DHA and ARA to blame???

[Divinebeauty]

Not trying to start an argument at all, as I know these acids can be a touchy subject!

I had LO on enfamil gentlease with dha and ara and that milk she wasnt doing well on bad tummy and had a temporary lactose intolerance so we switched to enfamil lactose free with dha and ara, then all of a sudden LO started spitting up tons crying at feeds, we couldnt lay her down she would always have to be propped up or she would bring up her milk.

I made an apptmnt to docs he said she had reflux prescribed ranitidine for her, we gave it to her for a good week she seemed alright but nothibng seemed to be getting better so I wwent back again and doc said up the dose as the dose goes by weight, so its tricky, so we did and stil no improvement.

I told him the formula I was using and he said that sometimes the dha and ara can cause reflux in babies! So i came home researched (found some pretty crazy stuff out about it) and decided to switch LO completely off of a formula without dha and ara in it! ( as my son 4 yrs old never had this in his formula and he is one smart cookie with perfect vision)

Since the switch wow! what a difference off of all meds she hardly vomits anymore, she does once in a while spit up a little but nothing like it was, shes on a proper routine, she takes all her milk!! she is like a new baby!! and weve been on this for about a month!!

Anyone else had an experience like this????

if u got this far!! thank you!

 

[comfort]

Not trying to start an argument at all, as I know these acids can be a touchy subject!

I had LO on enfamil gentlease with dha and ara and that milk she wasnt doing well on bad tummy and had a temporary lactose intolerance so we switched to enfamil lactose free with dha and ara, then all of a sudden LO started spitting up tons crying at feeds, we couldnt lay her down she would always have to be propped up or she would bring up her milk.

I made an apptmnt to docs he said she had reflux prescribed ranitidine for her, we gave it to her for a good week she seemed alright but nothibng seemed to be getting better so I wwent back again and doc said up the dose as the dose goes by weight, so its tricky, so we did and stil no improvement.

I told him the formula I was using and he said that sometimes the dha and ara can cause reflux in babies! So i came home researched (found some pretty crazy stuff out about it) and decided to switch LO completely off of a formula without dha and ara in it! ( as my son 4 yrs old never had this in his formula and he is one smart cookie with perfect vision)

Since the switch wow! what a difference off of all meds she hardly vomits anymore, she does once in a while spit up a little but nothing like it was, shes on a proper routine, she takes all her milk!! she is like a new baby!! and weve been on this for about a month!!

Anyone else had an experience like this????

if u got this far!! thank you!

huh i have never heard of that before, interesting. My son is on Enfamil a+ (Canadian) so probably the same type.
He doesn't spit up too much, just what i remember being normal for a baby.

Funny thing, my older kids, 15 and 12yr old, they never had these dha and added stuff to the formula and they turned out fine. I also never heard the term reflux until i had my youngest, 3months ago, so maybe it is linked to all the new 'advances' in formula.

 

[Peachypoo]

i dont think they have anything to do with reflux...i bf and breastmilk contains it naturally...

my first lo was bf and didnt have reflux or any issues, being on my milk or formula... but 2nd lo suffered really bad from reflux since day 1...

reflux occurs with bf babies to...

 

[Farie]

Some babies cannot digest the synthetic DHA and AHA, but a link to reflux, no. I'd say not, more to do with digestion I would say.

 

[Nessicle]

I wouldnt think so hun - as Farie said these occur naturally in breastmilk and breast fed babies arent immune to reflux or silent reflux I think some babies have more sensitive tummies than others tbh I'd rather have a happy spitter (vomiting lots) than one that screams all day with silent acid reflux and not knowing whats wrong lol Ava was a nightmare but so much better now we gave her ranitidine for a week for silent reflux and that and weaning earlier pretty much solved it!

It might that the formula you're now using sits a little heavier in the tummy than the previous formulas. Aptamil and C&G make Ava throw up loads because they're pretty light formulas and quite thin whereas SMA she's on now is a bit heavier x

 

[Divinebeauty]

I know its naturally found in breastmilk but the DHA and ARA that is found in formula is synthetic and extracted from oils laboratory-grown fermented algae and fungus using hexane(which sounds terrible but obviousely there is a specific way to do it thats not harmful to babies!) thats why I was wondering if it possibly could cause GI problems and milk protein problems and such , because 4 years ago when these acids were not added to formula it wasnt as common to hear a baby has milk protein allergy or reflux or anything. I thought maybe there possibly could be a connection and rather then doctors telling us to switch to a hypo allergenic formula, maybe to try a formula without DHA and ARA and another thing that striked me, is that the DHA and ARA are fatty ACIDS? see where I am going with this, acids?= reflux.

Anyways it was just a thought, no harm intended at all! It could just be the new formula solved everything I am not sure but she was deffinitely very very cranky and vomiting all the time on the formula with dha and ara to the point we did almost switched her to hypoallergenic formula because she just wasnt tolerating other formulas even the lactose free one was causing her chaos! So when my doc said it could cause reflux in babies! a light bulb came on in my head and was like omg, is this why soooo many babies have to be on medication now! And to the library I went .. to look up DHA and ARA solely because I dont trust google information ( I have looked it up there , tons of controversial info for sure!!)


Thanks for reading ladies!! xx

Thanks for the answers ladies!!

 

[Peachypoo]

I don't think there is a link, I think it's more to do with how developed a babies digestion system is also if they have intolerance..

My lo was bf and she had reflux..

Plus it's most likely that your lo has CMPI, not lactose intolerance. Try an amino acid based formula.

 

[Divinebeauty]

My lo dosent have CMPI as shes been on the new formula( which is cows milk based) without additives for about a month now and shes doing fine, I was told she had a temporary lactose intolerance and that is why she had explosive diaahrea and vomiting.

 

[Nessicle]

Perhaps its more known now because more people are aware of allergies as the years go on? Also because NHS doctors are so busy people are googling more and doing their own research and going to the doctors once they have researched etc and asked for a hypo formula.

Its like all the binge drinking culture - people dont binge drink any more than they did 20 years ago its just more publicised now, I mean in the Victorian times they lived on whiskey and brandy lol they probably drank more than us today

xx

 

[Divinebeauty]

Perhaps its more known now because more people are aware of allergies as the years go on? Also because NHS doctors are so busy people are googling more and doing their own research and going to the doctors once they have researched etc and asked for a hypo formula.

Its like all the binge drinking culture - people dont binge drink any more than they did 20 years ago its just more publicised now, I mean in the Victorian times they lived on whiskey and brandy lol they probably drank more than us today

xx

I agree with the researching part to find out why baby is acting in such a way , and I do agree that doctors are too busy to try to figure out a reason as to why a baby is having feeding difficulties, and they jump to the prescription book or hypo allergenic formula! Its crazy!! They should have specific doctors you can go see when your baby is having feeding difficulties one that is specialized in trying out different things before saying ok screw it change the formula to hypo one, or heres a script for this med, just give this and hope for the best if not well i dont kno " its just a phase".

Done ranting now. LOL

 

[Peachypoo]

Perhaps its more known now because more people are aware of allergies as the years go on? Also because NHS doctors are so busy people are googling more and doing their own research and going to the doctors once they have researched etc and asked for a hypo formula.

Its like all the binge drinking culture - people dont binge drink any more than they did 20 years ago its just more publicised now, I mean in the Victorian times they lived on whiskey and brandy lol they probably drank more than us today

xx

I agree with the researching part to find out why baby is acting in such a way , and I do agree that doctors are too busy to try to figure out a reason as to why a baby is having feeding difficulties, and they jump to the prescription book or hypo allergenic formula! Its crazy!! They should have specific doctors you can go see when your baby is having feeding difficulties one that is specialized in trying out different things before saying ok screw it change the formula to hypo one, or heres a script for this med, just give this and hope for the best if not well i dont kno " its just a phase".

Done ranting now. LOL

i think my experience has been different.. i wasnt prescribed anything, as they were waiting for los weight to decrease. if anything i feel drs dont prescribe anything at all and avoid it full stop.. if i hadnt pushed to see out of hours dr my lo would have lost a lot of weight!! i think its great we can put suggestions forward for drs to have a look into rather than brushing us off...

but with babies its just trial and error, whatever works.... some babies work with one thing better than the other...

 

[Farie]

but with babies its just trial and error, whatever works.... some babies work with one thing better than the other...

Ain't that the truth!!!

 

[Nessicle]

totally agree girls! peachypoo my doctor kept just prescribing laxatives when she had bad silent reflux cos the gaviscon constipated her so badly as you and Farie both know lol xx

 

[Divinebeauty]

yeah definitely agree there is no ONE thing that will work for ALL babies... Wish there was! lol

 

[Peachypoo]

totally agree girls! peachypoo my doctor kept just prescribing laxatives when she had bad silent reflux cos the gaviscon constipated her so badly as you and Farie both know lol xx

Indeed we do lol.. That's another thing medicine resolves one issue and creates another.. I found gaviscon to be rubbish!!! My lo was still vomiting except it was thick and became choking hazard..

 

[Nessicle]

Perhaps its more known now because more people are aware of allergies as the years go on? Also because NHS doctors are so busy people are googling more and doing their own research and going to the doctors once they have researched etc and asked for a hypo formula.

Its like all the binge drinking culture - people dont binge drink any more than they did 20 years ago its just more publicised now, I mean in the Victorian times they lived on whiskey and brandy lol they probably drank more than us today

xx

I agree with the researching part to find out why baby is acting in such a way , and I do agree that doctors are too busy to try to figure out a reason as to why a baby is having feeding difficulties, and they jump to the prescription book or hypo allergenic formula! Its crazy!! They should have specific doctors you can go see when your baby is having feeding difficulties one that is specialized in trying out different things before saying ok screw it change the formula to hypo one, or heres a script for this med, just give this and hope for the best if not well i dont kno " its just a phase".

Done ranting now. LOL

totally agree girls! peachypoo my doctor kept just prescribing laxatives when she had bad silent reflux cos the gaviscon constipated her so badly as you and Farie both know lol xx

Indeed we do lol.. That's another thing medicine resolves one issue and creates another.. I found gaviscon to be rubbish!!! My lo was still vomiting except it was thick and became choking hazard..

gaviscon constipated Ava so bad she was screaming trying to poo - the silent reflux was the lesser of two evils so took her off it finally got ranitidine and the same thing happened lol took her off that and she's been fine ever since!xx

 

[Divinebeauty]

Perhaps its more known now because more people are aware of allergies as the years go on? Also because NHS doctors are so busy people are googling more and doing their own research and going to the doctors once they have researched etc and asked for a hypo formula.

Its like all the binge drinking culture - people dont binge drink any more than they did 20 years ago its just more publicised now, I mean in the Victorian times they lived on whiskey and brandy lol they probably drank more than us today

xx

I agree with the researching part to find out why baby is acting in such a way , and I do agree that doctors are too busy to try to figure out a reason as to why a baby is having feeding difficulties, and they jump to the prescription book or hypo allergenic formula! Its crazy!! They should have specific doctors you can go see when your baby is having feeding difficulties one that is specialized in trying out different things before saying ok screw it change the formula to hypo one, or heres a script for this med, just give this and hope for the best if not well i dont kno " its just a phase".

Done ranting now. LOL

totally agree girls! peachypoo my doctor kept just prescribing laxatives when she had bad silent reflux cos the gaviscon constipated her so badly as you and Farie both know lol xx

Indeed we do lol.. That's another thing medicine resolves one issue and creates another.. I found gaviscon to be rubbish!!! My lo was still vomiting except it was thick and became choking hazard..

gaviscon constipated Ava so bad she was screaming trying to poo - the silent reflux was the lesser of two evils so took her off it finally got ranitidine and the same thing happened lol took her off that and she's been fine ever since!xx

Nessicle- Have you been using anything at all for Ava's reflux? Changed formulas or anything? Or just managing it? xx

 

[Nessicle]

we tried every formula available I was convinced she just didnt like whatever formula I tried lol. Eventually we tried infant gaviscon at around 12 weeks, she was so constipated with it and had to take her off it, doctors just kept prescribing lactulose or movicol laxatives which I wasnt happy to give her every day. The gaviscon worked for a couple of weeks but it seemed to pick up again so this time I went to the doctors and demanded ranitidine (zantac) for the acid, again this made her constipated so I took her off it after a week and a half but she was miraculously better, I think the ranitidine helped her throat to heal after the acid caused a bit of damage to it. She now takes 7oz every 4 hours and no fussing.

Oh a slower flow teat helped loads too but I kept her on SMA and apart from a bit of constipation from solids here and there she's brilliant now xx

 

[Divinebeauty]

Oh good idea, Maybe the ranitidine helped my Ava's throat too because its like she doesn't fuss anymore at the bottle either but ranitidine made her even more sick/fussy puking wise.

 

[Nessicle]

I think it definitely helped her throat heal for sure, she's never had any problems since!