How and when to give solid foods (reflux and lactose intolerance)

[dache]

So in the past few weeks V. was diagnosed with lactose intolerance and is now on lactose free,soy formula and I have started giving her solids. She is still sick, just less on this formula, and now the vomit is more thick and sometimes has form the solid meal in it.
1. I`ve started giving her banana,apples, carrots, but she is constipated form the formula (and the solids I guess) so I now give her apples, cherries and plums. What else can I introduce now? Something that will help her with her BM.
2. Im confused about when to give solids and when to give milk. Her Dr said to give solids twice a day and add butter in it (I dont, milk intolerance and butter?! IDK)
So far I`ve been giving her solids once or twice a day, and then I top it off with formula, sometimes she takes 2oz and sometimes she takes 5oz. Is this right? Or should I give her the milk first or should I give her a whole solid meal and then give the next one to be only milk?
3. Do I give solids always at the same meal?

I am posting this here and not in solids because I think that there is a difference between starting solids with a healthy baby and a refluxy one

[TB9]

Sorry you havent had any replies yet.  For the constipation I would probably give prunes, dd1 never needed much to get things moving 

For solids I always gave bottle first in the am, then solids 1-1.5hrs later.  Then I gave another bottle and solids 1-1.5hrs after that.

What does her routine look like right now?

[creations]

Does she really need the solids right now? I wonder if you can back off and stop solids for a couple of weeks whilst you see how she settles down with this new formula - at least it would be easier to see what was causing the vomit and if different formula or meds are needed to get everything under control before introducing solids?  What do you think? There is no hurry to start solids although I know for some reflux babies it is advised to begin early - it doesn't always help, depends on the LO.

In terms of routine. Tracy suggested milk feeds with the solids coming 2hrs later and top off with milk. However most routines I see are milk feeds with the solids 1hr later.
So if you are on a regular EASY then something like
milk at: 7, 11, 3, 7 (the milk feeds all stay the same as normal for some time yet, you don't want any reduction in milk intake and the idea is not to switch any of these milk feeds with solids)
solids at 8, 12, 4 (only 1 or 2 meals to begin with and you choice when it/they are.  Many like to offer breakfast and/or lunch so any reactions have time to show up before BT. You don't have to offer at the same time every day as solids are just for tastes at this stage but you may find a more regular routine if you choose one meal time to focus on for solids tastes)

In the very early days my DS demanded milk immediately after a solids meal despite having had his fill of milk only an hour before, this is also what Tracy advised. After a week or two he no longer wanted the milk after solids but happily took water from a bottle and sippy cup alongside his solids meal (I initially offered water in a bottle because he could then drink to his needs, I hoped this helped to avoid constipation)

I agree with Tinkerbell about the prunes. I found carrots always made my DS more solid in his poo so I used prunes to balance him up - and equally the other way if he went a bit too soft I added carrots in the next meal.
Constipation and Laxative Foods

[dache]

Thanks ladies.

I didnt thought about not giving solids and see how she`ll do with just the formula. But I am so doing that. I didnt wanted to start solids anyways. But having this info for letter is amazing. I dont remember reading that in the books but the last few months are kind of in a daze.  So I`d give her a full bottle of milk at 7 then solids at  8 or 9 plus milk?Which means that it would be before a nap. Great, confusion gone.


As far as meds go, she is not on any mads now other then drops infacol,and I give her griping water from time to time,when she looks like she is a lot of pain. We cut it form 2ml  ranitidine to 1.8ml to no meds.
She does better on the new formula and the vomiting has dropped down to 5-10 a day so the dr thought we should try and see how she does without it. I can see that she still has heartburn from time to time but not often. I think she might be teething also so that might be the reason.

[TB9]

How much is she vomiting?  Is it just a small amount of spit up, or a decent amount of milk?  Is she upset when she spits up?  Does she seems distressed or in pain anymore?

[dache]

Its still a decent amount, but not as often.
She seems like she has heartburn and like is in pain but I dont know if its reflux, teething or constipation, or maybe something else.
I dont know what to do. I know if I ask the doctor she will say not to give it to her, but to me she seems like she needs it sometimes.I feel like I have went and called the doctor so many times that they`ll think Im making things up. Especially since when we go there she is all giggly and smiling at the doctors. I have taken a video of her crying so that they can see how it is at home.   
Nowadays she is making this new noises like she is arguing and in pain plus she is salivating  a lot that is why I think she is teething.
Or maybe its something else that I dont even know.

[TB9]

Any solids today?

How long has she been off the reflux meds?

[dache]

No, I havent given her solids for the past few days.
She is off the meds maybe 10 days. Today I noticed that she was heartburn again, for a longer period. Am I wrong to give her the meds without consulting the doctor?
Its not like this all the time, but she does have days like this, I look at her and I see that she is having heartburn and she looks like she is in pain and dont know what to do to help her. Is there anything else that I can do/give to help her with that?

[TB9]

The only other med free option I can think of would be to thicken her formula    I dont think they make lactose free thickened formula, so you would have to get your hands on some thickener and do it yourself....even then the thickener can cause gas and other digestive problems

If she has been off meds and it isnt working out for her I would go back to the doc and say so.

[creations]

I agree, if you feel she needs the meds speak with your doctor - don't worry about how many times you have been or spoken to the doc or how you come across, don't worry that she is always giggly and smiling in company, mine was like that too, always smiling at the doctors.

Can I just check the diagnosis was clear on lactose intolerance and not MSPI?

[dache]

Well the doctor suggested to try giving her formula that is fro babies with MSPI but she said its so disgusting that its very (99%) likely she wont like it and that if I want her to drink it I need to starve her 3-4 days. Plus, it is so expensive (double the money for the soy formula) and if she doesnt like it it would be a waste of money.
I havent been giving her solids for the past month, except yesterday and today because she is constipated. I can see that she is gaining weight although she`s still vomiting.
Im going to make an appointment to see her doctor next week or the week after to see about the meds. She was better with no heartburn but in the past week it came back and its getting worse as days go by.

Thank you all for your replays. I feel like Im being annoying, even to myself, but I couldnt do it with out the help I got here

[creations]

You're not being annoying at all. Everyone here wants to support you in whatever way we can