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Infant feeding

Best formula for reflux baby?

9 replies

YogaMummy2B · 29/05/2011 00:21

I need a good old thick formula for my silent refluxy LO. Poor wee mite, can hear the fluid come back up her throat and she starts to cough and gag and splutter. She then swallows it again.
It's waking her up and I would like to try and get it under control.
She is currently on C&G comfort and I was thickening with Carobel but not sure her tummy agreed with the Carobel and we had lots of windy issues.
I think she needs the partially hydrolysed formula as she seems to have a few little tummy troubles.
On medication for the reflux but would love to get the formula right!
Also teat recommendation needed, she is using Avent and finds anything faster than #2 distressing even with the thicker comfort milk. It takes her nearly 1hour to drink a bottle as it's so slow for the milk to come out. I would ideally like this to be faster ESP at night as I'm totally exhausted and run down/ill from lack of sleep.

Thanks

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BooyHoo · 29/05/2011 00:25

have you asked your GP or HV for advice on whick formula you should use?

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YogaMummy2B · 29/05/2011 03:44

Yes, even the Paediatrician wasn't very helpful and just suggested thickening with Carobel.

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rosielum · 29/05/2011 06:43

My daughter is on Nutramigen lipil, she is on ranitidine and domperidone for reflux and has a dairy allergy but the nutramigen has been great. hospital dietician said nutramigen is tolerated well but almost all babies.

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narmada · 29/05/2011 22:04

yogamummy if you suspect dairy issues, go and get a prescription for a properly hydrolysed formula - IME Aptamil Pepti is the most palatable, Neocate is the least (and most expensive). However, I don't think the pepti is as broken down as, say, nutramigen, but I couldn't get DS to take the latter even heavily flavoured with nesquik . The GP can prescribe these formulas albeit often reluctantly because they are expensive to prescribe. The commercially-available hydrolysed formulas (e.g., comfort milks) are barely broken down at all and won't be any good if she is dairy intolerant. Soy not recommended as it's often an allergen for babies who are dairy intolerant and there are concerns about its estrogen-like compound content.

Your paed sounds a bit crap :(, sorry you've not had any good medical help. Have you got a good GP?

You could always order in one of the hydrolysed milks from Boots or similar and buy it OTC to try and see if it makes any difference - although our dietician said a good 2 week exclusion of unmodified dairy was probably about what was needed to see resolution of symptoms.

Best of luck finding something that suits - and sorry again you've had such meh support from the medical world.

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narmada · 29/05/2011 22:06

PS if you're using omeprazole or similar it can cause constipation and wind, but a more likely candidate might be issues with dairy.

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NicholaGriff · 29/05/2011 23:15

Enfamil AR worked great for our LO. She wasn't on any other medication so could have been a mild case, but within a few days of starting the formula, her symptoms subsided. Good luck.

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rosielum · 30/05/2011 07:25

Yes to be fair the Nutramigen doesn't taste great, how old is your LO? I think you can sometimes get them used to the taste if you slowly mix it with their usual formula but maybe that is more when they are younger. My DD is tube fed so wasn't an issue for us.

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YogaMummy2B · 30/05/2011 08:09

Don't know what to do! I agree Narmada, Paediatrician was a bit crap. When I mentioned a milk intolerance he totally dismissed it and suggested that as the reflux was also present when I was EBF it would not be dairy, even though I was not dairy free for 2 weeks. I told him that I noticed a difference from when she was taking SMA gold to the comfort milk and asked if this could be contributing and he said unlikely!
I was considering trying the Enfamil as a next step and if things start to flair up more then I have evidence to suggest she does have a dairy issue.
Is Enfamil thicker or does it just thicken in tummy? This feeding issue is also a little bit of a problem.

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YogaMummy2B · 31/05/2011 06:32

Have now done 3 feeds with the Enfamil and my LO seems to be gathering pain at each one! Her 4.00 am feed has resulted in 2 hours of grunting and wriggling and no sleep! The fluid still seems to be working it's way up her throat. Does that sound like the Aptamil pepti is required?
She also now has a little wheeze.