Monday, December 1, 2008

Monday, December 1, 2008 - Update

Why crawl when you can travel by pony?

Olivia has now learned (and is tall enough) to ride her pony all by herself. She rides all over the house on that silly pony. Today, I chased her on it and she squealed and laughed like it was the best game ever! She kept looking behind her and would get so excited the closer I got. Then, she would take off as fast as she could go. Milestones like these are some of the most rewarding.

Quick question for those of you who have children dealing with reflux. We have tried to move Olivia completely over to Next Step Lipil. She likes it a lot better than her Enfamil AR (that is thickened with rice cereal.) However, because the new formula is not as thick, it comes out too fast and she chokes. She has a really hard time drinking anything that's pure liquid and I can hear her refluxing. Can I continue thickening her new formula? Will I have to do this for a long time? Can I use rice or oatmeal (she loves her oatmeal)? Any ideas would be so appreciated.

8 comments:

Kim said...

I cannot answer your questions about reflux, but I can help you out with the thickening question. You can thicken the Next Step. I would guess if you slowly started thinning it down, she would get use to the thinner version after some time.

Anonymous said...

Yes, you can add any cereal you want to her bottles, just add about a teaspoon per 3 ounces. Do not get the ones with the cereal chunks of course. She will eventually grow out of the acid reflux but it will take a long time. I have had kids spitting up till they were almost 3, and considering her circumstances it may take her ever a little longer. Adding cereal to her bottles will also help her get the extra calories you are wanting her to have.

Anonymous said...

Also, if you are wanting her to drink the liquid you can boil her new nipple to shrink the hole and be sure and buy ones that are low flow.

Anonymous said...

Sorry I can't help with the reflux question, but I was wondering where you got the awesome pony... we are looking for something like that for Charlie to ride. His "ride" toys are too wide for his short legs to reach the ground.
Thanks!
Neva

Jodi said...

Neva, Here's one (that's not pink.) Olivia got hers for her birthday. I've seen them at Target as well.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3107732

Anonymous said...

to Neva we saw that pony in toysrus too - but they only had pink - otherwise the bobbycar (the authentic one) is pretty easy for the shorter baby as the seat is narrow.
Jodi - I love reading your blog!

Jamie said...

Has Olivia ever had a swallow study done? Both Lindy and Will have reflux, but they both also aspirate thin liquids. Swallow studies show us the thin liquids go into their airways. Anyways, we use a thickener we make at home. We buy bags of xanthum gum at Whole Foods and then our speech therapists have given us a recipe. I can share it with you if you go that route. To drink this thickened liquids they always had to use Dr. Browns Y-cut nipples on bottles. Will doesn't have any issues drinking it through a straw. We have to continue thickening it until their swallow studies show us it is safe for them to drink thin liquids. We go every 4-6 months.

Unknown said...

Uggg...reflux! My daughter had severe reflux and we continued to thicken her drinks until she was about 3 years old. You can use whatever cereal you want!! And you can do it as long as she needs it!