Adverse reaction to cereal

[freddyjo]

We started cereal 3 days & now I know it's not good. Day 1 he woke in the night unsettled, day 2 he didnt nap well, lots of fussing & wanting to b held (I now know he was in pain). Night 2 woke twice and resettled himself, but he never wakes b4 5-6am.
Today, day 3, bad. He didn't nap well at all, really unsettled and I thought he was maybe hungry because he has been getting hungry more often, hence the cereal. Trying to get him down tonight though was painful for all. He cried and cried but would stop when I picked him up and had gas. He kept waking in obvious pain. He was gagging a lot more than normal today too like he was going to spit up (he has reflux we are treating as well).
 I plan to stop the cereal & reintroduce at a later point. He is 4mo3wks but the peed recommended trying this at 4mo & I didn't feel comfy w/that.
Problem is he is a hungry boy & we can't give him more formula. Suggestions, tips, similar experiences?

[Lolly]

I would stop the cereal for the moment too and let him settle down again before you change anything else. Early solids helped my DD's reflux but made things much worse for my DS and he was 5 months + when we started with him.

How is the reflux being treated at the moment?

You say you can't give him any more formula - how much is he having in 24 hours, how many bottles and how much in each feed?

Laura

[~inbalance~]

Hey freddyjo.    I was just wondering if your LO is MPI or if that's something you've considered?  Has your paed given you any other advice or info to work with?

Definitely stop the cereal for now and give him a bit more time.  What about introducing something other than cereal?  Tracy recommends pears as a first food because they're easy to digest.  Maybe give him a week off the cereal and watch to see if he recovers, then you can explore moving forward with other solids.

[freddyjo]

He is taking Losec in his bottle for the reflux.
His bottles are:
5.30            225ml
8.30            50ml with meeds
11               225ml
14.30-15.00. 225ml
18.00.          250ml
22.30.          250ml

[marensmama]

My refluxing DD2 reacted to all cereals... our paed said that the cereals can increase acid production (as ingestion of any food will) but they just aren't substantial enough to neutralize that acid.  I waited until she was 8 months to try solids at all (at the advice of our paed) and after we tried a few different cereals unsuccessfully we switched to chicken as a first food.  Cereal isn't necessarily the best or only first food, it's just been well-marketed and well accepted because it's iron fortified.  A baby at about 6 months starts to require some dietary iron since the natural stores start to run out at this age and it's unknown how much iron goes through BM.  However, your LO is FF, so the formula contains iron anyways.  Meat contains naturally-occurring iron, so it can be an ideal first food.

HTH!

[*Liz*]

You are giving losec in the bottles? Is that a bespoke made solution or are you dissolving losec MUPS tablets?

The 'beads' if it is a slow release prep are too big to get through a bottle teat  .

Ideally the losec should also be given 30 mins before or 1 hour after a feed. Otherwise the drug is made less effective.

Just wanted to make sure the meds are working for him as if they are not active then it will impact n this issue iyswim?

My DS was difficult to wean to solids with his reflux as well.

[freddyjo]

Dr's aren't very helpful here in holland & they don't make the liquid form here. We tried the capsules/granules & had to cut a nipple & he woul choke & spit it out when administering. It sucked!
But I don't give it to him b4 or after a feed as you can it is on it's own in between feeds. Do I need to give it to him directly b4 the normal feed? It is ok to give it to him In his formula, no?
Thx!
Daphne

[*Liz*]

I'm confused  - do you mean you are mixing it in milk but giving it another way? Or are you using a bottle teat. 50ml seems like a lot to give it in - I used to dissolve it in about 5ml of water.

Ideally it shouldn't be milk. It can be given in a spoon of acidic fruit puree - like apple - or just in water. It is to do with the pH in the stomach for drug absorption.