solids and reflux - when to start

[*charmalea*]

a gp told me if DDs reflux was still really bad to put her on solids early (around 3 months)

then a friends Pead said to start reflux babies late on solids ..

what should i do , i had a tiny amount of pureed carrott (said from 4 mths) and put it on a spoon and she wolfed it down , swallowed it and seem to want more , every time i put a spoon on her lips she will try and "eat"


she always has been a hungry baby and feeds twice an hour ( yes , i have no life)

she is terrible with her reflux and spits up about 20 times a day .. (yes i smell like puke)

so what has been the advice given to you ?? she is on 20mg losec a day , do the meds have a different affect once solids start ? does the reflux settle ??

will early solids really make it worse ..

i have no intention to put her on solids now , i am going with baby led weaning so i know she wont be ready , and i dont want to give her pains ...

what should i do ...

[rufalina]

It is a hard one. My DS had reflux but I did not medicate him, as I could controll it with my diet. He didnt like me eating anything too acidic, or tomatoes or spicy foods.

My Pead recommended I start him on rice cereal and solids early, around 4 months, but I didn't start that early. I started him on some rice cereal in the evenings, made up with water, at about 5 months. It helped me cope with the evening cluster feeding, he needed less boob, but did nothing for his reflux. He was chucking frequently.

But it is getting less now at 7 months. Also, I have been very slow at introducing the foods, as I don't want to flair up any issues with food intolerance, and so far, he does not do well with potato or anything acidic.

HTH and Good luck with working out what to do with your DD.

[River]

From my learnings - after 3 reflux babies, a lot of reflux is actually caused by a food intolerance. One of the main causes is a dairy intolerance (not a lactose intolerane). A Cows Milk Protein Intolerance is just so common they are coming to find, as the human body isn't designed to break down the protein in cows milk and it can take the body 6-12 months to learn how to not flip out at it. Unfortunately, adding in solids usually adds in more CMP and irritates the gut even more.

Perhaps try a dairy free diet for yourself and see if it does work for you. It's not that hard once you know what products have milk in them - yes, there is a lot, but there are alternatives to all of them.

Adding in solids has never worked for keeping reflux at bay for me - all it meant was chunkier stuff to come up and it's more uncomfy for the bubs to chuck.

[Rattie]

i had a tiny amount of pureed carrott (said from 4 mths) and put it on a spoon and she wolfed it down , swallowed it and seem to want more , every time i put a spoon on her lips she will try and "eat"
she always has been a hungry baby and feeds twice an hour ( yes , i have no life)

Sounds like she's hungry. I started my DS on solids at 4 months. It definitely helped with his reflux and he wolfed it down. Root veggies act as a thickener in the stomach so they can sometimes help.

However, its a personal decision. Lots of people will crucify you for it but IMHO the 6 month rule needs to be flexible and based on individual babies.

Good luck.

[Lulu]

Its really hard, I agree with River. I think introducing solids to a refluxer can open up a world of hassles. Cos it did for us!

BUT having said that, it seems to work for some little ones...I spose you should follow your gut - but really give some thought to what you will feed her. Dairy is evil.

[satya]

My son was a happy chucker. Chucked many many times per day. We introduced solids at 5 months & he hardly ever chucks now & when he does it's after he's only had bottles for a couple of feeds.

[KimBear]

Just wanted to add that my son (nearly 6 months) has quite severe silent reflux. We recently tried him on solids (just rice cereal with water and a little bit of pumpkin) and he got MUCH worse - He wouldn't sleep, his milk intake dropped to 300mls a day (note that we struggle with his milk intake anyway but can usually manage 600mls), he grizzled and screamed all day.

I stopped the solids and within two days we were back to "normal". I guess his digestive system is just so immature that he can't cope with it yet. So disappointing because it was one of our last hopes of improving things... I guess nothing will work for us but time.

My paed has been pushing solids since before 4 months! Glad I resisted until now.

My guess is that reflux has so many under lying contributors (intolerances, allergies, maturity of digestive system etc) that it really is very individual for each baby. Too bad... wish there was a rule book

[*charmalea*]

wow Kimbear your poor little man!
Gabriellas reflux is improving as she gets bigger and she is vomiting less each day . Thankfully ... I wont be starting solids till after 6mths. I will be seeing a nurtitionist/dietiticn in about 2 weeks and i will be getting advice on what low allergy foods i can feed her . i had fish for tea the other night and she was very uncomfortable (poo and wind wise) so i guess a huge re evlautaion needs to be done ..

on the other hand she also has ezcema . another reason for me to hold off the solids ..

she is an extremly hungry baby and its soo tempting to feed her rice cereal .. but i will wait