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Rice in Bottle??

CPStoneCPStone member
in June 2015 Moms
My LO is 9 1/2 weeks old. I am BF mostly, but give 1-2 bottles of formula a day as well. Here lately my son seems to be hungrier and wanting to eat more often. I know it's a big possibility that he is going through a growth spurt. He also spits up pretty bad at every feeding whether it's from the breast or the bottle. My in laws are insistent about adding rice cereal to his bottle when I bottle feed him in order to make him more full. They also say he will keep it down better. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I am a first time mom and of course googled it to see if it would be harmful to our baby. It appears that there are mixed emotions about it. What do you all think? Need some support. Thanks!
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Re: Rice in Bottle??

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  • virginiaunicorn11virginiaunicorn11 member
    A L&D nurse just told me to do this so LO would be more comfortable in his car seat (the only place where it seems he *may have reflux issues). I've decided against it, but thought it was interesting to hear that from her.
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  • HayesRN13HayesRN13 member
    edited August 2015
    You are going to get a bunch of different answers here.. None of them are right or wrong.. I will say 9 weeks is a bit early.. But talk to your pediatrician. For sure do not do it every feed.. My mother says the same to me except she says do it in his nighttime before bed bottle. She said "I had to do that with you and give mashed bananas at 6 weeks old that was the only way you were satisfied"... I'm pretty sure a lot of people used to do this and we are all fine. Pick your pedis brain.. I know every bottle is not ok... You will be substituting filling for nutrition LO needs from Bm or formula

    ETA- my mom is a Nurse Practitioner
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  • laurendutchlaurendutch member
    My pediatrician recommended this for my son (now 4.5). He was giving a combo starting at 2 months for reflux issue. He's fine and there were no issues but I don't think I would do it again. There is so much controversy over it...
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  • bethanne09bethanne09 member
    I say no, but I have been told the same thing by my grandmother. With that in mind, spit up formula has added rice water. It really helped cut down LO spitting up when we were supplementing. He is back to spitting up since we've stopped giving him formula.
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  • HoosOnFirstHoosOnFirst member
    I would say talk to your doc, and if anything, s/he may recommend a specific formula that has rice as a thickening agent (as @bethanne09) mentioned, but I wouldn't personally start adding rice to my baby's formula on my own.
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  • virginiaunicorn11virginiaunicorn11 member
    laurendutch said:

    My pediatrician recommended this for my son (now 4.5). He was giving a combo starting at 2 months for reflux issue. He's fine and there were no issues but I don't think I would do it again. There is so much controversy over it...

    Was this with formula or BF? If it works to help LO not be in so much pain in his car seat, I would consider it after all...
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  • EmilywooddesignEmilywooddesign member
    I would pick oat cereal over rice cereal, atleast oats have some nutrition.
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  • ksimo6ksimo6 member
    We use enfamil ar right now and it has added rice starch. It is the only formula that my son can take without screaming in pain after he eats. He tolerates it well and keeps his reflux at bay. Talk to your doc. It sounds like it's worth a discussion.
    • Married 6/1/2012
    • BFP #1 - 11/17/2012 -  MC 12/10/2012
    • BFP #2 - 2/12/2013 - EDD 10/17/2013 - DD Born 10/10/2013
    • BFP #3 - 1/29/2014 - Ectopic pregnancy discovered 1/31/2014
    • BFP #4 - 9/28/2014 - EDD 6/4/2015 - DS Born 5/31/2015


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  • charliepeppercharliepepper member
    Is he crying with spit ups? Is he arching/turning red/screaming? Is he refusing feeds? Any weight loss? Spit up is entirely normal unless he has any of those red flags.

    He is way too young for anything other than formula or breastmilk, unless he has an actual medical reason for additives. There's actually no controversy at this age, even though ppl do it all the time (especially past generations).
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  • laurendutchlaurendutch member
    @virginiaunicorn11 he was formula fed
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  • devyns2nddevyns2nd member
    Nine weeks does seem early however, DD was formula feed and had severe reflux issues. She was loosing weight no matter what and was on the verge of needing a feeding tube at two months. Our pediatrician had is try oat cereal and it was a lifesaver for us. Her case was severe though. I'd ask first. I have no intention of giving it to DS until solids are introduced but if he had reflux issues I wouldn't think twice about it. In my opinion it helped more than anything with DD. She gained plenty of weight and her reflux decreased dramatically.
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  • hannahfoster85hannahfoster85 member
    Enfamil makes a formula thickened with rice... my LO has been on it since week 2 for spit up. Doesn't slow down his eating at all, he's 5 weeks and still eating up to 6oz every 2-3.5 hours.
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  • kaila8kaila8 member
    My pediatrician told me to add a small amount ( a tsp or two) of oatmeal cereal to my LOs bottles when she was around 7 weeks because she was having reflux issues. She said she started suggesting oatmeal as opposed to rice because the rice cereal was causing digestive/poop problems and the oatmeal doesn't. I don't add it to every bottle but maybe one or two a day at most. Helps her to feel more full and she doesn't spit up anymore. Talk to your pediatrician about your concerns and see what they say
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  • CPStoneCPStone member
    Thanks everyone for the input! :)) My father in law mentioned it again last night and I told him I just didn't think it was a good idea to start DS on anything besides milk this early. He didn't agree, but he didn't try to argue with me either. Which was very surprising ;) But I am going to speak with the pediatrician because the spitting up has gotten pretty bad. Thanks again!!
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  • bethanne09bethanne09 member
    I found an article by pediatricians with the CDC about how starting solids before six months can cause gastrointestinal problems later in life, like IBS. It's a pretty low percentage that they have found a correlation with, so it's probably not actually something to worry about but it did get my GMA off of my back. ;)

    Just in case you need some "scientific backing" for your decision.
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  • HoosOnFirstHoosOnFirst member
    CPStone said:

    Thanks everyone for the input! :)) My father in law mentioned it again last night and I told him I just didn't think it was a good idea to start DS on anything besides milk this early. He didn't agree, but he didn't try to argue with me either. Which was very surprising ;) But I am going to speak with the pediatrician because the spitting up has gotten pretty bad. Thanks again!!

    I'd be curious what your doc ends up recommending! Report back :)

    We had severe spit up and our doc said reflux, so Zantac, probiotic drops, anti-gas bottles and hypoallergenic formula was our solution.
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