My baby has acid reflux, does Enfamil AR work?

Samantha - posted on 11/26/2012

Hey there,



My daughter was diagnosed with severe reflux, she was also admitted to the hospital and was on an IV for 16 hours! It was ridiculous. We tried absolutely everything and nothing seemed to work. At present, we have her on Prevacid twice a day, Ranitidine twice a day and Metaclopramide 4 times a day, she also is drinking Enfamil AR and is doing fabulous! I think the best choice we made was to take her off of the Alementum and put her on thickened formula. She is currently 4 months and the doctor at Sick Kids suggested I give her 1 tablespoon of pablum (rice cereal) in the morning and since then, NO PUKING!! She spits up a little but it is normal. She is falling alseep on her own and is smiling and giggling like any other normal baby. She was diagnosed at 2 weeks old, so it's taken a long 4 months to get where we are, but keep your head up! Things will get better! I know as a Mommy it truly sucks to see your little one in pain, but as long as you keep working to keep them comfortable, things should get better.



Take care and best wishes!

Lindsey - posted on 11/26/2012

Hi eva,



He did spit up less on nutramigen than neocate but he was still unsettled on nutramigen and neocate seems to be working ok for him now.

Lindsey - posted on 11/26/2012

Brianna, I would speak to your doctor or pediatrician as if she isnt settling on the reflux meds after a few weeks then it could be possible that she has an intollerance too and thats why shes still unsettled.

Under the guidance of your doctor/ pediatrician the combination of meds and lactose free formula may help, but if it doesnt then speak to them about other lactose free formulas amd if they think changing that would help or if they think changing the ranitadine to something like omoprozol would.



It can feel like a bit of trial and error but as they are babies and cant tell us exactly whats wrong etc... its just about finding what works and settles your baby as every baby is different.



Hang on in there and if shes still unsettled dont worry about how many times you go to the doc, shes a baby and they should continue to work with you and baby to get her onto meds which work.



I did find that our son did spit up more on neocate but he took it ok and did put weight on, so i know it can look as if baby isnt keeping much of her bottle down but if shes putting on weight you know she must be. Neocate is also quite watery too so pediatrician prescribed infant gavison which thickened the bottle very slightly too, so maybe speak to them about if they think a thickener in her bottle would help her spit up less.

Eva - posted on 11/25/2012

did your little one drink the neocate better than the nutraigen- I cannot get my son to drink it

Brianna - posted on 11/25/2012

Ahhhh, she's on Randitadine, also. They said it was either acid reflux or lactose intolerance, but honestly, I can't tell if it's both or just one. She's been on the meds for over 2 weeks now, and she still screams and fusses and is just not a happy camper. Also, I tried the Enfamil AR formula, and it seems like she's spitting up more. I don't know what to do anymore.

Lindsey - posted on 11/22/2012

Hi



My son is 3 1/2 months old and was diagnosed with reflux when he was a few days old. He was put on donperidone and ranitadine and the paediatrician changed his formula to nutramigen as he is also lactose intolerant. The meds seemed to work for a few weeks but then he started to become really unsettled again. As he'd put on weight the dosage of meds was increased and his formula was changed to neocate. He seems to have settled again and I have everything crossed that this will be turning point for us. I understand how stressful it can be for all the family and you never think you'll get more than a few hours sleep a

night but it does get better!



I'm sure you're doing all of these things already...

Propping babies cot/matress up, it helps baby sleep better as the acid doesn't come up as much compared to baby lying flat. You can buy wedges off the Internet which fit into Moses baskets and cots.

Keep baby upright for at least 30mins after feeding, this helps reduce reflux and acid coming back up

When changing babies nappy place something under their heads so they aren't lying flat.



Let me know how you get on as I found that there's not a lot of support groups locally for parents / carers with babies who have reflux



Lindsey

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