Baby has reflux... question?

MIL's friend who is a midwife came to see me today, and said Annika probably needs to be checked over my a doctor for signs of an ear infection or reflux, because her screaming is definetely not normal. Turns out her ears are fine, but reflux is a problem. The doctor prescribed some antacids for her, and said that we probably don't need to change her formula. When we went to the pharmacy, the pharmacist suggested just changing her formula to one specially designed for reflux babies, and holding off on giving her the drugs. What would you do? I'm in two minds about this!

Both my sons have been diagnosed with reflux, my youngest not as bad as my eldest, thank goodness.
My pead recommended for both my boys to give the antacids and never mentioned about changing formula (though I was still BF). When my eldest did start having formula I didnt put him on reflux formula, I used 1 that agreed with him and continued with the antacids and that worked for him.

I was happy to use the antacids only because I knew what it felt like when I was pg and had heartburn both times and I didnt (and still dont) want my sons to hurt like that. But thats just my opinion.
The formula just thickens the milk and puts a lining on the babys stomach so they dont vomit as much, I dont think it actually stops the burning from the stomach acids, but Im not sure.
1 thing I would recommend if you havent already done so is to elevate Annikas bed so shes not lying flat, this helped my boys. Oh and if you're not against them, dummies do help keep the acids at bay. The sucking is a relief, though my youngest doesnt like it.

I hope this helps.

I'm going to move this thread to the colic & reflux forum where others might see it easier.

My daughter had reflux and we would trial something for 1-2 weeks before adding or changing anything to see if it made a difference. So we trialled mylanta for a week & then a different medication, then we trialled changing the formula and then to a different formula until we found a combination that worked best for her. She was mainly breastfed at first but we changed that later.

I've only used zantac and non food stuff (changing by rolling instead of pulling feet over head, not laying her down for 10minutes after a feed, head of bed elevated etc), and ours is managed well. I still BF so I can't change the formula.

I agree with Christy though, trial something for two weeks. Sometimes the medications take this long to work properly.

Good luck. I totally sympathise cos I had a screamer. I really hope you find something that works for you. Once their managed it's much easier. There's a great website for reflux. Send me an email and I'll send you the address if you want to check it out.

My DD was diagnosed with reflux while we were still in the hospital.
She went on to the AR formula for reflux babies but in her case it made not much difference, so she was put on the drugs. Are in the process at the moment of weaning both and see what happens as she is sitting up and eating more solids and apparently that helps.
But as has been said before it really depends on the bub and the severity.
Good Luck