Minor case of reflux, but don't know what to do....

DS is 9 wks old. This past Monday our pediatrician put my DS on Alimentum for his sensitive tummy. Doc thought he might be lactose intolerant. DS currently gets 40% ebm, 60% formula. He had been spitting up during the night when he was laying down- out his mouth and nose. Night was the only time of day he was flat on his back for an extended period of time, so I was thinking this might be some sort of reflux. He also seemed to be constipated, or at the very least, really strained going poo. He's a noisy baby, but is happy and really doesn't cry too much. He doesn't seem overly bothered by either issue and is gaining weight just fine, so I'm struggling with what to do. I can't seem to get him to sleep for more than a 3 hr stretch. I have a few questions for the gals who have been through this....

1) How long will it take for me to see if Alimentum will work for us? I don't see a huge difference in the past 5 days, so I'm thinking about switching to Nutramigen. Doc gave us Alimentum because she had a free sample. She also mentioned Nutramigen, but didn't want me to spend the extra money if it wasn't necessary.

2) Do you think switching formulas might help with his poo problem?

3) Should I have him sleep at an incline at night? Where would you suggest? He shares a crib with DD currently. I laid them both vertically in the crib and put a wedge under the matress but they both rolled down. I was thinking of moving him to a pack-n-play. Tried the swing last night and it didn't work well.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Can I make a suggestion to you? I would go take him to a pediatric GI Dr. They are a little more equipped to deal with GERD and constipation. Both of my twins had both issues. One ended up with damage from silent reflux. Reflux at your little ones age can just start really showing up now. And it can get worse, but then again it can get better too.
Our GI was a God-send! The pedi was fine, but the GI had more knowledge and ability to test to make sure GERD was their only issue. They were even sent for an allergy work-up to make sure it wasn't being caused by that.

Edited to add: We did have them sleep on an incline in a boucy seat for a long time. They can actually aspirate while spitting up. (Don't be overly concerned, but just know that it can happen. We never had issues with aspiration.)

 

I would say you need to give the new formula at least a week. Nutramigen was a miracle for us - our boys had severe reflux, and milk and soy intolerance. It was about 7-10 days before I saw a huge difference. In our case, they didn't sleep more than 30 minutes at a time, day or night, until we finally got the Nutramigen to start working.

There is no harm in inclining the bed. You could also try bouncy seat or carseat - I know lots of LO's with reflux that have slept like that for months. If it IS reflux, you may want to try medication, like Zantac or Prevacid.

 

Ditto!

 

I've heard many times that Alimentum causes constipation.
Regarding reflux, do you eat lots of dairy, nuts or garlic (or spicy food)? DS is spitter upper. As soon as I stopped eating those, he stopped spitting up. Cow milk protein, nuts ... etc can be no good for the babies tummies.

 

I bought a smaller wedge from Babies R us, it didn't prop up the whole mattress, we just used it to prop up DS. He would grunt as soon as I would put him down but when he slept on the incline he was much better.

Good luck!

 

Both mine had mild reflux, no medication needed! They slept in their bouncy seats in their cribs(seperate cribs) for 4 months. My daughter had the problem of puking at night and it coming out her nose. I think at 9 weeks old a 3 hour stretch of sleep is very good, i don't think any changes to reflux would really improve that right now.

We ended up switching formulas for my son, we were on enfamil enfacare and then switched to goodstart which did wonders for him! I know they make a goodstart gentel formula. But like the pp said i would try this new formula for at least a week and see!

Good luck, everything improves with time, mine at almost 11months still occasionally spit up but it got much much better around 7-8months!