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View Full Version : Bottles to reduce spit up and gas



AmberH
03-02-2002, 04:18 PM
I am exclusively bottlefeeding and my 7 week daughter spits up quite often and seems to be in pain during feedings. We are currently using AVENT bottles with newborn nipples. I am interested in Dr. Brown's, but I was wondering how hard they are to use since you can't shake the bottle to mix the formula. We travel quite a bit and want to be able to bring bottled water and powdered formula to mix single bottles "on the road". Any information would be greatly appreciated on good bottles for reducing spit up or on dr. brown's bottles.

suzska
03-03-2002, 12:43 AM
If she's spitting up a lot, it might be reflux and have nothing to do with the bottle. My son had rather bad reflux until he was 6 months old. When we talked to the ped about it, she suggested adding a little rice cereal to his bottles (but he was about 4 or 5 months old by then). Thankfully his reflux went away in time, but some babies/children aren't so lucky and have to go on medication. Have you talked to you ped about it? You might want to. One thing we did (not bottle related) was to put an old quilt, folded up, under one end of the mattress to raise his head. You can also try making sure your daughter stays in a semi-sitting position for about 30 minutes after she finishes the bottle. If you want to read more about reflux, here's a link to a good site: http://reflux.org. Not trying to scare you, but sometimes there are other reasons for what's going on.

FWIW, we used Gerber bottles (the standard kind) with the NUK ortho nipples--they're the only ones my son would take.

--Sue B.
SAHM to Evan Jeffrey 03-11-01

mommymaria
03-03-2002, 06:57 PM
My 6-month old son went through similar problems with spitting and painful feedings. To add onto what Sue said above, I suggest talking to your pediatrician. The spitting may be from something non-bottle related but as simple as a sensitivity to the formula. Your ped might want you to try either a soy based formula or one of the "easy to digest" ones such as Alimentum or Nutramigen.

We went through all of those with no relief from the pain or the spitting. At 2.5 months my son was finally diagnosed with reflux. A prescription for Zantac and some serious thickening of the formula with rice cereal made all of our lives much happier. He still has bouts of spitting but his pain is gone and his weight back up to where it should be.

Now, in terms of bottles, when my son was just taking formula (no cereal) we tried several kinds. The Avent newborn nipple was too darn fast for him. He had the best luck with the Playtex VentAire. They have a special disk that fits into the bottom which helps reduce air bubbles and the nipple is VERY slow. I believe Playtex suggests mixing formula in a separate container and then pouring it into the bottle to reduce the bubbles.

With the thickened formula, we had to go with a cross cut MAWS nipple because the holes on other nipples were too small. Luckily, they fit onto the Avent bottles I already owned.

Sorry for being so long winded, but I hope this helps.

Maria

jfmiller
03-22-2002, 01:26 AM
I agree with Sue's opinion below - especially as your child appears to be in pain during feedings. My son (8 weeks) prefers the smaller nipples of Dr. Brown's. In fact, we have stopped using our Avent bottles because he seems very frustrated during feedings. I would discuss with your doctor and then experiment with some different bottle/nipple combos. Good luck!


Graham's MOM (born 1/26/02)