giving a 3 week old rice cereal- does this sound right to you? - Page 3

[GiJohnsGirl]

I have never had to do the rice cereal thing, but my daughter is the same age. She is formula fed and a week ago she started to have terrible spit up. It came out of her nose and it was projectile and after every feeding. I know this won't help you, but I switched her formula, held her upright for 15-20 minutes, massaged her tummy and it seemed to have worked. My point is - as much as it freaked me out that it came out of her nose and exorcist like- she was hardly disturbed by it. She gave a small whimper and gave me the look of where is the rest of my food. The similac website has an image of what is the proper amount of spit up (breast fed or formula fed spit up is spit up) I would take a look at that and consider switching. Out of all the things - that should not be the first recommendation for a baby that young imo.

[portlandmama]

FWIW...I have seen rice cereal work. The amount that is used is really quite small although it is certainly not preferable. I would avoid it in favor of positioning but I would try it and many other things, over a prescription. Gastroesophageal Reflux ( as opposed to typical spit up) can cause feeding problems if under treated...and it really doesn't have to be that severe. It's a common problem in preemies. Maybe instead of running away from a pediatrician, you can talk to him or her about concerns. It is supposed to be a collaboration and this recommendation is not necessarily indicative of terrible recommendations to come. If you are that concerned you can interview this person to see if it is otherwise a good match. Rcommendations are just that. If it is not a good fit than ask for another recommendation. It is a good idea to meet and interview a ped or any care provider before you select them to make sure that it is a good match....I think that if you cannot ask why than that is a bigger indication to run. Do what is best for your baby as only you know.
Edited by portlandmama - 7/12/11 at 10:27am

[lovelylisa]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I met with the lactation consultant today and we think maybe my letdown is too fast for the lil one sometimes, especially when I haven't nursed in a while. DD lets me get about 4 hours in a row at night and then in the morning my boobs are pretty full.

But I think Im starting to even out and I'm trying to keep her sitting up more after she eats, and her nose spewing has stopped some.  And she's gained 2lbs since we left the hospital, so I am sure I panicked over nothing :) 

We will hold off on the solid foods. Let's let her hit her due date first ;)

Thanks again!

[Midwesterner04]

I would consider finding a new ped as well. This is very old-school advice and probably indicates that the ped is not that accustomed to dealing with breastfed babies. Best medical practices can be different depending on whether a nursing or a formula-fed baby is involved (adding rice to a formula bottle is fundamentally different from weaning a BF-ed baby to formula thickened with rice or even adding it to breastmilk). The most recent literature tends to favor *delaying* solids and non-breastmilk liquids for babies with GERD, not introducing them very, very early. Breastmilk is soothing to the gut and helps to heal/reduce esophageal damage in severe cases of GERD. It also is absorbed into the lungs when aspirated, something that isn't true of other foods. Babies who are refluxing due to food sensitivities have an even greater need for the immune and gut health support breastmilk provides. Yes, plenty of BF babies have allergies and plenty of FF babies do not, but breastmilk does give a baby his or her best chance at tolerating a wide range of potential allergens. If I were in your situation I would do my best to keep my baby on breastmilk.

I had a baby with reflux and what worked for us was:

Carrying DC upright or in cradle position with her head and shoulders elevated

Wearing DC for naps

Cutting the top 8 allergens (dairy, eggs, and soy were the worst offenders) and garlic from my diet and adding probiotics and digestive enzymes. With time DC's intolerances improved and we now can eat just about anything except dairy and soy.

Low doses of Zantac when the reflux was causing DC pain. We got ours from a compounding pharmacy in order to avoid the alcohol, flavoring, parabens, and sugar/sweeteners, and were glad that DC ended up only needing the ranitidine for a very short period of time. 

I hope things improve for you and your baby!

[Midwesterner04]

Originally Posted by lovelylisa 

But I think Im starting to even out and I'm trying to keep her sitting up more after she eats, and her nose spewing has stopped some.  And she's gained 2lbs since we left the hospital, so I am sure I panicked over nothing :) 

This is really great news! Grow, baby, grow!

[coffeegirl]

FWIW, the recent studies I have seen (linked over here, I think?) have said that the benefits of delaying solids are equally true of breastfed babies and formula-fed babies. Which is just to say....Feeding a baby formula and feeding a baby rice cereal are two different things and not even in the same ballpark. Premies and other at risk babies in NICUs who don't/can't nurse or eat expressed breast milk for whatever reason are given formula and thrive on it. I've seen solids and formula grouped together in a few posts here and that's a bit misleading.

[TheDivineMrsM]

Originally Posted by Midwesterner04 

This is really great news! Grow, baby, grow!

Originally Posted by lovelylisa 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I met with the lactation consultant today and we think maybe my letdown is too fast for the lil one sometimes, especially when I haven't nursed in a while. DD lets me get about 4 hours in a row at night and then in the morning my boobs are pretty full.

But I think Im starting to even out and I'm trying to keep her sitting up more after she eats, and her nose spewing has stopped some.  And she's gained 2lbs since we left the hospital, so I am sure I panicked over nothing :) 

We will hold off on the solid foods. Let's let her hit her due date first ;)

Thanks again!

Yay!! Glad that the LC was able to help you. Good job on the weight gain, Mommy!!

[MamatobabyA]

My son had terrible reflux and we tried the rice in the bottle with the breastmilk thing.  I will never try it with future babies and it makes me sad to think that I tried it at all.  It made everything so much worse.  I was trying to avoid medication.  He would scream in pain after the rice and was still having terrible reflux.  I remember DH sitting with him in the rocking chair when DS was about 4 weeks old.  Baby A was literally dry heaving in my husbands lab, his skin was green and in between heaves he would scream.  I was done.  We stopped the cereal and added Prevacid.  1 week later I had a brand spanking new happy baby! 

If you or your ped really think thicker milk would help, I would ask about a non-nutrative thickener instead.  It usually used for very premature babies who have swallowing/aspiration issues.

On a side note, spit up is sometimes normal for babies.  Just because it's coming out of her nose doesn't mean it's a bad thing.  Is she happy the rest of  the time?  Content after nursing?  Gradually having longer awake periods?