HELP - I need sleep! Swaddle/Grunting/Crying issues

[drfrog1]

I don't know anything about the variable flow nipples, but have you thought about just cutting the hole in a size 1 or size 2 nipple to make it slightly larger? My son has reflux & swallowing issues & he was put on the Simply Thick nectar consistancy at 6 weeks of age & we were told by his GI specialist to just cut the nipple just a bit to enlarge the hole. Worked like a charm. Then when he had a swallow study done at 3 months, he was bumped to honey consistency of Simply Thick because the speech therapist that monitored him during the procedure told us to make a cross cut in the nipple so he can get his milk or formula out since honey is so thick. It worked very well too. We also had to cut the nipple for our oldest daughter who had severe GERD. We had to thicken her formula with 4 tablespoons of rice cereal to 7 ounces of formula (it was paste!).
Original poster - if you'd like some packets of Simply Thick nectar message me. My son has 2 boxes of 200 & we're not able to use them right now since he's got an NG tube & not able to take any milk or formula by mouth because of his reflux/swallowing issues causing him to choke. I'll be happy to mail you out some so you can see if it helps any before buying them yourself.

And, by the way - not sure what insurance you have, but insurance may cover the cost of Simply Thick if your doctor puts your baby on it. Just don't get your prescription filled at Wal-Mart because they treat it as over the counter. We had to go through a medical formula company that our doctor faxed the prescription too & then it was covered.

[disabledvetswife]

Did the doctor tell you to do rice cereal in the formula? I am confused about that. I was never told to do anything like that with my two that were refluxy. In fact, we introduced solids at 6 months (not earlier) and never in a bottle. My understanding is that it can actually aggravate the reflux. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm sorry I don't know about the Zantac and diarrhea. Bump for you!

Yes, the doctor (actually about 5 different docs between the ER, the on-call, the pedi on-call from our office, our pedi & his partner). They told us to do that for DD#1 also. It does not make it thick like cereal, it makes it thicker - the theory being it stays down better. Of course, DD#1 was on rice cereal and zantac, so who knows if rice actually works or not.

[disabledvetswife]

I don't know anything about the variable flow nipples, but have you thought about just cutting the hole in a size 1 or size 2 nipple to make it slightly larger? My son has reflux & swallowing issues & he was put on the Simply Thick nectar consistancy at 6 weeks of age & we were told by his GI specialist to just cut the nipple just a bit to enlarge the hole. Worked like a charm. Then when he had a swallow study done at 3 months, he was bumped to honey consistency of Simply Thick because the speech therapist that monitored him during the procedure told us to make a cross cut in the nipple so he can get his milk or formula out since honey is so thick. It worked very well too. We also had to cut the nipple for our oldest daughter who had severe GERD. We had to thicken her formula with 4 tablespoons of rice cereal to 7 ounces of formula (it was paste!).
Original poster - if you'd like some packets of Simply Thick nectar message me. My son has 2 boxes of 200 & we're not able to use them right now since he's got an NG tube & not able to take any milk or formula by mouth because of his reflux/swallowing issues causing him to choke. I'll be happy to mail you out some so you can see if it helps any before buying them yourself.

And, by the way - not sure what insurance you have, but insurance may cover the cost of Simply Thick if your doctor puts your baby on it. Just don't get your prescription filled at Wal-Mart because they treat it as over the counter. We had to go through a medical formula company that our doctor faxed the prescription too & then it was covered.

The variable flow nipple is actually a Y shape. My pedi said not to cut the nipple because it disintegrates the plastic & pieces can come off. He said I could enlarge the hole with a pin or a needle (I actually used the tine of a fork). The rice does not seem to really be working.

I will pm you now ;-)

[drfrog1]

The variable flow nipple is actually a Y shape. My pedi said not to cut the nipple because it disintegrates the plastic & pieces can come off. He said I could enlarge the hole with a pin or a needle (I actually used the tine of a fork). The rice does not seem to really be working.

I will pm you now ;-)

We enlarged the holes with the tip of a knife but the specialist at the children's hospital actually enlarged the hole on one of our nipples for the SimplyThick honey consistency. Said we'd not gotten it large enough. Also, don't know if you're nursing or pumping, but rice cereal will not thicken breast milk. Breaks it down completely. Just something I've learned recently with my baby boy. And, not to dash any hopes you may have, but my oldest DD still puked with 4 Tablespoons of rice cereal to 7 ounces of formula and my baby boy, who's reflux isn't near as severe as my oldest DD's in regards to puking still puked some on the SimplyThick. It just wasn't as much or as frequently. Zantac never worked for my kids. It wasn't strong enough. My oldest DD was on Nexium for 9 months but she had also been on Prilosec & Prevacid but they weren't strong enough. My youngest DD was on Prilosec & Prevacid at different times up until she was 3 yrs old. She's been back on Prevacid for the past 8 months again. My DS now 5 months old has been on Prevacid since he was 3 weeks old since he vomitted blood after being on the Zantac for 5 days. The Prevacid made a world of difference in his contentment. He had no more pain from the reflux.