Enfamil AR help please

My little boy has been started on Enfamil AR for not gaining weight and for spitting up. We have been using Enfamil Lipil since birth as a supplement when I work and don't produce as much milk. We started the new formula yesterday 12-23-09, I have to prepare him a 4oz bottle of formula and give it to him after he nurses. I'm having a hard time mixing the formula. I can't seem to get it to mix without clumping and it seems to be very frothy.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to prepare it so that its not clumpy and frothy??

 

We use Dr. Browns mixing pitcher and it works great! I also had trouble with mixing the formula in the bottle without it clumping, so now I just premake the bottles for a day.

 

For the AR formula I first used a whisk on it and then followed that up with a Cuisinart hand mixer (aka immersion blender). Then it was very smooth but had lots of bubbles so I added some simethicone drops to get rid of bubbles. A hand mixer is. Invaluable when mixing thick formula, and so much easier to clean than a blender.

 

When we used A/R we bought the ready to feed. It was much easier then worrying about all the clumps and it worked very well to help reduce the amount of spit up.

 

I added rice to our soy formula, and never had many issues with clumping. I shook it a lot! For bubbles, I added a couple of drops of Mylicon to the bottle. GL, I hope he starts gaining and the spit up reduces!

 

I used Enfamil AR and I would put it in the Dr. Brown's bottles w/o any of the inner pieces and then I put the screw-on cap on to shake it up. It worked great.

 

I also use an immersion blender to mix the Enfamil AR in a pitcher. It gets rid of the clumps but is still quite bubbly.

 

Are you using warm water or warming the formula after mixing...try it both ways to see which is better.

 

We had to premake AR. I used a pitcher from Pampered Chef (but you can buy something similar elsewhere)that had a plunger piece that moved up and down from the handle. That, and allowing it to "soak" prevented clumps and clogging nipples issues. Like pp, we added a couple gas drops to reduce the air bubbles. Good luck!

 

I have one on enfamil lipil and the other on enfacare and I have to mix the formula in hot water in order for it not to clump. I also make about 32 oz at a time and put it in the fridge. By the time I use it the bubbles are gone.

 

I would just add that for those that want to try mixing formula with hot water to reduce clumps to heat the cold water (microwave, stove, etc) rather than use hot tap water. I've read that hot tap water is not good for people due to the elements on the inside of the hot water tank. The EPA recommends that people not use hot tap water for cooking as well. Of course, many of you probably use bottled water and would have to heat it anyway so this isn't an issue