Not finishing her bottles

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

Is it ok if LO doesn't always finish her bottle?  There have been times where my DD will only drink 2oz of her 4 oz bottle and times she will drink the entire bottle.  It varies day to day and I'm just wondering if that's ok.

[*Natasha*]

How often are you feeding?

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

I am feeding DD every 3.5 to 4 hours.  It is either 4 oz bottle of formula or 4 oz bottle of breastmilk mixed with rice cereal.  Our dr. told us to mix the breastmilk with the rice cereal to make it thicker to help with DD's acid reflux.  I am adding 1 tsp of cereal to 1 oz of breastmilk.

[* Paula *]

4 oz of milk is not a lot, and if your lo is only taking 2 hours it is not very much to keep her going for 3.5 hours to 4 hours.  How much rice cereal are you mixing in the bottles?  I am suspecting that this is filling her up too much and this is why she is not taking too much.

Has your doctor not prescribed any meds for reflux?  Does the reflux seem to be under control with just thickening the formula with rice cereal?

Also there are formulas around that are actually a thickened formula for reflux.  My DD is on a thickened formula called Enfamil AR for reflux, she does not require meds as this formula seems to help with the reflux.

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

My doctor said to put 1 teaspoon of rice cereal to 1oz of EBM.  So DD is getting 4 teaspoons of cereal with her 4oz EBM.  We have been adding the cereal since DD was 1 month old.  It does help keep the food from coming back up but she still does have the occassional spit-up  We did try the Enfamil AR but DD would not drink it....we sometimes supplement with the regular Similiac if I don't have enough EBM.  I don't add the cereal with the formula as it gets too thick and DD can't suck it out of the bottle.

DD is currently on Zantac (syrup form).  My understanding is that the meds help soothe the esphogus (sp??) and throat when she spits up but doesn't prevent the spit ups.  That's why we are thickening the EBM.

Before she was on the meds, her spits were pretty bad.

[* Paula *]

It does seem like a lot of cereal to me to be adding to the bottles.  You might want to pop over to the Reflux boards and see what other people are adding when they thicken their lo's milk. 

[emz1907]

I always read it was bad to ass cereal to a bottle, but if the dr has said so it must be ok. I agree it seems like a lot and is probably the cause of her lack of hunger. Our lo has reflux and is on infant gaviscon for it which helps keep it under control. SMA also do a reflux formula.

[galaxie81]

If she is putting on weight and has a good amount of wet nappies through the day it's a good sign she is getting enough.

Our oldest never used to finish all of his bottles for the recommended amount of formula on the tin (it was also a case of he was drinking too much with some of the rec. amounts)

Our 2nd doesnt finish all his bottles and one feed a day is like a top up feed for him and he feeds every 3-4 hours.

[* Paula *]

I always read it was bad to ass cereal to a bottle, but if the dr has said so it must be ok.

It is not recommeneded to add cereal to a lo's bottle, unless it is under the doctors supervision.

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

DD has gained weight and has plenty of wet diapers.
The doctor is the recommended the rice cereal to help keep the milk down since DD has acid reflux.
I guess I should check with my doctor to find out if I should reduce the rice cereal or not add it at all.

Thanks for everybody's input.

[* Paula *]

Just curious has the doctors not suggested trying any other meds for his reflux?

I was just curious as there are so many reflux meds / formulas etc, was not sure why he suggested cereal in the bottle.

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

I've talked to the pedi yesterday, since I'm giving DD EBM, the rice cereal will thicken up the EBM so that DD is able to keep it down.  I actually do notice a difference today when I don't add the rice cereal, DD's spit ups more often and larger volumes than without the rice cereal.  If, DD wasn't on EBM, then we'd be giving her the Enfamil AR which is a milk-based formula with rice cereal. 

The Zantac that DD is taking is to help soothe her throat/esphogus when she spits up and reduce the amount of acid that the stomache produces.

I've started to stretche out DD's feedings to 4 hours now and she has been able to finish the entire bottle now.

[galaxie81]

That's great to hear something is working for you

[* Paula *]

That is great that things are improving for you.

Just wanted to say, that if you do decide to give your lo Enfamil AR, do not add any rice cereal into this.  It is a pre-thickened formula.  You will not actually notice the formula being thicker when you make it up, but once your lo has drunk it and it hits the tummy, it becomes a more solid form and this stops the milk from being brought back up.