Enfamil Gentlease Lipil: Baby Formula Designed for Gassy Babies But Not Too Effective

My almost-four-month-old granddaughter Jaelyn is primarily a breast-fed baby. She is also a very colicky, gassy baby. When my daughter discussed the problem with the doctor, he suggested she occasionally try Enfamil Gentlease Lipil baby formula and see if that made a difference.

As a mom who exclusively breast-fed four babies, I find it very frustrating when the first idea is to add formula to a baby's diet. My daughter is not as obsessive about breast milk only, though, and is more open-minded about trying formula. When they spent time with us during the holidays, she broke out the can of formula when Jaelyn was having a particularly fussy evening.

The baby took the formula, albeit a bit reluctantly, but she did get it down. There was absolutely no change in her gassiness or fussiness, and I ended up walking her to sleep like I did every night without the formula - and like I did every night when my own babies were gassy or fussy.

Still, an occasional bottle of formula is unlikely to harm my granddaughter. My daughter's current school schedule is four evenings a week, and though she pumps as much breastmilk as she can, sometimes Jaelyn will need some formula to tide her over until her mom gets home from school.

Enfamil Gentlease Lipil is particularly labeled "for babies with fussiness or gas." I found that kind of laughable, to be honest. It is the rare baby who never experiences fussiness or gas, no matter what feeding method is used with them. Their digestive systems are still learning to process food, and fussiness is often simply their only way to communicate. Needless to say, I was not terribly impressed with this formula's claims and the way my granddaughter reacted to it.


About the Formula

This product is a milk-based formula, noted to have "partially broken down proteins and reduced lactose.". Frankly, that sounds yucky to me. Better to have good, old-fashioned natural breast milk.

Ingredients are as follows: corn syrup solids, partially hydrolyzed nonfat milk and whey protein concentrate solids, vegetable oil (palm olein, soy, coconut, and high oleic sunflower oils), and less than 2% mortierella alpina oil, crypthecodinium cohni oil, vitam a palmitate, vitamin D3, vitamin E acetate, vitamin K1, thiamin hydrochloride, riboflavin, vitamin B6 hydrochloride, vitamin B12, niacinamide, folic acid, calcium pantothenate, biotin, ascorbic acid, choline choride, inositol, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cupric sulfate, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, potassium chloride, sodium selenite, taurine, and L-carnitine.

Wow. Yuck. I don't see how that ingredient list sounds the least bit appetizing. And I will admit I was a bit appalled to see that corn syrup solids are the main ingredient! I will definitely have to refer my daughter to this Epinion; she may change her mind about even occasional formula feeding after reading this ingredient list.


Nutritional Qualities of this Formula

With normal dilution, a five fluid ounce bottle of this formula contains the following nutritional qualities:

protein 2.3 grams
fat 5.3 grams
carbohydrates 10.8 grams
water 134 grams
linoleic acid 860 mg

Also noted are a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Nutritionally, this formula is likely as good as any other one on the market.


Using this Formula

Mixing directions are very simple and easy to follow. Simply add one unpacked scoop of formula to two ounces of water. I found that the easiest way to mix the formula was to run the tap water to the correct temperature, fill the bottle, add the designated amount of formula, and shake to mix.

***Note: I did find it interesting that the nutritional analysis is based on a five ounce serving when the recommended servings are in even number increments (two, four, six, etc.)


Final Thoughts

As far as baby formula goes, this one seems to be just as good as any other for providing basic nutritional needs for an infant. My daughter has indicated that she has not noticed any difference in gas and/or fussiness anytime she has used this Enfamil Gentlease Lipil formula, and I also did not notice any difference when Jaelyn had the formula at my home.

As with all baby formulas, this one is pretty expensive. At http://store.enfamil.com you can purchase a case of four 24 ounce cans of formula for $108. It can be found slightly cheaper and on sale occasionally at regular grocery stores.