rice cerial?

My girls are 5 are weeks old and spit up alot. We changed to ar formula but now really constipated. We were thinking of putting back on regular formula and addingis a little rice cereal. What is your opinions?

 

I would speak to their ped before doing that, their doc may be able to suggest something else. At that age they are a little young for cereal and rice is very constipating.

 

Rice cereal is very constipating to babies and they don't digest it well so you would be adding to their problem. I would talk to your pedi. Some babies just spit up a lot so I would ask him/her to find out if it is truly an issue.

 

I also say definitely talk to your pedi. Have you talked about the possibility of reflux?

 

I say talk to your ped as everyone else has said. But on a side note i talked to my ped about my girls spitting up as well and the fact that i already started them with a little cereal about half a teaspoon to 4 oz of formula which is a lot thinner than what the AR formula comes out as. And she told me that was fine. Basically you should do what you feel is right. As a mom you should follow your instincts and if you think there could be a better answer always talk to your doctor. Also you may want to ask your ped about trying the gentle digestion. Every brand normally has a protect, gentle, AR etc type formulas we tried the normal with little cereal that didn't work then we tried the AR and that didn't work either and we were using Enfimil then we decided to switch to GoodStart Gentle Digestion and the girls hardly spit up at all and there has been no constipation. But if you decide to switch to a different brand you should talk to your doctor before doing so. Little babies tummies are tricky things and no baby is like another. Either way talk with your doc and see what he/she recommends. Good Luck!!!!

 

My pedi actually recommended a little rice cereal in the bottle when my daughter was spitting up what seemed like gallons -- I resisted that advice, actually, because I didn't want to start her on any kind of solids before six months and I had heard that cereal in bottles can be a choking hazard. My pedi wasn't worried about the spitting up, just suggested the rice because it was inconvenient to have her spitting up so much...she was a happy spitter, never seemed to suffer from it, and gained weight just fine, so we just waited it out. She actually spit up a ton until a month ago (around nine months), I hate to tell you, so it can last a really long time...but as long as they're gaining weight and don't seem to be in discomfort, the doctor said it was fine, just messy. Hope you move through the phase a lot faster than we did!

 

We have tried everything to help our baby girl with her spit up problem. She spits up what looks like half or all of what she eats most of the time... I saw our pediatrician about it around 6 weeks of age and she recommended rice cereal in her bottle. She is also a happy spitter, gaining weight. She does act hungry all the time though - probably due to how much she spits up!

We tried the formulas with rice starch added but they drove me nuts because they clogged the nipple so much - though the ready to feed versions weren't bad about it, the powder ones were. I also tried adding a small amount of rice cereal to her bottle. Neither seemed to help much, honestly. I hate to say it but the best thing to do in general is to burp often and try to hold them upright for awhile after eating... not easy to do with twins! On days when my husband is home she spits up a lot less because we can take the time to burp and hold upright.

I hear it gets better by a year of age, and often around the time they start sitting up unaided (6-9 months?).

 

It will get better! Our DS spit up tons from day 1! Our DD did not so we were lucky to only deal with one! We thought reflux as first and reluctantly tried medication... that did not help so we quit. I was breastfeeding but we did try AR formula and that did not work, just made his spit up thick and he seemed to gag on it. Same thing happened when we added rice cereal to the breast milk bottle. We finally resolved that it would be something he would out grow. We burped often and would sit him up after he ate at least 30 min. Which meant he often slept in his chair because at night I didn't want to stay up an extra 30 min. He is growing out of it. Finally! He still will spit up if he eats too much, but it is much better now. I think as long as your baby does not seem like there is pain, and is still gaining weight I think it is best to not add cereal for the same reasons PP said. We went through a lot of bibs and burp clothes and changes of clothes! Good luck!

 

One of my boys was a HORRIBLE spitter, and now they will be 2 in about 6 weeks and he STILL spits up on occasion. They say however that 2 is the magic number, so I'll see!