What is the best formula for babies with acid reflux?
I know every baby is different but I'd appreciate hearing what you've tried and worked or didn't work.
P.S. I'm exclusively pumping right now (for various reasons - latch, weight gain concerns, mastitis twice in the early weeks and again now) but need to switch to formula. I know breastmilk is best so I've already beaten myself up about making the switch, so please only kind replies. :)
My daughter had reflux, she is now 13 months and finally grew out of it. We used Enfamil Gentle Ease and added 1 Tsp of rice per ounce of fluid. Our pediatrician says that the rice really helps keep the formula down, and it did!! We would put the rice in a blender to make it a little more fine and easier to get through the nipple (we used Y-Cut nipples to help as well). Isabelle's reflux was pretty bad so we also had to give her Prevacid, but between the formula and medication she did great!
Let me know if you need more help, reflux Moms need to stick together.
Hi Cathy,
Also talk to your pediatrician about adding a thickener to her formula or breastmilk (for when you feed her from the bottle). My daughter was a near 8 week preemie and developed reflux as well. She had to do a barium swallow test and it was determined that my breastmilk was simply too thin and she was aspirating milk into her lungs - not good! So we had to do thickener and she never had any issues. With her reflux, it mainly affected her breathing too, not so much the spitting up - that was rare. But if rice doesn't help as Erica suggested, ask about the thickener. Good luck!! :_)
-Char
My son not only had reflux, but was aspirating into his lungs, also. We added Simply Thick (a thickener) to his milk while I was pumping since the rice cereal wasn't making the breast milk thick enough. After I stopped pumping, we tried all of the formulas out there, and we have had the best luck with the Nestle Good Start formulas (because of the "comfort proteins").
Good Luck!
-Tejal
My son had reflux as a baby too and I exclusively breastfed him for the first year of his life. He was on Zantac and the pediatrician encouraged me to try Enfamil AR (added rice) formula. Well he refused formula all together so at 3 months of age we started feeding him rice cereal and I would also add rice to pumped breastmilk.
Now with this new baby who is only 13 days old, I fear she may be developing reflux too. My pedi gave me Similac Advance Soy which is supposed to be good for babies who are colicky and have reflux.
Hope that helps!!!
Our son was a refluxer and an aspirator too and Nestle Good Start with the DHA and ARA (the orange container) worked best for us. He absolutely HATED Similac!
we use Enfamil Gentleease nothing else seemed to do it for him
My pediatrician explained to me that sometimes the little flap that separates the esophagus from the stomach is not completely developed in babies. That is when you might have that reflux - the milk or formula can easily pop backup... and yes it burns! I am so glad to see that doctors are acknowledging reflux. When my eight year old was a baby, the pediatricians looked at me like I was crazy when I told them my daughter cries about 20 minutes after each nursing - she cried and cried and cried - and I really felt that she was in pain (moms do know their baby's best!). Finally, I compiled a flow chart (I know that sounds nuts - but I was determined that a doctor would listen to me) to show when she would start screaming, when she nursed, etc. My fourth pediatrician looked at my chart, looked at the baby - and explained to me the information I stated above (about the little flap). He suggested first trying Mylanta. That worked for about six hours - it was pure bliss! We moved on to the Zantac. Stayed on that for a few months, and then she no longer required any assistance.
I know I didn't share anything about formula - but you might want to just inquire about some of the other things I mentioned. If your doctor suggests trying any of the mentioned medications, you might also find your baby will experience some much needed relief. Please note I am NOT suggesting any medications - just offering you information to share with your doctor, if you think it might be helpful.
Good Luck!
Sheryl
My youngest was also a acid reflux baby from 7 wks until about 14 months or so.
Nothing worked we tried enfamil gentle ease which helped w/his colic but that's about it, Enfamil AR did not work at all but when I tried Enfamil Prosobee I saw the light at the end of the tunnel within 2-3 days he was a completely differnt baby. I was changing his clothes, blankets, bibs every time I turned around and I had to sit him up for at least 1-2 hr in his bouncy after each meal.
Regland helped at 1st but then they switched him at about 6 months to Zantac which helped with the burning because his body was getting Immuned to Reglan and it wasn't helping anymore.
Good luck. If you every just want to talk or need any advice please don't hesistate to email me. I know exactly how you feel plus trying to do this alone as a single mom.
Michele
We used Enfamil Gentlease. It didn't total cure his reflux but helped alot.
Cathy,
If your child has acid reflux then the best thing you can do is put them on Formula. Breastmilk contains everything you eat and can cause the acid reflux to be worse. We tried all of the new formulas but out daughter did great on Lacto-Free.
Rhonda
Our pediatrician suggested Enfamil Gentlease for our youngest daughter, who is now nearly 6 months old. Her acid reflux was fairly severe, so she's also on medication, and we've been seeing a specialist periodically. All of these things combined have really seemed to help her.
I have a friend that has a 4 month old boy. He would spit up a lot. Even hours after he finished a bottle. I was reading in an enfamil book about a formula that they have that is suppose to cut down on spit up 40% or more. I suggested it to my friend because she found out that her son also had acid reflux. She said that he still spits up a little but nothing like he was. It was called Enfamil AR. It has alot of red on the can. Good luck I hope this works for your baby also. P.S. Enfamil is also the closest to breast milk. I beat myself up also when I switched over but so far my baby has not been sick at all. Don't beat yourself up.
I too had a reflux baby and due to the reflux, my son and I had a very hard time breastfeeding. I started suplementing formaula early, but it was SOOOO hard to find the right formula. We tried soy and founf out he was intolerent to that. The pedi recommended Good Start, no good. So then, we found Latcto-Free Infamil and that worked! I was worried about switching him to milk at a yr, but he was fine. These little guys just need time for their digestive tracks to get going! I hope this helps
Hi Cathy - Our son had reflux from about 9 wks until approximately 6 months. I have family and friends whose children had the same issues so I wanted to head this off before it got worse. After talking with the pediatrician we changed his formula three times, w started with Similac, Enfamil Gentleease and then she suggested we try Nutramigen and prescribed Prevacid SoluTab and it worked wonders. He was a completely different baby. At about 6 months, his poops started getting a little runny so I went ahead and gradually started him on Nestle's Good Start DHA/ARA and weaned him off the meds. Worked wonders for him too. He's now an 11 month old bundle of joy! We upgraded him to the Nestle's Good Start 2 and haven't had any problems.
I'm sure the other mothers would agree, sometimes talking to someone that has gone through the same issue makes it easier for you to go through. If you ever want to talk, please email, I'd be happy to help. Remember, this too shall pass – it will get better! ~Maria
I can totally relate to what you are going through. My baby has reflux and we had a really hard time breastfeeding. I exclusively pumped for awhile too, but it was so hard to pump enough and take care of the baby. Please do not be hard on yourself, my baby is thriving and happy, she is never sick and smart as a whip! and I stopped pumping at 6 weeks. I wish I could have done it longer, but it really was not working for either of us!
I think all pedi's have different opinions, but my pedi told us not to switch the formula because no matter what she would be on, she would have reflux. So we kept her on Similac with iron. He said that soy and other formulas can cause all the same problems. That said, I have heard of a formula called Alimentum, I heard that it is expensive but can help with the reflux.
What helped us the most, was sitting her more upright when she fed, giving her smaller meals more times a day, keeping her upright for 20-30 min after a feeding (I would put her in her bouncy or swing a lot if she was ready to sleep), I elevated her crib on one side. She is also on prevacid which helped A LOT! Her reflux has improved a lot now (she is 10 months) and I am so happy!
I wish you lots of luck, I know how hard having a reflux baby can be.
Both my kids had reflux. We tried every formula and breastmilk and ended up w/ Similac lactose free. It worked miracles!!!!
Good Luck!
My daughter had severe enough reflux as a baby that they stuck a tube down her throat for 24 hours and hooked her up to a machine to test the severity of the acid. Anyways, we started with Gentlease and then slowly switched to lacto-free (target and walmart both make generics now). She was also put on various Rx's. But another thing that seemed to calm the occasional reflux after the switch in formula was Gripe Water. For some reason it would almost instantanously stop the crying and relax her. It is all-natural so you can give it pretty liberally. I found it at Sprouts and Central Market, but I have heard that many Indian grocery stores carry it as well.
Most babies outgrow the problem before their first birthday. Hang in there.
Enfamil ProSoBee is what our gastroenterologist recommended for my son, who has reflux. We supplemented with that and my son liked it.
Good luck!
Meg
Enfamil Lipil AR has worked really well for my 5 1/2 month old baby and it worked well with my 2 year old when she was younger. It is a formula thickened with rice, so that although she still spits up at least a couple of times a feeding, each spit up is not as much volume-wise as it was before, and before she was spitting up on average 7 to 8 times a feeding. Also, the doctor prescribed us Zantac, which I was a little hesitant about at first because I'm usually not very eager to put little ones on medicine if it's not necessary, but it has really seemed to help. It did take almost a week before we saw a difference, but now it really helps, and a few times when we have missed a couple of doses in a row she started spitting up again really frequently again.