Infant Reflux – Fruits vs Vegetables at 8 months
by Katherine
(IL)
From reading online, it is obvious what is good for one, isn’t for another.
I can tell you my child is on Prevacid 2X daily for her reflux and is 8 mo old. Doesn’t spit up much anymore but the introduction to solids made her unexplained crying come back with a vengeance.
I have come to the conclusion in my own research (and I am not a doctor) that what causes your baby’s reflux gives a clue to what is going to work better for them.
For instance, my child has among the acid issue (which should be controlled by the prevacid) a slow moving stomach emptying. So when we started with the cereals it was bad. Crying was back and although stuff wasn’t coming up as much she was NOT comfortable). Same with veggies and starchy foods. No veggie has been successful – too hard to digest. She just doesn’t get it through her system fast enough.
Fruits, as they are more easily digested and higher in fiber have been really the only thing she can eat. Pears are by far the best, apples, bananas if in a medley. Peaches and plums for whatever reason were not good choices. She can handle carrots in small quantities and mixed with fruit. If I give a cereal I stick with Oatmeal and again mix with fruit.
Since her problem is with moving things through I find giving water or pear diluted juice in small quantities helps a bit.
Now, if you have a child with just too much acid but doesn’t have a slow moving digestive tract, then the mothers I’ve talked to have been able to do the cereals. In their case, just avoiding high acidic foods has been the better way.
Comments:
Thin Purees and small meals seem to work
My 8 month old is currently on Prevacid twice a day and is riding the fine line between how much food is too much or too little. He is still gaining weight but each day is a guessing game as to what will work.
He seems to tolerate whole rice cereal but only 1 Tbsp at a time and watery. He tolerates sweet potato, butternut squash, and carrot as long as it’s thinned and just 2.5 oz at a time twice a day. Sweet peas seems to constipate him. Bananas make him want to gag. He enjoys apples and pears. What’s funny is that he likes store bought baby food instead of fresh puree. Perhaps it’s mashed finer and more watery than I can get it.
However, he also has a slow to empty stomach because he sometimes spits up a sweet potatoes that I was sure he ate 5 hours prior. This means food really thickened with cereal interrupts his scheduled nursing.
Also having frequent meals, like 3 times a day, makes him not want to eat the next day and more prone to coughs and spitting up. So now I’m back on the 10:00 am and 4:00 pm feeding schedule. I also feed him 45 mins after a nursing and at least 1 hour before a nap.
I’m glad there’s a place to write this because I’ve had 2 pediatricians who keep telling me to give him more cereal for his reflux and all it does is hurt him.
Learn more about introducing solids to a baby with reflux
