Switching Formula

[Maariya04]

Hello, everyone.

I'm hoping to get some advice for my eight-week-old.

My DS was discharged from the hospital on the original Kendamil formula, but after two weeks, my husband and I decided to switch to SMA because we believed he was gassy and the formula was causing this, so we decided to switch to SMA and hope it would improve him.

Now that I think about it. We weren't sure if he was gassy at the time, but it was what we thought was affecting him, and switching formula seemed like the best thing to do for him. Since changing, he began to spit up more and experience reflux.

It was either a coincidence or SMA caused him to have reflux, which he did not have before we switched. He also used to poop a lot more when he was on Kendamil, but since the switch, he only poops half of the time. It's hard to say now whether the switch caused this or not because he was only two weeks old and still developing, but as I previously stated, we suspected the Kendamil formula was making him gassy. Given that it's been a few weeks, I honestly can't recall his symptoms before we switched, other than the fact that he never had reflux and pooped more frequently, about 4/5 times more. Now he is on omeprazole at the highest dose and discovering it hasn't improved significantly. We switched bottles, which helped with his feeding because we had to lay him on his side to feed him comfortably, but he was still spitting up a lot and throwing up occasionally. We always keep him upright after his feeds, but it's not enough. He hiccups frequently and has noticed that he is becoming more fussy and straining. In addition, he has a mucusy throat and frequently swallows. He arches and appears uncomfortable during and after feeds, and he believes this has worsened since he was six weeks old. I'm assuming he's going through a 6- to 8-week growth spurt or that his reflux is bothering him more. He has disturbed sleep at night by grunting a lot, burping and spitting up. I considered changing him back to Kendamil, but I was concerned that it would exacerbate his symptoms. I do not think he has CMPA because he does not have any rash or blood in his poop.

I mentioned this to my HV, but she didn't agree to switch. I'm honestly in 2 minds about changing him back to see what happens but don't want to upset him anymore.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

You don't have to have a rash or blood in your poo. There's two types of allergy, IGE and non-IGE. If he is non-UGE it will be very unlikely that he has a rash, although he will have the other symptoms that you've described.

Have a read of this from Allergy UK

I would wait a little and see what happens. Their digestive systems undergo changes around 8 weeks that mean that things may improve. If you do decide to change, do so gently, e.g. half a scoop at a time over a week.

Which bottles are you using? We found Mam were good for us, and TT gave my daughter a lot of gas. However, it's normally trial and error!

I see, when I mentioned it to both my doctor and HV, they both said they didn't think he had CMPA, and I believe his symptoms would be much worse if he did. He has relatively good feeds. If nothing appears to work after some time, we will attempt to test and trial to see if he then has CMPA. Thank you for the advice!

Was the article if any use?

I'm hoping for quick recovery for his digestive system!

Just an update, he woke up with a swollen eye. We were concerned that it could be an additional CMPA symptom. We called the doctor and they don't believe it was related to CMPA and that since we first noticed it this morning, It has settled. We now believe that this occurred because, when we try to help him fall asleep at night, we place him on his side, and that's the side where his eye flared up. When I mentioned how he has been acting, she did suggest that we spread out his omeprazole dosage throughout the day to see how he responds or maybe try Carabel and if this works we can stop the omeprazole and still switch to Kendamil if we still want to.

Oh also we used to use MAM bottles but he drank too quickly from it and he would only feed from a side laying position. We were recommended to switch bottles to the Phillips avent anti colic and this improved his feeding since the teat is much slower and doesn't gag and choke almost at all. However we do still feel he has some gas issues and or tummy issues but uncertain whats the cause of this.

Reflux is a symptom not a diagnosis. You need to work out the cause rather than just treating with omeprazole or similar. The cause is usually allergy or tounge tie.

He may have CMPA as it tends to develop over several weeks. The formula may have had nothing to do with it.

Has he done any green coloured poos?

Yes, I do want to get to the bottom of it but doctors only seem to offer medication and not finding the root cause. I have wondered if he has a tongue tie, something I can look into further and mention to the doctor. Thank you

No only been yellow and seedy since birth

If you do suspect TT, do any of his symptoms sound like these ones?

Sorry for the late reply. He does appear to have a few of these symptoms. We are now trying carabel and so far so good. He's less sick only been a day tho. But already promising. I'm just now waiting to see how well his tummy handles it and he doesn't struggle to poo.

I'm still wondering whether to switch to Kendamil but him being on Carabel on SMA Pro so far so good but my heart still wants to switch him back but worried if things are going ok so far why change? But want to know if other people have switched Kendamil to help with reflux?