Adding Thick-It to Bottles

Hi there,
I've never heard of adding the thickener to formula, but I do use it regularly in my practice as a speech therapist with my patients. The reason we add it to patient's liquids is to make the liquid more managable to swallow. What about adding rice cereal to thicken your daughter's bottle instead? Have you asked your ped? What is his/her advice? If you do add it, just be careful with the measurements, b/c the longer the thickener sits in a liquid, the thicker and thicker it becomes. Good luck!

I had this problem with one. It is a real challenge! I ended up with a routine that other people just laughed at, but it worked. I added rice cereal to his formula and I cut a slightly bigger hole in the nipple of his bottle. My son's problem was that he would suck so hard that he deflated the bottle and swallowed all that air. Then he would erupt like Old Faithful. There are likely bottles now that would help with this, but I ended up poking a "vent" hole in the bottom of the bottle which I covered up with a rubber band from a broccoli bunch when the bottle wasn't being used. The combination of thicker formula and vented bottle seemed to keep him from sucking in too much air. I would also need to leave him still on the floor for a half hour after eating. It stopped being an issue when he started eating solids.

My son is 5 months and has greatly controled acid reflex (thank god) and his upper gi doctor said to make 4oz of formula and 1-1 1/2 oz of rice to thicken the it and he hasn't projectile puked barely at all since. And if you give your daughter more than 4oz just keep adding a little more for every extra oz's. Hope it helps.

I agree with the person who said to add rice cereal to her bottle instead of Thick-it. Thick-it can be difficult to work with and is mainly used for children who have issues with swallowing and choking on their formula. At 6 months, your daughter is more than ready for rice cereal!