Something to share with new moms - rice cereal...?

Glad you sorted it out

I'm having twins too :)

What are the names of your girls?

That's crazy. I guess that's why I prefer to stay away from that stuff in general. I know it was Dr's orders and you were only doing what you hoped was best.

There is just something about rice cereal... I look at the can and see a big bio hazard triangle lol. I just find it completely unnecessary overall when baby can get all the nutrition they could ever need through formula or breast milk.

Good luck and hopefully nobody else experiences the same thing you did! How scary that must have been.

share moms rice cereal

Hi Amy,

Thank you so much for your post!! My 4 month old has severe milk protein allergy and has been put on Elecare, the doctor told me to start feeding her rice cereal, we started the rice cereal yesterday and noticed blood in her stools today, I almost lost it!! I was feeding her Gerber rice cereal. Your post really helped us, I am stopping the cereal and will start her on the Beechnut in a few days in order to give her digestive system a chance to heal.

Thanks Again!!

Maria

hi, my son has allergies too, currently he is on neocate formula, doing well on it. I started giving him rice cereal to bottle when he was 3.5 months because he is big boy and started to be hungry and cried so much before it was time for bottle. Hi did great. When we went to specialist in children memorial she told us we can not give him gerber food including cereal, so we avoid it. We started on breech nut, organic, fruits and veggies once a day ,so far no new allergies and baby likes it. He is 5 months now.

Well.....that's very interesting for me

We thickened Emma's formula at two weeks for reflux w/ Gerber Rice Cereal and it got much worse. We tried the Beechnut and worked like a charm. I always assumed it was some type of preservative or the type of rice used.....

go to food allergy network.com I'm allergic to milk, and there a lot of different ways milk proteins are listed on the ingredients of food, so you should get familiar with them before the babies start eating solid foods... ceasinate is one, whey obviously, sodium steryl lactate, and some others I can't think of at the moment. www.foodallergy.org is a good place to start. Good luck! And once you get used to reading ingredients, the milk allergy will not be such a problem for you.

1

thank you for sharing.... a star or you*

*sigh* you have milk protein allergies and you don't know what ingredients mean the product contains milk? Actually unlike Nestle I don't see any milk ingredients in Gerber, there is a lot of soy though and 30-50% of babies allergic to milk protein will develop soy allergies.

The bigger issue is that studies show that thickened feeds do NOT work and often make reflux worse!

http://www.drpaul.com/illnesses/milkallergy.html

* Any type of cow's milk or food containing cow's milk (including skim, dried, solid, evaporated, and condensed)

* Lactaid ®, which is milk that has been specially-processed for lactose intolerant people. But Lactaid ® still contains cow's milk protein, and so should not be given to children with milk allergy.

* Cheese, cheese curds, yogurt, and ice cream

* Butter and buttermilk. Also, many margarines have milk in them, so be sure to carefully check the ingredients.

* Soy products containing cow's milk. Many of the popular soy-based products now on the market, such as frozen soy desserts, actually contain small amounts of cow's milk in them. So again, be sure to read labels carefully for product ingredients.

* Pre-mixed cereals containing powdered cow's milk

* .. and any products containing casein, caseinate, sodium and/or calcium caseinate, lactalbumin or whey. These terms all indicate milk protein.

http://www.calgaryallergy.ca/Articles/English/milk...

TERMS INDICATING THE PRESENCE OF COW'S MILK PROTEINS

# Butter/ butter fat / buttermilk

# Lactaid milk / Lacteeze milk (tablets or drops are ok)

# cow's milk / dairy / pasteurized milk

# Lactalbumin / lactoglobulin / bovine scrum albumin

# milk formula/ whey / yogurt / ghee

# casein / sodium & calcium caseinate

# evaporated milk / skim milk

# hydrolysed casein / Rennet casein

# lactose free milk formula/ delactosed milk

# hydrolysed milk protein

# reduced allergenicity milk formula e.g., Goodstart

# Recaldent (milk casein derivative used in some Trident gum)

# cream / cheese / curds / sour cream / sour milk

# Kosher symbol 'D'

# ice cream / milk solid / milk fat / ice milk

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/labeti/al...

Other names for milk

Ammonium/calcium/magnesium/potassium/sodium caseinate

Casein/caseinate/rennet casein

Curds

Delactosed/demineralized whey

Dry milk/milk/sour cream/sour milk solids

Hydrolyzed casein, hydrolyzed milk protein

Lactalbumin/lactalbumin phosphate

Lactate/lactose

Lactoferrin

Lactoglobulin

Milk derivative/fat/protein

Modified milk ingredients

Opta™, Simplesse® (fat replacers)

Whey, whey protein concentrate

Avoid food and products that do not have an ingredient list and read labels every time you shop.

Possible sources of milk

Artificial butter, butter fat/flavour/oil, ghee, margarine

Baked goods and baking mixes e.g., breads, cakes, doughnuts

Brown sugar, high-protein flour

Buttermilk, cream, dips, salad dressings, sour cream, spreads

Caramel colouring/flavouring

Casein in wax, e.g., fresh fruits and vegetables

Casseroles, frozen prepared foods

Cereals, cookies, crackers

Cheese, cheese curds, cottage/soy cheese

Chocolate

Desserts, e.g., custard, frozen yogurt, ice cream, pudding, sherbet, yogurt

Egg/fat substitutes

Flavoured coffee, coffee whitener, non-dairy creamer

Glazes, nougat

Gravy, sauces

Kefir (milk drink), kumiss (fermented milk drink), malt drink mixes

Meats, e.g., canned tuna, deli/processed meats, hot dogs, pâtés, sausages

Pizza

Potatoes, e.g., instant/mashed/scalloped potatoes, seasoned french fries/potato chips

Seasonings

Snack foods, e.g., candy, fruit bars, granola bars

Soups, soup mixes

Tofu

Wax coated fruits and vegetables

http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochra...

Plain language summary

There is no current evidence from randomised trials to show that adding feed thickeners to milk for newborn infants is effective in treating gastro-oesophageal reflux.

Many newborn babies (in the first four weeks of life) suffer from gastro-oesophageal reflux, especially if they are born premature. Thickening the milk feed is a simple manoeuvre and commonly used as first line treatment for gastro-oesophageal reflux. Thickening the feeds can be used with or without other treatments such as positioning babies on their stomach or side, and using medications that suppress acid in the stomach or cause food to move more rapidly through the stomach. No randomised controlled studies of sufficient quality were found in this review. Therefore, there is no current evidence to support or refute the use of feed thickeners in treating newborn babies with gastro-oesophageal reflux.

http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVFeb...

Thickened feedings are suggested by many doctors. However, thickened feedings do not always work (Bailey et al 1987), can interfere with breastfeeding, and may increase the risk of food allergies. Some studies have shown that thickened feeds can have an adverse effect on growth in some babies and increase the risk of respiratory involvement (Orenstein et al 1992). Because thickened feeds remain in the stomach longer, they may actually cause more reflux. For these reasons, mothers should consider their options very carefully before deciding to use thickened feeds. If a mother does want to try this, she can use her expressed milk thickened with cereal and offer it with a spoon before regular feedings at the breast. Surgery on the LES is a rarely used treatment except in the most extreme and unresponsive cases.

Studies have shown that formula-fed babies are more likely to exhibit symptoms of GERD than are breastfed infants. Weaning from the breast should not be regarded as a good solution for GERD. Non-thriving babies should be evaluated for underlying illness. In most cases, GERD can be handled through proper breastfeeding management, positioning, mother’s diet, and education. When these steps do not bring about relief, more extensive testing and other treatment options may need to be explored.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/4706...

Thickened Feeds

Thickening feeds with rice cereal (one tablespoon per 2 to 4 ounces of formula) is associated with a decrease in the number of vomiting episodes, but does not improve reflux index scores (Rudolph et al., 2001). Jiang, Ewigman, and Danis (2001) report that thickened formula may reduce the frequency of regurgitation and total volume of emesis. It may also reduce time spent crying and increase time spent sleeping.

Rice cereal used as a thickener increases the caloric density of formula and may cause constipation. Thickened formulas also require enlarged nipple holes to feed, potentially resulting in greater ingestion of air or formula, which can favor regurgitation. Because rice cereal- thickened feedings have 150% of the caloric density of un-thickened feedings, only 65% of the volume needs to be fed per meal; thereby decreasing gastric volume (Orenstein, 2001). In an infant who is solely breast-fed, it is not possible to thicken the feeds unless the mother uses a breast-pump and then feeds the infant, which can be tedious and less desirable.