Cereal in Bottle

Hi. I do daycare and had one child with reflux- what a mess. Her parents used Dr. Brown bottles with the Y tip. I loved it so much I bought some for my other clients's kids starting on cereal with formula. the #3 works well too forthe babies needing just a little cereal. We used oatmeal.
B.

J.,

I had to do the same thing but for a different reason. We used (still use) Avent's tri-flow nipple and set it to either the 1st or 2nd flow. Hope that helps.

K.

Some bottles have Y cuts in them specifically for cereal in bottles. Dr. Brown bottles, for instance. I've also cut the openings a bit to improve the flow. Try that before you go out and buy new ones. Suck on it yourself to make sure the flow won't gag the little one.

I am a mom of a 6-month old who had similar issues when she was born. Of course, I could not put rice cereal in her formula because she was too young, I was able to shortly change her formula. Please understand that changing a baby's formula is not recommended but the good thing about me being able to change her formula was the brand that she uses (Enfamil Lactose Free) has a line (Enfamil A.R. Lipil) that allows you to use it for her spitting up and then allows you to go back to your normal formula. My doctor told me it was safe as long as it was within the same family of formulas plus Enfamil designed some of their formulas to adhere to colicky babies, fussiness, gas, etc.

I say all this to say, see if your brand of formula provides these options but if not, adding rice is extremely helpful.

I never did this myself but my girlfriend used to add cereal to her kids bottles-- she just widened the teat with the sharp tip of a scissor. I would just be very careful to make sure your baby is not getting too much too fast until you find the happy medium. Good luck!

J.,
My daughter also had reflux and we had to thicken her formula with cereal. We had to cut open the holes a little bigger with the point of a sharp knife or a razor blade. We made it like an X. Hope that helps.

Hi J.!

my duaghter is almost 7 months and she has reflux as well. it is getting much better though!! We had the same problem. I would suggest going to Target and getting the Playtex bottles, the nursers, with the latch on the side! These bottles are amazing!!!! They are EXCELLENT for Reflux! The latch or lever allows all the air to be released fromthe bottle and the nipples are great too. Very rarely does my daughter have trouble drinking from the nipples or them getting clogged. Are you putting the cereal in or do you use a Formula based cereal? I had to use AR Lipil with cereal. It had the rice cereal already in the mix and it was more thick.

Hello! I am a mother, a wife and a chiropractor. My daughter is 3 1/2 years old and will be a big sister in a few weeks. I have never tried putting cereal in a bottle. Have you ever tried chiropractic for your child? Chiropractic can help your baby heal on its own and grow to be as healthy as they can be. Email me if you have any questions. There is also a good web site -www.icpa4kids.org.

Hi J.!

When I used cereal in the bottle, I just took a regular steak knife and physically cut a bigger "X" notch in the top of the nipple. Also, I'm not so sure that the cereal itself takes away the spit up. My son, when he was a baby, was a chronic spitter-upper!! :) Basically, my pediatrician at the time, told me to burp him more often throughout the bottle. Try burping them every 2 oz. and if that doesn't work- try after every oz. It didn't stop it completely, but it certainly helped. Before that, I used to have to have a bib on him ALL the time... :) I only used cereal in his bottle when the bottle itself stopped being satisfying on its own. So I'm not sure about that whole cereal thing. I was told the reason why babies spit up like that all the time, is because of the air getting trapped in there. And because they're not developed, like we are, it doesn't stay down when they "burp" and they're not in a good position. It also may be the formula not agreeing with them. I had to switch him from Similac to Carnation Good Start- THAT stuff is great! It's cheaper, and it was so much easier on his tummy. Another thing to think about....

I really hope that it helps- and saves a couple shirts!! LOL

B.

Hi J.,

You can try mixing the cereal with the milk in a bowl before you put it in the bottle to make sure that the cereal is being mixed well enough to get sucked through the nipple.

I made the hole a little larger with a pin and made sure I held the baby upright incase the cereal came out fast.

Playtex bottles have a tri cut nipple that is perfect for cereal in fact this is what it ts made for. The nipple is cut in a y shape so thicker formula's or cereal can come out.

Hi,

My doctor was anti adding formula to bottles, but many of my friends did it. I have seen the Dr. Brown's bottle's made especially for that purpose. I love those bottles and I know they have one for cereal.

Hi J.,

My daughter had terrible reflux until she was 6-7months and we were advised to do the same. I took a clean razor and cut a cross slit over the nipple and that seemed to do to the trick. Just my two cents.....I didn't find that it helped and I stopped doing it shortly after we started it because it seemed to make her tummy upset and instead of just spitting up formula she then spit up thickened formula and I could tell it bothered her. Good luck! I tried everything and just finally submitted to the fact that myself, my husband, my daugter and our house would be covered in spit up until it just stops on its own......and it will! Your best bet is to go buy spit up diapers in bulk!

Thin out the cereal with more liquid
(whatever you use. Also, be sure to shake it well and periodically through out the feeding.

Hi,
You could try the Nuby sippy cups. They're shaped like a bottle, and the spout is between that of a sippy cup and a bottle (soft rubber.) We used it as a transition when weaning from the bottle when our son was turning one. The spout opens wider than bottles so you shouldn't have as much trouble with clogging if you serving liquidy cereal.
You can get these almost everywhere now.
Good luck!
H.

They sell nipples for cereal but I found the best thing that worked for me is to take a regular nipple and put a few cuts in it so that the nipple opening kind of looks like a star. It may take a few tries so buy some cheap nipples. Thats what I did and it worked great.

J.,

You need to mix the rice cereal with the formula in a bowl and feed it to your child with a spoon. I started doing this with my daughter when she was 12 weeks. I think feeding her through a bottle is dangerous.

G.