Hi Dr. Olson,

Thank you for responding to my last inquiry. My 7 week old son was diagnosed with reflux and is currently taking Zantac twice a day (1 Ml). We also are mixing rice cereal with his formula to thicken it per doctor orders. This is supposed to help keep acids in his stomach from refluxing into the esophagus. The problem is now with the thicker formula, he is having one heck of a time pooping. It is literally almost solid. He poops large "mounds" of poop. It can take him several hours of grunting and pushing to pass his stool. However, at the same time, his reflux has improved tremendously. He rarely cries anymore and he is smiling more than ever. My wife and I have no idea what to do. Do we continue to thicken his food so he doesn't reflux but makes it extremely difficult for him to poop or do we go back to just regular formula which he can poop easier but worsen his reflux? Is there a middle ground we can try? Please help! Thank you for your time.

Janet and Shaun

Hi,

A middle ground might be to try adding less rice cereal or to continue the current amount and add some prune juice (adult type) to the mix. It might be just as good to use the Zantac only and try the regular formula. Please feel free to experiment. You are the best observer to see what these changes will do to behavior and reflux.

Good luck, Dr. Olson