Baby Cereal For Reflux

Be careful not to jostle or jiggle your baby while the food is settling.

Baby cereal for reflux. Your baby s pediatrician may also offer their thoughts regarding the benefits and drawbacks of oatmeal vs rice cereal for babies with reflux. Giving your baby thicker food reduces the chance of it coming back up. Talk with your pediatrician about the best meal plan for her and stick with thicker infant cereals. Add up to 1 tablespoon of rice cereal for every 2 ounces of formula in the infant s bottles.

Added cereal appears to increase the number of children with total resolution of their spitting when compared to unsupplemented babies. Children with dysphagia or gastroesophageal reflux for example may need their food to be thicker in order to swallow safely or reduce reflux. The idea is that doing so will make the milk sit heavier in the belly. If the mixture is too thick you can change the nipple size or cut a little x in the nipple to make the opening.

Severe acid reflux your doctor may recommend a change in formula if your baby has severe acid reflux. Feed your baby in an upright position. Call a doctor if your infant still shows signs of reflux. Gravity can help stomach contents stay where they belong.

If your baby has reflux your doctor may talk to you about adding a thickening agent to a bottle of formula or breast milk. Your doctor may recommend another treatment option to try in conjunction with or as a replacement for this rice cereal treatment. When thickening works it appears to work well. Don t add cereal to your infant s formula unless your doctor tells you to do so.

In the past rice cereal was the most frequently recommended option for helping babies to deal with reflux since it has always been viewed as milder and less allergenic. Also hold your baby in a sitting position for 30 minutes after feeding if possible. The doctor may suggest that you. Reflux measured using ph probes a tool for measuring reflux show little changes when formula is supplemented with cereal.

Try smaller more frequent feedings. This lessens the likelihood of reflux. The symptoms of a food allergy in infants are similar to that of acid reflux. A doctor may first recommend treating an infant s gerd by changing the way you feed him or her.