putting cereal in the bottle

DS had his appt. today at the pediatrician and she said that instead of mylicon or gripe water, she would rather us put cereal in the bottle 1 -2 times a day for the reflux. For those that did this, did it work? Do you find your DC slept better also (as a side benefit)? What times did you put the cereal in the bottle? Thanks

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

To each his/her own......but, I will tell you this. There is a big movement towards not exposing babies to food before 6 months old. This is because their digestive system is still developing.

Also, cereal in the bottle can cause ear infections (because of the added sucking)

However, it is your baby and you decide what is best for your baby.

Good Luck! I am a big believer in gripe water (it really is just fennel)

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

Message edited 10/13/2008 11:19:34 PM.

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

DD#1 had reflux and we put cereal in the bottle. We had to make the whole in the nipple larger so it could come out. With DD#2 my Ped said to get the Enfamil Lipil AR(added rice), it was easier and worked just the same. It is also very thick and we still needed to enlarge the opening in the nipple. I used a nail scissor and made a small X.
She still had reflux but every little bit helps.

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

I dont have an answer to your question but I have a question about reflux, what are some of the signs? My DD is 10 wks and she spits up like a volcano constantly and sometimes she chokes on it and comes out her nose I am going to take her to the doc this week ! TY

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

Posted by vmystique33

I dont have an answer to your question but I have a question about reflux, what are some of the signs? My DD is 10 wks and she spits up like a volcano constantly and sometimes she chokes on it and comes out her nose I am going to take her to the doc this week ! TY

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

my dd gags too all the time I thought it was b/c she got a bad taste in her mouth

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

I'll tell you what my DS had and how we handled his situation.

DS had projectile spit up. It wasn't a lot (some kids throw up alomst the whole bottle), but it was projectile and very frequent. His bigger problem was the silent reflux, which was reflux while he was drinking. So he could never take more than a few sucks at a time before crying and pulling away from the bottle and then wanting it back because he wasn't done. It was a vicious cycle.

We went to the gastro and he put DS on Zantac and cereal in his bottles. We switched to the Y cut nipples for easy flow and we put in 1 tsp cereal for every 2 oz for every bottle. It worked for DS, but it may have been the Zantac that had a bigger effect.

I'm not a doctor, but I'm surprised you wouldn't be putting cereal in all the bottles and not just some. I would think the reflux would bother your DC with every bottle. Maybe call the ped and ask for clarification?

Hope he feels better soon!

Message edited 10/14/2008 8:24:49 AM.

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

I put cereal in Kristina's bottles as per her ped for her reflux.... The ped wanted to avoid medications at all costs unless it was truly needed - He said that too many peds rush to medications first and the cereal WORKED A MIRACLE on my baby!

Between her reflux, and her gas issues.... she was a wretch the first couple of weeks.

I took her to the ped, and he had me put her on Gentlease (we were using Enfamil Lipil) and started having me put 1/2 tsp of RC per ounce of form into her bottle... Therefore, if DD was having a 4oz bottle, she was having 2tsp of RC in each bottle. It was a MIRACLE! I'm not going to tell you that the spitting up didn't happen EVER again, but it wasn't near as much as it used to be, and she was happier.

Her old ped, and her new ped, and even NICU nurses that I talk to are OK w/Gripe water... I wonder why your ped is so uncomfortable with it.... it's just herbs.

Message edited 10/14/2008 8:56:23 AM.

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

dd had the gagging/gasping thing which scared the $hiit outta me every time along with the bad taste in her mouth sour breath crying sporadically throughout feeding and after constantly wanting to be held and not put down to nap spitting up even an hr to two hrs after the feeding! etc she was diagnosed with acid reflux but we were told to first see how a thicker formula would work for her before thinking of meds


so we first changed the formula to enfamil ar which worked wonders she didnt spit up as much, would take naps bc she wouldnt need to be held constntly no sour breath BUT she would still sporadically cry throughout feedings and worst she still gagged/gasped and made horrible faces from the taste in her mouth/cried about it sporadically so we finally put her on meds a couple of days ago ....zantac drops twice a day and things are going sooooooooo well spit up is at an all time low and knock wood she hasnt down that horrible nasty face or horrible gagging/gasping

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

Oh... I just saw that your ped was talking about having the RC in the bottle 1-2 times per day....

I will tell you that I tried weaning Kristina from the RC as she got older, and at one point for an 8oz bottle I got her down to 2tsp of RC. Then after a few days of that, I put 1.5 tsp of the RC in her bottle, and it was spit up central!

I'm really surprised that your ped is only talking about 1-2 times per day.... When I had Kristina in the ER for something else, the ped there was asking me about RC, and I told him that I was trying to wean her and per bottle each day I was only giving her 1 tsp, and he said to me that 1 tsp wasn't going to make a difference at all in her bottles so I should try to wean her completely, and I did, and there have been no problems at all.

I would personally rediscuss with the ped, and clarify on the subject of 1-2 times per day.... I'm really on this one....

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

Thanks for your suggestions ladies. Dr. wants to try him on rice cereal for a few days in one or two bottles to see how he responds to it. After that we will be upping it. Sorry for not clarifying it. She said if it makes him worse or more upset than to discontinue it.

ETA: we are trying to do this before putting him on the zantac. I would rather not put him on medication if he doesn't need it!

Message edited 10/14/2008 11:39:16 AM.

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

i had to do it at every bottle with 2 of my 5 kids, with one,i had to start it at 2 weeks old,the other 1 month..yes it was a life saver,

Re: putting cereal in the bottle

Our ped. had us start oatmeal 2x a day after 3 months to help with the reflux and it made a huge difference! We use Dr. Brown's bottles and bought the Y cut nipples to help the flow.