4 oz takes over 40 min for 2 month old?

[amayzie]

what about thickening the milk, did you do it and did it help?

Well, this is something you can try, but i'd try the other things first. Usually thickening the milk is something you would do after advice from someone seeing you in person. If it's needed it can make a fair bit of difference as it also slows the flow down. You could try an Anti reflux formula- we have it here, it's mildly thicker and you can use it with reflux babies to help it stay in their tummy. It's also a little slower for them out of the bottle so easier for them to handle in their mouth... but you have to make sure the teat is suitable for it so he doesn't have to work too hard to get it out! 

a slow flow teat may be ok for him though as he can probably control the flow easier out of it.. it's just trial and error!

See how he goes with other strategies other than thickening the fluid- he may be better as he develops more strength with age.

Again- there are a lot of symptoms that are the same or similar as with reflux, so it could be either- or a bit of both!

[Lolly]

If you are dairy free now you won't be able to use reflux formula as they are all cow's milk based. We used one for my two and the combo of thickened formula and meds worked really well. They were on infant gaviscon before the formula which is little more than a thickener so were used to thicker liquids.

I have to say I am a fan of thickening (sorry!) for reflux and it can be useful for swallowing issues too. With the hypo-allergenic formulas you can use things like "Simply Thick", in the UK we have Carobel, there may be something different where you are.

We used vari-flow teats but it depends on which brand as to how suitable they are. Tommee Tippee do one for their closer to nature bottles (may just be UK) which are really good for younger babies, they don't drip at all and the baby can control the flow. The Avent one though is really fast, we used it for DD with her reflux formula and even then it practically poured out without her sucking.

Laura

[ENMS]

Thanks Laura!

I just tried the variable flow and it went well. He seemed happy with it, I didn't see a big difference with the slow one though. If he's drinking regular milk (not thickened) is there some benefit to use the variable flow ones?

[amayzie]

have to say I am a fan of thickening (sorry!) for reflux and it can be useful for swallowing issues too

It's nice when the 2 things work together hey! And i hadn't thought of the milk thing- of course.. but the thickeners you can buy are very easy to use.