Need help re: baby spit up and Enfamil AR

texasgurl

My happy sleeping in crib sweet little baby has completely changed in last few days and shes miserable! She was on Enfamil Newborn and doing great! She took most naps in crib and slept beautifully there (on tummy-started that at 3 weeks b/c she refused to sleep on back and we're ok with it). Then a few days ago she started spitting up more and more. Now its to the point that she wakes up everytime she goes to sleep in crib 5-10 min later in a pool of spit up. This is regardless of if she just ate or ate an hr ago! Shes then awake and upset. She also was wincing at bottle, screaming in middle at times and arching her back. I called nurse and she said hard to say if its reflux or gas b/c that behavior wasnt everytime and was sometimes relieved by burping. So she had to start on Gentlease. We've seen no improvement with the spitting up (maybe worse) but improvement on her fussiness. Its only been 2 days on that formula. I called again today and talked to a different nurse. She said we could try the AR. I am reading on this and it seems kinda hard core but I do want her to be able to sleep again! How do you mix it to get rid of clumps? Do you use a fast nipple? We are currently using a medium flow. Has it caused constipation? is the spit up better or gone? Thanks so much. I want my happy well rested baby back!!

texasgurl

Shes 6 weeks old and just remembered one more question. Anyone mix the AR with regular Enfamil? Looks like alot of people online are doing that, our nurse said not to and not sure why. Thanks!

kthompsmk

We also started our newborn on Enfamil Newborn and she did great for several weeks--about 2 months actually.  But then she was spitting up constantly, having terrible gas that threw her into screaming fits, and we were really worried.  After some research, I decided to switch brands.  Enfamil and Similac are both excellent formulas but they use different kinds of proteins. I found out from our pediatrician that one uses whey protein and one uses caseine (spelling?).  Anyway, often babies' tummies process one better than the other.  We switched to Similac at about 10 weeks and it changed everything!  She doesn't spit up or have gas anymore.  You might consider doing the same.

theprincessPAT

I don't have answers to most of your questions.  But my LO is formula fed so perhaps I can help with mixing.  I use warm water, slowly add the water to the fomula (never formula to water).  I mix using the Dr. Brown's formula mixing pitcher then I let it sit for a few minutes and mix a little more.  There are never any clumps when I pour into the bottles and there's never any left on the bottom of the pitcher.

If the AR is thicker then you will probably need to use a faster nipple, but if it's like other formula then you should be able to use whatever nipple LO likes best.

themissizz

We use Enfamil AR. I don't think there's anything "hard core" about it. It works pretty well for us. He still spits up, just not as much. We couldn't mix it with another formula because it didn't work effectively when we tried to.

We actually still use level 1 nipples on some of our bottles (Dr. Brown's and Born Free) and level 2 with Avent bottles. It's really not that thick and I've never had a problem mixing it. You just want to make sure that you have it made ahead of time because it has to sit for 5 minutes before you give it to them and if you have a hungry baby, that 5 minutes feels like a lifetime.

themissizz

Oh and our LO has always been constipated, our pedi has us add a bit of Karo syrup to his bottles. I make a pitcher (28 oz at a time usually) and add 2 tbsp of dark Karo to the pitcher to keep our LO regular. We also use Mylicon drops in every bottle to keep his tummy a bit more comfortable.

missrekaeagle

I started using Enfamil AR a couple weeks after my DD was diagnosed with reflux. The pedi recommended mixing her formula with rice cereal, but I thought buying Enfamil AR would be more convenient. DD started spitting up less on the AR, but she became extremely constipated so I stopped using it because she was so miserable.