Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Well, we have been administering Zantac for about a wk now and she appears to be spitting up more. The doc at SickKids did say that it doesn’t start to kick in until after the 1st wk, so I will follow thru’ for a mth to see if it makes any difference.

For those of you who have found relief from Zantac, did the discomfort (i.s. screaming, arching) and spit-up stop or does Zantac merely coat the throat so that it doesn’t burn the esphogus? I’m so confused!

Currently, I’m still pumping and bottle feeding Emily. I have also been trying tointroduce her to Good Start. For the past week, we have been giving her about 2 to 4oz of GoodStart (with ARA & DHA). She seemed ok with it, but during the past 3 days, she spit up everytime she had it (but only the first meal in the very early morning (ex. 3am) or 7am. I read on this forum that a lot of reflux babies have trouble with DHA & AHA in formula, so I purchased another GoodStart, but without the DHA & AHA. She spit up again and really doesn’t seem to like this formula, though I don’t htink the taste should be any different. Anyhow, I’m going to give it a couple more days to see if she will take it any better.

Emily is still drinking about only 2 to 4oz (max) per feeding and it seems like she is refluxing more now. In the meantime, I have made an apptmt to bring Emily to my doctor to request a stool sample to check for parasites (her poop is still very loose). Her ped refuses to do a stool sample claiming that her poop is normal. After reading the many posts on the forum and talking to other people, I am beginning to doubt her ped more and more. I’m hoping that the stool sample and rule out or confirm a parasit problem. That way, I will know if the problem is MSPI.

Ideally, I would like to provide Emily with both breastmilk and formula since I find that my supply appears to be dwindling and it is very difficult to be either pumping or feeding her all day.

And so the roller coaster ride continues…

Thanks again for all your advice! Honestly, I don’t know what I owuld have done if I had not found this group.

Sarah

[hellbennt]

sarah,

email me via the profile button at the bottom of this post if you want to discuss anything about breastfeeding your reflux baby…if not, not.

Please get to a ped gi asap

~laura

[Anonymous]

Ryan sounds exactly like my son. Myles has never liked his bottle. As time has gone on he has gotten more and more resistant to the bottle. I have absolutely no idea why. He eats his solids like a champ, so he’s getting enough, but it bothers me that he doesn’t drink more from a bottle. I’ve just learned to accept it because I don’t think there is anything I can do about it, and his doctor is not concerned about it.

The only time he will drink a bottle is in late afternoon when I think he is more thirsty than hungry. He usually drinks 4 ounces, sometimes 5. And he drinks one bottle at night before bed, usually 4 ounces sometimes up to 6.

The rest of his feedings are spoon fed. I mix about 4 1/2 ounces of breast milk with 1/3 cup cereal and spoon feed him. So, he’s getting plenty of liquid. Like Karen said the baby foods have water in them, too.

I wouldn’t be too worried about how much he’s eating or drinking or if he’s growing normally, wettig diapers, pooping, etc. Myles gets approximately 17 – 19 ounes of breast milk or formula per day, 2/3 cup cereal, and 2 jars of baby food. That’s it!! Not as much as most babies, but he’s no light weight (20 lbs), so it’s enough for him.

Myles isn’t interested in sippy cups yet either, but I just keep offering and I’m sure one day he will get the idea and drink something.

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to post to say that we are doing well! I am so thankful that I found this forum. I learned so much about reflux and how to help it and it is finally paying off.

Henry is such a happy contented baby! Who knew there was happiness under all that screaming? He naps well. Sleeps through the night. Praise God!

I think a lot of factors are playing into our current success. He is doing well on the prevacid solutabs. He is eating some solid food. He is now on hypoallergenic formula (instead of very strict elimination breastfeeding). He sits up independently, so spends a lot less time on his back. He takes the probiotics. We prayed a lot! So I’m not sure what the key was, but everything is coming together.

Thank you for your advise and encouragement through the bad times!

Ruby

Henry, 6 1/2 months, 7.5mg prevacid 2x day, Nutramigen

[Anonymous]

My little guy only ate 2 oz every 2 hrs or so until he was about 3-4 months old. At 4 months his intake literally almost stopped for 3 weeks he was eating at the most 10 oz a day (thickened formula)until I switched him to lacto-free formula..He’s 6 months now and still only eats 4 oz every couple of hours(2-3)..as tough as it is to waste the milk, you might want to try the 2 hour schedule again. My son’s bottles are REALLY thickened, he gets 3 tablespoons of oatmeal per 4 oz of formula, his ped origionally said 1 tbs per ounce (4 tbs per 4 oz) but that was a bit to thick for him..if I see his reflux kicking up a bit I’ll up it to 3 1/2 tbs of cereal. He has done great with the cereal, but like everyone said, every baby reacts differently!!! I would push for the ppi, Aidan is on prevacid, the soltabs, and they have been wonderful for him, it really IS trial and error until you find what works for your little one!! good luck, oh and as to the formula verses breastmilk, like Laura said it is a very personal descision, but I honestly don’t think there is a huge difference health wise, I nursed my older son until he was 2, and he still ended up with asthma, allergies, and recurring sinusitus. With Aidan, I decided way before he was born not to breastfeed, and have no regrets about it. I don’t think either breastfeeding or not breastfeeding is the right/wrong thing to do, just make sure if you want her to have breastmilk, you keep pumping no matter how much she does/doesn’t eat to keep your supply up.Oh, and try to keep a log of how much she eats and how often and how she reacts at each feed, video tape her eating if you can….it’ll help the dr’s see how she is reacting to see it for themselves!!!

[Anonymous]

Hi and welcome. I’m sorry to hear about the hard time you are having with your little girl. I certainly know what it’s like to have a baby who won’t eat, or gags and throws up while eating. I’ve had two babies with reflux, and it’s been very, very difficult both times.

My son started out eating fairly well, but would never nurse, so I pumped and fed him. Very difficult to say the least. As he got older his reflux got worse and worse and like you are describing he eventually go to the point where he would never eat more than 2 ounces at a time, though I know he was hungry. He gagged a lot when I fed him and he arched and screamed during feedings. To make a very long story short, I eventually got him on a PPI drug (Prevacid). His dose was too low and for at least six more weeks he continued to suffer from painful reflux and his eating continued to get worse. Finally I convinced my doctor to put him on the higher dose that the researchers at marci-kids recommend and he finally improved. I had printed this information and faxed it to my doctor and she finally agreed. Hopefully, your doctor will be aware of this research or at least open to examining it.

Here’s the link with the information I printed for my doctor. http://www.marci-kids.com/

Zantac is very weight sensitive so even if it does work initially, babies quickly outgrow their dose and need an increase. My daughter was never helped by Zantac at all. It seems from reading these posts that most babies do better on PPI medications like Prevacid or Zegerid.

As for cereal, many babies do benefit from cereal in their bottles, but it’s really trial and error. Lots of babies get gas and/or constipation from rice cereal, so be aware of that. I always started my babies on oatmeal for this reason and they all did fine on it, but some babies will find any grains difficult to digest until they are much older. I guess you just have to experiment. The main reason to put cereal in a reflux baby’s bottle is to make their milk thicker which sometimes stays down better, and sometimes is easier for baby to swallow without gagging. My son definitely did better on thickened breast milk. He’s better now and can drink it either way, but for a long time he could only drink thickened milk without choking.

Also, it might be a good idea to have your daughter evaluated for a swallowing problem…I think they call it a swallow study. Some babies have problems with swallowing and they aspirate and choke becuase of it. I think these studies are done by speech therapists…but hopefully some other mom’s out there can advise you better on that.

Again, I’m sorry things are so hard right now. Hopefully with proper evaluation and treatment she will be feeling and eating much better very soon.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

My daughter, Emily is 4 mths old. At about 6 weeks, she became extremely fussy at the breast, scremaing and arching her back during feedings. She spit up about once a day. Her ped put her on Zantac, but she always spit it up so we only ended up giving it to her for 2 days. Slowly, the reflux seemed to start getting better and I was able to take her out without the constant wailings.

However, since last mth, she bagan gagging all the time, whether it be while suckling on her fingers, tongue or as soon as she got on the breast or midway thru’ a bottle (and this is not when she is full).

She also seemed to be eating less and less and her weight gain from the 2nd mth to the 4 mth was minimal (though her ped thought this was okay). Her poop has also been very watery and mucousy. I think this was because she mainly consumed foremilk and very little hindmilk. Anyhow, seeing this, I decided to wean her off the breast so that she would take in more hindmilk from a bottle. I pumped about 4 times a day, even at 4am or 5 am in the morning. Now she absolutely refuses my breast, unless she is asleep. She was doing pretty good on the bottle for almost 2 weeks, drinking about 4 oz each time despite the constant gagging.

Then, last Thursday, she got her 4mth vaccinations, developed a fever and vomitted 4 times on Friday. I think the vomitting on Friday really scared her and now she refuses to drink more than 2.5 oz every 3 hrs. I’m so worried about her growth and development (or lack thereof). She is only 12 lbs 9 oz for a 4 mth old. I feel so helpless and upset at myself. I’ve been crying every night worried about what is going to happen to her. At the same time, I don’t feel like eating and my energy levels and milk supply has gone down significantly. The ped at the hospital recommended that I feed her less, but more frequently. She will only eat every 3 hrs and every time I try the 2 hr schedule, we end up wasting at least 1 to 2 oz of breastmilk. I want the best for her, but I don’t think I can handle the stress, lack of sleep, worrying and pumping much longer. I want to put her formula, but I know that formula is harder to digest and breastmilk is better for reflux babies.

Would I be making a horrible decision by weaning her off breastmilk and giving her formula instead? Is there a particular formula that is best for reflux babies? Should I start with rice cereal? Will this help or is she too young for this? Is it common for reflux to apppear to go away and then come back all of sudden? I just can’t get over how things got so bad so fast.

Is gagging a sure sign of reflux? Can you recommend any ways I can feed her without her gagging and vomitting everything? There are so many telltale signs that we are going to have many feeding issues down the road. It is so disheartening watching her go thru’ all that discomfort and not being able to eat when she needs her milk so badly. I think she must have lost at least a pound or two from all the vomitting during the past couple of days.

She is on Zantac again (1.2ml a day). Do you have any suggestions as to when is the best time to give this to her and whether I should split the dosage?

I’m sorry for the long post, I just feel so lost and frustrated. I have never felt so helpless before. It is so hard watching her eat less and less and experiencing the pain of constant gagging and heartburn.

Thanks for reading!

Sarah

[hellbennt]

here’s all about fenugreek: http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html

there’s a tea at wholefoods called “Mother’s Milk”

you can buy that- my lactation consultant said to read what’s in the tea (probably has fenugreek!) and buy all the ingredients seperately (don’t know why?) but it seems to me that the tea alone might help…

lots of mamas swear by eating a lot of oatmeal, too…

I think it’s the malt in the beer? I’m in miami & the Latin community swears by drinking this drink called Malta…The Jamaicans swear by drinking Giness (sp?)…I don’t know, but hey, sounds yummy…

from here: http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/herbal-rem_c.html

“One midwife suggests taking an essential fatty acid supplement, because the fatty acids help us to make the hormones we need for breastfeeding. She suggests trying it for at least a week. Reportedly, some moms have had luck with this, especially if they are on a really low fat diet. This is most likely not a true galactagogue, but may be helpful nutrition-wise if mom is missing this in her diet.

Flaxseed oil is rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, and is reported safe for nursing moms.”

[Anonymous]

That is true that pumping doesn’t boost supply as well as a nursing infant, but I successfully pumped enough milk to feed my non-nursing babies, AND freeze an ample supply to save for later. I am now feeding Myles frozen breast milk…I stopped pumping when he was five months old. He is 8 months old now and I still have at least a two or three month supply of milk for him. That’s with giving him only breast milk except for one bottle of formula at bedtime. So, you can successfully increase your milk supply with pumping, but like Kristen said, a nursing infant is the best way to increase milk production. So, definitely nurse as much as you possibly can.

I hope this encourages you to keep trying if nursing is really what you want to do.

Oh, and about the beer. My doctor told me it helps increase supply because it relaxes the mom. It didn’t work for me, though. I’m too uptight for a little beer to calm me down!

[Anonymous]

Try not to be so hard on yourself. No body tells us these things before we bring our babies home. I had trouble nursing all of my infants for different reasons. By the time I fiugured out the problem with my second she would no longer nurse. (My first never learned to latch and my third had a variety of problems which maybe could have been solved with proper technique and some professional help.

Anyway, I had to pump and feed all three of my babies. It was awful for me but well worth it. If you are still producing some milk you can probably still boost your supply by continuing to pump every two hours, and letting him nurse as much as possible. Also, try pumping for an additional 3-5 minutes after your milk flow stops. This will stimulate further milk production. Pump at least twice in the middle of the night, especially in the wee hours of the morning when milk supply is at it’s peak. Tapping into this early morning supply really helps alot. You don’t have to do all of this round the clock pumping for ever, but just until you get a good supply going again. To boost my supply I basically pumped every two hours around the clock except for a stretch of time between 10 or 11 pm until 3 or 4 am. It was horrible, but it worked and it was only temporary.

I’ve heard that Fenugreeek can help, but I never tried it. Also, some doctors will prescribe reglan to help a woman re-lactate.

Good luck. I hope you can go back to breast feeding, and I hope Grant is doing better.

[hellbennt]

your milk isn’t sour or bad

um, I don’t know a whole lot about this stuff- getting baby back to the breast- but I’d say to try and get him going on his own? I don’t know about pumping…I know there are teas and you eating oatmeal is supposed to help…

http://www.kellymom.com is a great resource

& http://groups.yahoo.com/group/breastfeedingreflux is really helpful…

if you’re worried about mspi, then maybe don’t have dairy or soy for 2-3 wks, including hidden dairy- you can always add that back in later- you can drink rice milk and have rice products (pasta, etc) and potatos- eat a lot of oil (canola, flax seed, olive oil) to get ‘good’ fat in you…

HTH,

~laura

[Anonymous]

Hi again,

Thanks for the compliment about Myles’ name!

There is something called an elimination diet which helps breast feeding moms narrow down which foods are causing reactions in their infants. It’s not always dairy. Sometimes it’s wheat, or many other things. I’m sure it’s in Laura’s intro which I will try to post here for you.

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&am p;PN=1&TPN=1

There’s lots of information here, so you may want to bookmark it and read a little here and there when you can.

I hope you find what you need to help your little guy.

[hellbennt]

hi there,

not much time, but the green &watery DEFINITELY can be from Overactive Letdown- not necessarily food intolerances/allergies- so if you want to get back to the breast, then I’d tackle OAL 1rst & then see if it’s anything in your diet…

sorry I can’t help more but links from my welcome/intro will help- the yahoobreastfeedingreflux group can really help

more later,

good luck!

~laura

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry you are having such a difficult time with your new baby. I’ve definitely been there. My second and third babies had/have reflux and I too, was nursing, or trying to nurse, and was very confused and torn about what to do.

I would suggest that If you have any second thoughts about bottle feeding versus breast feeding, to go right back to breast feeding before you dry up, and he refuses to go back to it. You can quit any time, but once you dry up they’ll be no going back. I know Laura has lots of links about breast feeding reflux babies and I’m sure she will post them for you. If not, you can do a search and find the links.

Many babies don’t get the relief they need from Zantac (mine included) and do much better on a PPI medication like Prevacid or Zegerid. Even when Zantac does help babies quickly outgrow their dose and it stops working.

About the burping….I don’t have good answer for you, but I noticed this with my babies, too. The worse their reflux, the harder it was to burp them. I don’t understand the connection at all. The only thing that sometimes helps when my son has this problem is to lay him flat for about a minute, then pick him up and burp him. Or, to hold him upright and (I know this sounds nuts) do a few deep knee bends. Also, I started giving him Mylicon drops before each feeding and I’m pretty sure it helps him burps.

I wish I had more or better advice and I hope things improve soon.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you had a good experience with the feeding therapist and
you sound so positive about her ideas! That’s good news and I’m so glad
they were so helpful.

Myles hates his bottle too, so he is mainly spoon fed. I was worried
about it initially but he is actually eating more with spoon feeding
then he ever did bottle feeding. And he throws up a lot less, too.

It seems so odd to have an 7 or 8 month old infant who isn’t bottle
feeding, but as long as it works and they are getting enough, I guess
it’s fine. Sounds like the your therapist thought it was o.k. So,
thanks for sharing your experience and her advice. It really helps me
to feel that I am doing o.k. with Myles.

When Ian can handle grains (like the barley she suggested) it will be
much easier for you to get the formula into his feedings. With Myles I
make his meals with 4 -5 ounces of breast milk or formula and mix it
with 1/3 cup of oatmeal. He loves it and eats it all, so at each meal
he is getting plenty of the breast milk or formula. I hope the barley
trial goes well for Ian so you’ll have an easier time getting the
formula into his diet.

The only suggestion I can come with for now about how to make batches
of sweet potatoes or squash ahead of time is to steam the veggies until
soft but don’t yet puree them. Divide them into small portions and
freeze. Each day you can thaw what you will need for the day, and then
puree each serving with the elecare when you are ready to feed him.
Might that work?

I’m curious, what kind of bad habits do they want to break?

Good luck with his future visits and I hope his test results are fine.