My son was diagnosed with Gastro-colic reflex, so the doc said there is not much to do about it other than find a formula he likes. Well we are trying Enfamil AR right now. It has rice starch in it. He loves it, but seems to be constipated with it and I think un-comfortable while eating it. The thing is that he keeps it down though. That was one of our problems. He kept spitting up a lot, with this formula he doesn't. So does anyone know anything about this formula? Do you think I should stay with it even though he 'seems' to be uncomfortable or should I switch again? Any thoughts would be great, thanks!
2006-12-18 13:34:01 · 7 answers · asked by mom2alainababy 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
Rice can constipate. By constipated do you mean that he has hard BMs with pellet like poops coming out? It is only constipation if that is the case. That doesn't mean he isn't uncomfortable though if he's going longer between BMs. I have also heard great things about the Nutramigin (sp?) formulas by Enfamil for reflux and I don't think that has the rice in it.
Really though, I'd make your pediatrician follow this very closely. I'm assuming your baby is quite small and you don't want him to be uncomfortable at all. Did the doctor talk about Zantac or anything for him? I'm never thrilled to hear a ped. tell a parent just to "find something that works" when it's the Drs job to guide you in all things health related.
2006-12-18 13:44:07 · answer #1 · answered by Wendy F 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First of all, any switch is gonna take the little guy some time to get used to, even if it is a switch for the better. You should give him about a month to see if his bowel habits adjust to the new formula before switching again. To much switching around will only make matters worse. Chances are his tummy will digest this better and thus it will be digested better the rest of the way through. Just give it time. If he doesn't go for a whole 24 hours, sit him in a warm bath and when you get him out rub his tummy in clockwise motion. 3 days with no BM then go to the doctor.
2006-12-18 21:41:36 · answer #2 · answered by sixcannonballs 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
what do you mean by uncomfortable. is he getting a little red and arching his back and stuff after feedings? if that is the case, the enfamil ar is not enough. my son has reflux. he took 2 different medicines from age 1 and a half months to 6 months. zantac and i can't for the life of me remember the name of the other. i'm not much for medicine, but he was insanely miserable. and with this stuff it was like nothing was wrong. at age 6 months, the are starting to eat more solid foods and sitting up on their own. so in my sons case the medicine wasn't necessary any longer. if the discomfort is mild perhaps he just needs to adjust to the formula. otherwise, i would strongly recommend seeking a new pediatrician. in the meantime, don't lay him down after feedings. you need to keep him upright for a good 20 min or so. one more thing. how did they diagnose his reflux. we went to the hospital were i feed him this super icky stuff while they watched exactly what his digestive system was doin with xray.
2006-12-19 07:24:39 · answer #3 · answered by wendy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We use Enfamil A.R. for our son because of his spit ups. It did help with those, but really, what worked the most was a little time for his system to get adjusted. You didn't mention the age of your son, but mine is 9 months and I would say by the time he was 6 months we noticed a big difference. I wouldn't keep switching. Use gas drops on occasion, there's nothing in those that will hurt the baby. And just be patient....
2006-12-18 22:02:19 · answer #4 · answered by Kiss My Shaz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it sounds like he has some food allergies, which I would bring that up to the doc. my sons reflux wasn't okay until they placed him on the prescription formula ellecare. now he is doing great.
for the constipation, that is common with a lot of the hypoallerginic formulas. they gave us meds to help with it.
he might need to change formulas again, and thicken the feedings, and add some more reflux meds..
we are on ellecare with rice cereal to thicken, and prevacid 15mg at night and 7.5mg in the morning.
he has stopped spitting up and when he gets constipated we give him his laxitive (which isn't very often)
2006-12-19 03:09:04 · answer #5 · answered by steveangela1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it probably just has a little too much rice starch in it for his tummy....we had a similar probably with our middle child we used regular enfamil and added a little bit of rice cereal ( playing around with different constistancies until we found what wouldn't make her constipated and that she could keep down)......1 scoop of rice cereal for every 4 scoops of formula worked for us
2006-12-18 21:39:41 · answer #6 · answered by laura468 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If my infant son doesn't have a bowel movement I just lighten up one bottle for him. For instance, I usually use 3.5 scoups of powder, so I use only 3 spoups instead. That would usually do the trick.
2006-12-18 23:41:11 · answer #7 · answered by Rosey55 D 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋