Best formula to try?

[PL2021]

I think we are going to decide to try making a switch from EBM to formula for DD.

The last few days have been hell. After days of her inconsolably crying after and during every feed, a huge projectile vomit and a trip to the Dr being sent home with gaviscon, we are debating switching DD to formula instead of EBM. I am rarely getting time to pump anymore because she won't settle after a feed. We aren't sure if she is still hungry (but she is already on 150ml per feed) or if it is reflux causing her to be so unsettled, but I am unable to do anything all day as I am attending to her every waking minute as she just doesn't settle off to sleep for hours, and then when she does she's up again shortly after for another feed. I am not getting chance to express milk for her when my partner is at work and therefore I am concerned that soon she is going to catch up with me anyway and I won't be producing enough for her feeds.

A few older family members have suggested to me that perhaps my milk isn't satisfying her belly enough and therefore isn't filling her up enough.

I was just wondering if anyone has had a similar situation and if anyone has an suggestions of which formula to try? I have read that reflux can go hand in hand with a dairy intolerance? So I'm wondering whether to try a dairy free formula? Or an anti reflux formula? Or just a normal formula?

Currently at my wits end spending most of my days crying

Switching to formula generally makes reflux worse because formula takes longer to digest.

Are you sure DD doesn’t have tongue tie? How far can she stick her tongue out and is there a notch at the tip of her tongue when she sticks it out?

If you need to use formula, use standard formula or reflux milk. Don’t use dairy free formula unless she has a confirmed dairy allergy.

Massive hugs OP. I agree use regular formula. Midwives recommended SMA when I was in hospital. Your older family members are wrong about satisfying baby though, I think it’s a thing older people say but it’s crap IMO.

I used cow and gate reflux milk for all 2 of my babies and when i had my 4th i breastfed and bottle fed her. So i always gave her the breast and then topped her up with formula you could try that instead of just stopping breastfeeding..

I’d try kendamil for the first stop. It’s an amazing milk, made in the U.K. The only formula milk to use full fat milk, no palm oil and it’s also the only formula company to let the production team into the factory in a recent TV show looking at formula.

If you do decide to use formula, I would decide based on the following:

• where is your nearest 24 hour garage
• go with a brand that they stock
• be safe in the knowledge that if you ever have a formula based disaster, you are never going to be stuck without it

Kendamil

I'd say Kendamill too but if reflux is your main reason for switching, it's very likely to make the reflux worse.

I also suggest Kendamil, bit we found that goat milk was the thing that sorted reflux for us.

About 70% of babies with reflux are dairy sensitive so might be worth cutting out dairy in your own diet first to see if it makes a difference, if it does you know you need dairy free formula which is best obtained on prescription as many dairy sensitive babies are also soy sensitive.

If your baby isn’t dairy sensitive, the cheapest most easily accessible formula is always best. Kendamil for example is just great at marketing right now. There’s a lovely paper by First steps nutrition which challenges their bullshit. 70% of the cost of a tin of formula is the cost of marketing so the ethical thing to do is to support the cheapest company which is making safe formula accessible. On that note Aldi’s formula has a good reputation, cheap and barely advertised too. Formula is fundamentally the same and if one doesn’t work, you can change.

I wouldn’t suggest that the cheapest most easily accessible formula is the best. For us that’s C&G as it’s sold in our village shop, but it aggravated our daughter’s reflux to the point of being sent to hospital to be treated for dehydration. Our youngest we started on HiPP but she started refusing milk and dropped two centiles. We’ve found that only goat milk is palatable to her for whatever reason, and she won’t touch Nannycare but will Kendamil. No idea why.

I agree that all infant formulae are standardised in terms of nutrients, but there are some differences in recipe, e.g. palm oil vs no palm oil, skimmed milk vs whole.

Sorry you are having such a hard time.

Are you only pumping or also feeding from the breast? Are you doing paced bottle feeding? Is she ever settling?
I'd suggest calling one of the breastfeeding advice lines or La Leche League for advice, or if you can afford it a lactation consultant?
Even if you decide not to continue to breastfeed it will help to get some expert advice to work out the cause of the problem.

I am just pumping, she isnt going to the breast. We are pacing her bottle feeding. She doesn't seem to have tongue tie as far as we can gather. She hasn't been settling at all the last few days. She just screams after every feed and during some of them. She is very restless in her sleep when she does eventually go off. She tosses and turns and pulls faces and grunts. Today she seems to have been slightly more settled than she has been the past few days so perhaps the gaviscon is starting to take some effect. I believe silent reflux is almost definitely her issue as I can see her grimacing after doing a little hiccy burp/swallowing it back down.
I would love to be able to afford a lactation consultant but unfortunately with only one full income coming in, that isn't an option for us.
I did call the breastfeeding support line the other day and explained her situation and they just told me it was a growth spurt and to keep feeding her as she is probably crying because she is hungry (and I am almost certain this is not the case at all).

She's just had a feed which she took steady, we kept her upright for a while and she started to drift off to sleep in my arms. We placed her down in her cot and she started to grimace and wake up and then a big mouthful of sick was bought back up again followed by more crying. I have managed to get her back off with a cuddle and have now placed her down on her side (whilst I am awake watching her) as she seems to be much more comfortable this way! Which I guess is because it helps with the reflux. Obviously we can't and won't do this at night time when we are sleeping too but it seems to get me a little bit of peace in the day to help me get time to pump/have some lunch etc.

I know things will eventually get better but it's just so stressful at the moment. I wanted to take her for a walk to meet her Daddy from work but I feel like it's an impossible task because it's so soon after her last feed that it's it's soon to lie her down in her pushchair without holding her upright for 30 minutes first

She has an appointment on Friday and I am dreading it thinking how on earth are we going to get there in time if she's due a feed/just had a feed and we need to keep her upright and pacify her cries first. She was such a happy content baby for the first couple of weeks but now she just always seem grumpy and in pain

The not being satisfied is nonsense perpetuated by an older generation who were bombarded with advertisements re formula. We had exactly the same issues with my LO and he became much worse on formula to the point where we ended up in hospital because of his excessive vomiting/general malaise and it transpired he was allergic to dairy. I cut it out of my diet and he had been EBF ever since. It is highly unlikely that switching to formula will allay any of the issues you have mentioned. Worth exploring whether there may be any intolerance/ allergy etc. Hope you manage to find the right support, we had to consistently fight for months to get some answers and the change when we did was crazy, it’s really really tough xxx

My main worry is that it could be a dairy intolerance, because (and I know this sounds selfish) but I would really struggle to cut it out of my diet I am an extremely fussy eater. Trying to be as healthy as possible during the pregnancy was so tough for me, and a lot of foods I eat do contain dairy. I have tried to cut down on things like yoghurt, cheese, milk etc over the last week to see if anything changes, but in terms of cutting it out completely, I think its near impossible for me without resulting in me then not eating

I suppose I am just keeping everything crossed that this isn't the case and the gaviscon will sort her reflux problem without the need to venture further in to dairy intolerance etc.

If it was dairy intolerance, wouldn't she have been like this earlier on? Its only the last week she has been so unsettled and in pain and I have read that reflux generally comes on around the 2-3 week mark which corresponds to when her problems begun xxx

I'd also try cutting dairy out of your diet for 3 or 4 weeks along with the gaviscon.
So many of my friends have babies who've had problems with dairy.

You poor thing, I can feel the exhaustion in your post! Could you try a sling? That way you could bring her for the walk or the appointment upright and she might be more comfortable. I wouldn’t rush to formula as it’s heavier and might be even harder to digest. But I would keep ringing the helplines or the hospital and try not to let them fob you off. Your instincts sound spot on and your are clearly doing a great job

@PL2021 I feel you 😂 it has been grim, discovering little before unknown vegan treats like Oreos and party rings has kept me sane and I was able to reintroduce dairy to my own diet at 14 months though DS still can’t tolerate it directly. It’s actually really common for reflux at 2-6 weeks to be the first symptom of dairy intolerance/allergy and to do with developing digestive system. Honestly it is a massive ask to put yourself on such a restrictive diet and can cause problems for your own well being so think carefully and don’t beat yourself up if you choose not to follow that route. We were advised to cut completely for two months initially to see if there was any change and it did take about a month to notice a real difference. Feel free to PM me if you have any queries about the routes to explore and go easy on yourself, it’s a really challenging experience on top of the exhaustion of a newborn! Xxx

OP that sounds so tough.

Can I ask you to give the national breastfeeding helpline a call?

I’m currently training to volunteer on it and the amount of training and knowledge is vast - I’ve just done the module on allergies / reflux and it really is worth speaking to someone as there are lots of things that could be contributing (true GERD is rare) and there are many things that you can do before turning to formula (which usually isn’t the answer in any case).

0300 100 0212

@R3ALLY I do have a sling which I have tried a couple of times but I'm honestly useless at getting her in it! They are such a faf, I find it takes 2 of us to get her in there I need to keep practicing with it when she isn't crying and unsettled

@Athomewiththehales89 aww bless you, sounds like you had a rough time too. Thank you so much for your kindness

@Porthia Thank you! Perhaps I will give them a call for some further advice

I do feel as though the gavsicon is helping a little as she doesn't seem to have such excessive and prolonged bouts of screaming after her feeds anymore. However I do think she is also suffering from colic/bum wind as I have noticed a few times, including tonight, that once she has gotten over her crying and we have had her upright for about an hour and she starts dozing off, we will lie her in her cot and she will then ping wide awake and proceed to look as though she is pushing (going red in the face and grunting), followed by more crying. I will get her back out to give her a cuddle and try to pacify her, and then a while after (sometimes can be up to another hour or more) she will pass wind/do a poo and then sleep instantly! So I think perhaps she has both the reflux and the bum wind problem going hand in hand

The health visitor mentioned gripe water to me, can I use that alongside the gaviscon?

We are using Kendamil and my 8 week old baby girl seems to enjoy it! She takes 5oz every 3-4 hours and touch wood there have been no ill effects such as colic/reflux. I did my research and felt this was the best one to go with as it doesn't contain things such as fish or palm oil and is made with full cream. It's also made in the UK and is really affordable.