Should I Go Back to Regular Formula After Feeding Hypoallergenic

My son had reflux as well and we had him on Enfamil Gentlease and he did great with it. The proteins are broken down more in that formula so it empties from their tummies faster which is great because that is one of the problems in reflux babies that causes them to spit up more.

Hi, Jeannie. I would not make any changes in formula without consulting my pediatrician. Even if you do make a change, you can't just switch from one to the other -- you have to do it gradually to allow her system to adjust.

Hi there -

We went through the same thing with our son, now 5 months. He has bad reflux and takes Prevacid for it. He's also taken Alimentum almost exclusively since birth. I say almost, b/c several times I have tried to switch him to regular Similac, soy, or Nestle Good Start. Nothing besides Alimentum will work. Our pediatrician basically has said that it's all trial and error, but since he does so well on Alimentum we are sticking with it. She did tell us that kids with reflux seem to have much more sensitive stomachs, which is probably why he does so much better on the hypoallergenic formula. None of the others are hypoallergenic. The closest thing was the Good Start, but he still spit up a lot with it. With Alimentum he doesn't do that. One thing that definitely helped our son was getting some solids into him - particularly infant rice cereal - once he was old enough. We started the rice cereal at about 4 months old, putting it in every bottle - 1 tsp of cereal to every ounce of formula. I know it sounds like a lot, but it was recommended by a specialist we took him to for GERD. It worked extremely well until he got a sore throat and then refused to drink anything but straight formula. Now he eats the cereal w/ a spoon and takes baby food. I'd really recommend talking to your pediatrician before trying to switch formulas, and also considering starting your baby on rice cereal as early as possible. Hope this helps!

J.

hi...my daughter went through the same reflux thing (and is still going through it). To answer one of your questions...the milk intolerance and the reflux are directly connected. Your daughter may still spit up, but without the dairy it will not necessarily burn. the reflux isn't the spitting up of milk/formula so much as the acid that comes with it. by reducing the acid (translation: by not feeding her milk products, if that's the trigger), you reduce the pain. I tried the hypoallergenic formula, and my daughter would NOT eat it. So, I went with soy formula (isomil by similac or prosobee by enfamil...we use Target's version, and it's perfect). the reflux isn't a problem, the cost is WAY better, and she likes it. I would ask your pediatrician, because she probably won't truly grow out of the dairy intolerance until she's 6 months to a year old, at the least. good luck!

Hi Jennie,
I would stick with the Alimentum if you can. I know it costs a lot, but your daughter has so much going on inside right now that she needs a constant, no irritant. She'll be able to start solids in another month or so, so the amount used will go down. I don't think there is a generic version of Alimentum, if there is, you could switch to that no problem. Also, if its a money issue, talk to your pediatrician. Many of them get 8oz can samples of the powder. They have to give it to someone or it just goes to waste, right? Ask if they get the samples and would give you some. My daughter couldn't handle reg. Enfamil, and the dr. gave me a few of the Enf. soy samples to try out. Worth a try.
M.

Go ahead & give it a try. If she reacts the way she was before being on the Allimentum, then go back to it. If she's fine, then continue with regular formula. I know how expensive the Allimentum can be.

My daughter didn't have reflux but was having some problems with regular formula versions so we used the Enfamil Gentlease starting at 2 months & then even switched to the Target version of Gentlease. With the Gentlease, the milk proteins are broken down for the baby. It was like she was a different child after the switch.

You're right..acid reflux and a milk intolerance are 2 different things. Both of my kids have/had reflux and here's what I learned from our pediatrician who also specializes in gastrointestinial disorders at Hopkins.

There's a muscle in their esophagus called a sphincter that acts as like a flap. It opens when food goes down and shuts when there's nothing to go down. It's immature in babies up until 8 or 9 months and just kinda flops around willy nilly so the acid in their stomach comes back up (as spit up), it burns their throat. Hence the term "acid reflux". The medication that our kids have been on, Axid, just neutralizes the acid. It doesn't prevent the spit up from coming up. Others like Prevacid and Zantac do other things, but have different side effects in babies. Axid has none and is very safe.

The reflux DEFINITELY ties into the type of formula they're on. The partially broken down proteins are easier for them to process and the lactose content (or lack there of) is important. The less lactose, the less irritating it is to their stomach lining which keeps the acid from over-producing.

Three months is still pretty young to be switching formulas and I don't know that you want to find out the hard way that she can't tolerate another type. It can be pretty nasty...long nights, super cranky baby-which you've probably already experienced! My vote, and what our pediatrician recommended to us, was to keep them on the same formula for at least 6 months. I never took the chance with our first son. He was on the Gentlease until he didn't drink formula anymore...at 11 months.

I would stick with your formula throughout to be on the safe side. You could try buying a small can of regular formula and give it a try and see if anything happens. I had to put both my boys on Gentlease for fussiness and tried taking them off when they got older and they went right back to gas pains. It's more expensive, but worth it. So, give it a try for a week and see what happens but if you see signs of pain or fussiness put her back on her special formula.

I had the same problem with my daughter who had severe reflux and was on Alimentum formula and she was able to go on regular formal after being on Zantac for a few months. I think we waited until she was about 6 months old. (She is almost 5 now and off meds) Just let your doctor know that you would like to change formulas so they know what you are doing. It is not good to change formulas often. If she cannot tolerate the regular formula you will know it right away and then just switch back and try again in a few months. I know you are probably anxious to get her off the hypoallergenic formula as it is very expensive and the smell is terrible, especially with a reflux baby that spits up and vomits alot. My son who is now 10 had to be on the hypoallergenic formula as well since he could not tolerate any other formula and now I know he had reflux but it was never daignosed and he was never able to use regular formula.(I only realized what he had after my daughter's diagnosis) so I think there could be a connection between the two things. Good luck! I am sure everything will be fine just trust in your instincts.

Milk intolerance can aggravate reflux, but they are two separate conditions. I would switch to Nestle Good Start or Enfamil Gentlease (equivalent) because they are partially hydrolyzed, as opposed to Alimentum which is 100% hydrolyzed, so you'll still get some benefit of the milk proteins being broken down. If the spit up gets worse, I suppose I'd go in for milk allergy testing at that point. I have a friend who's babies made this switch with great success. Good luck.

Hi Jeannie,

What does the Doctor say?

Here are some web sites about GERD:

www.healthy-holistic-living.com/baby-colic.html

http://www.infantreflux.org/tucker_wedge_sling.htm

http://www.infantreflux.org/formulas.htm

http://infanctreflux.org/products.html#feeding products

Hope this helps. Good luck. D.

Hi Jeannie! I see that you all ready have some responses- and conflicting ones at that. Not sure if this will help or not, but here goes! Both of my kids had/have reflux. My daughter is 3 and son is 16 months and still has it. The oldest had it until about a year old. Both took meds to help control the reflux. We've had to try lots of different meds between the two of them and each had different ones that worked best for them. Both kids were primarily breast fed when they were babies, but also suplemented with formula. Our daughter did fine on Enfamil but we had here on Enfamil AR (the one with the cereal mixed in) for a good while until she got a little older and I switched her back to regular Enfamil since it was cheaper. Our son on the other hand has severe reflux as well-- still on meds and seeing a GI-- but can't handle Enfamil. He will vomit it back up almost immediately. The only formula that we've found that he can tolerate is Nestle Good Start with Natural Cultures. He even has to have the powder, he gets sick with plain Good start, or even the ready-mixed versions that you find at the hospital. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can get some great advice from other moms, but I think each child is different and you just have to find out what works best for your child. I don't see anything wrong with experimenting with other formulas- how else will you know if something else works better for your child? THere may be an option out there that would work better than alimentum for your daughter but you won't know until you try it. I do think that when the child gets old enough for food (cereal or baby food) that it seems to help since it's heavier than the formula alone. Anyway, good luck!!

I'm not a doctor so I couldn't tell you for sure, but my son had acid reflux and we never took him off of his regular formula. After starting the medication he was perfectly fine, so we never had to put him on any special type of formula. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to put her back on regular formula but you should always check with your pediatrician before trying anything. Hope this helps!

Hi Jeannie..

My youngest had reflux as a newborn also. He was put on Zantac and I was told to switch to soy and add a bit of rice cereal to his bottles. He absolutely HATED soy it so I switched him back to Good Start. (I used Good Start with my oldest also.) Once he started eating baby food I took him off Zantac also and he was completely fine.

Good luck!

I would not go back. If she is doing better then just wait until she is off formula and into milk. If the reflux continues on milk then she probably has an allergy or intolerance to diary.

S.