Reflux/formula advice please!

[LoopyLouLisa]

Hiya, my 11wk old dd has reflux and has been on gaviscon for the last 4 weeks. she is still being sick and i was wondering if a different formula might help. she is currently on aptamil 1, and before she went on gaviscon i tried the easy-digest aptamil with no improvement in the vomiting. i am using avent bottles with size 2/1-month+ teats but i have some dr brown's ordered.

sounds like the gavsicon isn't working and i doubt changing formula will help

i would speak to your doctor about getting some different meds - ranitadine and domperidone are two drugs which may help

ranitadine helps neutralise the acid, and domperidone moves the milk through the gut quicker so (theroretically) there is less of it to throw up

do you try to keep her upright for as long as you can after feeds, and also elevate the head of her cot/moses basket (or use a sling etc)

not working is probably the wrong phrase

gavsicon forms a layer over the milk in the tummy - it doesn't actually "treat" the reflux in the ways the meds can

Gaviscon works in two ways. First it forms a layer on the tummy so lo is less likely to be sick and second it reduces the acid so that it hurts much less. My ds still vommed loads with gaviscon but it did not seem to make him as upset as before.

i think my hv suggested trying sma staydown. it's not thicker than standard formula so is okay with gaviscon, but is specifically designed for reflux.

I don't know, I would change the formula.... aptimil used to be the most tummy friendly formula, but I think they changed it's "recipe" relatively recently, and I found that it made my ds quite burpy and bilious (wheras refluxy dd, born 2 years earlier, was fine on it...). I also tried Hipp Organic, which was even worse, and ds was finally v happy on Cow and Gate.
Ds had a bit of reflux (not as bad as dd), and we sorted it out finally with gaviscon and cow and gate formula (though he was fed on mostly breast milk with just 1 daily formula top up).

let me know when you find a solution my 7 week old DS has the same probs and is on aptamil. doctor will not consider anything other than gaviscon.

I find that i have to sit DS up anwhere from 30mins to 2 hours after feed to stop vomiting.

Hiya Loopyloulisa,my ds had v.bad reflux, and at 10wks i stopped bf and weened him onto sma staydown and the diff was huge but he was still bringing back lots of his feeds and was not gaining weight. When i took him to the docs she gave me gaviscon to had to the bottle of staydown and it worked wonders! He still had a bib permantly attached to him because there was always some that came back. He grew out of it at 11/12mths. My dd is 6mths and also has reflux, this time i tried to carry on with the bf and giving gaviscon after feeds but it was a nightmare.So at 4mths i started to wean her on to staydown and shes been alot better (she also has gaviscon in her bottle). There is only so much washing and changing the clothes umpteen times a day that you can handle! I get my sma on perscription which saves a fortune,but you have to ask the doc for it. I only did this when a pharmacist who served me one day when buying the milk told me so. I know what your going through but it gets better when they start on solids. Good luck x