just curious

[Anonymous]

I have started adding oatmeal to bottles. Started with just the night feeds since reflux was worse at night and have added to every bottle today. My child has been sedated all day, sleeping very good, but almost to much. Am I right to add to every bottle and does this sound normal that she has napped alot all day, usually she does not nap very much at all.

[Anonymous]

Hi, my first son needed every bottle thickened or else he would just throw the WHOLE thing up so I put about 1 tblsp of rice cereal in his bottle. I used the Avent bottles and he did great. He did sleep and nap well, and maybe that is because she is finally satisfied and comfortable to catch up on some sleep that was uneasy. I found that sometimes even if he didn’t fuss that much I could hear on the monitor that he was really restless until he was on meds and thickened feeds. I would give her a couple days to “catch up” and then see, but I would keep doing what you are doing.

[Anonymous]

ohh i wouldnt even question it!! .. if she is sleeping she is happy and full and wouldnt even second guess yourself!!! good for you!

[Anonymous]

The last time she ate 3 oz with oatmeal and then did not eat again until 4-5 hours later. She just refused when it was time for her next feeding. My question is I then worry becuase she is not taking in as much formula as she was and she is just getting barely getting 15 oz in now. I know kept repeating that, but I am really worried about how much she eats. She is gaining wieght but very slowly and since her doctors visits her eating has started to go back to the 13- 14oz range. I just do not want to fill her up on oatmeal and her miss the formula. Will adding food to milk help increase calories even if her intake goes down some I have stopped the oatmeal again due to her not eating well.

[Anonymous]

How much oatmeal were you adding to her bottles? Does she seem more comfortable and sleep better with the thickened feedings?

I definitely understand your concern about her intake of formula. Maybe ask her doctor if you can put her on a higher calorie formula, and then still add the oatmeal if it makes her feel better.

There are other calorie boosters you can add to formula but I just can’t remember exaclty what they are called. I think one is called Duocal. Hopefully some of the moms who’ve used them can give you some advice.

Also you can experiment with amount of oatmeal to try to find what may be the least amount added to her formula that still gives her relief. (I’ve heard of moms using as much as 1 tablespoon per ounce and as little as a tablespoon for a full 6 ounce bottle).

How’s she doing these days?

[Anonymous]

Kaelyn couldn’t keep any formula down so we had to thicken with a tablespoon of cereal per ounce of formula. It did keep her formula intake down, so we mixed it to be 24 calorie instead of 20. I wouldn’t worry about the extra sleep. She’s probably just catching up on lost sleep.

[Anonymous]

I have started to add just a tablespoon and a half to her 3oz bottles and she seems to be ok with that and ready to feed at the next feeding time, but now we have started seeing some gas troubels I have not seen before. If her bottles are to thick she will spit it out, and she is on 24 cal formula already, but thank-you for the info. This is so frustrating because I want to do what is best for her and feel very conflicted and worried 24 hours a day about how much she has eaten and if she looks like she is losing weight again. A daily battle. I wanted to thicken the bottle for extra calories as well as helping with the reflux. I guess I just need to be consisitant for a while and see what happens. Other than feeding I have a very happy baby, she has started to roll over this week, and is laughing out loud( which is very cute). My support people here says for me not to worry, if she was hunger she would cry and would not be as happy, or being doing the things she is doing. Any thoughts on this?

[Anonymous]

Hi! Thank God for this site!!! I am a new Mom to my eight week old son Braden…He has had allergies and reflux with all his formulas–he’s been on lacto free, regular, and soy and now he is on alimentum. He also has started Zantac 2 days ago…He seems to be crabbier and to be spitting up more…Is this the formula or the Zantac? Also,…I have noticed some say the RTF alimentum is better, I think he might have a corn allergy, So is RTF my last option? I can tell he doesn’t feel good and it breaks my heart. He has been sick with spitting up since three weeks. Last week we had to call 911 because he choked so bad he stiffened up and turned red and seemed like he couldn’t breathe…It was the scariest thing in my life! Has anyone ever heard of a baby doing that? He is going to the GI on tues. Your comments are soo greatly appreciated!!

Trista

[Anonymous]

Catina,

Which formula is she on? Which brand of oatmeal cereal? The Gerber brand contains soy products so if she’s senisitive to soy that could be a problem. Beechnut cereals do not contain soy.

Trista,

Hello and Welcome,

Many of us have found Zantac to be rather useless in helping our reflux babies. Most of us have better luck with PPI meds like Prevacid and Zegerid. You can read about some current research into PPI meds for infant reflux at http://www.marci-kids.com

And, yes I’ve read here many times that many moms say that their babies do better on RTF Alimentum, so maybe try that for a few weeks. It’s not your last option. If he’s MSPI (milk/soy protein intolerant) he may need a specialty formula like Neocate or Elecare.

My refluxers have choked and aspirated but fortunately neither of them turned red or stopped breathing, but it has happened to a few babies on this board. Does he choke or gag while feeding? If so, a swallow study may be a good idea….something you can ask the GI about. I’d print and fax the marci-kids info and bring it along to your gi appt since many doctors are not aware of this current research and they tend to under dose our infants.

Be sure to look at Laura’s intro link (stickied in the Introduce Yourself Forum). It has lots of valuable information which may help you.

Well, I’m glad you found us and I wish you the best of luck with your gi appointment on tues.

[Anonymous]

Catina, we still have to thicken for Hailey, and she’s almost 2! I wouldn’t give it another worry. Glad to hear it’s working. Sleep is good….

[Anonymous]

Well, I figured out to day that my baby does not like the oatmeal. The rice causes her to much gas, so I don’t know what to do! She pretty much is refusing to eat bottles with it in, unless she is asleep. We hope to be able to start some solids in two weeks, she will be 4 months. How do children with gerd usually do with solids. Do must peds like children to start solids this early, I just wonder out loud how she will do if she does not like oatmeal already. She seems intrested in table food, she is watching my husband and I when we eat.

[Anonymous]

She’s awfully young to be starting on solids. Most peds recommend waiting until 6 months. To answer your question, many babies with GERD have very senstive systems and solids make it worse, but some do fine. I guess you just have to try it to know with your own baby.

When Myles would not drink a bottle he would often allow me to spoon feed him his oatmeal. But it’s important at her age that she’s getting enough formula.

Do you think she may be teething, or possibly have an ear infection? You said she will drink a bottle if she’s sleepy. That concerns me because that is quite typical of a baby who is in pain. Is she on a high enough dose of a PPI medication?

[Anonymous]

We do wonder if she is starting to teeth, but she does always eat better when she is sleeping. I mentioned to the ped that I did not think her medicine was strong enough but he simply said that it was a very high dosage for her size but she is still in pain, and we know it. we are supplenmenting the prevaicd with mylanta and quite an bit of that during the day. She still has burps and will cry after them. I really need to ask to be referred to a ped gi. Her prevacid is 15 mg and we are spliting that so that she will be covered all day. She does not eat well in the morining but does seam to improve during the day and then really eats well at nightime when she is sleeping. I did not want to start sleep feeding her but she really does do better that way, and what eles do you do without the increase in medication. I may call again and ask 1 more time for an increase in the mediciation. we see our ped in 2 weeks for her 4 month visit. She did start to eat her bottle after taking out the oatmeal and offering that to her, but we had also given her mylanta, she who knows

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