my son has reflux real bad. They are thinking he may have a milk and soy protein intolerance. If this is the case they want to try Alimnentum which you can buy at most stores for $25.00 for a small can .Or they can switch him to Neocate which you have to get at a pharmacy. I'm on A reflux message board and a lot of people have said there insurance covers the formula or at least 50%. I could not find anything on tri care to see if they cover it or not. Does anyone know if they cover it?

My ds was on Nutrimagen (sp), also 25 dollars a can. We got ours free through the WIC program. Just had to have a doctors note

I would look into WIC or see if the base pharmacies carry that formula. Good luck!!!
Have you tried Zantac?

He is on Zantac right now,it only helps with controlling the acid so it doesn't hurt when he refluxes. If its a milk soy protein problem then a formula that already has th proteins broken up would make it easier to digest ,which would hopefully take care of the throwing up and spiting up.

I tried to get my daughter's forumla covered through WIC...no luck.
I was pissed, because hers is about $23.00 a can.
In hindsight, I realize she had reflux really bad, and nothing we put her on would've helped anyways, because she was even spitting up breastmilk. DD gained weight and everything just fine, and she finally outgrew it around 6 months.

Usually all it takes is an approval from your doctor, but sometimes other stipulations apply, so check first.

If you can't get the approval for WIC, I'd try buying it in bulk online or at TRU or BRU. I'm pretty sure Costco or Sam's don't carry those. :(

I tried to get my daughter's forumla covered through WIC...no luck.
I was pissed, because hers is about $23.00 a can.
In hindsight, I realize she had reflux really bad, and nothing we put her on would've helped anyways, because she was even spitting up breastmilk. DD gained weight and everything just fine, and she finally outgrew it around 6 months.

Usually all it takes is an approval from your doctor, but sometimes other stipulations apply, so check first.

If it was a milk and soy protein intolerance they would reflux breast milk also,unless you cut out all milk and soy products.

What brand is it?! Enfamil? Maybe someone has unneeded coupons to give you.

When I was an infant, my parents gave me....BLAH ground up liver and other crap that was from the pharmacy. Thankfully I no longer have the problem of digesting soy or milk products.

If it was a milk and soy protein intolerance they would reflux breast milk also,unless you cut out all milk and soy products.

Well that would explain that....but she still gained weight fine, so it was more of an inconvience for us (laundry) then it was harmful for her.

My son was put on Neocate at 5 weeks old. He had a milk and soy protein intolerance. We tried every forumla on the market. At the time, we were in Iowa and the WlC there allowed us to get Neocate, I just had to have the doctor's note and get a pharmacy to bring it in for us. Then we moved to WA state, Neocate, at the time was not on the approved forumla list and would not help me at all. There were several months that we paid out close to $800month for forumla. It was terrible. Tricare would not bring it into the Navy hospital there..............

Long story short...........my son was on Neocate for 18 months. Finally toward the end of process.........I learned we should of been enrolled in the Program for Disabilities..........I believe the program is now call ECHO. We saw a ped. gast. doc for three years. If your child needs Neocate........check into the ECHO program, you should be able to get the forumla through that. My son is now about to celebrate his 7th bday. He eventually outgrew his intolerance and is able to have milk and soy foods now. If you have anymore questions, just ask me. It was a very stressful time in life. The first five weeks were pure hell........not knowing what was wrong with him.

My son was on Alimentum and WIC covered it. We just needed a note from his doctor saying why he needed it and for how long.

We went through the same thing with Makkiah and his formula. WIC gave me the cans each month of his formula. Before they would do it though I had to go to the Tricare office and get a letter of rejection since they do not cover formula. Then I had to go to the SW office and fill out the paperwork for Medi-cal to get a rejection letter from them. Once I had those two things plus the prescription from the doctor I was able to get it through WIC. Your best bet may be to call the WIC office at Balboa and talk to them. They would probably have the best idea on what to do. After that we just needed a form filled out every so often by the doctor saying that he still needed it.

I would also try WIC and getting a Drs note for it! That way its free!

I have a friend that has a little girl and her reflux was so bad she wasnt gaining weight so they put her on goats milk. I thought it was kinda wierd but it helped!

Thank you ladys so much!!!!!!

My second son had the same problem.. he was on nutramagin. None of those formulas are covered by tricare. Like has been said.. WIC should cover it with a dr's note.

Hunter has reflux but we didn't have to buy the super expensive formula. The doctor wanted to try several other things first.

We put him on a formula made from rice starch, Enfamil A.R

We feed him much smaller amounts at each feeding than what we'd feed a baby without reflux. He is still only taking 4 oz at each feeding and he's 5 months. He eats more often but the smaller amounts help keep the spit up to a minimum.

When we was little, we burped every 1/2 ounce or ounce. VERY often. More burps = less puke.

We keep him upright for at least 20-30 mins after each feeding. Its a pain in the butt to keep him upright like that every time, especially in the middle of the night but it does help.

We have his crib mattress propped up at an angle so he's at an upright angle when he sleeps.

We add a little bit of extra rice into his formula at night which helps keep the milk down while he sleeps (his reflux tends to be a bit worse at night).

He's actually doing much better now and starting to finally outgrow it. The Enfamil AR really helped a lot. The rice starch works to basically keep the milk weighted down in his tummy. It was a miracle for us because he couldn't even hold down breastmilk. BM and all kinds of formula except the AR all came right back up. This stuff really did work!

Mary..........if your son does have a milk and soy protein intolerance........neither nutramagin or Alimentum will work because they still are made from milk protein, even though it is broke down a lot more than the other more common forumla's.

Does your son have more than just reflux? My son had blood in his poop.......he would actually explode when he when he had a bowl movement. It would sound like a firecracker going off. I could be in one part of the house and him in the other.........and it would sound like an explosion. He would scream blood curdling screams. He also had ezecma very very badly. He also had reflux and was on Zantac. He was a very sick baby, very unhappy baby for 5 weeks of his life.......until we saw a ped. gastro. doc......once he was put onto Neocate, everything totally changed. My son went through a colonospotcy(sp) at 5 weeks old and then another probe into his rectrum a week later. We had to give him an enma for 30 days of hydrocrostine, because his rectrum was so inflamed. If your child has any of these signs, especially the blood in his poop, I would see about seeing a specialty doc. A regular ped. doc is only going to have you go through every forumla on the market first. Good luck.

That is what we are trying to figure out. If he is having more going on than just reflux. My older son would throw up until he was almost 2 and he still cant tolerate that much milk. my baby is on Zantac and thickened feedings.I have read everything I can get my hands on about this. I have read most underlining causes of reflux is MSPI . Most baby's do grow out of it. I'm not to worried because unlike my older son my baby is gaining weight,but what I am worried about is all pain he seems to be having almost like he has colic. Oh and I cant use Enfamil AR because I give him Zantac and Zantac gets rid of acid and enfamil AR needs the acid to work right.

I cant use Enfamil AR because I give him Zantac and Zantac gets rid of acid and enfamil AR needs the acid to work right.

Who told you this? Makkiah was on Enfamil AR for 2 years and he took zantac for several months. Zantac is actually considered a "light weight med" in the world of pediatric reflux.

Who told you this? Makkiah was on Enfamil AR for 2 years and he took zantac for several months. Zantac is actually considered a "light weight med" in the world of pediatric reflux.

Here is an article,I also asked my pharmacist and he said the same thing.

http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bhealth/0,,bt5s,00.html

When the stomach contracts as part of the normal digestive process, the food is supposed to move in one direction, namely toward the small intestine. The food usually does not come back up the esophagus (the food tube connecting the throat to the stomach) because there is a sphincter that stays closed while the stomach contracts. However, in those with reflux, this sphincter does not work appropriately, so when the stomach contracts, some of the food goes the correct way. But some comes up the espohagus which results in spitting up.

Reflux is very common in infants. And as long as it does not cause problems with weight gain, it is typically considered a nuisance, not a medical concern. Therefore, medications or significant changes in diet are generally not necessary. There are some medications that are sometimes used in reflux, such as Zantac. However, these are usually used only when the reflux seems to be causing discomfort in the child. But when these are used, they most often do not decrease the amount of reflux. Why is this? Medications such as Zantac decrease stomach acid, so when the reflux occurs, it is not as painful. But, in children, decreasing the stomach acid dosn't suddenly make the sphincter work any better, it just makes the stomach acid less irritating.

There is a formula that tries to address issues surrounding reflux called Enfamil AR. It has rice starch that curdles when it hits the low pH of the stomach making it less likely for reflux to occur. However, if your child is on Zantac, then the stomach pH isn't low, so the Enfamil AR won't work.

Ultimately, it is important to realize that reflux is quite common in babies. It most often causing no significant problems other that having to do a lot of laundry. Most babies outgrow this by one year of age. However, every child is different, so it is important do discuss any treatment or non-treatment with your pediatrician.

I don't have any information about tricare but my best friend is going through this very same thing with her son right now. Hes on the first fromula you mentioned and zantac didn't work for him so they put him on prilasec (sp?) and on monday he had to get a feeding tube. Hes still in the hsopital and is expected to be realeased wed. or thursday. i hope your able to get the information you need.