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We will hopefully be adopting an AA newborn in a couple of weeks and was just talking with our CW about what type of formula to use. With our AA/Hisp daughter we used Enfamil Low Iron but she was telling me that most AA babies do not tolerate regular formula very well and most need to be changed over to Soy. I am just looking for what others have experienced.
Thanks for the help.
Sara
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Sara Rae,
I've never heard of this either. My son came home from the hospital drinking Similiac Advance with Iron. We never had any problems with it. His black peditrician never mentioned anything about black babies not tolerating formula well.
My foster daughter was almost premature and I picked her up from the hospital drinking the same Similiac formula as my son did.
I say stick with whatever formula your son or daughter comes home drinking unless s/he starts to have problems with it. That's what I did and it's worked out fine for me.
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I've heard about Asian babies often being lactose intolerant. Supposedly this was because milk is not a big part of the diet in some Asian countries. That kind of made sense to me. My son is half Ethiopian (thus African), and he had no problem with regular milk-based formula. I think that it really depends on the individual baby. Keep your baby on the formula he's accustomed to, if there aren't any problems with it.
I've heard this.However, my feeling was to stick with what they had her on at the hospital so that there were as few major changes as possible. So I waited to see what the hospital was using and went with that. She's been fine on it ever since (she's now 9-1/2 months old) it's Enfamil Lipil with Iron. Personally, I would stick with whatever the baby is on and then you can slowly change them later if you really want to.
Our daughter started out on Similac and it became evident very quickly that she was not tolerating it very well. Extreme gassiness and explosive (literally) poops. She also got some irritated skin in the diaper area because if you don't digest lactose correctly it can make things acidic. Our pediatrician switched her over to Lactose Free (Enfamil) and that improved the situation significantly. She is still on it. She may outgrow the intolerance, but we won't test that out until about one year. So don't assume that will be the case, but just keep it in mind that it is a possibility (more common) with African American heritage than with caucasian babies.
My daughter started out on Similac but then I asked the doctor about switching her to the Costco brand because it was half the price. Our doctor and our caseworker said "Save your money." Don't buy the name brand because formula is formula. She does just fine. We've even used cans of Enfamil that we got for free and she doesn't seem to mind at all. I guess it just depends on the baby.
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my daughter started out on similac advanced and since day 3 she had black tar like poop and it was like diareah. I finally talked to the Dr. about it last week and he said that it is a normal lactose allergy that she has and changed her to similac isomil which is soy. I had everyone give me formula so I had to take back 29 cans of similac advanced and i still have another 35 cans to return. They returned them one for one and I had to pay the difference, however walmart the isomil was cheaper so they gave me an extra can. maybe after all the cans i have left are gone i might try the generic brand.. but it is true that soy leaves them very constipated. My dr. said to give her some corn syrup but I told him no.. There are so many kids w/ corn allergies I didnt want to deal w/ that now too. So i gave her some apple juice. 1oz apple juice to 1 oz water and she finally had a great bowel movement. Felt much better... Just wait to see not all babies are allergic. I would wait a few days and see how its going then ask everyone to get you some cans. This saves a lot of money... AJ
Aj - have you tried Pedialyte? I gave Cooper 2 oz of Pedialyte at night and morning when he was little, it helped SO much and what a difference!! Now I give it to him at night if I think I need to extend a feeding or he needs to poo. He LOVES it also and I really think it helps him stay regular. Anyways...just a suggestion!
ajrl
my daughter started out on similac advanced and since day 3 she had black tar like poop and it was like diareah. I finally talked to the Dr. about it last week and he said that it is a normal lactose allergy that she has and changed her to similac isomil which is soy. I had everyone give me formula so I had to take back 29 cans of similac advanced and i still have another 35 cans to return. They returned them one for one and I had to pay the difference, however walmart the isomil was cheaper so they gave me an extra can. maybe after all the cans i have left are gone i might try the generic brand.. but it is true that soy leaves them very constipated. My dr. said to give her some corn syrup but I told him no.. There are so many kids w/ corn allergies I didnt want to deal w/ that now too. So i gave her some apple juice. 1oz apple juice to 1 oz water and she finally had a great bowel movement. Felt much better... Just wait to see not all babies are allergic. I would wait a few days and see how its going then ask everyone to get you some cans. This saves a lot of money... AJ
Jean - I can't speak for AJ but I know I got tons of formula at my showers and just from people in general (baby gifts, etc). I actually put it on my registry so people would know what kind I use! OMG that and diapers, I got so many diapers I am probably going to have to take some back and exchange them for a bigger size!! LOL From my work (well kinda, a big grocery chain I work in thier office...I get paid by a broker though...real confusing) well they sent me a CASE of each size of the Huggies Supreme Gentle Care size 1,2, & 3, a CASE of Huggies Body Wash, a CASE of Huggies Shampoo, and a CASE of Huggies pre-soaked washclothed (LOVE these!). Pretty cool! But anyways...I know not everyone gets that much stuff, but my family went crazy giving me formula and coupons and diapers....they knew I got all that stuff so they didn't get too much of that but they would have! I think that is what she was talking about.
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Runyan2002
Jean - I can't speak for AJ but I know I got tons of formula at my showers and just from people in general (baby gifts, etc). I actually put it on my registry so people would know what kind I use! OMG that and diapers, I got so many diapers I am probably going to have to take some back and exchange them for a bigger size!! LOL From my work (well kinda, a big grocery chain I work in thier office...I get paid by a broker though...real confusing) well they sent me a CASE of each size of the Huggies Supreme Gentle Care size 1,2, & 3, a CASE of Huggies Body Wash, a CASE of Huggies Shampoo, and a CASE of Huggies pre-soaked washclothed (LOVE these!). Pretty cool! But anyways...I know not everyone gets that much stuff, but my family went crazy giving me formula and coupons and diapers....they knew I got all that stuff so they didn't get too much of that but they would have! I think that is what she was talking about.
I think this is a situation where a little knowlegde has become a dangerous thing. Almost all of the infant formulas are made from waste products of cow's milk. A higher percentage of AA people are lactose intolerant and this CW extraoplated that more AA babies have formula issues. In most cases lactose intoleranec doesn't show up until later in childhood so most of the time a cow's milk based formula is ok for all babies. Now cow milk protein sensitivity is a differnt animal but it doesn't seem to have any corealtion to race. Three of my biracial kids had cow's milk protein sensitivy as little babies but drink gallons of milk now with no problem, the one who was on regular formula with no problems is NOW lactose intolerant. One has nothing to do with the other.
lisa
I think it is a major generalization to say that most African American babies are lactose intolerant. I am going to venture to say that is NOt true. Most of the babies I know, and have known are not. I don't know many AA babies who had to be swicthed to SOy, as a matter of fact i know 1 baby who did.
Any pediatrician will tell you that you should start with a milk based formula, and if you have problems then switch to soy. You can't just assume that your child will be lactose intolerant.
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Guspiv
I think it is a major generalization to say that most African American babies are lactose intolerant. I am going to venture to say that is NOt true. Most of the babies I know, and have known are not. I don't know many AA babies who had to be swicthed to SOy, as a matter of fact i know 1 baby who did. Any pediatrician will tell you that you should start with a milk based formula, and if you have problems then switch to soy. You can't just assume that your child will be lactose intolerant.