other flavorful and yummy food, and he gets all excited when he tastes something like that.
So, did I ruin his ability to eat formula because he now knows good flavors? No, because he'll still eat the regular formulas without issue, but his tummy doesn't like them. It's the nasty soy and lactose free versions that I'm upset with.
And let's not forget to complain about the "experts" who insist on breast feeding. I would have loved to have breast fed my little one... I was devastated when I couldn't. But unfortunately, I didn't produce enough milk. And I know there are people out there who think that ALL women produce plenty of milk and I'm just not trying hard enough... well, you're wrong. I'm sorry to tell you that, but you are. I even tried pumping... and after 45 minutes on both sides, I didn't get barely an ounce and then I'd have to wait a couple hours before any more would come out. OK, that's a little TMI, but I'm really ticked off at those who think that it's impossible for me to not be able to breast feed. I tried. I tried until the doctor said that if he didn't get formula, then he'd have to be put in the hospital for losing too much weight. So, devastation set in and so did depression, because I'd looked forward to that bonding method all my life, only to have it dashed and destroyed. (On the up side, my husband was able to take the middle-of-the-night feedings and let me get some much needed sleep. I was still recovering from the surgery, afterall.)
So, that's what ticks me off at 5am with a crying baby and a nasty taste in my mouth.
~Oddyssey
