breastfeeding a reflux baby..

shelby posted this;

Oh man, do I empathize!!! I’ve breastfed two refluxers also, and it IS really, really hard. Your descriptions of your nursing sessions sound EXACTLY like how I would describe both my boys, before things got better. Many times I referred to our feedings as WCW matches, each one ending more frantically than it had begun — which is so not the way feeding your baby should be. And it was hard, too, because often the doctors and family/friends do not understand because they don’t really see it happening.

I’ll tell you a bit of what helped our boys, and I really hope it helps you! Have you considered that your son might have a protein intolerance in addition to reflux? My first son was intolerant to milk protein only, and when he was 2 months old I cut dairy out of my diet and the feedings were immediately 100% improved. With my second son, Nathan, who is now 7 1/2 mos. old, I tried cutting out dairy and no improvement. So then I cut out soy in addition to dairy, because many babies who have problems with milk protein also have a soy protein intolerance. But still no help for Nathan. Then I found out about the total elimination diet on this forum (if you go to the main screen and scroll down you’ll see it), and within just 2 days of starting the diet, every feeding was as peaceful and calm as could be – no more arching, screaming, latching on and off a thousand times. The painful gas and bm’s, the endless grunting in his sleep were all gone. Nathan could even fall asleep during nursing, which was a miracle! One doctor we had seen actually told me when I had first described our terrible feedings that it sounded more like protein intolerances than reflux. And for us, that’s exactly what it was that was causing the bad feedings (MFPI – multiple food protein intolerance). The results of the TED for Nathan were so dramatic that I have stayed on a very restricted diet (very low protein) for 6 months and counting (though it seems Nathan is recently outgrowing MFPI – yay!!). And the only times we had bad feedings since beginning the TED were when I had eaten something too high in protein for him to handle.

But by no means was Nathan’s MFPI the only issue, nor my first son’s. Both also had plain ol’ reflux (GERD) due to an immature esophageal valve. Even after removing the problem proteins, they still slept terribly and cried a LOT. But good news – the Prevacid (at a Marci-kids high dose) greatly helped this.

Sorry to go on and on, but I just wanted to give you the details I was desperate for when I was in your situation. If I were you, I would definitely try to find out how much of your son’s problems (if any) is due to protein intolerances. I would maybe first cut out dairy, then soy, then go to the TED just to see if your little guy has protein intolerances – if so I believe you’ll see a huge improvement with the TED. Then at least you’ll know what you’re dealing with, even if you don’t decide to continue nursing. I don’t believe Zantac or Prevacid will help with a protein intolerance – they didn’t for my boys. Then after ruling out protein problems, see what you’re left with and then get your son on a Marci-kids dose of a PPI – even if you have to leave a doctor you really like, keep looking til you find one who will give you this high dose.

Good luck!! Please keep us posted.