We came into this reflux thing late in the game with Brayden so I'm trying to play catch up. I am constantly trying to compare him to my friend's kids and it doesn't work. So I need some advice on what is "normal" for reflux kids so I can give myself a break and not feel like I'm messing him him up.

I'm sorry this is probably going to be kind of long...but unfortunately I'm Italian and I tend to be longwinded whenever I speak or type!

Since my kids are only 13 months apart, I didn't take the bottle away from him at 12 months because I figured he might revert with a new baby in the house. But then his reflux symptoms started at 12 months....and by 15 months his eating was so bad that he stopped eating and drinking anything and had to be hospitalized. This is when he was diagnosed. At that point, formula and a few crackers was the only things we could get him to take when he started to eat/drink. And I can't seem to get him off the formula or a bottle. The GI wants him to switch to regular soy milk (stop formula) when he starts eating consistently and his ped wants him off the bottle. But I can't seem to get him to eat with any consistency and if I put formula in a sippy cup he refuses to drink it.

So I guess I'm wondering what you guys do. Is it okay for him to still be getting formula at this point? What is consistent eating? Today he ate: 4 crackers and a roll. However he would yell for a "baba" so I gave him bottles....Am I hurting him by giving them to him? I've heard he'll eat if I stop giving him formula from my friends, but I don't think that is true...and I don't want to starve him.

Any advice/reassurance would be helpful. I'm really feeling like I have no clue what I'm doing as his mother right now! THANKS!!!

By the way - on a good day the most he'll eat is: cream of wheat, cheerios, cottage cheese&fruit, gerber graduates pasta pickups container and sweet potatoes. But he still wants 2-3 bottles also.

Here's my two cents, Cheryl...

Can't offer much in feeding advice b/c Joshua is much younger so I haven't gone through this yet. We were visiting a friend today and her son is almost two. He is going through a horrible picky eating phase and refuses almost everything, even things that he likes!

However, I will say...don't torturing yourself by comparing your kids with other "normal" kids. I've been so guilty of this lately and it was taking a huge toll on me! Our little GERDlings are special and do things in their own time..some even early, like little Kaitlyn. :)

Maybe try a different kind of sippy cup? My friend said that the Nuby cups with the soft nipple were a really good transition for her little one...then again that kid has been the textbook, right one track, perfect temperment, sleeps great, kid - but I'm not comparing right? ;)

I ditto Miori.. please, don't compare your DS to other children... it can make you feel like you're doing a bad job. My guys are 15 months and have 2 bottles a day (morning and night). The litttle boy down the road is 17months and he has probs with reflux and has wheat intolerances. The only thing keeping weight on him are 4 bottles/ day. He eats very little... a bit of toast, some prunes, crackers and limited other pieces of fruit.
I alos tried formula in a sippy cup... went down as a disaster. I then switched to junior milk and they will take that through the sippy cup.. and beleive me I went through several dozen TYPES of sippy cups to get them to drink out of this one :roll:
Just remember.. no child goes to school drinking from a bottle or sucking a paci.. so there is plenty of time to wean him off the bottle. In regards to formula.... if that is the only thing keeping the weight on, then continue....
All you can do in regards to solids is to keep offering things to him...
Hang in there :hug:

My daughter is also 15 months and she does have 2-3 bottles a day, and she eats regular meals 6 out of 7 days a week. I wouldn't worry about him drinking his bottle when he needs them, my daughter begs for her bottles too and I just give them to her, but also offer sippys throughout the day, as well. The ped. said she doesn't have to be off the bottle until the first day she enters kindergarten, but she guarantees that she'll wean herself way before then. Try to relax and let him be your guide with meals about how much he eats, you just decide what, when and where and he'll come off that bottle when he's good and ready.

Well here it is very normal for kids to still be having 2-3 bottles a day till the age of 2. A lot do it longer. The benefits for a reflux baby are that it is a good way to get cals in and it takes a lot of food to get the same cals.

The side effects are if all a baby eats is milk then they can get low iron, if they go to bed with milk it is habit forming and also bad for there teeth.

I would keep him on the bottle until he is eating well, maybe offer food first and then give him the bottle so he gets a try at the food.

There are no rules with GERD, don't worry about what others are doing, these people are also telling you they don't give bottles when they do!

My son is still on formula at age 2 1/2, but it is a toddler formula and he gets it via G tube. So I really have no idea about what's normal intake for a "normal" baby or even for an eating GERDling. But I can tell you that he might take more food if you refuse to give him the bottle, but it's certainly not definite. We've tried all of those things (not feeding at night, not feeding while he's asleep (back when he sort of took a bottle orally), not giving him so much in the G tube), and nothing helped him increase his oral intake. Sometimes you've just got to do what's working for you -- and not feel bad about it! :wink:

Thanks guys! I feel better that I'm not the only one giving my kid formula and/or bottles. It's easier now that I know he has reflux and there is a reason I can't seem to get him to move on from this stage....when we ended up hospitalized before the diagnosis I didn't know he had a problem so I just stopped the formula because I was told he was too old for it. That's when he lost 5 pounds in two weeks and we ended up in the hospital. So obviously I don't want to end up there again!

Catherine would only use a Nuby cup with a soft spout for the longest time but she now has no trouble with Playtex insulated sippies with a hard spout. Thank God for that as, so far, these seem to be "shake" proof! She does still have three 4oz bottles - one at bedtime, one around midnight and one about 4:00am. She eats next to no solids (no table food at all except crackers and dry cereal) and is still on soy formula.

You are definitely not alone! Emma is on formula (hypoallergenic because of her allergies to milk/soy) and her GI said she will probably be on it until she's 18 months. She is just now getting the hang of eating solid foods (both off a spoon and table food) and her weight is slowly catching up. Emma gets two 4 oz. bottles a day (one after lunch, and one 1/2 hour before bedtime) because I want her to have them. She could care less, but she needs the calories.

She also takes a 4 oz. sippy cup of formula with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack.

We always try to aim for 24 oz a day b/c of her kidney issues, but her average is 22 oz. per day.