Feeding issues

So my little Lauren is having some feeding issues. She has pretty much always had really bad eczema, and when I was breastfeeding, it got better when I eliminated some things from my diet. But now, I'm not breastfeeding anymore. I just dried up and have nothing.

I'm kind of anti-formula. I just don't see how something that is primarily made up of corn syrup can be good for a baby. So we put Lauren on raw goat milk. That's what we did for Faith, and she really thrived on it (although it is deficient in some things - like folic acid and B12 - so we have to supplement as well). Lauren, however, is having a harder time. She is getting constipated, and she is congested, and her skin is breaking out. She is always scratching at her head or her belly or her legs - whatever she can reach. Her congestion isn't really bad, but it's enough to make her sound like she's growling when she breathes, and she wakes up several times at night coughing. But she isn't sick. She doesn't have a fever, or even a runny nose.

I took her to her six-month appointment last Monday, and the doctor suggested that I try a soy formula for a few days, to see if her congestion and skin would clear up. So I did. At first she seemed to do okay. She spit up a little more than normal, but it wasn't too big a deal. But after a day or two, she started to throw up everything she ate. Everything. On that day, she only kept about three ounces down. So about a day later, I switched her to a different formula - milk-based, but with the proteins partially broken down to make it more gentle. And same thing. She just puked everything up for another day or so. But the scratching and the congestion seemed to clear up.

So I put her back on goat milk. And guess what? She hasn't puked since. But she's congested and scratching again.

And hence my frustration. Just try to find a reasonable, affordable, healthy alternative to breastmilk, that isn't milk- or soy-based, isn't primarily made up of sugar/corn syrup, and doesn't involve pureeing raw liver. (Seriously - besides the fact that liver tastes disgusting, why would you want to take the body's filter and feed it to your baby? It's like going to your furnace filter and eating it.)

Thank goodness for Mandi and her resources. I got some great ideas for making a rice milk formula, or a coconut milk formula. I did the rice milk one today, and Lauren drank it just fine. Except she still drinks from a bottle, and the protein powder I had to add kept clogging up the nipple. So I need to figure out how to get her to drink it more easily. I tried a sippy cup, and she did okay, but not really that well. So I guess I'll just have to work with her on a cup and eventually get rid of the bottle altogether.

But in the meantime, how do I get her to drink enough? I finally gave up tonight and gave her a bottle of goat milk again. It's just not very effective to take the bottle out of her mouth every minute and clean out the nipple. Not very conducive to falling asleep at night. I considered straining the formula, but then I would be straining out the proteins and stuff that won't dissolve completely, and that just defeats the purpose of making the formula in the first place.

I'm really bugged. Surely there are more kids than just mine in this world who just don't tolerate dairy or soy, and whose moms just aren't happy with feeding them corn syrup. (Seriously - milk, soy, and corn are some of the major allergens. Surely they can come up with something better.) Oh, and if they could come up with something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, that would be better. It would be nice if we could afford to feed the whole family, and not just the baby.

Yeah, just venting right now. Like I said, I'm frustrated.

But thanks, Mandi, for your help. And thanks, April, for suggesting in the first place that I make my own formula. (I still might come up with my own avocado-based formula. We'll see.)