Rice cereal in Formula

acgonzalez22

My DS is 7 weeks old and his pediatrician said to add a very small amount of rice cereal to his formula to help with severe reflux and to thicken up his prescription formula. (1/2 tsp in 4 oz bottle). He chokes on the formula even with a preemie nipple. However, I read a baby this young can choke on rice cereal because they are not anywhere near developed for solids. Also that they will not get all the nutrients from the formula because they get full quicker. Upon reading the container- it says to give to a 4 month old so I am worried. I do not have any reason to doubt my pediatrician, but I have FTM anxiety. I even called the office back and expressed my concerns. They reassured me it is a very small amount and is safe. Any experience with rice cereal?

kelseyrayay

I use enfamil AR (acid reflux) and it has rice cereal already in it. Maybe ask your LOs pedi about it.

CaliforniaDream87

I'm very weary of adding rice cereal at such a young age. However, it seems like this is a medical need so it's a bit different.

I, do, side eye the "I'm adding rice cereal to my kids milk to make them sleep longer". Which is not the case for you. I would follow doctors orders here.

acgonzalez22

@kelseyrayay He was on the AR and his Prevacid and had an allergic reaction to it.

acgonzalez22

@CaliforniaDream87 Thank you. Yes, the doctor stated if he sleeps longer than his longer nap we will need to explore a different option. He is on Prevacid after Zantac didn't work. He spits up a ton of formula so the pedi wants to see if this will help some stay down. He is having weight issues. Thank you again.

AshleyM0125

My cousin did this with her daughter. It made a huge difference with her reflux and she never had issues choking or anything.

It's a difficult situation. I want to say go with your gut, bc this is your child but at the same time, your pedi knows what he/she is talking about. They went to school for a long time and have been practicing medicine on babies for a long time.

On a side note, DH keeps saying we should add cereal to DSs milk to help him sleep longer. I said, yeah let me just inject some into my boobs. :-??

kelseyrayay

acgonzalez22 said:

@kelseyrayay He was on the AR and his Prevacid and had an allergic reaction to it.

Dang. We were put on the AR for his reflux and we had Prevacid too but the pedi said if the AR works to stop using the previcid. So far the AR has worked great for us. Did they give you something for his pain? We were given hyoscyamine drops so if his reflux got bad and he was to upset it would help him.

acgonzalez22

We have the hyoscyamine drops but haven't had to use them yet. I am so glad the AR is giving your DS relief!

kelseyrayay

I only use the drops if I absolutely have to. It makes him sleepy so I don't like to use them that much unless I know he is in bad pain.

Boslove

I didn't have to add cereal personally but my cousin did with her DS and it worked out great.

SassetteSmurfling

CaliforniaDream87 said:

I'm very weary of adding rice cereal at such a young age. However, it seems like this is a medical need so it's a bit different.

I, do, side eye the "I'm adding rice cereal to my kids milk to make them sleep longer". Which is not the case for you. I would follow doctors orders here.

This. I give major side eye to moms who rush solids, but your situation is different. With DD1 she had reflux and trouble gaining weight so per the pedi, we added rice cereal early. I don't remember exactly how old she was but it was well before I would have given her any kind of solids otherwise. It did help in our case. Good luck!

gulimz

SassetteSmurfling said:

CaliforniaDream87 said:

I'm very weary of adding rice cereal at such a young age. However, it seems like this is a medical need so it's a bit different.

I, do, side eye the "I'm adding rice cereal to my kids milk to make them sleep longer". Which is not the case for you. I would follow doctors orders here.

This. I give major side eye to moms who rush solids, but your situation is different. With DD1 she had reflux and trouble gaining weight so per the pedi, we added rice cereal early. I don't remember exactly how old she was but it was well before I would have given her any kind of solids otherwise. It did help in our case. Good luck!

Both of these. I know alot of people that do this and told me to do it so DD can sleep through the night. I do not agree with that. In your LO's case, I would absolutely listen to MD's orders. I hope he gets some relief. Will keep him in my thoughts. reflux is terrible for both LO's and us mom's that have to go through it with them =(