formula and spitting up

Hi ladies, one of my 11 week old twins has reflux and spits up ALOT. He is on zantac which has been working pretty well. His pediatrician wants him to stay on the preemie formula Neosure b/c it has extra calories and vitamins. I just feel like he is spitting up those extras and if maybe he would spit up less with a different formula then it would be worth it to change formulas. Has anyone had success in reducing spitting up by changing formula? I am a little hesistant about using thickeners since I have read that a young baby can aspirate. I am thinking about trying either similac sensitive or alimentum. Any advice or thoughts? Thanks!!

 

I reduced my girls spit up by changing to Enfamil AR but mine did not have reflux, they were only spitting up. I don't know if Enfamil AR is a formula that is recommended for babies with reflux.

 

I'm not familiar with Neosure, but I assume it is a milk-based formula? If so, I would definitely try them on something like Alimentum or Nutramigen to see if it helps. I have never done it, but I know that you can mix those formulas, using more of the powder, to make them have a higher caloric content, so that might be an option.

 

We are on Enfamil AR and that has done wonders!! One of our LOs had bad spit up, sometimes projectile vomiting, but since we have changed to Enfamil AR it has reduced so much!

 

I've been struggling w/ both of my boys having reflux. They are both on Neosure (yes, it's milk based). We finally started thickening it w/ rice cereal (only 1 tbsp for their 4 oz bottles, so it's barely thickened) and because of lack of success w/ Zantac we switched to prevacid (oral form first, and solutabs as of yesterday).

I never really tried switching their formula (except 1 can of Similac Soy cause we had it and we ran out of Neosure- on WIC so had to wait.. And now 1 can of Similac Advance- ran out of Neosure again). It didn't seem to help their spit up, but then again neither of them were ones that these ladies have recommended.

I found for us it appears to be corrected w/ the RIGHT medicine, without the change of formula. Since being switched to prevacid there's next to no arching of their backs (or any other sign of pain) and really no spit up (except the normal amount babies do). And trust me oh my goodness how much they USED to spit up!

I really dislike Zantac, I did nothing for me as an adult (I take Nexium) and did nothing for my babies.

I have kept my boys on the Similac Neosure because I like to know they're for sure getting plenty of calories (not like they're not now w/ neosure AND rice cereal lol) since they were only born around 2.5 lbs.

I don't have a lot of advice since I am still trying to get my way through it, but I hope something works out for you!!

 

Our boys were sent home on Neosure as well, but that caused them horrible tummy problems so after a few weeks we switched formulas (many times). I too worried that they wouldn't get enough calories, but they have done great on the regular 20 calorie formula and are over 15 lbs now. I was going to fortify their regular formula with some neosure to get the extra calories (I forget the recipe the NICU gave us) but our pediatrician was so happy with their weight gain that she said for us not to bother.

As for changing formula, once Brandon was diagnosed with reflux our ped recommended that we switch to Enfamil AR. And it worked wonderfully at reducing spit up in both boys (as did the Target brand). But it also constipated them horribly. So we tried thickening Gentlease formula ourselves with rice and later oatmeal, and we found that too frustrating (clogged nipples in particular) plus they still got constipated. Then I discovered a gel thickener recipe that mixes up super smooth and that has been a life saver for us. Our boys rarely get constipated these days and they no longer need the ounce of pear juice daily that I used to give them to counteract the effects of the cereal thickened formula.

If your baby's reflux is due to a milk allergy then I would recommend trying Alimentum or Nutrimigen as others have suggested. And I would also ask your ped about Prevacid solutabs. They've really kept Brandon's reflux under control, and he LOVES slurping down that dropper of prevacid mixed with water because its so sweet

 

My boys were on neosure until they were 3 months old.. One of them had horrible reflux and it was like he was always spitting up.. The doctor had us thicken his formula (1 tsp of cereal per ounce), it helped a little.. He still spit up alot, just not as much.. He is now 8 months old and still spits up. lol. the doctor calls him a happy spitter. Although, it has reduced alot since eating solids. But there hasn't been one day without a spit up.. Our pedi says it's nothing to be worried about, that he will eventually grow out of it.. So, if your pedi doesn't want you to switch formulas yet, maybe thickening it up will help your LO.. Good luck

 

Here's my history - with both reflux and skinny concerns - for what it's worth:

DD - Enfamil Lipil - prescribed Zantac - continued with Enfamil Lipil w/o problems after Zantac

DS - Enfamil Lipil - he was a bottom feeder on the growth chart and did some significant (5 weeks) NICU time (39 weeks, but didn't like breathing when he was born) neo gave us the "recipe" for higher calorie Enfamil - no reflux, but was skinny, skinny and still is a bottom feeder on the growth chart

Twins - Started out with the new-fangled Enfamil Premium - Baby B had reflux symptoms (back arching, lots of spit up) and was prescribed Axid over the phone - can't remember what Axid is the generic for - was moderately effective. Tried a Similac soy sample I'd received in the mail and it seemed to work wonders. Then I spoke to the pedi nurse who said to try Enfamil Gentlease before switching to soy - she gave me a couple of cases to try and it worked great. I quit giving the Axid and we've been happy ever since. Baby B still spits up tremendously in my opinion (my first two were not spitters), but he is gaining weight appropriately (6 lbs. 11 oz. at birth up to 11 lbs. 2 oz. at 10 weeks) and does not arch or scream, so the pedi is not concerned. I am ready for him to get over the spitting up, however - it's gross!

 

Gonna step out of mommy mode for a second on this post and put on my pedi hat (shhh don't tell too many people )

Every baby is different but the Neosure has more in it than just extra calories. It has extra calcium and minerals for catch up growth. Reflux is very common but most of the time it has nothing to do with milk vs non-milk. Pure and simple it is the floppiness of the sphincter muscle in between the stomach and the esophagus and nothing but time will get rid of it entirely. Milk allergy is something completely different and much rarer, usually shows as projectile vomiting, failure to gain weight, bad eczema or bloody stools. If baby is not fussy and gaining weight (which is the ones they call happy spitters), there is NO reason to change formula as baby will likely spit on any formula. If baby is fussy, back arching, etc, then maybe zantac is not working and needs something else. My DS is on zantac and it works just fine for him.

It always seems like they spit more than it actually is because the formula gets thinned out in the stomach...most of the time it is not a waste of the formula and is a laundry issue more than anything else. If you do decide to switch, similac sensitive is the most nutritional...as you change to soy and hypoallergenic you start to lose some of the nutrients because it ends up being a chemical cocktail instead of something similar to mother's milk and things are less well absorbed. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions.

 

My girls have reflux and are both on Zantac and Enfamil AR - the thickened formula has definitely reduced the amount of spit-up. They still spit up of course, but a lot less. Just don't be alarmed when they do spit up on this formula because it will be a lot thicker/chunkier than regular formula.