Gelatin safe for infants?

[Thing1Thing2]

I'm wondering if gelatin is safe for infants. I know the Weston A Price has a homemade formula recipe containing gelatin. I would be adding it to my breastmilk in a bottle.

My infant has terrible reflux. I am trying everything to continue breastfeeding. I would like to keep him off of medication. He has tried formula and he did well on it with a naturopath and craniosacral therapist. The reflux was gone. Now I have put him back on the breastmilk and the reflux is coming back. I'm thinking if I try to thicken it a little it will help, but I don't want to use rice since he's only 8 weeks old.

Forgive me for rambling, I'm so sleep deprived.

I have some knoxx gelatin here. I really want to try it, but even though WAP says gelatin is safe, WEBMD has other ideas?

Wondering if any one has tried it or if anyone knows of resources that can help me make my decision.

[PatioGardener]

Have you looked into eliminating dairy and soy from your diet? My little one had severe reflux and our pediatrics team said that breastmilk was the best food as it digested so quickly. I breastfed upright, eliminated dairy and soy from my diet, controlled my over active let down, and baby slept on an angle and had chiropractic adjustments. We still had to add medication as the reflux was stopping his breathing, but the non-medical interventions did help a lot too.

[Thing1Thing2]

Thanks for the tips patiogardener. I am on a very restricted diet from the get-go.. no soy, dairy, corn or gluten as I have allergies myself.

May I ask how do you breastfeed upright?

Baby does sleep on an angle and we do chiropractic every week so check.. check..

Thanks!

Still no info about the gelatin? I'd really like to try it. Am I asking this in the wrong section?

[PatioGardener]

Sorry - I don't know any evidence on gelatin. I would not do it myself. Our Ped said he would never recommend adding thickener to breastmilk as he felt that it did not help reflux. Not sure what his evidence was, but I was not interested in adding anything to DS's diet that wasn't breastmilk, so I didn't argue.

We breastfed with me sitting at a slight recline, and DS vertical on my chest/belly. IIF you google laid back breastfeeding you'll see some similar positions in the pics.

It was a rough time, but we breastfed exclusively though it and are still going at 18 months. I stopped DS's reflux med several times and the apnea came back, until finally at a year he did ok and is now medication free.

Oh - I forgot to add that I also did infant probiotics, and kept DS upright for 20 min after every feed. He had to be stretched out up right too, because if he bended at the waist he'd reflux.

good luck

[Baby_Cakes]

I would worry that baby would get full too quickly and not get enough nutrients, you know? O/T - This many sound hokey, BN, but I just got DS a Hazelwood necklace and am floored by the change in his reflux. Have you tried one?

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[Thing1Thing2]

Haven't tried one, but I remember you were planning on getting one. Did you settle on the hazelwood and amber, or just hazelwood?

Do you mind if I ask where you purchased it? Maybe this will work for us! *Something* has got to work for us yk?

[Asiago]

Originally Posted by BonnieNova 

May I ask how do you breastfeed upright?

This can also be accomplished with babywearing. Breastfeeding upright is possible in a sling, wrap or soft structure carrier.

[Thing1Thing2]

Originally Posted by PatioGardener 

Sorry - I don't know any evidence on gelatin. I would not do it myself. Our Ped said he would never recommend adding thickener to breastmilk as he felt that it did not help reflux. Not sure what his evidence was, but I was not interested in adding anything to DS's diet that wasn't breastmilk, so I didn't argue.

We breastfed with me sitting at a slight recline, and DS vertical on my chest/belly. IIF you google laid back breastfeeding you'll see some similar positions in the pics.

It was a rough time, but we breastfed exclusively though it and are still going at 18 months. I stopped DS's reflux med several times and the apnea came back, until finally at a year he did ok and is now medication free.

Oh - I forgot to add that I also did infant probiotics, and kept DS upright for 20 min after every feed. He had to be stretched out up right too, because if he bended at the waist he'd reflux.

good luck

Thanks Patiogardener. Checked out laidback breastfeeding, which was exactly what I was doing with DS, but it didn't seem to help. I was thinking if he could feed *fully* upright maybe that would help. But I think that would be extremely difficult :lol

I have him on the probiotics 1/4 tsp a day. And I do notice that every time DH holds him, he has an episode. Maybe it's bc he bends him at the waist.

Other thing I wanted to ask you. Do you have him on Zantac or another med? I tried some meds with my first DS and nothing seemed to have worked. He has allergies to some of the ingredients in the meds (which I didn't know at the time). I'm afraid the meds may have made his reflux worse and don't want to do the same thing to the little guy. But the ped said that each child is different and maybe the Zantac would work for DS. I'm not sure I want to go that route at the moment, but I am considering it if all else fails.

[Thing1Thing2]

Decided against the gelatin. I think Babycakes was right about not getting enough nutrition into him. DH agrees. Thanks BC!

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by BonnieNova 

Decided against the gelatin. I think Babycakes was right about not getting enough nutrition into him. DH agrees. Thanks BC!

Good!  I'm glad you decided against it!!

I finally decided on just hazelwood from an etsy seller.  But you can google and find one, if you want.  I really am shocked at the difference.  Of course, YRMV, but I'm glad I got it for DS.

[PatioGardener]

Originally Posted by BonnieNova 
Other thing I wanted to ask you. Do you have him on Zantac or another med? I tried some meds with my first DS and nothing seemed to have worked. He has allergies to some of the ingredients in the meds (which I didn't know at the time). I'm afraid the meds may have made his reflux worse and don't want to do the same thing to the little guy. But the ped said that each child is different and maybe the Zantac would work for DS. I'm not sure I want to go that route at the moment, but I am considering it if all else fails.

My little guy was on prevacid.

[kriket]

nak

i as going to suggest upright nursing too. we had symptoms of "silent reflux" but it ddn't seem quite right to me and upright like laying back in the recliner helped some :) glad you decided against the jello that sounds kinda gross.

[Thing1Thing2]

My hazelwood necklace is coming in next week! So excited!!

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by kriket 
 glad you decided against the jello that sounds kinda gross.

  I'm picturing lime green jello in a bottle and chuckling!  
 

Originally Posted by BonnieNova 

My hazelwood necklace is coming in next week! So excited!!

Woo hoo!  I'm excited for you guys!!