Karicare AR vs. Karicare Food Thickener

[twins07]

I have twins, boy and girl, I stocked up on Karicare Gold 1 (bought in bulk) now my son has to have Karicare AR due to silent reflux. The AR tin is nearly finished and was wondering if I add the Karicare Food Thickener to the Gold formula (instead of buying the AR) is it the same or will it upset my son's stomach too much? My daughter is fine with the Karicare Gold, its my son that hast he silent reflux.

[reAllytee]

That should be fine but im not entirely sure.

I was told i could do think if i needed to so unless there are other issues & he needs to HA-AR then it seems fine :yes:

Hopefully the mummy's who know all the ins & outs should be along soon !

[delirium]

We had DS on S26Gold until his reflux when we put him on S26AR. We didn't use the thickener with the Gold, but I wish we had of. When I took DS to the Paed he said that I could just put the thickener into S26 Gold (Karicare gold would be the same). He also suggested that we go back to S26Gold and add Gaviscon Infant powder, which helped to thicken it, but don't use the thickener and the Gaviscon as it will cause constipation. DS's reflux is fair more of a silent type - he did projectile vomit in the beginning, but we find the Gavison just with the gold only causes minor spills.

If he's been diagnosed with silent reflux (as DS was) then he shouldn't been vomitting much, just lots of pain?? If that's the case, you may not need the thickener. Can I ask if he's been prescribed anything?

[EsSjAy]

Howdy....

When ds was 3 days old he was started on Formula i knew straight away that Karicare Gold + was my first option so we bought in bulk when there was a threat that it was going to be temporarily taken of the shelves.... 30 tins later!!!!
Ds was diagnosed with silent reflux at 5 weeks and i thought...oh no!!! We bought the karicare thickener and used 'half' the quantity as we found it way to thick and he was fine with half... Trust me!! A faster flow teat may need to be used depending on what bottles you use...

He doesn't have it now though as he keeps it down really well and... well.... is a fuss pot and hates it thickened but we don't bother now... Tis' all good...

Hope i've helped x x

[OneBabyBoy]

It's not a problem at all for babies without reflux to be on AR formula - it's just a little thicker.
So what I would do, personally, is return all the tins you have (supermarkets like woolworths take them back without a receipt as long as they are unopened and in date) and get tins of AR formula. And just have them both on that.
I think the AR formula is cheaper than Gold anyway. Good luck with it - I know the stress of reflux well :hugs:

[mum23girls]

SHould be fine just to add the thickener and give that one. If it was totally different brands I would wean onto it.

The best thing about adding thickener, is that you can make it as thick as you need. My two babies were both on the heinze formula and I added the thickener as the AR wasn't thick enough. It was cheaper than the AR formula as well!

Even with silent reflux, it is still coming up the oesophages, - the thickener helps it stay down.

[naiwen]

I added thickener to Karicare gold and it really helped with DS reflux, I beleive the AR formula is thicker so it does the same thing and that way they get all the gold stuff too!

[twins07]

Thank you everyone for your advice (im a first time user and have found this to be very helpful).
Just letting you all know as well, I actually phoned Karicare (coz went round to woolies, coles - and phoned nearly all my local pharmacy's) and no one had the AR formula in stock due to the supplier, spoke to Karicare and they advised me that I can add the thickener to the Gold formula but not the Gold+ formula (as the gold+ has the prebiotics stuff which dosent go well with the thickener)...so that was handy to know.

The other thing she mentioned is that because I have twins, I can join their twins club and get a HUGE saving on purchasing formula direct with them. To obtain this huge discount, I have to get a letter from my community nurse or doctor saying that I had twins stating their date of birth, details of the twins, my address and phone number and then they set up an account and I can buy in bulk directly from Karicare. The saving is HUGE (i.e. Woolies AR formula is $25, Direct from Karicare is $14)

Just thought I would let people know for those who have twins.

For those who dont have twins, Im not sure? Maybe you can phone Karicare and see if they offer something else?

[maiaandgaelsmum]

I am writing on behalf of Nutricia in response to a comment written on this site by twins07 regarding incompatibility of the Karicare gold plus products with the Karicare food thickener. We in the Advisory service at Nutricia feel it is important to clarify this comment because we have had a few families calling with concerns after reading this blog. We would like to put families’ minds at ease and say that there are absolutely no contraindications in using the Karicare food thickener with any of the Karicare gold plus formulas. This is a completely safe and effective method for addressing regurgitation problems in infants. We would be very happy if families contact our advisory service at Nutricia for any questions regarding our products. The advisory service is staffed by health care professionals who can provide you with the appropriate information. Every child is different and therefore will require an individualized approach with their formula needs. Our health care professionals can offer expert advice on what will best suit your child’s requirements.
We hope this response has helped to clear some of the confusion, and please do contact us with your queries.
Kind Regards, Paula Brasovanu BA (hons) BSC (hons), CNP, CH, RM. Nutricia Advisory midwife.
Australia 0800 688 742
New Zealand 1800 060 057