Cereal for Infant Reflux

Telling the difference between infant reflux and colic can often be difficult since the symptoms are similar. Once infant reflux has been diagnosed you can help ease the problem by offering your baby some infant cereal in the bottle. This can help reduce spitting up and help the baby to gain weight.

Infant Reflux

• Infant reflux is also known as gastroesophageal reflux or GER for short. When an infant eats, the food in her tiny stomach can often affect the esophagus by backing up. This is a tube that runs from the mouth to the stomach and it is supposed to open up and allow the infant to release any gas, after she eats. When an infant has reflux and the tube opens, rather than releasing gas it will open and the infant will vomit or spit up. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, over 50 percent of all babies will suffer from reflux by the time they are 3 months old. The vomiting and spitting up generally ceases by the time the child is age 2. Infants with reflux usually have problems with spitting up, vomiting, being irritable, eating poorly, coughing and possibly blood in their stool.

Feeding Technique

• Infant rice cereal can help with infant reflux. Adding 1 tbsp of rice cereal to 2 oz of formula or breast milk will create a thicker formula mixture. You may have to cut a small x in the top of the feeding nipple or purchase a "crosscut" nipple so the mixture can flow. After a couple of ounces burp the infant and hold him in an upright position for about half an hour, if possible.

Benefits of Cereal

• The benefits of adding the rice cereal to the formula or breast milk is that thicker formula is less likely to come back up. Plus, because there are more calories in this mixture it is often more beneficial to the infant that is not growing properly. Oatmeal cereal for infants also works well. The key is that the mixture has to be thick enough in order to be effective. Oatmeal and rice cereals are the best to introduce first with reflux infants.

Expert Insight

• Many doctors and articles will claim that adding infant cereal to bottles is not recommended; however, infants under age 3 months are unable to spoon feed so the bottle method is the only alternative. Clinical trials on the effectiveness of adding rice cereal to infant formula or breast milk bottles showed that this method was more effective than offering infants medication. In fact, thickened feedings made infant reflux improve in all areas, according to Mead Johnson Nutritionals.

Strategies

• Infants that are fed smaller and more frequent meals during the day will usually have less trouble with reflux. It is also a good idea not to feed your infant right before bed if she has a reflux problem. Breastfeeding mothers can help the reflux by avoiding caffeine, dairy products, citrus, spicy and fatty foods. Frequent burping will also help infant reflux. Offer the infant a pacifier since it makes her produce more saliva which acts as a neutralizer because it is alkaline.