Simply Thick

You mean to thicken the feeds in babies with reflux? We use rice cereal.

Does anyone else use Simply Thick in NICU? We have been using it for about a year and a half and coincidentally it seemd to be the year of NEC now. Personally, I dont like it at all. It gives the kids gas and seems to bind them up. I have searched for information that verifies it is safe to use with these kids but can't find any.

I have never hear of "Simply Thick" so obviously we don't use it. We are also in "the year of NEC"..something in the air?

I've never heard of it either.

When we have a "year of NEC," I sometimes wonder if it could be a contaminant in one of those PO meds that every preemie seems to be on. Like maybe a whole batch of PO caffeine or reglan or fortifier from XYZ pharmaceutical company was contaminated with some organism.

We have only used it on older more chronic kids, never the little ones. We treat reflux for the little ones with meds only.

We haven't had a run of nec in quite awhile, knock on wood!

We don't use SimplyThick either. I got curious about studies though and found an interesting piece of research: http://www.haspghan.org/sub/position_papers/DERG.pdf

See pages 7-8.

Also found out that Simply Thick is Xanthan Gum, which is the approved trade name for "ethanol precipitation". Rice cereal somehow sounds more appropriate for babies, even though it may have some nasty-sounding chemicals in its processing list too. Xanthan Gum is in a wide variety of foods that most people eat but I too couldn't find information that addressed use of this specifically with neonates. Looked on the AAP web site and didn't find any additional information.

The manufacturer's web site (simplythick.com) has more information. Says that it is "not technically sterile" but "can be autoclaved."

our kids get rice cereal if they need it... no NEC here for a while

our kids get rice cereal if they need it... no NEC here for a while

We give nothing, we just prop the hob up so high it looks like we should just hang them from the ceiling!!!

We give nothing, we just prop the hob up so high it looks like we should just hang them from the ceiling!!!

:rotfl: Us too! Ours sleep standing up. I am so worried about one sliding out of bed! :uhoh21:

OK, I officially delare that I have been a SAHM for too long. When I read the title of this thread, "Simply Thick", I immediately assumed it referred to a person of little brain power, like a dense parent or a stupid doctor. I guess I'm the thick one!

Does anyone else use Simply Thick in NICU?

My unit uses the Thick and Easy for babies with reflux , personally I don't quite like it very much . The milk tends to get very thick if too much of it is added and it becomes " Thick and Difficult " , it will take ages to feed . Nowadays we have cut down on using this and we prefer to use Enfalac AR instead , it's more effective against reflux . :wink2: