For about the price of two cups of coffee a day, granted it’s Boston Starbuck’s prices, we seemed to have solved HBomb’s explosions. Yup, it’s the formula, stupid. When we first made the tough decision to go to formula we decided upon the same formula Hayes had been enjoying in the hospital, Similac Isomil Advanced. Shortly after we arrived home, Hayes started going from mild-mannered newborn to incredible hulk style temper-tantrums for no apparent reason. Or, so we thought.

Turns out it was the formula. Not the brand, which was perfectly fine, it was the powdered form. For some reason it gave him gas — lots of it– and he was very unhappy about it. We bought the powder because it was about 30% cheaper than the premixed stuff so the savings we realized of about $10 for each can seemed pretty great.

But after all his fusing, we decided we had to make a change. Being a relatively scientific thinker — or at least scientific for a graphic designer — I began trying to rule things out. First went his sleeping. He wasn’t sleeping and he didn’t want to either. So, it wasn’t that. Then came the burping. He wouldn’t burp, unless you count butt burps, so it wasn’t that. Finally, it turns out the only thing we could change was the formula. So formula it was. We thought it might just be the copious amount of bubbles that appeared when we shook the formula and the powder, so we tried making large batches in the industrial strength Waring blender we have. It looked better, but Hayes didn’t like it better.

After an impromptu visit to the pediatrician on Friday for what appeared to be an eye infection (it wasn’t) we stopped at Target when I dropped a chunk of change on 1 Qt bottles. Jen opened one up in the car to feed him but he ended up falling back to sleep. We returned home and continued to feed him what I thought was the new formula. It wasn’t. Jen was trying to use up the last of her blender mixed stuff, so after being up with him until 11PM, I switched to the premixed bottles. Hayes fell right to sleep. I thought nothing of it.

It took me about 12 hours for my addled head to come to the realization that Hayes’ good behavior was not, in fact, because he had been replaced with a new baby by alien abductors. Nope. It was because of the premixed formula. That’s what I think, anyway. What other change happened the same day he became a model baby? Nothing as far as I can tell. Jen refuses to say it, as she’s afraid admitting it will jinx it. I told her that he’s not the Red Sox and you can’t jinx a win just by saying something like “they’re going to win this one.” Then again, the Red Sox are no longer the Red Sox… so my jinxing analogies are in need of some updating.

So if you have a colicky baby and are doing the formula thing, I highly recommend you try changing to the premixed stuff to see if it helps. I know it’s more expensive. I mean I’m going to have to give up either my crack cocaine or X habit just to pay for it. Take it from me, there is no expense that should be spared for a happy child and wife.