reflux babies/enfamil AR users...

CV2011

Did anyone see a diff in the spitting up with the AR formula? My one is having such issues and this spit up is ridiculous! I know babies spit up but it is constant...he's on zantac too...I thought that would be the answer but things still aren't improving...is there a special way to mix the formula? is hubby not mixing it right? i hate using the powder formula! the ready made stuff worked so great but so expensive...anyone have any help they can offer?

Leigh71

My 2 girls have AR.  Kate really has a hard time w/her reflux.  The RTF is the way we go.  It just seems to help her.  I also add a small amount of rice cereal to her bottles to thicken it up as well.

(I keep a tupperware container of the rice on the counter.  I "blend" it.../puree the dry rice cereal...in the blender.  I make up a big batch so I'm not doing this fun activity too often... but it seems that it makes the powder/flakes so fine, it really dissolves better in the formula)  GL!

Ruby_Tuesday

My reflux baby never actually spit up.  We switched to the enfamil AR and started using zantac at the same time so I'm not sure which change actually helped him but he got better when we made those changes. 

We use the Dr. Browns mixing pitchers.

caden

I tried Enfamil AR (powder & RTF). It did help DS2's spit up a bit but made him constipated. We switched to Nutramigen and added oatmeal cereal to his bottles. That helped a lot more. 

AlishaMay

My understanding is that the AR formulas usually just have rice cereal mixed into the powder already.  For us, we didn't switch formulas (until they realized a lot of the problem was that Nanette was allergic to milk protein) we just mixed rice cereal in with each bottle.  I found that Beechnut was pretty fine, and mixed well without having to do anything special. It's also what our doctor recommended because it's pretty pure - and the white rice is easier on their immature digestive systems than the Earth's Best brand - which is made with brown rice.   We use the Playtex Drop In system and I just switched to a fast flow nipple, and she was able to get it just fine - much better than the 'Y' or 'X' cut nipples. 

Rachel*Neocate

Poor little guy! One of the previous posters mentioned that their LO had a milk protein intolerance.. have you ever looked into that possibility??  I'm just wondering becuase It?s possible that a milk protein allergy could be causing or making your LOs reflux-y symptoms worse. Also, it?s possible that you haven?t seen an improvement because he?s having trouble breaking down the partially broken down milk proteins in Alimentum.  Maybe you could ask your doctor about trying an elemental formula (like Neocate or EleCare) to see if it helps at all?  My LO was having reflux symptoms (mainly nasal congestion) along with ezcema and bad diapers until I took all dairy/soy out of my diet (I'm BFing).  It's worth a try!  Good luck!