How to thicken formula- without using an AR formula??

[Mrs Little]

Seems like we've been down every road with my son.

We have now moved back to his reflux...he did really well on thickened formula but i think it was a little to thick and heavy for his digestive system (which is currently on the mend thanks to our Naturopath).

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to thicken the formula i'm using (which is working well) using a thickner agent? Can i only thicken it a little? Which thickener is best?

Any advice on thickening formulas yourself would be greatly appreciated!

Mrs Little & Son.

[moonblossom]

what i used was rice cereal, but thats going back a few years, dunno if people do that now.

[Mrs Little]

Thanks moonblossom.

I have rice cereal...started him on solids with it.


How do u work it onto the formula? How do u determine how much to use?

Mrs Little & Son.

[Irish Dad]

Every night after my daughters bath we put 2 Farleys Rusks in her bottle, we heat the milk and put it in the blender with the rusks, then put in the bottle and feed. We've done this from 4 months and shes 7 months now and sleeps through the night :D Hey moonblossom our next babs due same time as yours !

[HoopDeeDoo]

You can also do half normal formula half reflux formula. I found it much better than the reflux formula on it's own. My son just screamed with frustration at the full strengh reflux formula

[Mrs Little]

Thanks for that....

He doesn't seem too unsettled with his sleep.....he sleeps already from 7pm-6am.

It's more the feed times....i just need a little something to help him with the pain when he feeds....he takes the first bottle of the day fine...only drinks half and then refuses...goes red and arches his back,etc. Then the pain must prevent him from feeding for the rest of the day.

Because he's 4 months....i believe the reflux is settling....but he still needs an extra something to help him out.

So i wanted to thicken the bottles at every feed...to ensure he doesn't have any pain...then the following feed wont hurt. Make sense?

BTW...what are rusks?...and why did u use them?

Mrs Little & Son.

[moonblossom]

Oh yes Farex...brilliant. Forgot all about those declicious biccies LOL.

MRS LIttle i wish i could remember but i know i just made up the formula and then put some in> bloomin keyboard is playing up so excuse the mistakes>

hEY jay's dad, great time of year to be pregnant hey, I just love winter baby's and we dont suffer being HUGELY pregnant IN SUMMER...mmm must get a new keyboard. :(

[Irish Dad]

The below is copied and pasted from a website.....

Farley's rusks (original, marmite and reduced sugar) do not contain any animal ingredients but other Farley's rusks (reduced sugar gluten free and banana) contain whey, which is a dairy product. Heinz have committed to ensuring that the animal ingredients in their products are derived from animals fed on non-GM crops.

They are a sort of biscuit that can be diluted with milk to feed in the bottle, a british tradition used for years to feed hungry babies. My 3 kids have always had them in their bottle and number 4 due soon will too :D One of my boys had a lactose intolerence and needed special drops in his bottle to stop his wind. Irish dads drunk so don't quote him on is comments ! Its late here remember :)

[melfunction]

You can get food thickener from the chemist. Add as much or as little as you want.

[Lallas' Mum]

My son is lactose intolerant but also suffered from reflux. We couldn't get a Lactose free thickened formula so we used Karicare Food thickener in his bottles. You can get it from the chemist for about $10 a tin. It can be mixed with anything including Breast milk.

[Irish Dad]

yeah the drops we used were very expensive but it meant we got an hour or twos sleep so they were worth it :D http://www.lactose.co.uk/intolerance/

[kimmy]

We did the farex thing with Jakob & all we did was put a couple of teaspoons of it into his formula bottle shake it up & feed lol.
You have to make sure that it is still sloppy but & also you may have to change the teat to a faster flowing one so that you lil bub can get it out hehehe.
Good luck with it all. :D

[pippa]

Hi,

There is also a product called guarcol, I think you should be able to buy it at the chemist but you may need a script for it. Good luck

Cheers

[Caitlin's Mum]

Hi Mrs Little. Have you tried Infant Gaviscon. This thickens the formula slightly but also helps with the pain at the same time!!

[Mrs Little]

Thanks everyone.

I ended up calling the naturopath. I didn't want to hinder or ruin any work that her marvelous medicine was doing. She gave me another powder to add to his formula- it helps with reflux and all the tummy pains he has been having.

We started him on the powder last night....it looks like it's already making a difference.

It's soooooo nice to be able to help my son without filling him with adult drugs or stuff thats man made. He's still too little.....:o

Thanks again.
Mrs Little & Son.

[CrazyBeautiful]

Karicare put out a food/formula thickener. It's available from the chemist. You probably don't need to use as much as it sais on the tin.