10 week old with reflux?rice cereal?

Question

My ped. suggested we put rice in my sons bottle due to reflux. We put 2 teaspoons with 4 oz of formula. He didnt like it at all. Did anyone else have this problem? What else can we try. He is also on prevacid and axid for his reflux but is spitting up. That is why we tried the rice, to thicken formula. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I had the same problem with my premee. The rice didnt work i had to end up using my mothering instincts and take her to Kings Daugters the childrens hospital. she stayed overnight and they gotten all the mucus and junk out the lungs and throat. the reflux was causing my baby to turn blue. so be careful and if your heart is telling you somethig is wrong . go with it and take the baby to the doc. I went through 3 different docs before the problem got fixxed. sometimes thickening the cereal will make it worst be careful

Answer 2

My 3-month old son also has reflux and has been on Lansoprazole since he was 1 month old. It has helped him, but he still spits up a lot - our pediatrician told us that the reflux medicine would not stop him from spitting up - it would just make it not be painful to him. I know the spitting up is frustrating, but in a lot of cases it is more a laundry problem than anything else.

Since your son doesn't seem to like it when you add the rice cereal to the formula, you may want to try this: Enfamil makes a formula called A.R. that is specially formulated with babies who have reflux. The formula already has a rice component to it. It is my understanding that the rice in the formula will expand in his stomach, thus making the formula harder to spit up.

I don't know if this will taste different than what you have already done, but it may be worth a try. (I can't tell you from personal experience because my son is breastfed, but I have some friends who swear by the Enfamil A.R.) Beyond that, keep doing the other reflux tricks - keep him upright for a while after eating, elevate the head of his bed, etc.

Good luck!

Answer 3

My son did this also. I did the cereal when he was 12 weeks old. My son's reflux was so bad at that age that he could only keep 2oz down at a time. I would feed him 2tbsp cereal in the 2oz formula. It made it just thick enough to keep it all down. I would feed him every 2-2.5 hours. He is now 5.5 months and is soooo much better. He is just now able to keep down 4tbsp cereal with 4oz formula. I try to feed him every 3 hours if he will take it because he should really be eating more like 6-8oz at this age. he is at a very healthy weight but I always get scared he is'nt eating enough. Once you start adding the cereal he will start to get a little constipated. I called his doctor about it when he started. He told me that I could substitute 1oz of water with apple juice when making the bottle. I could feed him one bottle like this in the morning and one at night. My son loved it and pooped so much softer. Your son may not like the taste that the rice makes. My son's doctor said I could use the rice cereal with bannana for his bottles. My son really liked that. You should try the bananna cereal and see if it works. The cereal really does help with the reflux no matter what some people will tell you. When my son was around 14 weeks old he learned that he could spit out the medicine (prilosec- taste terrible! I tried it!) so I eventually stopped torturing him with it. He is great now. He only throws up every once in a while now. It will get better I promise! Good luck!

Answer 4

Mixing Rice cereal in bottle to reduce reflux is an old wife's tale. I can't believe your doctor even suggested that. Your baby cannot possible digest any solid food until he's around 6 months old. This would add other problems to his digestive system which is not yet mature.

My son had the same problem and he was on breast milk...projective vomitting was very distrurbing. We did not use any drugs. Just lots of burbs during nursing, which really prolonged the whole feeding, but it helped.

Answer 5

Adding the cereal to the bottle does not work for most babies, and can actually do more harm then good. When there is such a high concentration of fluid to the cereal, it charges the sugars in the cereal, amking it extrreamly sweet. This has been shown to cause diabetes, and hyperactivity. The best thing for refulx is to give a little bit of cereal from a spoon prior to the bottle. This helps absorb the acid in the stomach, and prepare baby for feeding. It does not take much, usually 1 tablespoon mixed to runny oatmeal consistancy with formula. I would recomend trying this, and if you still have trouble, seek a second opinion from a different Dr. Make sure you find 1 that will not just recomend something that occasionally works for some babies, but will work with you to find what will work for your baby. Just hang in there. It will get better soon!

Answer 6

my daughter was vomiting like the exorcist when she came home from the hospital and is still having GERD issues at 15. I would thicken her bottles with the rice cereal and add just a small amount of applesauce to make it taste a bit better for her. No problems after that. Good Luck!

Answer 7

My friends son had acid reflux and they had to switch formula to Similac Allementum/ or nutramigen I can't remember which... It's very, very expensive... Also, she bought these inclined pads for him to sleep in his crib to elevate his torso.. If you do use Similac and have to switch go on the website and register you'll get tons of money saving coupons.... You can register anybody you know and have coupons sent to their address or you can buy coupons on e-bay... I hope this helps good luck

Answer 8

yes you can. my son had similar problems. he's had rice cereal in his bottle since he was 5 weeks old. now, he has his regular soy formula bottles and also a rice enhanced formula (it's enfamil and they sell it at a lot of different retailers). does wonders!

Answer 9

my pediatrician switched my daughter to a different formula. she was on alimentum. it is a hypoallergenic. if your baby is allergic or sensitive to the formula it may help. i would speak to your dr again and ask for other options.

Answer 10

enfamil nutramagien