Hello all, my son turns 1 on the 18th and I don't know if I should ween him off of formula completely. He had some medical issues before with his digestive system and I am a little apprehensive about doing anything. He had to be hospitalized before because when he would eat he would throw everything up and he would just completely refuse his bottle. He is a much better eater now (thank you zantac) but he still gags a lot and sometimes throws up. He has always been a fighter when it comes to drinking his bottle and a lot of times it seems like he is never hungry but lately we have been pushing more solids on him and he has been doing pretty good but he will not take a sippy cup and he won't hold his own bottle. He doesn't really like to feed himself either. I'm hoping that he won't fight about not having formula because he seemed to not like it very much anyways but I don't know if he is ready for milk. Also, whenever he eats oatmeal he throws it up like exorcist style but he doesn't get a rash. I'm not sure if it's just the texture or something else.
Talk to your pediatrician. Nutritionally, he's ready to be off formula, and who wouldn't want to save money that way? But, with the issues he's had, I would speak with his doctor, since he/she knows your child and any problems he's experienced during his first year.
hi,
I will also talk to the pediatrician. They do make toddler formula if you ended up keeping him on it.My third child had some medical problem too and milk will gave him very bad BM.So,he is on a toddler formula for now.The doctor say probably until next month when he turns two.So, we are just right now introducing some milk again .He is also nurse twice a day though.And he did better with the intoduction of milk this time around so we'll see.The bran enfagrow goes up to age 3 years old if you ended up having to keep him on formula for a while longer.My toddler uses Good Start and Enfamil toddler formula indifferently(you can have some good coupon deal in the mail for enfamil sometime as it does get quiet expensive fast.)and still nurse twice a day but i am not sure how much he gets from that as i am 20 weeks pregnant and i know my supply diminished greatly.Part of the reason for the formula :-)
Hope this help.
N.
It sounds like the Zantac isn't enough. Prevacid comes in a solutab that you add to applesauce or similar. You can take it instead of or with the Zantac. I had one who did well with Prevacid, one who takes both Zantac and Prevacid. If he's had reflux all his life, and has had difficulty swallowing, he probably needs some feeding therapy to learn to use his mouth properly. We had to do that with our two reflux kids. If he has apraxia, nothing but therapy is going to help. We had/have 3 kids whose apraxia affected their speech, two of whom also needed feeding therapy. Child Find will evaluate all of that for free, and then come to your house to do the therapy.
If your doctor isn't willing to change medications, or at least up the Zantac, you need to get a second opinion. When reflux medicine is doing it's job, there is no choking (assuming correct muscles are being used), and no dry cough. It sounds to me like your son has issues with thin liquids because it has always hurt to drink. If you can't get services in your area, try Simply Thick. You just mix it in with whatever his drink is. You can start out with nectar thickness, and thin it as he does better. You have to order on line, but it's so much better than anything else on the market! The oatmeal thing definitely is a texture thing. It's difficult to swallow. Anyway, I know I was rambling. I hope something in here helps. You didn't mention it, but if he has weight issues, I can give you a yummy recipe for a formula substitution using the Simply Thick. GL!
I personally wouldn't since he can't hold his own bottle, or feed himself very well. BUT I wouldn't make my final decision until I talked to his ped.
we waited about a month or so to wean our daughter off of the formula. They do make a toddler formula if you end up keeping him on it. I definately agree with Melissa that you should talk to your pediatrician, esp. if he has had eating issues in the past.
