Seeking the formula for parenting

Blogger Content: September 2006 - April 2010

Flexible Links

My Blogging Inspiration
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Flexible Affiliations


Parent Bloggers Network
- Crazy/Hip Blog-Mamas+
(Random Site)
A Member of Bust's Girl Wide Web
Parenting Blogs - Blog Top Sites
blog search directory
Search For Blogs, Submit Blogs, The Ultimate Blog Directory

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Switching Formula

When my older son (OS) was born, I just used whatever free sample of pre-made formula I had in the house. At some point during his first few well baby checks, the nurse told me that I should really just pick one formula and stick with it. Since we had a lot more Similiac lying around than Enfamil, we went with Simliac. At one point I tried to give him Enfamil, but he just didn't really like it. We went back to Similac. I gave the barely used can to someone who followed my original practice of using whatever formula was on sale. When OS was about 11 months old, he caught the stomach flu and refused to drink any more Similac. We switched him over to Nestle Supreme without a problem. Both times I switched formula, I immediately gave OS full bottles of the new formula without any structured transition.

When OS turned a year, the pediatrician told me to switch him over to whole milk. She said some babies need to start on milk gradually with one ounce of milk to 3 ounces of formula for a few days, then 2:2 for a few days, followed by 3:1, and then eventually just whole milk. Knowing OS's history, I assumed he was not one of the babies who needed such measures. I immediately gave OS a full bottle of regular milk and he was fine, and he took to it well. Here's what I learned from the whle experince:

  • Some parents stick with one brand of formula during the year their baby is on formula, while other parents switch
  • Some parents go from one formula to the next (or from formula straight to milk) while others do a ratio of new formula to old formula (or formula to milk) as a transition
  • The decision as to whether to transition, and if so how to transition a baby between formulas is completely dependent on the baby. I sometimes wonder if I had gradually switched OS over from Similac to Enfamil if he would have taken it
  • Ask your pediatrician her opinion on if and how you should switch formula


A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: There are a couple different ways to switch formula; ask your baby's pediatrician her opinion.

Labels: ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 10:56 PM   1 comments
1 Comments:

  • At 1/15/2007 7:25 PM, Blogger Karianna said…

    My two sons did this differently, had different preferences, etc. Plus, I was breastfeeding as well as formula-feeding, so there was a lot of "mixing and matching" out there!

    Sadly, the different pediatricians seem to be rather solid about their beliefs, despite the fact that parents have to be... flexible!

     
Post a Comment
Home
 

My Profile

Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
See my complete profile

Flexible Media Appearances

The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Fox TV, August 3, 2007

Flexible Feeds

More Flexible Parenting

Grasshopper New Media Parents
Just Cause
Birth Days

Flexible Categories

Previous Posts

Archives

For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

Powered by Blogger
© Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting


Creative Commons License
Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting by Alex Elliot is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Template Design based on one produced by isnaini dot com