DD who is 9 weeks old (was a 34 week preemie) has been on Alimentum for about about one month. She was put on Zantac about 1 week ago for reflux (it seems that it is not helping that much). She projectile vomits about 1-2 times a day. She is SOOOOO gassy and is so uncomfortable that it wakes her up while she is sleeping and makes her so unhappy. She will just scream and cry...it is so awful.

My question for those of you who have tried the Nutramigen, did it help with gas at all? I am thinking about switching because we have to find something that will help improve the gassiness. We already have been on Similac Advance, Enfamil Gentlease, Similac Isomil, and now the Alimentum. We are giving her Mylicon drops and they seem to be doing nothing.

Thanks in advance for your insights. I really just wish I could find something that would make my baby more comfortable!
cmarie

You should talk to the dr about a referral to a pediatric GI and ask about Neocate or Elecare. If Alimentum didn't help w/ gassiness then Nutramigen probably won't either. It took a couple weeks but DS did stop having so much gas on Nutramigen, but we never tried Alimentum.
Anyway, Neocate and Elecare are amino acid based and even easier to digest. They're prescription though, so you'd have to get the dr to switch her. Also, she may need a dosage increase or a different med. Are you thickening her formula w/ anything? What finally worked for DS was the Zantac in combination w/ using Thick It to thicken every single bottle. We use 1 tsp per oz of formula for a consistency that stays down for him. Anyway, talk to the dr about those 3 things and let us know how things go for her. I hope she feels better. I know it's awful, I've been there but it does get better. Just be prepared as there are LOTS of ups and downs along the way. I'll keep her in my prayers.

My oldest was on nutramagin and it did help with the gassiness. I agree with having to have them on the formula for a while befpre you see major changes. I also swear by mylicon drops!! SO maybe if they are doing nothing, than it might not be gas.

Oh I hope you find something to help ease her pain!! I feel for ya!!

We tried all the formulas as well. We had better luck on Nutramigen than we did on the Alimentum, but still not 100%. My daughter reacted to the Nutramigen oddly - she got what looked like a terrible diaper rash from it. We saw a pediatric GI and he told us it was definitely her reacting to the formula. We ended up on the prescribed formulas (both Neocate and Elecare) and she was 100 times better and finally a happy baby who didn't suffer from pain anymore. It's definitely worth seeing a pediatric GI (or even asking your pediatrician about a prescribed formula) because I remember how horrible horrible horrible her pain was and it stopped immediately once we found the right formula.

Although some people tell you to stay on a formula for weeks, I don't believe that. Our GI told us you can tell the difference in a matter of days - and trust me, when you find the right formula you will know immediately. ...and as for the Mylicon drops, they didn't help my little one at all either.

Best of luck to you - I know this is such a difficult time. Hang in there, you will find the right formula and things will get better. :)

Hey OH Do I ever know what you are going through. GAS SO bad they hurt, their poor bellies are in pain. The nutra did help my baby alot. She made four months on Dec 28 -07.When I took her for her shots today I asked the ped/ can I switch to something else now because she had been on nutra for a long time. The formula he told me to try now is called The Good start ( the orange can). We will see what this does. She had some tonight about 4 hrs ago so for so good...... she is sleeping.... I told him today at the office if she screams one time with the gas I am going back to nutra!! lol
IN the book I was talking about I will write what it said about those drops ( and I used them toooooooooooo all the time) **Mylicon drops which typically break up tiny air bubbles,do very little to break the huge air bubbles and cycle of pain that all starts with painfull feeding** My advice to you honestly is to try to stay with the nutra but do small feedings( she still does small feedings sometimes ) and she is on prevacid. Althogh I will share some light at the end of the tunnel * it does get better*

hi cmarie

im not sure you remember me from th IF boards or the preggers boards. I had my baby 9 weeks ago too. she was born on nov 5. basically i can relate to you. i havent been on the boards at all since she was 2 weeks old because its been a nightmare. we have spent half of her life in the hopsitals. kenzie was fullterm but by 2 weeks old was still below birth weight. she was vomiting up every meal (breast milk at first) they admuitted her to the hospital at 2 weeks old. when she dropped from 5.8 to under 5lb. at 2w4d they put in a nasal gatric tube to feed her. they have done 2 endoscopies, a colonscopy, sweat test for CF, 3 sonograms, cardio, neuro workups. she either has crazy diarrhea or explosive vomiting.

kenzie at first hospitla visit was put on pregestimil which is similar to neutramigen only a bit more broken down. at first she responded well to it. you may want to ask about it. it smells really bad though.

is your baby thriving? i know that the vimiting is so annoying and uncomofrtable but if shes thriving they the drs realluy dont do much for it. mylecon does nothing.

kenzie went home with the feeding tube after 9 days and was doing well. she got up to 6.9 and then stalled. then went down to 6.3. 3.5 weeks ago they put the feeding tube back in and switched her to elecare. we were told she was 1 one 200 babies allergic to the pregestimil. she gained some weight and got back to 6.9 then she dropped again to 5.14 and 2 weeks ago was readmitted to schneiders childrens hospital. they did a surgery on her and inserted a central line called a broviac to administer TPN which is all her nutruents into her veins. her labs showed she was very malnourished and she had begun to lose hair in clumps (she was born with a tn of hair). last thursday we had her transfered to columbia babies hospital. they seem to be way more on top of things here. its been really tough so i can relate. i know how horrible it is to have to change their clothes 15 times a day.

have they tested her for pyloric stenosis? if its projectile you may want to get her tested, its just a sonogram. i just got a laptop to keep i the hospital with me so now i can log on. as for kenzie they have basically done every test under the sun and are now thinking she has some crazy virus. when she starts to show some marked improvment (shes 7.2 now) they will send us home with all of these tubes. she is now getting 5ccs of elecare an hour (which is 4oz a day...30cc is an ounce) and they are hoping she will tolerate it. all of her calories right now are going into her veins. they will slowly build her up on the elecare but it will take probably 2 months before the broviac line can be removed. elecare is more elemetal than nutramingin becuse it has no fats in it. i will basically be on house arrest with her. since she has an open hole in her chest she cant go out anywhere because infection is a big risk for her.

my sister also had her baby 2 weeks befre me 6 weeks early like you. she had a boy and hes huge now! its pretty ironic that my fullterm baby is having the issues and her premie is totally fine. does your baby girl have any other issues? what is her name?my last piece of advice is to get a really good pediatric gastro. they may not be able to do anything but ya never know...

ps - do they think maybe its a milk protein allergy?

OMG Aymie!!!! I can not even believe your story!!!! Of course I remember you from the IF and pregger board:) I would never forget any of my IF sisters:angel: I can not even say how sorry I am about baby Kenzie:( What an awful thing that you are going through...poor baby girl! I just hope that this new hospital can figure out what is going on and she can start to have a normal life! It is just awful...I can only imagine how exhausted you are.

Olivia Grace is the name of my daughter. She is definitely gaining weight and thriving, she now weighs 9.2 pounds at 11 weeks old. So they are very pleased with her growth. The Zantac has helped with the projectile vomitting, but the acid is still hurting her. She just screams during some of her feedings, but then others are fine???? They do not think it is that pyloric stenosis because she would be vomitting all the time and she only does it maybe once a day or once every few days now.

I just saw a ped. GI today and was not really impressed with him at all:( He made me feel like this is totally normal for babies to behave the way Olivia is and I know that it is not true. While she eats she just gulps and gasps and then screams. Her gas is just unbelievable and she just screams. He wants to have a upper GI xray done to see how everything looks. I am just nervous to do it because I don't want to put her through anymore pain. I know that it doesn't really hurt them, but she will be so upset to have to drink that Barium and have to be strapped down for the xray????

I see my ped. again on Tuesday so I want to see what she says before I do anything with the GI. If I do go back to the GI, I will see another dr in the practice because this one was not the least bit impressive to me!!!!

Well, I will definitely keep you and your little angel in my prayers. PLEASE keep me posted on how things are progressing for Kenzie. It is just so unfair that we have to deal with all of this after everything we went through to get our little angels here!!!!!

cmarie

The Upper GI doesn't hurt them at all. DS wasn't allowed to drink for 4 hours beforehand, so he was more than willing to suck down the barium. He actually got angry when they took it away. He didn't mind being strapped down at all. Maybe he just handled it well?
I agree w/ switching to a different GI in the group, being as you didn't care for the one. It still sounds like she may need to be put on Elecare of Neocate as they are 100% free amino acid based, as opposed to Alimentum which still contains proteins, though extensively broken down. Many kids do fine on them, but if she's still uncomfortable, it could be worth it to try something even gentler. I'd also push for a med change. Zantac just doesn't work for some kids. I hope she starts feeling better soon. Poor little thing.

Thanks for the story! I hope Olivia will do as well as your little guy did. How old was he when you had it done? What would be the next step as far as meds go...what usually comes after Zantac? Do I need to get a prescription for the other formulas or can you just buy it on your own? Is it correct that the Neocate and Elecare come only in powder form? Thanks for your help and insights, I really appreciate it!
cmarie

Thanks for the story! I hope Olivia will do as well as your little guy did. How old was he when you had it done? What would be the next step as far as meds go...what usually comes after Zantac? Do I need to get a prescription for the other formulas or can you just buy it on your own? Is it correct that the Neocate and Elecare come only in powder form? Thanks for your help and insights, I really appreciate it!
cmarie

Oh, Landon was about 3 months when he had his done. And, usually they'd go to Prilosec or Prevacid next. I have a 4 month old nephew on Prilosec who's doing really well. Elecare and Neocate are prescription formulas, so you'd have to get the dr to switch her, but she may do better. You never know until you try. Yes, they do only come in powder form. I hope she starts feeling better soon. (I love her name, I have a 5 year old niece named Olivia.)

the barium swallow is more upsetting for us than for them. i was in the room while they did kenzies. she was very upset to be strapped down but she drank the barium like a champ. i think at that point they have been kept wihtout food for so long that they will eat anything!

our first GI always said "its normal, babies spit up" and i hated that answer. even if it is the case you want something more comforting than that. Something to ask your pediatrician is if you should see a feeding specialist. they are expensive but she could help if olivia is gulping. they work with the babies on their suck and swallow skills. Now that kenzie has been getting a feeding tube for so long we have to work with a suck and swallow specialist everyday because she has pretty much lost her reflex.

elecare and neocate do only come in powder form which stinks. i am so nervous about how different waters affect kenzie and how if even a little of the powder spills shes not getting what she needs which is so important for her right now. so i totally understand your concerns. im prettyy sure you can just buy the elecare but i wouldnt just switch formulas without consulting a GI. one thing we know is that all the switching the other hospital did wound up doing more harm than good for kenzie. you might want to ease olivia into a new formula like they do for us here rather than shocking her system. we have had to keep kenzie without any food at all twice now for 48 hours. its been total torture.

also as much as you hear not to... i have GI issues myself and know that if im lying on my belly it helps with thegas. I do it with kenzie and it def makes her tummy get a bit of relief. im sure theyve told you this already but get a wedge for the bed for the reflux to keep her elevated. buy one of those bouncy seats and have her sit in it a lot during the day and never ever keep her in the carseat longer than needed. it pushes the feet into a position that causes more reflux. 1 or 2 times a day really isnt bad as much as it is sad for you to watch her go through. we were going thrrough 10 - 15 big vomits everday plus diarrhea which resulted in a lot of laundry!!!!

i forget the other medicine for reflux but from what ever dr has told me... neither do much help. we have kenzie on .5 3x a day.

hang in there. you may never get answers (we havent) but the good thing with reflux is that they grow out of it! it just is so sad to watch them go through pain now.