Preemie reflux issue - rice in bottle?

My boys are 3 weeks old - born 5 weeks early. Ford has reflux and a friend of mine, who is a pedi nurse, suggested I put 1 tsp of rice cereal per ounce of formula in his bottle to thicken it up and help it stay down. Anyone else do this? We don't see the pediatrician until the 17th so I am flying blind at the moment. Thanks, gals!

 

My girls were preemies and also had reflux. If you think your baby may have reflux, I would call the Dr and try to get in sooner than the 17th. They may be able to put him on meds to ease the pain, and help with the spit up. My Pedi also suggested I put rice cereal in their bottles to thicken it up, and that seemed to help as well. Make sure you are keeping them upright at least 30 minutes after each feeding as well, that should help also.

Good Luck!! Reflux is no fun!! :hug:

 

i agree with kyrstyn, if you suspect reflux get in to see the doc asap. and being that young i would definitely want the pedi's ok before adding cereal to the bottle. they may want you to try a pre-thickened formula like enfamil AR or similac sensitive RS, which already have the added rice to help keep it down.

good luck, i hope it isn't reflux and he is just a spitter...

 

How do you know whether he is just a spitter or if it is reflux? He seems to spit up quite a bot of his bottles and sometimes it is as long as 2 hrs after eating. We burp him constantly during feedings and hold him for at least 30 mins after eating. He doesn't refuse a bottle or seem to be in pain except right before spitting up. And he locks his tongue on the roof of his mouth, which I've read is a babies way of trying to prevent reflux. Thoughts?

Also, what's the difference between Enfamil Enfacare LIPIL and Similac Neosure?

 

Usually with reflux they will make grunting like noises and arch their back. It is also pretty obvious that they are uncomfortable and/or in pain.

He very well could just be a happy spitter. Babies spit up regardless of whether or not they have reflux. As long as he is gaining weight appropriately I wouldn't worry too much, but I would definitely get him in to the Dr to be sure. Reflux can cause damage to the esophagus if not properly taken care of.

Neosure and Enfacare are High Calorie formulas, typically for preemies. I think the others you listed are standard formula's just different brands/types. HTH!!

 

we used neosure, but looking at the enfamil website, they look like the same thing. just a few extra calories/vitamins per ounce to help preemies catch up. FWIW, my DD had a horrible time with neosure and spit up A LOT, she did better when i switched her to similac sensitive, she had a mild milk allergy. we ultimately switched her to alimentium because it got worse and her reflux got really bad...

if your DS is exhibiting any pain symptoms while eating or refusing to eat i would see the pedi and let him/her know. but kyrstyn is right, lots, even most babies spit up, but some more than others... they are still so young that their digestive system is still pretty slow so that could be why he still spits up after a couple of hours, but it is worth mentioning to your pedi.

 

Hi,
I would absolutely call your pedi to clear moving forward with thickening the formula; he may prefer a different route. One of my preemie twins (32 weeks) has severe reflux and now sees a GI specialist in addition to her pedi. The specialist put her on Prevacid (tablets that I administer in am & pm; not compounded liquid which the dr felt gets too diluted). Also we thicken her formula with Beechnut Oatmeal baby cereal (rice can constipate, oatmeal does not; for some reason I can't now recall the dr said Beechnut works better for this than Gerber). 3 teaspoons cereal per 4 ounces of formula is the proportion we were told.

Also, keep the baby inclined for 45-60 minutes after eating in a car seat, bouncy chair, or on a foam wedge designed for this purpose (easy to find at BRU or online). Lying flat will let the stomach acid rise painfully to the esophagus; keeping the baby on an incline lets gravity keep the acid where it belongs. I just have my baby sleep in the car seat on a nice, soft blanket so she is almost always in the inclined position. It really helps her.

We now have my daughter on Similac Gentlease, which is easier on her stomach and seems to be helping. I've been trying to avoid the switch to Alimentum formula simply because of the expense but will switch her if something changes. Also the dr told me that the Neosure and Similac Enfacare are pretty much the same formula, just made by different companies, and can be interchanged as needed.

Good luck--don't be afraid to be assertive with your pedi (or to request a specialist if things don't improve) b/c reflux can be quite painful for the little ones.

 

I too would call your Ped for some direction. Meds will help the reflux and if the spitting continues to be a problem the Ped may suggest adding rice cereal to the bottle. I would hold off until you have done other things to help. Like getting on meds, keeping him upright for at least 30 minutes after each feeding, and sleeping elevated either in a bouncy or swing.

 

Thanks so much for responding. We do pace feed him and keep him upright for 30-45 mins (sometimes an hour) after feeding, but he spits-up during feeding, as well as after. I can't feed him any slower than I already am! I also feed him with him sitting upright and I've stopped hitting his back to burp him. I just sit him upright on my knees and let the burp come naturally (works well). I don't understand why it's getting worse. He is now projectile spitting-up. He does show signs of his tummy being upset - he sometimes starts to writhe and whine a bit right before he spits up - other times it just comes out of nowhere with no sign of distress from him. I am so lost. And I'm starting to panic. I'll be calling the pedi tomorrow AM first thing.

 

:hug: Dont panic. He will be fine. It does sound like you are dealing with the dreaded reflux. Both of my boys had it and it was awful. Great job at keeping them upright after each feeding. I would call the Ped in the morning just like you say and go from there. I will tell you that there are alot of other things out there to be done and experiment with. Formulas for one. There is a formula called Enfamil AR (added rice) which has rice starch in it that will solidify once it gets in the stomach. There is also hypoallergenic formulas too like Alimentum or Nutramigen for colic, reflux, and allergies. I had them both on Alimentum for a possible milk allergy and then to the AR and then to regular Lipil. It is all trial and error for formula and meds. I will tell you for us what worked per our Ped GI.

Prevacid for the acid issue.
Adding 2 teaspoons of rice cereal per ounce of Alimentum formula
Keeping upright for at least 45 mins after each feeding.

GL! :hug: Reflux sucks.

 

My boys were born nearly 2 mos. early, 7 wks early to be exact., i started feeding them jarred baby food stage 1 around 4.5 mos old, after about a week, one baby would start screaming for no reason at all, i have nurses that come once a week (due to being preemeis) and at the time she suggested that they may have some kind of reflux and should make an appt with the Pedi, (that was b/c on a couple of different occasions she witnessed them spitting up pretty good), so i made the appt, took them in and the Doc said that all babies have some kind of reflux, which is normal that is why they spit up, said my baby was normal about it, and did not have anything serious, BUT he did recommend doing the Rice in the bottle for 1 month and see how that helped, So i did, and it did work, i had to stop giving him jarred baby food during this time. But it did work for me, and i believe his screaming was due to being constipated as well. I stopped at one month (that was many months ago) and have had a happy baby ever since. It can not hurt to check with your Pedi to see what they recommend. GL...

 

What did your Ped say?