elecare! how much?

[Rileys mummy]

hey!
DS is 6 and a half months has been on elecare for 1 week now (was Breast fed before). he has cmpi and we dont know what else yet and has bad reflux. he only takes between 60mls and 120mls but never anymore, usually anywhere between 2.5 and 4 hrs between feeds sometimes longer. since 10pm last night he has consumed only 220mls in total, thats nearly 12hrs. he doesnt have solids yet coz his body isnt quite ready to tolerate them yet( he screams within hours of been fed them and becomes very unsettled, then leading to clog him up for up to 2weeks). how much formula should he be taking for this age? he wont really take water either.
jess:confused:

[bossoflatch]

with babies like ours.. i find that as long as they are giving out plenty of wet nappies., well im happy ..

amy will come on soon .. she knows how to work it out.. perhaps around 800 to 1100mls of formula for that age.. ?

my dd was lucky to manage about 600 on good days when we first started on neocate / elecare.. and some days not even 200mls .. being her worst days..

maybe you could offer smaller bottles more frequently .. or larger bottles and offer it over 1/2 hour of feeding?

elecare is all they need at that age. my dd is 12 months and she is surviving on just that alone..we are doing food trials but nothing to sustain her .. kwim .. we found elecare much better than neocate but you may find your child likes that one better? give it a few more weeks if you can and see what happens with the feeds..the allergies cause so much damage within their gut.. being only a week .. it may take a little while longer to do the repair job that is needed? i think we noticed full effect of the necoate and elecare at 6 weeks each time ..

maybe in another week or two .. your lo will take more feeds as it doesnt hurt so much to feed. ?

take care hun and good luck

[Jadee]

Bossoflatch's post is spot on, our DD still feeds 3 hourly in the day on our paeds advice, and what she is drinking has increased. She has also caught up on all of the weight that she lost. Sometimes a feed will sustain her for 4 hours but not very often.

I had to help DD adjust her body clock she was happier drinking bigger bottles in the night which I was still happy with because she was getting enough formula at least.

If I am really worried I do what Bossoflatch said and offer more after about a 5 to 10 min break and she will take it.

[EsSjAy]

:iagree: with bossoflatch.... After a few weeks on elecare you should see a change in feeding....

Most of the time in these cases bub's will associate feeding with pain.... when things improve HOPEFULLY:fingerscrossed: you will see an improvement....

Good Luck hun x x

[kiwibird27]

Hi my daughter Megan is only tube fed Elecare exclusively, and is 20 months old, she has severe reflux, slow bowel motility and had an unknown allergy to everything other then Elecare. She is currently 10 kgs and to grow she needs 1050 mls in a 24 hour to grow, remember though each baby is different, Megan doesn't crawl etc (not much energy out) and her bowel also doesn't absorb properly so lots of things effect volume needed.
In order not to become dehydrated she needs 840mls of fluid in a 24 hour period. Providing she is getting this her doctor is happy, that includes water or gastrolyte as well as milk.

I know how hard it is takes awhile for the inflammation to improve!!! I can't offer advice on bottle feds, cause we have tube fed from 1 week old!!!

[MyFourCubs]

My Alex started on elecare / neocate at 10 weeks old. I used to offer 120ml bottles every 2-3 hours. Basically whenever there was an opportunity. essjay was right about allergic bubs associating feeding with pain. Alex used to go hysterical at the sight of the bottle until he finally worked out the neocate wasn't hurting him anymore. I also used to have to sit in a really quiet room with no distractions to get him to take it. If I was desperate I used to sit under heat lights in bath room and he wiould feed because he was transfixed by the lights!! Also, I would make up a chart to work out how much he was drinking over a 24 hr period. If you are worried ring paed- if you can tell him exactly how much bub is drinking at least he can tell you when to worry. ALSO, I used to lift Alex out of cot for dream feeds- about 10pm and another at 4pm (although he used to wake for that one.) That was when he drank the most milk! Kept up that 10pm til he was 16mths old and new bub came along!!:D An extra 200mls if you get it in this way is a big help.
Sara:flowerz:

[EsSjAy]

My Alex started on elecare / neocate at 10 weeks old. I used to offer 120ml bottles every 2-3 hours. Basically whenever there was an opportunity. essjay was right about allergic bubs associating feeding with pain. Alex used to go hysterical at the sight of the bottle until he finally worked out the neocate wasn't hurting him anymore. I also used to have to sit in a really quiet room with no distractions to get him to take it. If I was desperate I used to sit under heat lights in bath room and he wiould feed because he was transfixed by the lights!! Also, I would make up a chart to work out how much he was drinking over a 24 hr period. If you are worried ring paed- if you can tell him exactly how much bub is drinking at least he can tell you when to worry. ALSO, I used to lift Alex out of cot for dream feeds- about 10pm and another at 4pm (although he used to wake for that one.) That was when he drank the most milk! Kept up that 10pm til he was 16mths old and new bub came along!!:D An extra 200mls if you get it in this way is a big help.
Sara:flowerz:

This is spot on.....

I found with ds and his reflux (such a horrible scary time) The best thing i did was to distract him with something really interesting like colorful lights, Someone next to me talking to him, even tapping the end of the bottle with my fingers was sometimes enough to distract him. After a 'little' while of doing this he eventually learned that feeding was 'good' instead of 'bad'....
It seems like such a 'basic' fix but it's often the case..... hopefully it will be yours....:fingerscrossed:

x x

[Rileys mummy]

thanks everyone for your help. we have been persistant and he still take between 80mls and 120mls but over a whole day he is pretty much getting the recommended amount. and for the first time ever Ry is only waking once a night aaahhhhh loving it. he is so much more settled!! its been a week and a half and we are defineatly seeing changes in him already. he even whinges for the bottle now when he sees it, it didnt take long for him to forget about his much loved boobies, LOL!!
jess:wave:

[EsSjAy]

thanks everyone for your help. we have been persistant and he still take between 80mls and 120mls but over a whole day he is pretty much getting the recommended amount. and for the first time ever Ry is only waking once a night aaahhhhh loving it. he is so much more settled!! its been a week and a half and we are defineatly seeing changes in him already. he even whinges for the bottle now when he sees it, it didnt take long for him to forget about his much loved boobies, LOL!!
jess:wave:

:smiliedance:.... That's great news hun... what a little champ.....
x x