Bottle Nipples for Rice Cereal

Oh honey - why do doctors tell moms to feed their babies cereal before 6 months???? From the American Association of Pediatrics: "In the first 6 months, water, juice, and other foods are generally unnecessary for breastfed infants." Cereal will not help the reflux. Try allowing him to sleep on an angle (not flat) and look for other fixes for the reflux.

Use Avent number 3 nipples. They worked for us with rice cereal without cutting them. Good Luck.

Oh, also I remember asking my doctor if it was OK to feed my son cereal in his bottle and she said no "he should be spoon fed only because he will become lazy and never learn to spoon feed". I decided that I was going to feed him cereal in his bottle anyway and he took to spoon feeding other foods just fine at a later time. Just relaying that in case anyone tells you not to feed him cereal in a bottle.

I wouldn't cut the nipples. Just buy one Dr. Brown's bottle and use with their Y-cut nipple and you're all set.

Hello K.,

I know that Sassy/Mam have a cross cut nipple intended for use with thicker liquids. The Soft Landing sells them in their online store - http://www.thesoftlanding.com/samamulni2pk2.html

I also wanted to share some information with you regarding Avent bottles. I have been nursing/pumping milk for my three month old daughter and started using Avent bottles within the last month. I selected them because I liked that they had a newborn nipple intended for nursing babies and I thought they were BPA free. After I started using them, I learned that they are NOT BPA free as I had thought. I have done lots of searches and found two sites that were very useful in helping me make a choice on a new bottle:

http://zrecs.blogspot.com/2008/02/z-report-on-bpa-in-infa...
and http://thesoftlanding.wordpress.com/
The Soft Landing also has an online shop that sells BPA free products – bottles, sippy cups and teethers, among other things.

BPAs are something that we need to be aware of when selecting feeding products and toys. BPAs are an additive/toxin used in molded plastic products that have been found to mimic high levels of estrogen in laboratory animals. The BPAs leech out into our babies’ milk/food when exposed to high temperatures (in the microwave and dishwasher) and over time when the plastic gets old and scratched. We don’t really know how it will affect humans, but who wants to take the chance?

I switched my bottles to Green to Grow – they have regular bottle neck and wide neck options, and they’re compatible with different nipples. The Soft Landing site did a comparison of the new BPA free brands and their wide neck nipples and found that they are pretty much interchangeable.

I know I just gave you much more information than you asked for, but I wanted to share what I learned….

:) Karissa

if you have a Burlington Coat Factory near you, they sometimes have a department called Baby Depot. they have every possible kind of nipple-more than babies r us. go figure!

Avent ahs nipple for thicker flows. It has three settings on one nipple. I got them at sop and shop.

Hi K. I am also a first time Mom, my son is five months old. I also recently started him on the cereal/formula mixture. I use the platex bottles with the disposable lining, I love these because I don't have to waste any time soaking bottles. The nipples that I use with them are the square shaped nipples (I'm sorry that I don't know the exact lable name) but it states on the package that it's for 3+ months. It also states that it has a fast flow, which is what i think makes the milk/cereal mixture flow easier. My son really likes these nipples. I got then at Babies R Us in Union Square. It cost about $3.50 for a pack of two nipples. However if you do not already own a playtex bottle you'll have to buy one and it comes with a complementary starter pack of linings. Hope this works for you.
By the way have started going back to work and I am looking for a good nursery, do you know of any?
~L.

Avent used to make 'variable' flow nipples--hated them for regular feeding, but worked well when adding cereal to a bottle.

Good Luck.

you are never supposed to put cereal in a bottle. spoon feed it. i am also shocked that your doctor would recommend cereal at 3 months. i would get a second opinion on all of that.
congrats on your baby boy!

Good morning. I would continue to cut the nipples you have. Eventually your little guy will learn to not take it in a little slower (my guy did). You don't want to yuse the nipples with the smaller holes because he will just keep sucking but if cereal gets caught in there he will get so frustrated.
Good luck.
J.

I am surprised your Dr didn't suggest switching formulas. Milk is not easily digestible, and could be the source of discomfort for him. You may have to try several "non-milk" formulas to relieve his reflux. Even though they are lactose free formulas, they are manufactured on machines or in plants that produce milk products, and can "contaminate" the formula. I don't know if I fully agree with the Dr, giving cereal that early might be a bit too much, but then again, that is something that you have to be comfortable with. Every baby is different. If you are nursing and he has this discomfort, then it is something you are eating and you need to cut out. Milk is needed entirely out of the diet for 2 weeks before any improvement may be seen. Lactose is found in so many products that it can be tricky. -Let's see any other advice? I would sit him up at least 1 hour after a bottle, burp him alot. Just walk around and rub his belly, back and just above his butt. Switch formulas or maybe cut back on how much he gets at once. Even if he seems hungry, don't let him eat too much at once. Think about you eating so much at once and then you get a stomach ache or heartburn/indigestion. Keep that in mind too, babies are people, only smaller. That has helped me think about things in a better perspective. Instead of he such a little guy, what do I do??-
M.-mom to 5 boys :)

Buy the next age size up nipple. We did that with the Avent bottles and it seemed like the hole was just enough.

Have you tried cutting a smaller hole in the nibble......

Hi K.! Congrats on your newborn.

I have to say this acid reflux thing stumps me. i cannot understand how pediatricians say that solids and baby cereal should not be given before 6 months because it can contribute to allergies, but if a baby has reflux it's okay. I would think that because a baby already has reflux maybe there's an underlying condition causing it and wouldn't introducing a solid make it worse...if not immediately then in the long run. I've been sitting here for almost 30 minutes doing my own searches online to find info. My first son was never diagnosed with reflux, but he spit up a TON!!! He was a fussy baby and the spit up drove me nuts, but he grew out of it. My pediatrician is more on the natural side...she will try to help naturally first before prescribing meds and I loved her for that. She always told me that it had to do with the esophagal sphincter muscle and that as he grew it would tighten and less would come up. That's the only experience with it I had.

Anyway...I'm blabbing here, but I was reading on this one link from Berkeley Parents network and there were many parents on there, some who treated with medication and others that tried natural remedies with great success...even chiropractic care!!! I'm always prone to try natural, and I thought I'd throw it out there for you to look into. Here is the link if you're interested.
http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/babies/reflux.html

Have fun with your little one. They change and grow so fast. God bless.

L.

Hi,
I completly understand what you are going throuhg, my daughter, who is now almost 8 months, has had oatmeal in her bottles since she was around 9 weeks old, due to pretty painful acid reflux. We use born free bottles and for us, the y cut nipple flowed too fast for her but has done well with the variable flow nipple, which avent offers as well. that way, you can adjust the flow as your baby eats and grows. She still gets oatmeal in her bottle, just less of it and she still uses the variable flow nipple.

I know for me, it was so difficult for me to get her to drink her bottles that i didnt' want half of it to pour out her mouth.

As for my opinion about putting rice cereal or oatmeal in bottles, if it makes it less painful for your baby, than do it!! my daughter has no allergies from eating oatmeal from an early age, and we didn't start her on any other solids till she was 6 months and she does great with them.

Good luck!!!

Hi K. - You don't need to worry about whether the nipple is cut with a y or an x or anything else, just get the nipples for your bottles that have a larger opening. I use the Avent bottles too and the stage 2 nipples work for us with just a small amount of rice cereal. The stage 3 works too, just has a larger opening. Cutting the nipples you have is okay too, just a little less precise. You can also spoon feed; try both and see what works best for you and your baby. Don't worry so much about what everyone says is the "right" way to do it. The issue is sticking with a single grain cereal to avoid allergies. Stay in touch with your doctor if you think baby is getting constipated, he may suggest switching to oatmeal instead of the rice.
Give yourself a little more credit and like they say, don't sweat the small stuff.
Take care, R.

I couldn't find those nipples for the avent bottles I used either so i skipped the cereal in a bottle routine and went straight to spoon feeding it. Just make sure it is pretty runny.

K.,

My son had the same issue with the reflux and our doctor also recommended putting some rice cereal into the bottle. I tried cutting the Avent nipples, never seemed to work that well, then I bought the variable flow nipples which were- as you said- WAY too fast of a flow. I ended up just using the regular Avent nipples, not cut or anything, and they worked just fine. (I can't remember at which age we went to size 2 or 3, but just judge yourself what seems best). Good luck :)

My son was 7 1/2 weks when he started cereal. putting it in thte bottle didn't work so we made it with alot of liquid and spoon fed him. It took a couple of days for him to get the hang of it but did just fine.

K., I use evenflo glass bottles because of the harmful Bisphenol A and phthalates. Evenflo has a x shaped nipple that works incredibly well for adding cereals to the bottle. On another note, I would not give the grains this soon because of possibly creating an allergy in the baby. The baby's intestines are not mature enough to digest grains or solid food yet. Whe you introduce it too soon, the body starts to attach it because it is foreign matter. Later in life, you child might become allergic to grains/gluten. If you baby has mild acid reflux, just keep him upright for 45 minutes to an hour after feeding. This will greatly reduce his discomfort. I did this for my 2 month old baby for about 1 month and he out grew the reflux. Also, if you are breastfeeding, take a probiotic by Garden of Life-it will help to balance the baby's gut flora (he might be overly acidic)and see if that helps. I did this with my baby as well. P.S. I am a holistic health counselor who specializes in women and children's health.

All nipples come in different stages. Try the stage 2 or 3 of the nipples you use.

I have gone to kidsurplus.com and found y cut nipples. I use the Dr. Browns bottles so that is where I have gotten mine. You could google it and should come up with lots of chooses as to where to get them. I personally think you should be using the y-cut versus cutting the nipples.

K.,

I always just cut a little x in the nipple. Always worked for me. When my babies were small they didn't have "special nipples" My mother in law was a pediatric nurse. She told me what to do.

Good luck
S.

My girls had acid reflux also from birth and they also had rice cereal added to their bottles. I used to cut the nipples but it did take a few tries to get it right. You may also want to try enfamil a.r. Formula. Its great! It has added rice in it already but is the same consistancy as regular formula and when the formula hits their bellies it thickens inside to help keep it down. We loves it and i highly recommend to give it a try :)you may be able to skip the cereal all together.