Spitting Up A LOT--Formula Advice?

OY! Both of my twins seem to have reflux!!! The were born at 35 weeks 1 day and at first had no problems. They are now 5 weeks old and seem to get worse everyday.

My son was writhing in pain, arching his back and sticking out his tongue all the time. We told the doctor and he prescribed Zantac (no spitting up though). That didn't work so then we started on Prevacid. It seems to help but he's still uncomfortable when taking a bottle. We're using Similac Advance and he didn't seem to have problems until now.

My daughter is another story. I was breastfeeding her but have stopped and now she's not pooping and screaming uncontrollably (she has quite a set of lungs). She spits up A LOT-mainly when you lie her down to change her. She also has been *projectile* spitting up...think exorcist baby!!! YIKES! Anyhow, she was on also on Similac but we just changed to Nestle Good Start which has helped the pooping but not the spitting up.

Does anyone have any experience with Enfamil AR? It sounds like it would be good for my babies (although I've read that it constipates them)! I have also heard it's hard to mix, but I'm not overly concerned with that, just want something to lessen the spit up and discomfort.

Any Information--good or bad--would be great!
THANKS IN ADVANCE!

 

You could try the AR, but it's still milk-based, I believe, so if their problem has anything to do with milk intolerance, it might not help much. If it's just a matter of weighing the formula down, it should help.

My daughter, Hannah, would projectile vomit, and she had a milk intolerance, and ended up on a hypoallergenic formula. The rest of my kids were all on soy with rice cereal, as they all had reflux too.

:hug: Reflux sucks!

 

Enfamil AR definitely helps with spit up, but it also constipates most babies. I loved how well the AR formula controlled my babies' spit up, but hated how miserable they would be when constipated. Another option to formula thickened with rice or oatmeal is to thicken their formula with a gel thickener. I've been using it for close to 3 months and our boys rarely ever get constipated, and when they do it is mild and probably due to either prevacid or the solid foods they are eating now.

Good luck!

 

I think my babies were about 5 or 6 weeks old when my son starting spitting up constantly. He didn't have reflux so I put him on Enfamil AR and it was SO much better! I am so glad we used it. He never had any constipation problems while he was on it. As for mixing, we had to mix it ahead of time. We made it in a pitcher (about a days worth or so) and didn't have any problems with the nipple clogging that way. When his stomach muscles got stronger and he began sitting on his own, the spitting up stopped and we were able to switch him to the regular formula my daughter was on. Good Luck!

 

Mine had nasty reflux as well. We were on the Prevacid as well. The A/R worked well in the beginning to help reduce the amount of spit up, but we were switched to Alimentum due to a possible milk allergy. And it did constipate them. But we had to thicken the Alimentum too.

As Becky stated, lots of babies with reflux have a milk intolerance so switching to a hypoallergenic formula might be worth while.

 

I would try Enfamil Lactose Free for your son. Mine was exactly the same until we switched him to this formula. You can Google it and see how thousands of other women had such a great result after switching.

My daughter was also on Zantac and then Prevacid. Reflux disappeared at about 5 months on it's own.

For pooping, I would ask the pharmacist for glycerin suppository for babies. Or ask if you could use an adult one and just cut it in quarters. It woks magic when things are really bad and prune juice is too late too give. Use Vaseline when using the suppository.

Good luck!

 

One of our sons was spitting up a lot and was arching his back and very fussy when eating. Our pedi switched him to Soy, which helped a lot..she sound it sounds liked reflux and also advised us to add rice cereal to his bottle, 1 tsp per 2oz. and that also helped. She said do not lay him flat and to roll a towel under mattress to help elevate his head a lil and to feed him as upright as possible, which we were doing already. We kept him in his cradle swing and bouncy seat alot since it is already elevated.