Formula

My DS has reflux and was on S26AR. However he always seemed hungry when on this, and needed to feed him well before he was meant too. He also had quite hard greeny poo. (even with giving a bit of water)
We changed to Karicare AR on advice from the Family center and that was great for 2 days then his poos got reeeeal soft and he was doing 3 to 4 poos a day. he is also really gassy and crys/farts most of the day.
He is on 5mg of losec granules.
Took him to the dr yesterday and told her about this... He also did a poo there (i had given him some s26) and it was hard with a bitta blood on it. She just shrugged it off and said it was just cause hes constipated and she couldnt help me with any advice..
I asked about maybe an allergy? and she couldnt even help me out then....
anyone have any advice? is it worth trying a lactose/soy/goats formula??
We are back at the Family cntr Monday but will prob ring up tomorrow. He crys during his feeds and still doesnt sleep well... I just get told its due to the reflux but could it be more?

TIA

Milo, have you tried coloxyl drops? I put them in Noah's feeds 3 times a day and they keep him regular. You get them from the chemist. Was having trouble with hard, greenish poos when he first went on to formula but with coloxyl it's manageable. Also as I mentioned, Novalac constipation formula is really good, it's made to be easily digested and Noah has been heaps better on it than Karicare or S26.

What you could also try is the Karicare hypoallergenic formula, to see if that made a difference, you can get it in the supermarket but it's a bit more expensive. It's maybe worth trying the lactose free formula or goats milk, but my plunket nurse said you have to be careful changing them too much.

Apparently it's really common for formula fed babies to get constipated and gassy, but hopefully it'll settle down. Things did with Noah after changing to the Novalac, can't say enough good things about it hehe.

If you want to stick with thickened formula, I believe putting gavsicon in it does the same thing. But you could find the thickened (AR) formula is what is causing the constipation... so maybe try not using a thickened one as well? Unless the spilling is too bad. If he doesn't spill you don't really need a thickened formula I dont think.

Also, sounds like your losec dose needs to be upped too if he's fussy on his feeds and not sleeping well still. Maybe ask the doctor about that? Noah is on 10mg twice a day and he still has reflux problems so you've definitely got room to move.

Hope that helps

Liams doc is the same about the doasge, that he is only allowed 5mg once a day until he is 10kgs then can give him 10mg once a day. I have currently changed him to Karicare AR formula as he always seemed hungry and would scream for a bottle, seems to be working and now can get to 3 1/2hours without a feed and drinking nearly three times what he used to. But at the moment we seem to be having alot of grizzling again and more fussing over his bottle and heaps of spilling and struggle to get wind up. Just seems to be never ending and ready to rip hair out.

You are doing the best you can, hang in there, it will get better eventually

Yeah, Zac is around 7kg and is on 20mg/day. My gp said that is the max dose for his weight and can go up to 30mg when he hits 10kg!

It could be an allergy, have you run the plunket line. I found them really good when Callen has similar symptoms, the doc thought he had silent reflux and tried all the medicines but the only thing that worked was the Neocates allery formula.