nutramigen - thoughts?

Who has tried it and why? and, was it successful? i have a 4 month old baby with reflux and we tried enfamil ar and it did nothing, now they mentioned this...im scared cuz i dont know anything about it....help!

 

Nutramigen is a hydrolyzed formula, meaning that the protiens found in most cows' milk formulas are broken down more so they don't cause an allergic reaction. It is typically prescribed when there's a suspected dairy allergy in an infant. Dairy allergies are extremely common and often resolve themselves over time, but can be a cause of colicky type behaviour and gastro upset. One of my guys had a dairy allergy, and within 2 days of me cutting out dairy (I was bf'ing at the time) and supplementing with nutramigen, his diarhea cleared up and he wasn't fussy anymore.

If you do make the switch to nutramigen, be warned that it doesn't mix as easily as other formulas. Dump the powder in warmish water WELL ahead of when you need the formula and shake it as well as you can to get the lumps out. It also has a nasty smell, but it's perfectly safe! We always joked that it smelled like french fry grease. I even put my non-dairy allergy twin on it just out of convenience as they only got the occasional bottle anyway and he did just fine with it. Neither twin had any problems switching to the different formula. We supplemented with it until they were over a year, and then Miles' dairy allergy seemed to be resolved, so we switched to whole cows' milk at that point. So don't be scared! It's a very normal thing, but overwhelming when you're trying to figure out feeding and faced with potential medical issues.

 

It was a total miracle for us. After trying many different formulas, we switched to Nutramigen out of desperation - turns out our boys have MSPI (milk and soy protein intolerance). Before we switched, they were having severe reflux and stomach issues - up every 20-30 minutes around the clock, severe gas and stomach pain. They were SO much better within just a few days of switching. They still struggle with stomach issues off and on (especially with any new food), but now we are up 2-3 times a night rather than every 30 minutes. It is very expensive, but it seems to be the only thing that works for us - we tried switching off of it about a month ago and had all the same problems again within a day or two, so clearly we need to stay on it for now. We can only use the ready-to-feed kind, too. For whatever reason, our guys can't take powder - but like the pp said, the powder is very hard to mix - I have a friend who puts it through the blender to get all the lumps out.

Before trying Nutramigen, I would probably try soy, which is much cheaper (although I know some people object to soy, so you have to do what you think is right for you). You mentioned you tried enfamil ar - did you try the gentle-ease? Honestly, I'm not sure Nutramigen is going to be all that helpful for just reflux - like the pp said, it is usually used for dairy intolerance, especially for kids that also have sensitivity to soy. I really think what helped our boys with their reflux in the Prevacid.

 

Our reflux baby was on Alimentum (similac's version of hypoallergenic formula) and it really was a miracle worker for her. We did not try Nutramigen because we were happy with the Similac product. It's definitely worth a try, and DEFINITELY worth the extra money if it works for your baby.

Good luck!

 

We tried a few different formulas because of reflux. One of my boys didn't like the taste of the nutramigen or the alimentum. We ended up going back to regular Similac and by then, their reflux stopped. It took until about 4 months old for the reflux to stop.

 

DS had violent, projectile, screaming in pain reflux. We switched him to Alimentum and it totally solved his reflux! The downsides include that it was expensive, stunk and was a pain to mix. OMG, that stuff smelled so bad :laughing: Our insurance covered it though if medically necessary.

Personally, I think it is worth a try. I was hesitant to try it for DS but then was so glad we did!

 

We used it on DS when he was 2-6 mth or so. We were on Alimentum because I can get it so much cheaper but he was still gassy and reflux was still on a high and we switched and it was night and day for him. Since I could get Similac cheaper I kept her on Alimentum and him on Nutramigen. He went back to it about 6 months and did ok and then I switched them at around 7 or 8 mths to Similac Sensitive

 

Both my girls have dairy and soy intolerance and I was adviced to supplement with Nutramigen.

I think it's definitely worth the try, even though it is expensive and smells gross. It has done wonders for some babies. Be warned though that occasionally a baby does not like the taste of it at all. DD2 didn't want it. I was told there are syrups to make it taste better, but never used them as it didn't help for us anyway, so we went back to exclusive BFing (with me cutting out dairy and for a while soy too, just to be on the safe side).

 

We tried it when our babies were about 3 months because they had horrible constipation problems that were keeping them up constantly. We tried it for about 2 or 3 months and it was amazing. It definitly helped them and we switched to regular enfamil premium right after. It was expensive but try asking your ped because they gave us a lot of free samples. And now I just saw that they make it in a bigger size so that would make it a lot easier instead of buying the smaller ones that only last like 2 days! Good luck!