Enfamil AR v. regular formula w/ rice cereal?

So, I asked my dr. about my DS spitting up and projectile spitting...it seems to be getting worse as they get older. (They are now 6.5 weeks.) He said since they are gaining weight and don't act uncomfortable that I don't "need" to do anything, but I "could" add rice to their formula.

He didn't give me any guidelines on how much to add w/ how many oz of milk. We are using Similac advance. My question is....would it be better to add rice to the current formula, try Enfamil AR or just suck it up and live w/ the spitting and not worry about any changes??

If you do add rice to the formula...do you have any tips/advice? I just thought that you weren't supposed to add rice to bottles...or is it that you just aren't supposed to add rice in order to get them to sleep thru the night??

I'm so confused. I don't want to do anything that will give them problems, but I"m really sick of the spit up and projectile vomiting.

 

We are using Enfamil AR and adding cereal to the formula. My DD is still spitting up but not near as bad. They are doing 5 oz of formula and I put in 1 TBSP. I have no idea if that is the right ratio, but I am just winging it! Seems to be working though!

 

We used Enfamil AR and it helped so much! I don't know anything about adding rice to the bottles but I know that the AR formula kept my girls from even needing to wear a big during feedings.

 

the rice in the bottle worked better for us with spitting up

 

Im based in Spain so Im not familiar with the brands you mention. However, I use an AR formula with mine plus a spoon of cereal. Mine are almost 5 months old though. DS drinks four 7oz bottles a day & DD usually drinks three 6oz and one 7oz and they have a spoon of cereal in 3 of those bottles. Neither had projectile vomiting but DD is sick regularly. The formula and cereal has helped somewhat but she´s also gaining weight and we think it´s gas-related as she´s a nightmare to burp. I hope things improve for you.

 

My boys are quite a bit older than yours, but I have one spitter. When they were little we switched him to Nutramigen and that fixed it until he started crawling. Then we split the bottles for awhile 2/3 Nutramigen and 1/3 Enfamil AR. Then we switched out the Nutramigen for Good Start and kept mixing in the Enfamil AR. We didn't like the powdered AR and got tired of dealing with some powder and some liquid so we started just mixing rice in his bottles. He's done just as well with that as with the AR mixed in. I use a Nutramigen scoop with the Gerber rice cereal that comes in a can (it seems to take less than the boxed) and put one scoop in his daytime (6 oz) bottles and 2 scoops in his 8 oz nighttime bottle. Again though we didn't start until they were much older.

 

QUOTE(mindyd @ Oct 21 2008, 10:33 PM) [snapback]1036300[/snapback]
So, I asked my dr. about my DS spitting up and projectile spitting...it seems to be getting worse as they get older. (They are now 6.5 weeks.) He said since they are gaining weight and don't act uncomfortable that I don't "need" to do anything, but I "could" add rice to their formula.

He didn't give me any guidelines on how much to add w/ how many oz of milk. We are using Similac advance. My question is....would it be better to add rice to the current formula, try Enfamil AR or just suck it up and live w/ the spitting and not worry about any changes??

If you do add rice to the formula...do you have any tips/advice? I just thought that you weren't supposed to add rice to bottles...or is it that you just aren't supposed to add rice in order to get them to sleep thru the night??

I'm so confused. I don't want to do anything that will give them problems, but I"m really sick of the spit up and projectile vomiting.


We never had projectile spitting, but both my kids spit-up like crazy. One was a happy spitter who spit all day long, but otherwise showed no discomfort (like reflux) and was gaining weight like gang busters. So like your dr. the pedi said I didn't need to do anything - just invest in bib stock and cleaning supplies.

As they got older they did develop reflux (and it was a marked change from the happy spitting days with lots of back arching, screaming bloody murder, and all out refusing to eat until we put them on medication). At that point (around 2 months I think though most of that time is a bit hazy...) the doctor said we could also add rice to their bottles. 1tsp for every 2-3oz, though I have heard other folks say 1tsp per 4oz bottle to start, and increase from there. She said we also may need to look at slightly widening the nipple to help the thickened mixture flow better or move to y-cut nipples designed especially for cereal (Dr. Brown's makes them - although I would be concerned about the flow rate with kiddos that small I suspect they would most likely choke). The rice was supposed to add some weight to the formula to make it less likely to come back up.

In the meantime I was a little hesitant to start rice that early so we switched formulas to see if the problem might be exacerbated by the formula. We went from Similac Advance to Enfamil Gentlease and on to Soy and eventually tried Nutramigen & Allimentium. We ended up back on the Gentleease which reduced the spit-up and overall made them happier campers to the point where we never did try the rice in the bottles.

There are several concerns people quote with adding rice in a bottle (google it to read all the reasons). Weigh the pros and cons. Only you can decide if it is the right thing to do for your kiddos.

 

both my babies are on the AR but they are also are on zantac they have severe acid reflux

 

I think it is different for each baby. For us. Tyler did great on just the AR but his reflux was less severe than Derek's. Derek also had a milk protein allergy so we had to use the Alimentum for him. We started him on 1tsp of rice cereal per ounce of formula. It got a bit better but not much. Then we saw a Ped GI for his reflux and he increased him to 2tsp of rice cereal per ounce of formula and it worked like a dream. It did not help either of them STTN.

 

At about 3 months, we went to Enfamil AR and added rice cereal. It really depends on the child, but it REALLY worked for our "happy spitter". He was on something (can’t remember what) for his reflux for just a month. We had to cut the nipples and watched his intake closely but it worked very well for us. The cereal added "instant" thickening and the AR formula actually helped it thicken in their tummies even more. We tried different amounts of cereal until we found the right concoction that worked for us.

Good luck!! I feel for ya