another question....

Sorry if I'm being a pain Ladies, but it seems like questions keep popping into my head. The boys get cereal mixed in their bottles for reflux issues, do you think that may be the reason I can't get them to take more than 3 oz at one time? Maybe the cereal is making them full faster. I only use 1 tsp per ounce and that seems to do the trick as far as the spitting up and crying. How long does reflux last so I know when I can stop adding the cereal to the bottles?

Thanks Again

 

I think how long it lasts just depends on your babies. MY GI said most babies outgrow it by 9mth to a year. Mine had reflux and we are just now starting to take away the prevacid--down to once a day--they are now 9 months. We slowly started lowering the amount of rice cereal in the bottle--we first went to 1/2 teaspoon per ounce, just to see if he kept it down. Once we did that for a while, then we just kept going lower--1/4/ ounce, etc. We probably started going down after a month of no spitting up. But just last week we compoletely stopped the rice cereal--for us it was a pain, so i was ready to be done w/ it. Testing them little by little worked best for us. Are you on medication too? If so, that will probably help with the spit up also, so when you start taking away the rice cereal, hopefully the meds will kick in.

 

You aren't being a pain! That is what we are here for. :hug: Are they on meds for the reflux?

 

they aren"t on any meds, doc wanted to see if the cereal and elevating them would help and so far it has. The screaming after eating has stopped completely. So I guess I'll just keep adding the cereal for awhile till I'm sure they are over it.

 

Very good chance that the cereal is making them full faster. We were in the same boat with my girls. They both had severe reflux and were both on Reglan which did not work. Cereal worked, thank Jesus!

As far as when you can stop adding the cereal, it does depend on each baby. My girls are now 9 months and for about a month now I don't put cereal in every single bottle, more like every other. They aren't spitting up bad either, luckily. I think your little ones will most likely need the cereal a while longer though. I wouldn't try weaning them off of it until they are at least 6 months old or so. I would consult the pediatrician on meds. As I said before, with mine the meds didn't work, but cereal did.

Best of luck! And let me add, I think you are a wonderful Grandma! We are always here for you!

 

You are not a pain, ask away! I would definitely think the cereal would make them full faster. If you think about it, with every 3 ounces of formula they take they are getting a tablespoon of cereal, which is probably a lot for their tiny stomachs, but if it helps keep the formula down, it's worth it!

 

my boys take 1tsp rice per ounce and when we first started adding the cereal they ate a lot slower and a lot less but gradually they started to eat the entire bottle. it took about a day or so for the adjustment. we put 5oz of water into their bottle and when we combine 5tsp of rice and 2 1/2 scoops of formula it makes 6oz.

what flow nipple are they on? it is possible that they just aren't getting enough out of the nipple fast enough since the formula is thicker. we had this problem. the boys would suck forever on the bottle and it would just take soooooo long to get 3oz out of them. they would get tired of sucking and the nipple getting clogged that they would get bored or fall asleep halfway through. once we found the right flow nipple they started eating more and faster.

i don't know when/if they outgrow it or when to stop, we are still dealing with this issue ourselves