Organic or Gerber Rice Cereal in the Bottle for Reflux???

[Marisa6826]

Spoke with a covering pedicatrician today (my guy wasn't in) about Sophie still spitting up despite the Zantac for reflux. She yakked in her crib this afternoon and it was EVERYWHERE - including her ears and in her hair :(

He suggested giving her a teaspoon of rice cereal in her bottle at every feed (right now she takes 5-6 oz.). I told him that I thought that trick was a "no-no". He said it usually is, but the idea is to just make the formula a little thicker, not actually "feed" her the cereal. He claims that it will thicken it enough to keep it down.

I picked up Earth's Best and Gerber. My concern is that the Earth's Best will be harder to digest since it's made with brown rice. The Gerber stuff has more nutrients - if you can call it that - and it's less than half the price (not that it matters).

Any input here? Help!

-m

[nathansmom]

Are you formula feeding or breast? If your formula feeding Enfamil has a formula with added rice starch to help babies who spit up. Its Enfamil AR. Thats what my doctor had me give Nathan when he had bad reflux.

[Marisa6826]

I'm feeding her Similac Advance, which is what they sent us home with from the hospital. I figured don't fix what "ain't broke".

He asked what I was giving her and he said that was fine since she's been consistently gaining weight at each visit.

I've been kind of frightened over the whole transition to solids thing to begin with since I wasn't planning on starting till she was six months old. This is making me even more nervous. UGH. New parent angst!

-m

[egoldber]

There is a division of thought on this. Some peds and GI specialists really recommend this and some say it doesn't help enough to outweight the risks.

Of my mommy friends who had reflux babies, almost all of them said that what helped the most was lifestyle changes. Elevating ALL surfaces, including the crib and changing table, keeping baby elevated after feeding for at least 30 minutes, etc.

You could try it and see if it helps. If it doesn't help, you can always stop.

As for which cereal, I always used the Earths Best cereals because I thought they tasted better.

HTH,

[COElizabeth]

Our ped made clear that the Zantac would NOT reduce spitting up - it would just make the reflux less painful because there would be less acid. There are other medicines that actually reduce the amount of spitting up, but I think they may have more side effects or other risks than Zantac. I believe they are generally prescribed only if a baby is spitting up so much he or she isn't gaining weight normally. If a baby is gaining well and not in pain, then I think the spitting up is just a nuisance. So, if you aren't comfortable with the cereal idea, I think you should at least get another opinion. But your baby isn't so young that I would be too worried about trying it, either. If you do, you may need a bigger hole in the bottle nipple. Good luck!

Elizabeth
Mom to James
9-20-02

[Rachels]

I had a reflux babe, too. Do some research about this one. There aren't actually any studies showing that it works, and introducing solids too early can cause intestinal troubles. This is outdated advice.

I do wonder if trying a different formula would help you. Is it just a little spittiing, or is it vomiting?

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[Marisa6826]

Rachel-

It's usually a little spitting, however today I put her in the crib because I just HAD to get myself dressed. When I came back in to get her she had vomitted all over herself. I think part of that was the fact that she got herself so upset she yakked straight through the sheet and mattress cover - quite a good amount (so much so, she needed a bath).

I know, Bad, Bad Mommy. I just couldn't take the crying anymore and desperately needed to wash my face and brush my teeth!

She's doing so well on this formula, I really don't want to start monkeying with it. I've just noticed that the spitting up is a little more frequent lately. It also doesn't seem to stop between feedings. She usually spits up when she burbs after eating, but then continues to do so even an hour or so after a feed. Sometimes (especially if she's REALLY hungry) she will spew quite a bit, and other times it's just a dribble. She doesn't really do the projectile thing any more, although she did quite a number on the couch, her daddy and the dog on New Year's Eve. :o

I've read about those studies with premature solid feeding and I'm really wary of giving her the rice. I have a really sensitive stomach myself and I mentioned that to the ped. He didn't seem to think that it had any impact on Sophie.

I'm really torn on this. I still haven't given her the rice cereal in the bottle. As I mentioned, I was planning on waiting till she was a solid six months old before starting on the cereal routine. The whole thing really does scare the hell out of me.

-m

[liya]

Not to strike again on the formula but it could just be that...Some babys just become intolerant to certain types of formula after they had been using it for a while...I had the same problem but it was a little worse though. My son projectile vomited evrything and was diagnosed with pyloric stenosis so i cant say much about the spitting up thing, but i chatted with my fried today who seems to have had the same problem as you.Her baby would just spit up everything even through her nose..She like yourself refused to place cereal(also was giving her baby SA at the time) in her babys formula so she just switched to enfamil ar and it has worked wonders for her...i do know of people who have given their children cereal before six months and there have been no problems, but if you have reservations about this then you shouldnt do it....Although your baby is almost six months of age and i dont think youll have a problem with it...
Good luck hope everything gets better soon :)

Mommy of Arian Alexander

[Rachels]

I agree. If she's spitting up for an hour after feeds, I wouldn't say she's doing well on the formula. She may be drinking it well, but it sounds like her body is having a tough time with it. I'd think about switching.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[egoldber]

If she is spitting up constantly, it could be the formula. A lot of babies do well on one vs another. I couldn't use Similac, but Enfamil was great for us. All the formulas have slightly different protein compositions and that means some babies tolerate one well and not another.

As for starting solids, your babe is really almost 6 months, so it shouldn't be a problem. I also wanted to wait the full 6 months, but at 5 1/2 months Sarah was showing all the signs of being ready: watching our food, opening her mouth for the spoon, closing her mouth around the spoon, good head control, could sit well when propped, etc. We decided to try the cereal, she did great and we never looked back. A lot of people try to force their babies to accept solids long before they are ready in an attempt to make them feel full and sleep longer. That can have the opposite effect. So I think it is more important to watch your babies for signs that they are ready than to follow an arbitrary guideline. Some babies are ready at 5 months, some not until much later.

Good luck!

[August Mom]

One of my friends who has a baby with spit-up problems swears by Enfamil AR. It's the only formula that he can tolerate. However, he can only take the powdered form. Just so you know, Enfamil is having problems with its supply of the raw materials needed for this formula so it is no longer in production. My friend was on the phone with Enfamil quite a bit, begging them to keep producing the powdered form of Enfamil AR. Enfamil AR is still being produced in the ready to drink form. So, if you want to try this, just be aware that it's on its way off the shelves. You may have to call around to find it.

[daisymommy]

The GI specilaist we saw for Joshua gave us "4 step" advice for treating his reflux. He said if after trying #1 things didn't improve, move on to step #2, and then #3, etc. if it still didn't help.

1)Lifestyle changes- For example: Burp baby after every 2 oz. Hold baby upright for 20-30 minutes after feeding. Don't ever actually lay baby down flat (even to sleep). Elevate everything including crib mattress. Don't let baby cry it out (actually causes them to reflux). There are many others you can find in baby books.

2) Hypoallergenic formula (Similac Alimentum or Enfamil Nutramigen). He said a protein intolerance can make reflux worse. Alimentum worked miracles for us!

3) Zantac which only decreases stomach acid and therefor lessens pain of baby spitting up. Was not meant for decreasing amount of spit up (as Elizabeth said). However, we found that as there was less irritating acid in his stomach, the amount of spit up did somewhat decrease (as a side benefit)--this doesn't always happen though. Josh was on 1ml. 3 times a day.

4) Cereal in the bottle- Rice first (which makes many babies constipated), then Oatmeal if rice was too constipating. We were told to use 1 tsp. per 2 oz. I heeated the bottle first, then added cereal and mixed well. We use Avent bottles, and were told to use teh Variable flow nipples on the med. or fast. flow setting to allow the thickened cereal to flow through. However, sometimes a rice grain would get stuck in the hole. I sometimes would put the cereal through a food processor to make it more fine, and easier to go through the nipple hole.

As a side note, Joshua sleeps in a cosleeper beside us. This is mainly due to the fact that he would spit up in his sleep and choke and gasp for air in the middle of the night! VERY SCARY! I had to jump up and sit him up to help him clear everything out of his mouth. Then he would scream for 15 minutes because he was in so much pain and so terrified. The GI and our Ped. both said with babies in this much trouble, it is safer for them to sleep on their stomach. This is the only exception when it is actually safer so that they don't aspirate and drown in their own spit up. Laying on their stomachs also shuts off the stomach sphinter to keep the food in. Josh would sleep wonderfully this way, (on his side worked well too), but every time we put him on his back he would reflux and choke. Sometime to consider if your daughter is bad off. Talk to your Ped.

Josh was on cereal in his bottles at about 2 months old. Yes, it was very early, but it was a last resort when everything else was not working. It took all 4 steps to get thing sunder control. He would spit up 2oz. of every bottle! After a few months, things got alot better and we cut out the cereal in the bottle. Then we still followed the other 3 steps until he was 8 months old. Now he is on regular formula, and off the Zanatc. We still have to hold him upright for 20 minutes, and if he has been rolling around on the floor he still spits up. But we've come so far! I hope things get better for you soon. There IS light at the end of the tunnel! :)

[Marisa6826]

Thanks for all the insight girls!

The more I think about it, the more I want to speak to my regular pediatrician.

I was really diligent about keeping her upright last night (she can't sit up on her own, so she slopes to the side a bit!) even in the carriage for a walk and it seemed to make a difference.

Will see how things progress today.

Thanks again

-m

[jen lehman]

Hannah (4 mo. tomorrow) also has a reflux issue that is more of a "laundry" issue. She is growing leaps and bounds. She can spit up at any given time and angle following a feeding. Oddly...this usually does NOT occur for her night feeding (she co-sleeps and is flat on her back or side). We have been adding rice cereal to her bottles for the last month or so, and it has helped some. I even stopped for a few days last week, to make sure I was not doing this unnecessarily, and was surprised at the difference. CHANGING FORMULAS DID NOT HELP US. We use Enfamil LIPIL...I tried going LactoFree, and even Good Start, thinking maybe the whole "comfort protein" thing would help. All switching formulas did for us was clog her up! Her poo was SO FIRM! This caused her more discomfort than the reflux does! So...I just wash bibs daily and invested in a few more packs of burp rags. Oh...we use the Avent bottles with the variable flow nipples on stage 1, and Gerber rice cereal.

I'm sure this wasn't great insight, just a little different perspective. Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

Jennifer H. Lehman