Switch to Powdered Formula- Bad Idea??

[Anonymous]

I switched my son from ready to feed Enfamil Lipil to powdered Enfamil Lipil about 2 weeks ago. I was told by the pediatrician that babies tolerate the switch well. I'm not so sure. My son has had silent reflux since he was 6 weeks old and was started on Zantac about 2 months ago. His reflux was doing pretty well with the ready to feed and the Zantac....the only reason I switched to powdered was for cost concerns and I heard there is more BPA in the ready to feed cans vs. powdered containers. Since making the switch I can actually hear the acid backing up in his throat, he's spitting up more, and bats the bottle away / cries after about 4 oz. (he was eating @ 7 oz at a time w/ the ready to feed)...its heart wrenching! I'm going to call my pediatrician, but was wondering if anyone else had such drastic changes in eating behaviors when making this switch.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm...I think it may be the formula switch as powdered formula isn't as heavy as the liquid version, so it probably doesn't stay down as well. Also, have you readjusted the Zantac dosage? My son was on Zantac from 1 week until 4 months and throughout that time, as he got larger, he got a bigger dose. It could be that your DC just needs more Zantac and that the formula switch is aggrevating it, but not the actual cause. Once my son was on Zantac, he had no problem with the powdered stuff, so I don't think that is the definite culprit.

[Anonymous]

We switched to powdered by 2 weeks. We buy Target brand (pediatrician said that was totally fine). It's only about $14/can. At first, we used the basic infant formula, but there's one that's about $1.00 more that's labeled "partially broken down whey protein." Baby has done much better on this one and is thriving. It mixes more smoothly and goes down easily.

If you want to stick to name brands, I'm sure there's an equivalent.

[Anonymous]

It might have nothing to do with the formula switch as my DD has been on powdered formula for months and there have been times wehn her reflux acted up and got much worse and then subsided again.

[Anonymous]

I've heard that powder can be harder on reflux. My son is on Enfamil Gentlease powder and he's SO much better.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP - my son was on Zantac at 6 days old and we had to put him on the Gentlease by Enfamil which is what he stayed on until 12 months. We did have to put him on Prevacid at 4 months in combination with the Gentlease but that seemed to be the only combo he could keep down - he is now 17 months old, still on prevacid and has to drink 2% because the whole milk is hard for him to digest (and the projectile vomiting comes back). It's all a balancing act - I hope you find something that works for you!