Hi Im new. My name is Nadine (lovemychildren). I am the mother of 3. My son is now 10 weeks old and I feel like a first time mom. At 4 weeks I stopped breastfeeding because of the grunting and all the gas (24/7) my son had. It was awful. I switched to Carnation Soy powder. The gas eased up, but 4 days later my son began screaming while taking the bottle. DR said acid reflux and switch formula to Lactose Free Similac and Zantac 2 a day. The gas returned just as bad if not worse and I switched him to Isomil advance. The gas was bearable and the screaming for bottle only came about every days for 1 feeding. My husband was still concerned about the gas and suggested the Carnation again that maybe the Zantac cured the screaming. My son screams at least twice a day for a feeding. I assume this is silent reflux. My question is should I try Alimentum/Nutramigen for the reflux and gas ( I hear it helps gas as well) or should I go back to Isomil but use the Concentrate. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Nadine

Welcome Nadine! We didn't switch formulas often (only gave my son Nutramigen when he was very sick) so I'm not sure which formulas are best for which condition. I also have to admit that gas was not a huge problem for Daniel either (so why I am responding???). But maybe you could try something specifically for the gas (there are drops for that, right?) and if that helps, he might be able to handle regular formula again.

Hi Nadine and welcome :D My son has silent reflux as well and I can really understand your pain (mine is 9 weeks). Do you hear him making swallowing noises a lot? Like he has something coming up in his throat? Does he choke or gag often? Here is a list of symtoms, when I saw this list I just knew my son had it...

http://www.infantrefluxdisease.com/silent_reflux.php

My suggestion is to call back your ped. The bad news is that everytime you change formula it takes a good 2 weeks (as do most meds) for them to adapt to it. It is also hard to know which is reflux verses which is a formula intolerence.

My best advice is too keep calling back you ped about it before changing any formulas. He may decide to refer you to a GI specialist.

Gass can be caused by 2 ways that I know of. Swallowing too much air into the belly and developing in the intestines. For tummy air y9ou can use Mylicon gas drops, burp after every ounce anduse special bottles like Dr.Browns. The inestinal gas is caused either from not being burped fast enough or it can develop there from different things like food intolerences. You really need to see your ped or a GI specilist to try to figure out where the crying is coming from, reflux or gas. They may well recommend the hypoallgergenic formulas and then it is a 2 week wait.

It is also possible the Zantac may not be enough. It's a very helpful drug to most but some babies need the stronger meds (PPIs) like Prevacid and Prilosec. You may want to elevate teh bed and hold your baby up after eating. You also may want to ask about thickening the formula to help it stay down.
This talks about the different treatments....

http://www.infantrefluxdisease.com/infant_reflux_treatments.php

Finally, I would recommend to start keeping a journal. This can be very helpful to your doctor. Especially if you start seeing specialists and all. Here is one you can print out...

http://www.infantrefluxdisease.com/journal.php


Goodluck and welcome! :D

Welcome to the boards Nadine!
I'm sorry to hear you've been put on the Reflux ride with us :(
I have no experience with formula but I'm going to move your question into the bottle feeding forum so it gets the appropriate attention from mom's who have been in that situation.
Good luck.