Hi Judith,

When the doctors ok'd solids for my son (who has severe reflux), he was just 14 weeks old; however, any solid would make him retch, gag and/or vomit. Also, he would respond more positively to very thin pureed solids when I used my fingers to feed him. Unfortunately most solids would be pushed out of his mouth due to what is commonly known as tongue thrust reflex (please read the details about Tongue thrust reflex below of my response). It was very frustrating and I went from one GI doctor to another, one feeding therapist to another, wondering why my son would not swallow solids. All of them convinced me that he will be fine and he will eat solids one day, and I believe them. At 7 months, he is doing much better at swallowing solids now, although he hates coarse textures. I still cannot replace his meals by solids but I do see a great improvement. The bottom line is that you need a lot of patience with a reflux child when you start solids.

Anyway, you will know when your grandson is ready to eat solids because he will start swallowing the food in without much difficulty. Until then you can continue trying stage 1 purees (very finely mashed food with no texture) and see how he responds. Try it once or twice every week, once you see that he can swallow try a little more quantity and do it more frequently. Once he is 6 mo old, try it daily, even if it is 1 table spoon. Another reflux mother, Amy D, who has a sharepost on this website, actually guided me step by step on how to feed solids to my reflux baby and I followed it precisely.

Rice cereal is considered very gentle and allergy free, however, for some reflux kids it's texture causes gagging. You can blend it through a blender and make it really soft, and it will be much better.

You don't have to add cereal to the formula since Gaviscon is pretty much doing the same job for your grandson that rice cereal would do. Gaviscon is not common in the US, but I have used it for my son and it does work better than rice cereal. I specially ordered it from England.

There is no hard and fast rule and different drs have different opinions about the age for solids as Jan suggested in her response. You and your grandson's mother have to follwo your instincts about the when to push and when to stop. Under no circumstance do you ever want to force feed a reflux child as it is very painful for them unless their reflux is under complete control. Good luck and do keep us posted.

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What is tongue thrust reflex?

Tongue thrust

While the tongue thrust or 'extrusion reflex' is present, if a baby's lips are touched her tongue automatically moves forward. Tongue thrust aids feeding from the breast or bottle but not solid foods. This reflex generally fades by around 3 or 4 months of age but for some babies it will remain active for longer. While this reflex is still active, if solid foods are offered it appears like your baby is pushing the food out of her mouth with her tongue. This reflex is often mistaken as dislike of food. Although this is not the case, a tongue thrust is a sign that your baby is not ready to eat solid foods.

 Source: (http://www.babycareadvice.com/babycare/general_help/article.php?id=41).