Enfamil A.R. for Reflux

[Plussizemummy]

Hello All,

9 week old DD has just been diagnosed with reflux and consultant advised that the first step should be to change her to Enfamil AR. Have trawled the web and not really found any useful info about this formula. Does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) of using it? Have just used it for the first time and I had to pierce a bigger hole in the nipple of her bottle because it was so thick! Also, I'm slightly concerned about it being lactose free - do you think that this may cause problems for DD when lactose is re-introduced to her diet at a later date?

Thanks!

[GreenMonkies]

14 ways to help with reflux Hope this is helpful!!

Monkies

[GreenMonkies]

Wow, 6oz is a big feed for a 9 weeker!!! Have you tried a smaller feed followed by a dummy? Perhaps she just wants to suck rather than is still hungry, if you follow that?

Has she had an examination to watch her swallow (where they take xrays as she drinks a special drink)? This tells you if her "valve" at the top of her stomach is closing, if her stomach empties quickly or slowly. Emfamil AR stays down because it is thickened (hence the big hole in the nipple) I can't remember if it is with rice or corn starch.

Ths thing with positioning is that whilst keeping her upright for half an hour or so helps to keep her last feed down in the short term, when a baby with reflux lies down (particularly on thier back, even reclining)) the contents of thier stomach washes back up the oesophagus, the stomach acid burns (remember the heart burn you had during pregnancy?) so, even if they are not actually vomiting they are in pain, hence the screaming. Carrying her in a sling will make her much more comfortable as it will reduce this burning feeling in her throat/chest.

Have they checked to see if cows milk is a factor? 50% of babies with reflux show an improvement or even a complete cessation of symptoms (like in my DD2's case) when cows milk is removed from thier diet. Within a week or so of me taking dairy out of my diet my snuffley, colicky, green pooing, dry skinned screaming baby was trasnformed into a content smooth skinned cherub. It's such a relatively simple thing to do, and it can have such amazing results, its certainly worth trying. A formula that is free from cows milk or getting her back to the breast may be all you need to do to make both your lives so much easier.

[Plussizemummy]

Thanks for the replies guys. Really good to know that there are people out there who know what reflux is like. I do try to keep her upright for at least a half an hour after feeding - but I tend to find that she can keep bringing food up even after a few hours. I tried to give small frequent feeds as well, but alas I have a baby who reckons it's 6ozs or no game..lol. I'm happy at least that the Enfamil doesn't constipate her, because she was on Gaviscon prior to that and the constipation just gave her another reason to scream!I've noticed the difference with the Enfamil already. She does still bring food up, but not in such huge quantities. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for me and thanks again for the replies x

[GreenMonkies]

Have you had any other advice about general care? Things like keeping her upright (a sling is good for this) and not laid down, and small frequent feeds rather than big spaced feeds etc?

See if there is any support near you, I found it really helpful to have other mums to talk to who knew how hard reflux can be to cope with.

Monkies

[SofiaAmes]

My dd was prescribed enfamil AR for hidden reflux by our paediatrician in the usa when she was 5 months old. She had been exclusively breastfed until then. We supplemented the bfing with one bottle a day. It made a HUGE difference.
I had trouble finding it in the UK (it's generally behind the counter in the pharmacy (although prescription is not required) and often needs to be special ordered. (However, we did get gp to give us prescription for it so didn't have to pay for it.) So I did a bit of research into alternatives at the time and if I remember correctly, the thickener that was in the Enfamil AR was rice starch while all the other stay down formulas used corn starch. I don't know exactly what the significance of this is, but it was definitely unique to the Enfamil AR and I couldn't find anything else even close. And I seem to remember having to widen the hole in the nipples of the bottles (we had only ever used breast milk in them which is obviously much much thinner than staydown formula.)

Hang in there. The Enfamil helps a lot and eventually when you get to them solids help even more.

[Plussizemummy]

bump

[GreenMonkies]

Cows milk is a common trigger for reflux, it was for my DD2. Would relactation be an option for you?

As for the formula being lactose free, it's not the lactose that causes reflux, it's the cows milk protien (casein) so there really isn't any need to remove it from her diet unless she has been specificaly diagnosed as lactose intolerant.

Reflux is harsh, I feel for you.

Monkies