my breast-fed baby has reflux. Can I give him one bottle of anti-reflux formula? would that b useful?

Question

I DO NOT want to wean. He's still 4 months old. should I give him one bottle in the morning, the evening? would one bottle do the trick? should I give him small amounts several times a day after breast-feeding? I am really frustrated by all the puking! HELP!!!

Answer 1

my daughter had problems too (we also breastfeed)
for sleeping, we purchased an Amby Baby Hammock and it really helped. check them out at http://www.ambybaby.com we purchased ours from ebay.

we never used anything as far as supplementing, just were careful to burp her but not too much and keep her upright for a while. which is one of the many reasons why the Amby is great, b/c she sleeps on an incline.

i forgot to say, i also stopped eating dairy. anytime that i have it, her tummy seems to have more problems (all my fave foods are dairy...cheesecake, ice cream, alfredo sauce, anything creamy/cheesy) so it's kinda hard for me and i occasionally slip, but i do my best to find substitutes, lol.

kudos on not giving up!

Answer 2

Hi,

My 7 month old had reflux pretty bad starting around 3-4 months. I breastfed her til 6 months but supplemented with formula. I noticed that if her formula supplement came from powdered formula, she would vomit (not spit up - really vomit). I tried the anti-reflux formula (liquid version only of both enfamil A.R. and Similac Sensitive R.S.) and both work really good for her. I weaned her at 6 months and now she just drinks the anti-reflux formula (Similac Sensitive R.S. is the one I prefer).

Here are some tips that worked for me:
If you're breastfeeding, try pumping and feeding her breastmilk in a bottle while she's propped up a little. So long as the reflux isn't severe, breastmilk is still better than formula. Breastmilk is so easily digested (as compared to formula) that it isn't as likely to come back up. But if you want to try the formula, get the liquid version of one of the anti-reflux formulas out there and try it.

Make sure she's sitting upright for about 20 minutes after eating and don't feed her right before she goes to bed or down for a nap.

Start solids. They'll stay in his/her tummy better than liquid. Start with cereal and veggies like sweet potatoes, peas, etc. Stay away from acidic fruits - this will make the reflux worse.

Take care,
Jenni

Answer 3

Don't switch to formula after you've done such a great job with breastfeeding! Every bottle you feed him will reduce your milk production. Talk to your doctor about possible medications to help reduce stomach acid in baby and also keep a log of foods that you eat and when he pukes up a feeding. It could very easily be he is having an allergic reaction to something you are eating. The formula's that claim to help with spitup are two different types one is mixed with rice cereal to thicken it up to make it harder to puke up. Then the other kind is where they have changed the formula itself to be hypoallergenic. My son had to be on one called neutramagen due to protein allergies is what the specialist said. He couldn't even digest soy formula and was lactose intolerant well past his first birthday.
If it is lactose intolerant with your son be aware that some of gerber's baby foods use powdered milk in them. I'm not sure if it's for texture or flavor but I do remember the green beans in particular always came back up until I pureed my own green beans and he had no problem with those. Read labels on the baby food if it's allergies.

Answer 4

Poor baby, just keep breast feeding him and keep him upright in a swing , on your shoulder or tilt the head of the bed so his head is raised. Don't think I would overwhelm the system by introducing formula unless the doctor recommends it. Might think about a bit of rice cereal though. Has the doctor ruled out pyloric stenosis? Try keeping a log of what you feed him, and time between feeding and vomiting. Is he gaining weight? Growing and thriving? Does his skin or mucus membranes appear dry. Does he cry tears and wet diapers regularly. He should begin to settle down but if you don't see any improvement, a visit to the pediatrician or a pediatric gastroenterologist is in order.

Answer 5

You do not need to wean, and studies have shown that breastmilk is better for refulx than formula. Formula stays in the belly longer, producing much more stomach acid than BM does. Do small, more frequent nursing sessions. Ditch the thickened formula.

There are medications to help. Also, eliminate ALL dairy(look for casin, lactose, whey...in all ingredient lists). It will help. It does take 2 weeks to get all of the dairy protiens out of your body, though, so don't look for over night improvement.

Answer 6

It might...I'm not sure. Formula makes reflux worse for some babies. But for some reason, it made my niece's better. One thing to keep in mind though is that formula burns the baby's throat more coming up than breastmilk does. We went the medicine route with my son. I never thought about one of the thickened formulas they have out. Part of me wishes we had tried that first. We did great with the medicine though.

Answer 7

I would not give him formula if you are strickly breastfeeding. I would start him on cereal mixed with breastmilk and burp, burp, burp him like 500 times while nursing him! I had a baby just like this, he stopped spitting up around 1. We used towels instead of burp cloths!

Answer 8

try mylicon gas drops, i know this sound weird but my 4 week old son used to spit up a lot and some one told me to try this and now he does not spit up nearly as much. (i am also breast feeding)

Answer 9

I owuldn't once start breast feeding you shouldn't stray unless it is hurting the baby

Answer 10

Sounds like you need to drink more water.