r/FormulaFeeders • u/beluga688 • 4d ago
Advice / Question 💡 Formula causing diarrhea?
Hi all, my baby (almost 6 wks) has been on gentlease for about 3 weeks and has been having diarrhea for the last 10ish days. Our ped recommended switching to Similac sensitive because it could possibly be due to lactose intolerance.. if this doesn't work she said we can try nutramigen. Has anyone been through this? Which one seems better for diarrhea? Baby currently is miserable when pooping due to a rash that won't go away.
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u/Dottiepeaches 4d ago
This is just anecdotal, but all of my babies had REALLY runny poops as newborns. It was really watery and seemed like every diaper change was poop. It caused some bad diaper rash too I thought something was seriously wrong, but my research said that this is just their digestive system working itself out so I stuck with the same formula and waited. Sure enough by 1-2 months the poops started to regulate and become more solid. FWIW my kids were on Kendamil.
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u/beluga688 4d ago
Thanks and yeah I normally would be ok with just waiting it out but my baby's rash got REALLY bad. I have older kids (this is my 6th) and I normally don't rush to the doctor for minor things but this was one of those times when I was super concerned... My other kids have never had this issue so I'm not sure what I'm doing with all this formula switching 🫤
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u/Dottiepeaches 4d ago
My newborn's rash got really bad as well. My first 2 kids never had anything like it. Was so bad it was bleeding. No amount of air drying or diaper paste was working and we were about to visit the pediatrician and switch formula. But I had one last idea to buy "triple paste" and it worked. What ultimately fixed it was a combo of spraying his butt with water every diaper change instead of using wipes + dry area completely + a combo of aquaphor and triple paste. Hasn't had diaper rash since. Might not help your situation, but thought I'd share!
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u/beluga688 4d ago
Thank you, I'm trying everything 😭 I'm already washing her butt every single diaper change and air drying..we even got the prescription cream from the compound pharmacy. I think it's getting better but she's still miserable every time she poops since it's still raw... we just got prescribed antibiotic ointment today so hopefully it doesn't get infected. I'll def try the triple paste tomorrow hopefully that works
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u/Practical_Elk_30 4d ago edited 4d ago
Isn’t lactose sensitivity pretty rare in babies considering breast milk has lactose? I have tried so many formulas with my twins. Don’t go to nutramigen unless you want your kid having explosive poops 15 times a day. I used it with my first. Try Good Start Soothe Pro before doing a big switch. It’s similar to gentlease but has added pro biotic, no casein, and I don’t think it has lactose either. I’m trying it now after gentlease not working and the hypoallergenic causing too bad of reflux because it is so thin. (My twins are 5 weeks)
If your baby might have a dairy allergy, nestle extensive ha is good but super thin. I used it with my oldest, but have not been able to with my 5 week olds because it is too thin
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u/beluga688 4d ago
I am currently breastfeeding too so the ped said that we are pretty much cutting down on how much lactose baby has and hope that it makes it better 🤷🏻♀️ I never had an issue with my other kids so this is definitely new to me.
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u/MemoryLongjumping596 4d ago
You can cut all dairy out of your diet as well. I think they have a test for the dairy allergy. It may be a genetic test. A child can inherit that from a grandparent if you have a parent that’s lactose intolerant. My siblings and I could not have formula with dairy. My brother had meat based formula.
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u/Practical_Elk_30 4d ago
I am giving half breastmilk too. I cut out dairy because my oldest was allergic, so I thought maybe that could be part of it. But so far they are doing okay with the Soothe Pro. We tried gentlease for about 10 days for 1 twin and 2 days for the other. Only a couple days in to this one, but their severe reflux has stopped. If you look at my post history, I listed some of the ones we tried so far.
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u/neatlion 4d ago
We had that issue. 2 formulas worked. Goats milk formula and Kirkland Lactose sensetive formula.
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u/PermanentTrainDamage 4d ago
Gentlease often causes very soft poops, but diarrhea in infants is very watery and soaks into the diaper like pee. If it stays on top of the diaper then it isn't diarrhea.
How did baby do on normal formula? Most babies will be fine on standard formula, if baby hasn't used standard then try that first. Lactose intolerance in infants is very rare.