Can someone come and chat to me about Reflux Formula's please?

[Worrisome]

I went to the Dr's last week after some help on here as I suspected Millie had reflux and he confirmed she did have and prescribed some Gaviscon as wanted me to keep her on the milk she was on (Cow and Gate comfort).

Unfortunately Millie has had an awful weekend with constipation, so bad its made her little bottom bleed and we have had to help her get it out

So I am now back to the drawing board with this, can someone please share experiences with different reflux formula's, for example, Enfamil ar, how do you make it up? Can you give it warm, or is it basically worked on the same principle as Sma Staydown? (we have tried this but she hates the taste).

The main areas of concern are.
Millie hates cold milk and will spit it all out.
Formula needs to be of a thicker consistency as she struggles with newborn teats, for example she is on Mam bottles newborn teat on with cow and gate comfort, any faster and she throws up the full bottle.
Need something that will not make her constipated as will not drink extra water.

She has quite bad reflux but at the moment want to avoid meds.
I could go down to one sachet of Gaviscon but not happy about the salt content.

Any help and advice most appreciated.

 

[AP]

First of all, it's not advised that c and g comfort is used with gaviscon. It already is a thickened formula, putting in gaviscon is making it extra thick.

I don't know about the other formulas though because we used sma stay down.

Most reflux formulas are pre thickened, that's what they are made to do, so gaviscon can't really be used.

You need to either use a normal formula with gaviscon, or a reflux formula without.

Failing either, the doc can prescribe meds.

 

[bathbabe]

you could stick with the comfort but only use half a gaviscon or 1. Using 2 will cause constipation even with comfort. My paed told me this x

 

[Worrisome]

First of all, it's not advised that c and g comfort is used with gaviscon. It already is a thickened formula, putting in gaviscon is making it extra thick.

I don't know about the other formulas though because we used sma stay down.

Most reflux formulas are pre thickened, that's what they are made to do, so gaviscon can't really be used.

You need to either use a normal formula with gaviscon, or a reflux formula without.

Failing either, the doc can prescribe meds.

My Dr said it was ok with the comfort milk I even asked him would it make it thicker, he said yes but only a little bit.
Bathbabe, I may try one sachet, when her system is back to normal, but still not keen on the salt content.

 

[ouchwithNo.2]

no, you aren't supposed to add a thickener to an already thicker milk formula - comfort, or a reflux / staydown.
my GP told me this, my HV and SMA when I phoned them about the Staydown.
gaviscon is essentially the same as a staydown / anti reflux milk BUT like you say - gaviscon is full of salt and is well known for constipation.
I have read that reflux can be caused by some milk issues - the GP tried with us, put LO on Soya (strange, but pharmacist backed it up), didn't work but they needed to know if the reflux was being caused by an allergy.
I have also read some mums try SMA Lactose Free formula on here and that helps.
No personal knowledge, no idea how it is made though...

 

[ouchwithNo.2]

oh and if LO gets constipated again put a little swab of vaseline around the exit to help ease out...x

 

[ImAMummy2B]

Hey,

My daughter suffers from reflux.
We alse tried Gaviscon until the constipation became too bad.

She is now on Carobel which is made by Cow & Gate and is a milk thickener.

She is still sick but nowhere near as much as she used to be.

I know you say your LO isn't good with Cow & Gate, but maybe this would work?

HTH

xxx

 

[ouchwithNo.2]

Hey,

My daughter suffers from reflux.
We alse tried Gaviscon until the constipation became too bad.

She is now on Carobel which is made by Cow & Gate and is a milk thickener.

She is still sick but nowhere near as much as she used to be.

I know you say your LO isn't good with Cow & Gate, but maybe this would work?

HTH

xxx

we have a box of carobel for emergencies!
yes - good stuff, bloody sticky though, spilt a whole feed on the worktop once and turned to glue.
a mummy from the Netherlands on here suggested it and I mentioned it to my GP and he put on 'script for me.
after that though we switched to SMA staydown as it was all rolled into one and LO had yet to find a formula she was happy with so we didn't mind trying something else.

 

[Worrisome]

Hey,

My daughter suffers from reflux.
We alse tried Gaviscon until the constipation became too bad.

She is now on Carobel which is made by Cow & Gate and is a milk thickener.

She is still sick but nowhere near as much as she used to be.

I know you say your LO isn't good with Cow & Gate, but maybe this would work?

HTH

xxx

Ooh thanks Imamummy, now that sounds interesting, as she really doesn't need to be on the comfort milk, as she didnt suffer with colic or constipation. Where can you buy this from?

Thanks Ouch, may try her again on the sma, but she just wont touch it. We used sudacrem round the botty hole and an inward squeeze, things you have to do eh!!!!

 

[AP]

I read in mother and baby magazine lactose free can help too, yet I haven't tried it.

 

[Worrisome]

thanks sb22, the hv said about lactose free, but as the colief hadnt really worked that should be ok on normal milk.

 

[Mrs A]

my lo had severe reflux and we also didnt want to medicate with drugs, so therefore after alot of research we asked our gp to prescribe enfamil Ar, it has great reviews and from personal experience its AMAZING! its like a miracle, it doesnt thicken too much and you can slightly warm it, its only available on prescription in the uk, but most gp's dont even know it exists, so youll need to ask them, although it will be in their BNF. hth xx

 

[Worrisome]

Thanks Mrs A. Does it get thicker the warmer it gets?

 

[Mrs A]

its ok as long as you dont shake it and just roll it between your hands

 

[Mrs A]

https://www.enfamil.co.uk/products/enfamil-ar

 

[Worrisome]

Thanks for the link Mrs A

Has anyone tried both Sma Staydown and Enfamil. It just I have a tub of Sma staydown, dont want to try the Enfamil if its just the same.

 

[Mrs A]

i have a friend who tried both, and i also read both wets of reviews, apparently my mates lo was just as sick just that it was thicker iykwim, id go with enfamil all day long, but thats me, ive seen the results of both. xx

 

[Worrisome]

I think I will let her system calm down a little first and speak to the Dr on Wednesday. I don't really want to put her on another new milk and make her even more constipated at the moment. I know I have asked for reviews but its so I can go armed with info to the Dr's lol.

Has your lo been ok with constipation Mrs A?

 

[ImAMummy2B]

Apparently, according to my HV, you can buy Carobel from the pharmacy, but I have asked and nobody stocks it. They have to order it. So I got it on prescription - Maisie has to have it for every feed.

She is on Nutramigen as she is dairy intolerant.

I wouldn't go by the guidelines for Carobel though!

Per 6oz we add 4 scoops of Carobel otherwise it's just tooooo thick! They suggest spoon feeding, but I dont really want to get into that just yet, and you will need the fast flow teats!

xxx

 

[MrsRabbit]

Rice starch makes a lot of babies stopped up. I used rice cereal to thicken feeds [brought regular formula and thickened with cereal myself] until we switched to gel thickener - Simply Thick.

I have found the best way to get relief for reflux is to find the right formula and medication.

Have you considered a Hypoallergenic formula? [if you use separate rice cereal to thicken make sure it's dairy and soy free]