Did anyone switch to formula for Colic?

[pghmom]

Hello,
I've heard a few people who babies were colic that they switched to formula and it seemed to help with their babies colic/gas issues. I know nursing is  best but just wondering if there are a few cases out there whose babies might have been reacting to their breast milk.
Has this happened to anyone?
Our dd has had colic since week 5 and is now 13 weeks. And the last two days it has actually gotten worse. Hasn't been anything I'm eating.
Thanks

[Canwi]

Have you had your LO assessed for Reflux?  "Colic" is an umbrella term used by the medical world to describe any tummy related upset inclusive of reflux.
Have a look at http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0. 
If any of it rings bells, then get into a doctor ASAP and ask for some medications to help out your LO.
If none of it sounds familiar then try looking at http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=107244.0 and see if there's anything there that matches your situation.

True colic is mostly gone by 12 weeks of age in my limited experience. 

Usually a reaction to mother's breastmilk is a reaction to something she has eaten or drunk.  How long have you kept things out of your diet to assess if your DD is affected by things?

If a LO has reflux then the colic/gas issues may diminish when changed to formula as formula is a bit thicker than breastmilk.  Therefore it stays down in the stomach better and doesn't come back up the oesophagus as quickly.  Also with formula you have the option of getting reflux specific brands which are even thicker.
HTH

[pghmom]

No she doesn't have reflux or anything like that. It's not dairy or anything else I'm eating.

[KellyDMB]

My daughter had silent reflux and it was it's worse from 12-16 weeks.  There are no signs or symptoms and it's worse on their espohogas becasue it burns on the way up and again on the way back down, at least if they got it out they would have relief.  Not to say our LO has it, but something to think about.  After 12 weeks the doc's stop saying "colic" and try to make a diagnosis.  We started Zantac and Nutramigin and by five months I had a completely satisfied, sleeping dream of a baby!  The hypoallergenic formulas are great for dairy/soy intollerent babies or when you are having trouble determining what is causing the problem.  In hindsight I wish I had continued to bf, but we live and learn and thats what worked at the time. 

[Peek-a-boo]

No she doesn't have reflux or anything like that. It's not dairy or anything else I'm eating.

How do you know for sure?  Have you strictly eliminated all dairy including trace amounts for a full two weeks?  For dairy--a really common cause of "colic"--it can take two full weeks for the proteins to get out of your system and for you to see improvement. 

If it's really just ambiguous fussiness/colic it should be starting to improve by this age, not getting worse.  The peek for fussiness is 6 weeks, with most babies improving a lot by 12-14 weeks.

[pghmom]

Haven't been on here in awhile. And yes I was off dairy for over two weeks and it still happened.

[Peek-a-boo]

How are things going?   

[Mashi]

Reviving an old thread that I've come across, just because I have something to add!

A close friend of ours who has a LO a few weeks younger than mine switched formulas for this reason. Her DS started crying and screaming for hours every night and her HV said it was colic. (Personally, I believe it was OT as she used to leave him up and awake for 4 or 5 hours at a time and he only ever took three 30minute naps in the day.....but anyway...) his poop started turning green, and so HV said to change the formula. She went from Aptamil to Cow and Gate, and it all disappeared instantly - poops were normal, and no more colic at night. (Although, her LO still cries all the time from OT....)

SOOO, it's somewhat of an answer!