Switching Formula

[lalaroo]

My DD is about to turn 6 months and she has been on SMA Gold since birth (with a few weeks of attempted BF too) but she's always spat up quite a lot of each of her feeds. We tried all sorts of things to help; gripe water, infacol, changing bottles etc but nothing worked so at around 3 and a half months old, my HV recommended SMA Staydown which we tried for less than a week as it made her so constipated that she bled from her bum We put her back on SMA Gold and were told that she would grow out of spitting up so much but it's just as bad as when she was first born and most days I have to change both of our outfits at least 3 times a day.

After doing some research, I've seen that many people don't recommend SMA at all and we're thinking of switching to something else, possibly Hipp Organic? Is there a good way of going about switching her formula? Should I do I gradually or just change? She still has a full tub of SMA which will last over a week so I will have a chat with my HV if possible before changing but in all honesty, every time I visit my local health clinic I end up seeing a different HV each time and they all contradict the advice that each one has given me.

Any advice would be great, thanks.

 

[Flickalicious]

You may find switching causes a tummy upset, diarrhoea or constipation and sickness but it shouldn't last long.
I've not tried Hipp so I can't comment on what it's like. I've used Cow & Gate and never had a problem so I'm biased but would definitely recommend that one. Also, despite her age, stick to newborn milk. Follow on isn't necessary
I don't know what's best when swapping formula. I think because of the reflux I'd do a straight swap so I could tell what's effecting little one. New milk or old. Duno if that is recommended though? xXx

 

[Allthingsgirly]

I started off with aptamil & my little boy was completely fine with it but he was a very sticky baby from birth so would bring a lot of his feeds back up, it wasn't anything to do with his milk apparently as eventually it calmed down! I did swap his milk but quickly changed it back as he was constipated on the other milk & when I read up online about it I was worried so switched him onto what works best!

It is trial & error really as each baby is different & what works for one won't work for another sadly.

I'm now using follow on milk only because my little boy is being brought up vegetarian at the moment & I thought follow on milk would be better as it has more iron in it. The HV did tell me that I didn't need to switch to follow on milk though.

Also wig follow on milk can it cause babies to put more weight on than if I stayed with his newborn milk?

 

[Flickalicious]

I don't think so? I've not compared the ingredients lists to be honest. Really, it's just a marketing scheme by companies because they legally can't advertise milk for newborns so invented follow on so they can get away with it If you chose to wean from 6 months, babies will get a good variety of goodness from both food and milk so whatever you pick shouldn't make a difference.

I *think* by 6 months babies should be at double their birth weight and by 12 months, triple. Weight gain will start to slow down as soon as babies become more mobile. So long as weight is going up steadily however you chose to feed doesn't matter! ^-^ xXx

 

[russellmuscle]

I used SMA gold from birth until 4 weeks in and Jackson ended up with bad silent reflux - certainly exacerbated by the SMA gold.

We were told to ride it out at first, but every feed was a nightmare. He was over feeding to curb the pain then crying in agony. I was shattered.

I ended up going back and fighting my case and he was diagnosed. We were given gaviscon but this causes constipation too, which he already was to a degree from the over eating and his wee body couldnt process it quick enough.. so I ended up switching him over to Stage 1 Cow and Gate which is a bit thicker and creamier. Within a week or so he was changed and even sleeping through the night by 7 weeks.

I would never recommend any milk with "added" things, like the hungry baby is full of starch, and can cause a lot of tummy upset. Of course some mums use it but I was strongly advised against it by the GP and HV. Not sure why your HV advised you this was better? Companies only advise milk for certain ages for marketing, so you can have more synthetic milk than needed Jackson gradually went to Cows milk from like 9-10 months Id make him a cows bottle a day and once I was sure he was fine we moved over.

We had no adverse reactions from moving him to the stage 1 C&G first time round either. Id rather a few days tummy upset than what we went through!

I have heard good things about the reflux Cow and Gate, but again I think its a bit thicker. Which doesnt help constipation. I went with the stage 1 Cow and Gate (if choosing between Aptimil and C&G go with C&G as its the exact same company, ingredients only Aptimil is more expensive). Hipp organic is supposed to be a good milk, but limited to places to buy this.

Obviously every baby is different and react differently to milk however next baby I will be going straight to C&G stage1. That SMA was awful, you could hear it annoying his wee tummy as soon as he had it.

Never did get my gaviscon as there was a manufacturing problem, I ended up switching the milk and cutting (retraining) all of his feeds and he was a changed baby.

Go with what you think is right

xxxx

 

[Kitten1991]

My little one was on Aptamil from day 1 and she still gets some spit up now. As she is getting older it is getting less.

I did so much research before deciding on which formula to put her on and found that aptamil & aptamil pro were the best ones out there to ensure baby gets all the nutrients they could get on formula.

If you are concerned it is always best to speak to a medical professional first. It's always a given that there will be some upset to the bowel when changing foods.

 

[Pambi]

I just wanted to say I sympathise with you as the mum to a toddler who had really bad reflux as a baby. It becomes a huge stressful battle of instincts.

We got on really well by using Cow and Gate Carobel as a thickener in her SMA Gold (she happened be worse on Aptamil). You can buy online or get it prescribed. I too tried a stay down tin of formula with the same consequences but with the carobel you can control how thick the formula is and it seemed to not cause the rock hard constipation. Offering water between feeds also helped.

As for changing formulas, you can mix them gradually. For example for a 4oz bottle use two scoops of SMA gold (with the scoop from that tin) and two scoops of Hipp Organic (with the scoop from the Hipp tin) or start swapping in whole feeds with the new formula.