Very Gassy baby-help!

[Anonymous]

Hi there…my 6 week old is on 1 tsp rice per ounce of Alimentum formula for his silent reflux. I am using Beechnut Hypoallergenic Rice, but he is VERY gassy after each bottle. He turns beat-red in the face and really kicks. I am at a loss of what to do…I know he needs the rice to help the reflux, but my gut feeling is that the rice is bothering him almost more than the actual Reflux. Any thoughts on oatmeal? Could this be even worse for him? I have tried without thickening, and it is like he is drowning. Thanks for your help.

p.s. We use the gas drops with every feeding.

[Anonymous]

We had the same problem, but didn’t start thickening until 4 months old when she started formula. She did better on oatmeal than rice- it stopped the choking, lessened the stridor, but didn’t do anything for the reflux itself. It is also possible that the cereal is giving him gas as he is only 6 weeks old. It seems that some babies do fine with it from a young age, but others can have tummy pains as their GI systems are really quite immature still at 6 weeks. Are you using doctor brown’s bottles? If it is a gas issue that might help. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Cherry Supreme Mylanta works great for gas, I still use it for Emma. It can cause loose bowels so start out with a small dose. Also you might see if Simply thick might work for the thickening (www.simplythick.com). Emma couldn’t handle rice or oatmeal until 8 months.

[Anonymous]

Hi there…thank you for the replies. I am using Dr. Brown’s. They worked great for my first son, so I am sticking with them. I have heard that oatmeal could be worse than the rice, or it could be better. I am going to give it a try. I just hate that he is in so much turmoil, and I know it is more because of the rice rather than the reflux itself. Thank you very much for the Mylanta suggestion, and the simplythick website. I have never heard of simply thick. Was it difficult to figure out how much to give your baby?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Hi there! Simply Thick comes in a nector like consistentcy or a thicker honey like consistentcy. We use 1 packet of nector per 4 oz to get the formula to a good viscosity. It adds weight to the formula like the rice should. I also had problems with the rice at first and switched to oatmeal and had better success. We even used the beechnut barley. Also, mspi babies can be very gassy as you probably already know, the alimentum still has milk proteins in it.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the info on Simply Thick. We see our specialist on Friday, so I am going to see what he has to say about everything again, and then go from there. I remember my sister saying this is a roller coaster ride, and boy is she right! Thanks again.

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