#2 Question

[SquirrelyGurly]

I've had three, 3 week old babies for a week now and I had them on esbilac which caused constipation so I purchased FV 20/50 and I mixed 1/3 into my mixture (so I do 1/8 c esbilac with 2 parts water, and I mix in 2tsp prepared FV into it). Two of my babies are now pooping like champs but 1 seems to be struggling. I'm still able to get her to make a bm at every feeding (every 4 hours) but the consistency is like a thick mustard and not formed like my other two. It's difficult to get her stimulated to poop and she seems to struggle to get it out and isn't producing much. I did skip a feeding and gave her fluids (pedialyte) but I don't feel like it made any difference. Any suggestions on what I can do differently to help?

[SquirrelyGurly]

I'm unsure if I should treat this as constipation or diarrhea, because it is soft and mushy like a looser stool would be but she is struggling to get it out

[Spanky]

Give 0.5ml - 1ml of water with just a little sugar between feedings for a half a day to a day. If they are eating every 4 hours, give her the sugar water after 3 hours, 1 hour before the next feeding.

Just to be certain, the powdered Esbilac is the one that meets a squirrels need, and not the liquid version which surprisingly is very different from the powdered version.

Be sure to store opened powdered formula in the freezer... minimally the fridge... don't believe the label that says is okay at room temp. We have plenty of examples of the formulas going rancid at room temp.

[SquirrelyGurly]

Yes she is eating every 4 hours so I will start her on the sugar water in between the feedings and see if that will help! It is the powdered esbilac but I had no idea it should be stored in the freezer... putting it in there now! Thank you!!

[Spanky]

Yes she is eating every 4 hours so I will start her on the sugar water in between the feedings and see if that will help! It is the powdered esbilac but I had no idea it should be stored in the freezer... putting it in there now! Thank you!!

Make sure it does not smell rancid... we're not sure if it's that some folks' room temp to very warm, humidity or some other factor but it does often go rancid at room temps!