Well, Masonhas been on Neocate for 1 and 1/2 months and Thick It for 3 weeks.

The GI decided to have us try adding some rice cereal and laternate that with the Thick It since his poop has been so explosive. We have been debating whetehr or not Mason really has allergies or not and in one month plan to put him back on cow's milk formula.

Yesterday I gave him one bottle with 7 TBSP of rice cereal and he went mental. I figured okay, probably too much of a shock at once. So today he has had 2 bottles each with 4 TBSP of cereal and some Thick It. He has been miserable all day. Very cranky, no gas or anything but extremely fussy. He is still pooping the same. He usually naps well but can not stay asleep longer than 15 minutes and is acting so tired.

My question is....do I continue trying tog ive him rice cereal or not? I thought about making the next batch of bottles with just 1 TBSP of rice and eventually adding more. But he seems just somiserable that part of me just wants to chuck it and not bother giving this to him.

With the Thick It, he gets major taummy cramps after every bottle and explodes out his diaper. But at least that goes away within an hour. This has been going on all day.

Just wondered if anyone had an opinion on whether the rice would be doing this or maybe it's just a wierd day. I don't want to keep torturing him (or ME) if the rice is doing it. And if so....sheesh, when do they grow out of these intolerences?

I have heard that rice can do that. Emily puked up pure mucous and got a rash with rice. We tried oatmeal, and get the same thing you are having with the rice. Emily is generaly miserable right now. I am even starting to question the thick it. I haven't used it today. She still miserable and is now spitting up constantly. So your guess is as good as mine.

It could possibly be the cereal Mirra. Maybe he has a prblem with soy protiens in the cereal. I would try 1 tablspoon and if he is still like that then I would guess he may have a problem with the cereal.

By the way, I was looking at Mason's new pics. Where did you get that bath pillow? Emily DESPISES her tub, but likes the big tub. She is hard to hold onto, and the only thing I have found is a bear shaped sponge. But sponges are breeding grounds for gross germs. I need one of those pillows.

You say that he is not gassy how do you know? Sometimes they get gas pains with no audible gas- maiya gets that all the time.


When I started feeding maiya solids, I tried organic oatmeal- thought she did not tolerate it well. Used beechnut, with no problems, so I thought. Maiya, as you know, is miserable most of the time. Two days ago, ran out of beechnut, so used the organic oatmeal. What a difference: no more constipation, no more pain with bowel movements, much happier and eating better.


Why can she tolerate one but not the other? Who knows???

Seven TBSP is alot of rice- maiya eats only 8 in one day! Try less for a few days and see if that changes things, and maybe, just maybe, not all cereals are digested the same way in our fussy little babies.

Mirra, what brand of rice cereal did you give him? Gerber has Soy so if it was Gerber that could be the problem. We use Beechnut cereals as they don't contain any Soy.

Jojo, where did you get the organic stuff? I'm gonna leave Mason on regular Thick It the next few feeds then try 1 TBSP and see what happens. I THOUGHT 7 TBSP seemed like a lot, but even that was not enough to thicken it well enough.

It's also possible it is just a shock to his system. I mean, he has been on Neocate for while. Not much to digest there and then I go throwing in 4-7TBSP of cereal. >< What a nightmare though. I was just getting used to a happy baby, lol. I think I'll wait a day or 2 before trying again.

Melissa, I got that pillow at Babies R Us for about $15. I love it. Mason hates baths period. The bath I had before was one of those plastic tubs and I just couldn;t coordinate myself enough to hold him up and bath him at teh same time. At least this pillow is comfy. It dries really fast too. I really like it.

Yeah, it was Gerber. I was questioning whether Mason ever had intolerences to begin with since we had him on Neocate before we realised it was reflux.

Now I am VERY hesitant to put him on cow's milk formula next month. YIPES!

Why the rush to put him on cow's milk? And why the rush to stop using thicken? You have just gotten him to a content place, a month ago was ****, why does your doc want to change things.

The cereal I got was healthy times organic cereal at the local health food market (www.healthytimes.com) but i would not rush out to get it. Just try another kind before paying double the price for organic stuff.

Why the rush to put him on cow's milk? And why the rush to stop using thicken? You have just gotten him to a content place, a month ago was ****, why does your doc want to change things.

The reason we were changing is because he gets bad tummy aches after he eats. I believe it is from the Thick It. Before we used Thick It he was very constipated. Now he blows out his diapers and his tummy rumbles like crazy. So I believe the Thick It is causing him diarreha. We decided to try mixing in the rice to normalize his poops and stop the tummy aches.

But at least with the Thick It the tummy ache goes away in about an hour. Whatever that rice did to him lasted all day. The last feed I gave him 2 hours ago was just Thick It and he completely passed out after. :(

We were going to put him on cow's milk again because we were thinking maybe he never had allergies to begin with. But now I am not so sure. It sure would be nice to find something this kid can eat though, lol.

Maybe I will just stick with the Thick It. It's pretty messy and we are ruining lots of clothes, but the tummy chaes don;t last all day. Maybe when he hits that 3 month milestone in 3 weeks he willa dapt better. I hope anyway...

You may want to try the Beechnut since it doesn't contain Soy. I do understand your hesitation, I'm still putting off trying solids again. Hope you find something that works:D

I agree with Kim. Before calling it quits with the rice cereal, try one without soy in it. Natural varieties are good, but Beechnut might be easier to find. Cady puked up Gerber cereals until she was one. The soy in it messed her up.

I've had rotten luck with the Gerber cereals too - they add way to much junk!

Check out the Organic brands like Healthy Time or Earth's Best...I even saw them at Babies R Us recently. Or at stores like Whole Foods and Wild Oats. Not much of a big jump in price either.

Okay....mother of God he is screaming down the house today. :( AAArgh!!

Anyway...I will just give him Thick It tomorrow and then the next day try 1 TBSP of some other type. Yipes!

BTW Melissa, here is a link to that pillow. Doesn;t Mason look like such a chub? I'm getting concerned as I cannot fasten his collar snaps anymore due to his multiple chins rofl.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JIVI/qid=1143602575/br=1-4/ref=br_lf_ba_4//104-6738824-9769543?v=glance&s=baby&n=542418

That pillow will be mine. I am going to the actual store thursday after GI appt. that is if Emily will cooperate. Hopefully they will have it in the store and I can save on shipping.

Yes, Mason is a chunky monkey. He is just a big kid in general though. I mean he must be long too, cuz he isn't overly fat looking, just looks like a normal chunky baby. He is definately bigger than Emily.

Yeah, he is pretty long. I am worried about how fat heis though, lol. As much as I love fat babies I cannot find his neck anymore :D

His eating patterns are strange. He'd go 6 hours in between feeds if I let it go that long (I feed him every 4). Yet, if I try to feed him less but more frequently he freaks out. The docs don't seem to be too concerned about it though. He's right on the top line of that growth chart.

He doesn't look too fat. He looks just right. Even as little as Emily is, she has fat jaws and a double chin. It's a baby thing. I am sure he is fine if the dr.s aren't worried. I was at the WIC office the other day and there was a 4 month old in there who weighed 20 lbs. Now that kid was FAT. He was dressed in over-all's and he looked like a stuffed sausage. The poor kid's eyes were like little slits in his face because his jaws were so fat, and I could hear him breathing from across the room. Mason is just fine, and mighty cute!