Author Topic: what size nipple? added rice cereal  (Read 4431 times)

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Offline SabrinaD

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what size nipple? added rice cereal
« on: August 08, 2011, 19:34:00 pm »
the last 3 months have been such a struggle! i have dealt with so much spit up, been misdiagnosed, tried so many different formulas! FINALLY I got a new pediatrician, he actually listened to what we are dealing with. told us to get off of zantac because he said we could fix everything without meds, well he was right! DD is 3 1/2 months and takes between 4 1/2 - 5 ounces. Her doctor recommended we add one full scoop of rice cereal to her bottles so it can thicken it up and she wont spit up as much. It has completely worked, sometimes we have a little spit up but its the amount that a normal baby has. so all this sounds great, unfortunately I cant figure out what size nipple she needs! we are using the dr browns bottles. before we added the cereal she was at level 2. so we tried level 3's, well sometimes i feel like she is really trying hard to get something so i bought the Y's. well now it comes so fast that she seems to struggle, she makes this spitting sound and formula comes up flying at me haha. i feel like she is in between sizes. sometimes the 3's are fine and sometimes the y's are fine.
any advice?

Offline Lolly

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Re: what size nipple? added rice cereal
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2011, 19:48:40 pm »
I think you will have to stick to the Y cut teat and let her get used to it. I would also add that adding rice cereal to bottles is a really old fashioned way to treat reflux. You LO got constipated on the Enfamil AR which uses rice starch as a thickener, so I wonder if adding rice is just going to create the same problem, introducing solids too soon (which is what the rice is doing) can cause more problems than it helps. Also rice cereal in bottles doesn't thicken evenly (maybe why the you are getting the variation with the teats) and is a choking hazard, I've never come across a UK Paed who suggests rice cereal for bottles :-\.

Thickening is a good way to help treat reflux, but there are non-food thickeners available which do a much better job because that is what they are designed to do, Simply Thick is one I know of outside of the UK.

Laura


Offline *Kara*

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Re: what size nipple? added rice cereal
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2011, 03:42:39 am »
I agree with Laura - no paed in Canada would suggest adding cereal to a bottle for the main reason she stated - it's a huge choking hazard.  If you have had previous issues with constipation, rice cereal in a bottle is only going to get bubs into the same situation again.  Then you will be getting told to give LO MiraLax to counteract the cereal ::)

What country do you live in?



Offline SabrinaD

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Re: what size nipple? added rice cereal
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2011, 03:45:24 am »
well i talked to my dr about that, i asked "isnt that the old way of doing things, isnt it bad?" and he said she never had reflux, she was a spitter but she was never in pain. she got so constipated from the AR that it made her poop like solid rabit pebbles =( he had us give her some apple juice until it got better, which it did.
i looked into that thickener, and there was a recall on it here. she does great with the cereal, no more spit up =) and she finally can do tummy time without crying and spitting up everywhere!!! =)

Offline *Kara*

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Re: what size nipple? added rice cereal
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2011, 03:50:28 am »
How long has she been on the cereal bottles?  How is the poop now?

I've BTDT with the rabbit poops - no fun!



Offline Casseopea

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Re: what size nipple? added rice cereal
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2011, 06:10:30 am »
I have done the rice cereal with my kids- my oldest because he was a hungry baby and formula just wasn't cutting it.  And my daughter because it helped with her reflux (along with meds).  And they are now 5.5yrs and 3yrs and are perfectly fine.  I don't think everything old fashioned is bad.  So many things come and go, in and out of fashion for various reasons, not only because it is no long the *best* way.  It is like anything you do with your kiddos- you keep an eye on them and see how it works for them and stop if the negatives begin to outweight the positives.   :-*

I found that I just had to play around with cutting the nipples different ways and different lengths.  The best way was usually the Y cut but I always did it myself, never used the "Y" nipples, that way I had more control of the overall opening size.  And since lo's are always changing I was constantly having to try different nipples.  So I just kept all my trial and errors and sometimes what didn't work one month worked perfectly the next.   :)