Prep machine

[Sparkles556]

DS is 5 weeks old today and is formula fed. He is constantly sick during and after feeds and always seems to be uncomfortable. I spoke to the health visitor and she suggested changing milk which I have done but it’s not making any difference. I have a tommee tippee prep machine and have been adding the hot water, then adding the scoops, then the cold water but SIL came round today and told me I’m doing it wrong and it may be the reason why DS is always sick. I can’t remember exactly what she said to do as I had my hands full with DS so I’m wondering if anyone else uses one and how do you make the bottles? Thanks

She’s wrong that it’s making him sick. I used to add the power before the hot water as I found it less likely to get stuck in the teat that way, but you are doing it the recommended way.

What size teat do you have? That can cause too much milk which can cause sickness. Any sign of reflux? CMPA?

@ColourfulElmerElephant Size 2 which was recommended by the health visitor as size 1 was making him tired. I’m not really too clued up in reflux and CMPA, but he is very sicky and cry’s out quite a lot even in his sleep. Sometimes when he is feeding his stomach makes all kind of noises. It’s like something is bugging him

I also put the powder in first but can't see how that would make much of a difference.

This sounds like my DD at that age, she had reflux and we had to change her milk.

@BabyBooDueNov21 I did wonder how it would make a difference. I did read up on reflux and the symptoms and it does seem like that’s what he’s suffering if I had to take a guess, but I’ve already changed milk and it’s not helped. Is there anything else I could do?

Babies do have very gurgly tummies and often look in distress whereas the reality is that their bowels are immature and learning what to do along with the rest of them.

I’d go back to size 1 and see if that helps with the vomiting at all. Reflux can cause comfort feeding which in turn can cause sickness.

[quote Sparkles556]@BabyBooDueNov21 I did wonder how it would make a difference. I did read up on reflux and the symptoms and it does seem like that’s what he’s suffering if I had to take a guess, but I’ve already changed milk and it’s not helped. Is there anything else I could do?[/quote]
If he has reflux, see your GP. Something like omeprazole can be a game changer.

@ColourfulElmerElephant thank you I’ll try and get him an appointment

You are using the machine correctly. My baby was like this and I have changed to comfort milk which is slightly thicker. I also changed to variflow tests as it wasn't coming out of the size 1. Comfort milk can be bought at the supermarket but they suggest discussing it with HV first before making any changes. Aptimel also do a reflux milk which is even thicker than the comfort.

@Sparkles556 I took DD to the GP who advised to change her milk, I wasn't offered any medication for it. She'd been having Cow and Gate so we switched to their anti-reflux milk, which she was fairly happy on - it takes 7 mins IIRC for the milk to thicken when you make a bottle so I used to do it slightly in advance (I could set my watch by her mealtimes )

The downside was that the thicker milk gave her constipation, quite bad, sometimes there'd be blood in her nappy. GP then advised that we give her lactulose 2 x a day to help with the constipation, and it did work. I would also hold her upright after every feed for 20ish minutes which seemed to help her settle more comfortably.

It wasn't ideal with the constipation but the milk made such a difference it felt worth it! After a little while her stomach had matured enough to digest the reflux milk and the constipation stopped so we cut out the lactulose.

Has he been checked (properly by someone qualified) for tongue tie? This sounds like my baby until we got her tie sorted

Is the machine new or 2nd hand? If 2nd hand make sure the tubes are clean.

I doubt it’s the prep machine if it’s new and/or cleaned. All 3 of mind had reflux and colic. Goats milk helped with my first, 2 nd was put on paediatric milk after being hospitalised after a bad tummy bug and the 3rd we pushed through. With number 3 we learnt the best winding trick. I will attach a link. We also kept her upright for at least 20mins after each feed to make sure the milk had time to settle before putting her down, this also helped.

Our older 2 both had a sleep wedge and slept in their sides which also helped. Number 3 wouldn’t sleep on her side but we had a sleep wedge under her cot mattress. The side sleeping wedge was fantastic but I’m not sure they are approved in the uk. We had to buy one off Amazon for number 3 when we wanted to try it, the older 2 were born over seas where they were fine to use and available in baby shops.

Winding link. I did it slightly different, 3 circles one way, then one backwards, works everytime!

offspring.lifehacker.com/try-this-circle-method-to-get-your-baby-to-burp-1820300477

You need to put the formula in before the hot shot.

Definitely see your GP. My daughter is on omeprazole and it's made a big difference. It doesn't stop reflux but it does neutralise the acid in it to make it less uncomfortable for baby. Don't let them fob you off with infant gaviscon and it doesn't always work!

We add cow and gate carobel (available on Amazon) to milk feeds to thicken it and this has been great for my daughter. She's now 6.5 months and the reflux has been much better since weaning and we use a much smaller scoop of carobel so milk isn't as thick anymore. It

Hi, my son is 10months, used perfect prep since day 1, same as you, hot shot, powder, shake, add cool water...my son was having aptimil milk and was always spitting up which seemed a little more than I would expect, I put it down to just baby spit up but when it slightly worsened and was stopping us doing tummy time as he would throw up more when laying on his front, I changed to aptimil anti reflux milk and it stopped immediately...I have recently tried to move to follow on milk however he started being sick after every bottle again so back to anti reflux milk and it’s stopped immediately again. Your not alone, I would seek medical advice tho, I’m just sharing what seems to work for us, good luck x

Thanks everyone for the comments, I have taken them on board and will try some of the suggestions. I have had a really bad night with him, he has vomited loads, and has been really unsettled. As I said I have changed milk and it’s not made a bit of difference but the health visitor told me to persevere with it and she’ll talk to me when she next visits but that’s not for another 2 weeks and I don’t know how much longer I can cope with it (not just me but for DS too) He is on aptamil and someone has suggested trying aptamil anti reflux. But, can I put him on this without speaking to the health visitor/GP and if so, has it worked for anyone?

@deedsnotwords11 he hasn’t been checked no but I will get it looked at. Thank you

@AliceMcK I did wonder if it could be the prep machine but we bought it brand new and I make sure the tubes are clean. Thank you for the link, I’m going to have a read

Sorry just realised some of you have mentioned the anti reflux milk

@Sparkles556 you can change your baby's milk at any time you want some people may feel better having a HV or GP tell them to do it but it's your choice ultimately.

When I changed DD's milk there was a noticeable difference in her within 24 hours - maybe try it for 2 days and if you feel baby is no better you could always go back to the original milk or ask for more advice.