Babies: 6 - 9 Months

Reflux, Solids, and Bottles ?

My son is going on 7 months. He drinks anywhere from 12-28 oz a day (it varies a great deal depending on his reflux and his mood)  Per his Dr.; I am to decrease the Prevacid, try to switch him from Soy to dairy based formula if he will tolerate it, and introduce solids 2x a day. So I have 2 questions: 1) Is it standard to decrease the reflux medicine at 6 months? 2) Does anyone have experience introducing solids to a baby that rarely even finishes their bottle? Should I decrease the amount in his bottle with the 2x a day feedings with solids so he will take both the formula and food? (I know that the formula should be his main nutrition source at this stage)

My DH took him to his last appt so I didnt get to ask the Dr myself. I am checking with his nurse- just wanted to hear from any parents that might have been through the same thing.

Re: Reflux, Solids, and Bottles ?

  • We have reflux as well, and are on Zantac. But we are not stopping the Zantac just yet.

    As far as feedings go, his pedi suggested giving him a 6 oz. bottle at all feeding times, and for the times that he also gets a solids food (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)  he gets it about 30 min after his full bottle. That way he is getting what he needs from the formula, but also getting the solids... but then again, he chugs his formula... hates to even leave one drop in the bottle lol...

    We did decrease from 8 oz per bottle, and added an extra feeding right when he wakes up (before he would wake up at 630, but not eat till 8) that way he was still getting the same amount through out the entire day.

    ... how many oz per feeding is he getting?  

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Loading the player...
  • We had him up to 7 oz at one point but now- I'd say he averages around 5 oz a feeding and we are extremely lucky if we can get in 5 feedings (most days is 4)

  • imageA&B September 17:

    Hi! 

    Personally, I'd never take him off his meds and change formula at the same time.  If his symptoms get worse, you won't know which one is causing the issue.

    We just had our 6 mth apt and talked a lot about this stuff with our pedi, so I'll share with you what mine told us.  Our LO is on prevacid and zantac.  I (not her pedi) asked about weaning off the meds.  Pedi said that most babies can come off meds b/t the ages of 6-12 mths.  If reflux is under control, she is fine with parents trying to wean off whenever they want to.  From your post, it doesn't sound like reflux is under control.  Prevacid can be an appetite suppressor, is this the reason the pedi wants to take him off?  I would definitely want to talk to the Dr. about this since it sounds like LO still needs it to control the symptoms.  Also, if you do stop the prevacid, you'll want to do it slowly overtime to avoid a rebound effect.

    Regarding solids/formula, I would definitely NOT decrease the amount of formula.  He should take 24-32oz of formula per day.  Trust me, I know you can't force a baby to eat, but it sounds like your LOs intake can be on the low side, so I wouldn't decrease it any further.  At this point, formula is the main source of nutrition.  If you make your own babyfood, I'd recommend using formula for mixing to help get a bit more in him every day.  We do solids 2x/day (morning and night) some people prefer morning and afternoon, you just have to decide what works for you.  Per pedi's instructions, I give LO a bottle and then do the solids 30-45min after the bottle so she's had some time to digest but it won't deter her from eating her next bottle. 

    I know different Pedis have different recommendations and there's no one right way to do this, but am hoping some of this helps since I also have a baby with reflux and MPI.  I would encourage you to call and talk to your pedi/nurse more.  Good luck! 

    Thanks for this! Dealing with reflux and MPI can be tricky- I am still waiting to talk to the nurse.

  • My lo is 9 months. Her reflex was under control until a few months ago. We just started Prevacid last month. My lo also does not eat great. Right now she eats about 20 oz day with 2 solid meals offered. i stopped all solids for about a month until we got her reflex better under control. We took her to a pedi GI at children's mercy. He said to offer formula first and then offer solids but not to worry if she is not eating much of the solids. His opinion was that solid food before the age of one is cultural and really only for practice. I agree with the previous person about not switching formula and meds at the same time. We did that when she was younger and did not know what was causing our issues. We have had pretty good luck on dairy and soy free bm/formula. Her normal dr did bring up stopping her Zantac at the 6 month apt but I did not feel it was a good idea. Then we ended up switching to Prevacid. 
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"