Question:

Adding rice cereal to formula?

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Ok so my son has severe acid reflux (he is 7 weeks) and we have decided to thicken his formula under the doctor's orders (yes, he is on medicine, he sleeps on an incline, gets burped every ounce...and so on...to help the problem).

my problem lies with his bottles, we use 3 kinds...Avent, Sassy MAM and the Playtex Drop-Ins. Even with thickening his formula he can still get the formula out of stage 2 Avent & MAM nipples but he cannot get the formula out of the Fast Flow Drop In Nipples. Any suggestions on how to get the formula out or new nipples to get? I dont want to stop using the entire system because squeezing the air out helps his gas a lot. Oh and if it makes a difference, he is transitioning off Similac Alimentum (because his digestive problems are getting somewhat better) and back on to Soy (we use parents choice, and it must be soy bc of his allergy to milk). I'll take all the advice and help on this that I can get!

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  1. We had to do the same thing. We took scissors and sanitized them, then we cut an x in the nippIe . That way, it still holds it in a little so it won't get all over his face. Good luck!


  2. You Know, my kids are grown now with kids of their own but this "acid reflux" is basically excessive spitting up and perhaps colic like symptoms, right? My second child , a boy, suffered with symptoms ranging from severe colic to throwing up to diahria and then into ear infections and so on for more than the first three years of his life. They changed his formulas constantly. He was given iron, then taken off. He went from the regular Similac to us watering that down. Then we were to add a little karo syrup to it. Then He was put on a lactose free kind and different versions of the soy.

    I swear I thought he would'nt survive more than a few times. Not until he was almost 9 years old did they come up with testing him for allergies. The results just made me ill. On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the worst possible, my son scored a 3 for milk. But when it came to Soy...He scored a 4.5. What I had been feeding him from day one was all of the things his body couldn't take.

    Whatever you decide with your little one I just wanted you to be aware, ok?  Good luck.  

  3. My daughter (8months) had this problem when she was a newborn.  We did, as you said, the constant burping the inclined mattress, we also got Rantidine to calm her reflux.

    It wasn't until she was really ill that we actually had to thicken her bottles with rice cereal.

    We never had a problem using the playtex nurser drop-in bottles.  We actually used slow nipples.

    I'm not sure how your doctor suggested that you thicken the formula, but try using less cereal.

    When our pediatrician suggested this approach for us, we used about 2 teaspoons of cereal in a 4oz bottle.

    This means that there really wasn't a visible change in the viscosity of the formula but it kept it all down and made her more comfortable.

    Also, our pediatrician has been practicing medicine in this city for over 25 years.  Before that she worked for the US CDC (Center for Disease Control).  She's a really amazing lady.

    Hope that helps.

  4. Enfamil makes a formula that is thickened. I can't remember what it is called but if you check out their site it'll tell you all the different types they make. I think they also make a special formula for reflux. I looked into all this when my son had a bad spitting up problem. Turned out it was only the Similac.

    I also use the Playtex Drop In's and they're wonderful for reducing gas! You could try the Tri-Cut (Variable Flow) nipple but I don't imagine it would be any better than the fast flow. If you use latex nipples, try using Silicone ones (they last longer too!) or vice versa.

    Sorry I couldn't be of much help!

    Good luck and I hope you guys can figure something out!

  5. Have you tried lipital AR it is for babies with reflux we use it with our doctor brown bottles  

  6. Consult your family Doctor for proper care and medicine.

  7. I had to do the same thing with my daughter.  I used the Drop ins and the DR browns bottles.  The Playtex seemed to be the best for burping up less.  Anyway, I had to cut slits in the top of the nipples.  The fast flow didn't work for me either.  They still have little holes, just more of them.  

    I took a very sharp knife and forced the end of it through the top of the nipple, just a regular one, not  a fast flow.  Just shove it through the hole in hte nipple and streatch it out just a bit, make sure it does not cut a big slit or the milk will comeout too fast.  Just make the hole a little bigger.  Test it to see if the milk with rice added will puch through. IF not cut it a little more, until you get it right.  

    GOOD LUCK  

  8. I used to just have one nipple for cereal I made myself by making my own custom holes to fit the thickness of cereal.  Now and then I would have to squeeze the nipple but it worked fine.  

  9. im not sure if they would fit but i add rice to my son's bottles and i use the stage 2 playtex vent air bottles.. you could try to put those nipples in since they are both playtex i would think they  would work. ive never really looked at the drop in nipples though so i could be totaly wrong. but i hope i helped. :]

  10. you should of breastfed!  formula is pure synthetic c**p.

  11. The first few times I was cleaning my sons bottles I didnt really know what I was doing... I accidentally pushed the nipple cleaner part of his bottle cleaner right through a few of his nipples. For us, this was a bad thing but for you, maybe it would be helpful?

    have you tried using a thickened formula instead of adding cereal to his formula? i'd imagine you have if doctor has said its ok to add cereal to his bottle... just thought i'd put it out there.

  12. To try and make formula with cereal in it to come out of the nipples easier just make the hole bigger with a needle!  

  13. Playtex makes a nipple for variable flow.  I know you don't want to replace the entire system, but these nipples sound like they are designed for thicker formula.

    Good luck and I hope your lil guy feels better.

  14. Try the Variable Flow nipples.

  15. my son had a similar problem at 4 months. im not sure what youre asking exactly, but if this helps, we made the hole in the nipple a little bigger, and i went back to using the simple basic once. somehow they just did a better job. if you can clarify your question ill try to help you more.

  16. what I did was put a couple of extra pin holes in the nipple to make it easier to get out.  A lot of people probably wouldnt agree with me but it did help.  You just have to watch the nipple for wear and tear to make sure the hole doesnt stretch and get to big.

  17. Use a needle to make the whole in the nipple larger.

    Use about 1 tsp of cereal for 1 ounce of milk.

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