Does iron fortified rice cereal cause babys constipation?
Theoretically iron can cause constipation, especially the higher doses that adults take. It is rarely the cause of true constipation in infants. The iron is there for a specific reason and should only be withheld if they have a blood disorder such as hemochromatosis. Secondly, as other have said you should never feed cereal in a bottle. It is a choking hazard. Rather, try a formula thickened with rice starch. It is significantly safer however neither method is all the effective at reducing spit up. I am dubious as to the number of babies that truly have acid reflux. It is a trendy diagnosis. Parents now come into the office asking if their child has it when in fact it is just normal baby behavior. My child might be categorized as one having excessive spit up but she is in no distress when it happens so I am not going to treat it. I have to ask is your ped an older male? I ask because in my experience they are the ones that often recommend outdated practices such as the one you mentione
