Hi Dr. Olsen,

My wife and I have a beautiful 7 week old boy named Nathan. Nathan has always been gassy and recently had surgery to correct his PyloricStenosis. His feedings improved for about a week but the last couple of days, he has shown symptoms of reflux. We took him to the ER last night and we were informed that Enfamil makes a formula specifically for babies with reflux. It is supposed to be thicker, therebye helping the acid stay in the stomach. Nathan currently is eating Enfamil Gentle Ease. Our question was whether or not you have a suggestion regarding the formula. Is one better than the other? Can we mix them half and half? With his struggles regarding gas and sometimes the passing of stool, we were worried about switching to an even thicker formula. However, if it can help with his reflux, it would save a lot of stress to Nathan and us. Do you have any suggestions or facts about either of these? Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Janet and Shaun

Hi,

Thickened formulas may help. However if the reflux is significant, then a more medicine approach might be entertained. Formulas can be mixed or not. I don't think the anti-reflux formulas have been well proven to really help, but I can't see any harm in trying. Remember Gentlease is a partly protein hydrolysed milk formula and if your baby has intolerance to certain large milk proteins, this may work better than the anti-reflux formulas. I really am not a believer in all these "niche", "designer" formulas. I think regular milk, soy, protein hydrolysates and formulas like basic amino acid formulas (Neocate is an example) are all that people need to try.

Good luck, Dr. Olson