Help with Formula

Hi S.,

Went through the same EXACT thing 2 times now. My daughter had terrible reflux but it didn't hurt her, she just spit up ALOT. Tried the same stuff, didn't work. Finally put on nutramigen which is SOOOOO expensive as you know and that didn't help either. Since she was my first I kept her on the nutramigen and just dealt with it. my son who is almost 8 months is the exact same. Spits up alot but doesn't seem to really bother him. Tried medicine again, didn't help but stuck with the Similac advance rather then to the expensive stuff. Here's the deal, at least it was with us. If they aren't in pain, are gaining weight, even if slow to gain, they are fine. It's less of a medical issue and more of a laundry problem. I see no sense in using meds that don't work and spending your life savings on these special formulas. Both of my kids outgrew it when they started crawling. My son just started crawling about 2 weeks ago and lo and behold, no more spitting up. I say go with it. Switch back to a more reasonably priced formula and wait it out. If he's generally pretty happy, gaining weight within normal limits and all he's doing is spitting up alot I'm sure it's something he'll grow out of when he starts moving. From what I understand it's a common problem and one we all just have to wait out for a bit. Good luck!

Hi! My children were in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) and spit up ALL the time. The nurses and doctors were great there and didn't seem to worried about it. They did go from one formula to another just to see and there was no significant change. Babies have always spit up and I think it is just something they will outgrow. Try not to worry unless you think he is in pain and then definately get another opinion! Good Luck!

If you son does not seem bothered then I would not worry about the spitting up too much, some kids are just bigger spitters than others. If he seems like he is in pain then you should be treating him with meds. My daughter was a really big spitter, not a good burper with formula or breastmilk. I had some success with Dr. Browns bottles. you might also ask your doc about giving him some maalox.

We used Nestle Good Start with our son and loved it and never had to use medicene. We also had to use low flow nipples, but I think it is the formula that made the difference. Anytime we switched, he'd start spitting up.

As mentioned in some of the previous posts, during and after feedings (for as long as you can - 40 minutes is recommended - keep him in an upright position)... Burp him every few ounces, not just after the bottle... Feedings take forever but it's worth trying it out. I had a very similar experience but from breastfeeding. Realized it was not acid reflux but a sensitivity to dairy. They say it stops around 6 months usually (ours stopped throwing up around 6 months but it was horrible seeing him in such pain). Around 5-6months of age I switched to formula. After trying all, the formula that works best for ours is Enfamil ProSobee LIPIL (soy based). The first time I tried this I did not think it was the one.. You have to give them a couple tries for at least a couple weeks at a time to find the right one. RE: bottles, Dr. Brown bottles (although they have five parts to each one) are made especially for decreasing the amount of air that's taken in).

Our son was very "picky" after I finished breastfeeding. We tried everything and the formula we stuck with that he liked, and so did our wallet, was Parent's Choice from Wal-mart

Are you getting a burp from him every single time? Both of my kids were little pukers when they were babies, and I had to take the time and make sure I got a burp out of them, even if I had to burp them for 20 minutes, and unfortunately I'm not overexaggerating, it really did take that long at times. But, if I didn't get a burp, they always spit up a lot! My son was even worse, and I had to let him drink for about 5 minutes, then burp him, then another 5 minutes, and so on. The good thing is, it's only really that way for the first 4 or 5 months, after that babies usually start burping on their own. So hang in there!

How does your son seem to feel? Connor spits up a LOT!! All the time. But he does not seem to feel bad at all, so we just feed him the same formula (we tried many different ones and he spit up with all of them) and he is certainly growing and happy. So, I just use a lot of bibs and keep burp rags around!

My son had reflux and spit up ALL the time. I invested in a LOT of bibs! He was on prevacid which helped him but also, my peditrician recommended we put rice cereal in his formula to help keep it down. The measurement was one teaspoon per ounce. Keeping him upright as much as possible also helped. Also, when he was aggravated by the reflux, I use to hold him over my knee - somehow the pressure of my legs against his tummy seemed to soothe him. The good news is he outgrew the spitting and the reflux.

One more things, have you tried Nestle Good Start? My girlfriend used it with her son and he did really well with it. Just an idea.

This may not be a problem with acid reflux as much as the flap between the esophagus and the stomach is not fully developed. This is extremely common in infants. My son suffered with the same thing. I tried multiple formulas, milk, soy, and different medicines. Nothing worked. What finally DID work was keeping him sitting up all the time. Each time he layed down it was like he was spilling over! ;-D I let him sleep in his infant carrier or sit up in the infant carrier, in a bouncer, in the swing/bouncer that in in the doorway that they can jump around in, in the walker, etc. At night often I would sleep sitting up and hold him on my chest.

The other thing is that you need to mix about a teaspoon of baby cereal in his milk. This will help weight down the formula and stay in his tummy. My son was born at 8 lbs 7 oz. He lost weight to 6 lbs. Adding the cereal to his formula made a dramatic difference and he finally started to gain weight.

Doctors often say you have to follow a specific regimen for introducing new foods and juices, but it's really not that strict. Our grandparents and parents didn't follow those thigns to the "T" and we turned out just fine... and so did my little boy!

-S.

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Hi S.,

I have a 4 month old daughter who seemed to have the same problem since birth. I breastfeed, and she would finish each side in less than 5 minutes. So it only took 10 minutes to feed her. She would spit up all the time. She never was in pain. I mentioned this to my doctor and he said it's because she is a fast eater. She was taking in more than she needed. So she was spitting up the extra milk. She got better the older she became, but I do find out when she is really hungry. She tends to spit up more.
So I guess what I'm saying is maybe your child is a really fast eater. How quickly does he finish a bottle?

I've noticed that you have kids around the same age as I do. I am a young mom of a daughter who is 2 1/2 and a another daughter who is 4 months. Do you live around the Wheaton area?