Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

Sigh….so I thought I had it figured out…my 3-month old had a few great nights of sleep but now she is back to screaming in pain from about 2:00 – 4:00am. She is arching her back and writhing and screaming…sometimes letting out a few toots (which leads me to believe its gas).

She had terrible gas all the time when I was breastfeeding so now she is on only Alimentum formula (has been for about a month). She takes 7.5mg of Prevacid at 6pm and 1.5ml of zantac at 4am. I also give her mylanta cherry supreme occasionally. In addition, I started to give her 1/16 tsp of probiotics once a day about a week ago.

So those are the only things she is ingesting….WHAT COULD BE CAUSING THIS PAIN???? I’m so frustrated because I feel terrible for her and feel like there is nothing I can do but hold her and listen to her scream until its over…then she just passes out to sleep again. I’ve seen how good she can sleep when she feels good so that makes it doubly frustrating. Does anyone have any ideas?????

I swaddle her for sleep — could that be bothering her because she can’t move in her sleep to expel the gas?? Could the probiotics be giving her problems??

When I tell the GI specialist about this he says “use mylicon” or “sorry there isn’t anything we can do for the gas.” argh….

[Anonymous]

Well, Myles is doing much better. After a week of refusing all bottles and puking up nearly every feed, he suddenly just turned the corner and is doing just fine again. I’m thrilled of course, but I honestly just don’t know what the problem was or why he’s fine now. I wish I knew so I could prevent it from happening again. That’s the million dollar question around here, isn’t it? Why the back and forth with symptoms?

He’s still not very interested in his bottle so I am mostly spoon feeding him. Breast milk mixed with some oatmeal cereal, and two jars of baby food per day. He gets thirsty in the afternoon and finally takes a 4 ounce bottle and then most nights he will drink a bottle before bed. So, only two bottles per day but he’s eating his solids like a champ. I’m trying to get him interested in a sippy cut, but no interest yet. I’ve tried a tiny bottle that he can hold himself, but that’s a no go so far. But, at least he’s eating and getting enough.

Thanks for all your suggestions and support.

The only theory I have is that maybe there was something in the batch of frozen breast milk he was eating that week. Maybe I was eating onions or something back then that now aggravates his reflux.

The funny thing is he has a nasty cold these last two days but is eating better than he was a week ago. Maybe the virus was coming on and he felt lousy, but had no outward symptoms yet. I just don’t know.

In any case, I just thought I’d post about his turn around and thank you all for your ideas and concern.

[Anonymous]

Hi Kris,

My son has the same issues – drinks from a bottle only when he’s asleep. We’re in the Los Angeles area, and our GI specialist recommends that we work with a Pediatric feeding specialist. They’re occupational therapists who work with infant feeding problems. Don’t know if you have people out there. Insurance pays for most of it.

Doctor recommends that we start solids early, at 4 mo. to start getting him used to using his tongue more. Therapists also will teach us mouth exercises to help him w/ solids when the time comes. They say not to expect Clark to like the bottle much going forward….

Until then if baby is not eating much, then add Human Milk Fortifier to breastmilk or use 22 Calorie/Oz. formula (i think these are pre-term infant formulas – ask your doctor), to ensure growth. http://www.enfamil.com/products/formulas/i_1_11.html Therapist says that adding rice cereal to formula often worsens the reflux sypmtoms from her experience (15 years).

Good luck! My heart goes out to you and Aaron.

-Helen

[hellbennt]

http://www.massgeneral.org/pcs/heal_lang_art2.htm

this seems very interesting-

was posted on yahoobreastfeedingreflux…

[Anonymous]

Christine

You mentioned that for the past 3 months you have been feeding Myles frozen expressed breast milk. This may sound like an odd question, but have you ever tasted the frozen milk before giving it to him? For some women, when they freeze their breast milk, the lipase in the milk breaks down and the milk will take on a different flavor. And it is rather nasty. I cannot give Noah frozen breast milk because I have this problem. He really puts up a fight if I try to give it to him. I dont know if this might be the case for you, but maybe Myles fights the bottle because he doesnt like the flavor of the frozen milk.

I have over 700 oz of frozen milk in my freezer and Noah will never take it . I feel like I’m wasting liquid gold!

lisaann2006-5-13 23:23:51

[Anonymous]

Hi Kelley,

Sounds like Jack is getting enough with the breast feeding, so that’s good. Even when Myles is eating his best he rarely takes more than 15-18 ounces per with the bottle and then he gets another 4 ounces or so in his cereal. I was fine with that, even though it’s much less than most babies…his growth is fine, so it must be enough for him. His recent bottle refusal is throwing me for a loop, but it was just a little bit better today, so maybe he’s coming around again. I hope so.

I looked at the nubby cups at walmart today. I didn’t see one that looked like you could squeeze liquid out of.

Working around the Prevacid sure is difficult…I can’t imagine having to do it with daycare, especially a daycare that won’t give meds! We should all give ourselves a great big pat on the back and a medal for the all the hard work we mom’s do on a daily basis!! Especially those of us with reflux babies…such hard work! Happy Mother’s Day!!!

[Anonymous]

Christine-big projectile vomiting like that is not normal. Do you have a ped GI? Can you force them to address it? The way mspi works is the proteins build up in the system and then the child starts to react-it could be a few days or a few weeks. Soy traditionally can make kids vomit. Can you try alimentum for a week or two and keep your breastmilk frozen just to see if it helps? He may have a hard time with the taste at this age but they tend to like the texture of the ready to feed? We never had a test but we were on nutramagin for 5 days and Ian was a new baby (after breastfeeding and goodstart) and then reflux hell!! Our GI here said that was a major sign of proteins building up and after a month on elecare-things went really well(and it’s a rollercoaster now but I’m sure better then if we stayed on it). You could do an endo but perhaps alimentum first?

I’m so not a doctor but I’d definitely find one you like that’s a specialist. Where did you say you live now? Maybe I can help you find one? I belong to castle connolley online and have access to best physcians in different states. Also, reflux can be for various reasons-some scary, some just normal outgrow kind of things. Ian’s was mspi but I’ve heard imature sphincters, hirschsprungs, pyloric stenosis, etc. List goes on-I’m sure for many things I don’t know.

Hope he’s eating better today??

Tracy

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tracy…I really feel for you. It’s so scary..and so frustrating to not know why you’re baby won’t eat.

No, they never told me why Myles has reflux. I didn’t know there were different reasons.

His vomiting is large, projectile vomiting. Like everything he ate all comes up. He’s still hungry after and wants to eat (with the spoon, not the bottle).

I’ve never really considered a food sensitivity with Myles because as soon as he started the 30mg of Prevacid daily, he was eating fine. That continued for months. And his diet hasn’t changed at all in months, except for the variable of what may be in the breast milk each day.

Myles doesn’t have any poop problems or sleep difficulties. That’s another reason I haven’t considered a milk or soy sensitivity. He’s very happy most of the time. Spoiled, but happy!

How do you check for MSPI? Is there a medical test?

Myles is drinking mostly frozen breast milk, so there could be dairy in that. I’d hate to toss it all, but if that’s what’s bothering him, I will. What formula is best for MSPI?

I wish someone could just tell us what the problem is and what to do about it. I know what you mean about just wanting to enjoy your baby. Myles is my last and I cannot enjoy his infancy at all. I’m just waiting for the day he is a toddler and hopefully this is all behind us. It sucks to not be able to enjoy the beautiful baby God gave me because I’m so worried about him all the time.

BTW – I’m originally from Long Island. I miss NY in lots of ways, but like the small town life, too.

Thanks for answering my many questions. I’m going to do what I’m doing for a few more days (spoon feeding when he refuses the bottle) and if he continues to push the bottle away I may take him to the doctor next week to see if something may be bothering him that I’m missing. If that gets me nowhere, then I’ll try one of the specialty formulas for two weeks. I don’t really know what else to do. Thanks again. I hope Ian improves and starts feeling better and eating better soon.

[Anonymous]

Lisa,

It sounds like these people want you to go from 0 – 60 overnight with changing Noah’s feedings. How do they expect him to go from sleep feeding and basically nothing else (except the purees) to eating three meals and three snacks a day plus milk in a cup? Did they evaluate the wrong child??

I can understand taking their recommendations as a goal to work towards, but it sounds like they want you to do it over night.

I’m surprised they didn’t suggest maybe initially reducing the amount of his sleep feeds instead of eliminating them completely. That would make more sense to me. If he was getting less at each sleep feeding, maybe he’d be a little hungrier during the day and maybe it would help him to learn to accept more solids. Reducing but not eliminating his sleep feedings would be a gradual change instead of an abrupt change, which would probably be easier for him and you. I know I wouldn’t be able to just stop the only way my baby was getting any fluids and most of his nutrition, and hope he somehow learns to make up for it. I’m no therapist, nor expert, but if I was in your shoes that’s what I would try.

Does he eat any baby cereal? Myles has been refusing most of his bottles lately, so I’ve been making really thin cereal for him and spoon feeding it to him. This way he gets a fair amount of breast milk or formula and some cereal.

I’m sorry the therapist seemed to blame you. It’s not your fault. I hope it gets better soon.

[Anonymous]

All I can say is “What a waste”! We went for a follow up to the feeding clinic where Noah was evaluated by an OT, SLP, Ped, Nutrtionist, and a Child Feeding Psychologist. Before I tell you what they said about Noah, let me first tell you what feeding him now is like. He still gets 2 nighttime bottles that are sleep fed. He is starting to wake up and fight however. He gets an A.M. bottle as soon as he gets up and once again, he fights and cries during the whole ordeal. During the afternoon, he wakes after taking 1 oz and then I resort to walking around the house trying to get him to take his bottle. He wont suck, but instead swallows as it drips into his mouth. After many, many minutes of this, my arms give out from holding him in the cradle position, and I try to syring the rest to him. He now wont even hardly let me do that, and he fights and hits it out of my hand. Then I put the remaining into a spill proof sippy and give it to him to feed himself. He takes one or two little drinks and then starts playing with it. If I offer it to him, he hits it away. Next I take what is remaining of that and pour it into another sippy that has no spill proof valve. I hold it and offer it to him and sometimes I can get a little more into him. If that fails, I then put it back into the bottle and put on a really fast flow nipple where no sucking is required and again walk around and let him swallow that. Mind you, my goal is to try to get 4 oz into him per feeding, and it still takes all this work. Thankfully, he will do about 10 oz of purees per day, but he isnt thrilled about it. He will not hardly chew and doesnt do finger foods well either, nor does he eat table food.

Now, this is what I was told by all of the Medical Professionals who evaluated him this past week:

“Noah is a 13 month old boy who displayed normal and age appropriate feeding behaviors. He has developed normal oral skills and is ready to end sleep feedings and his morning bottle. He may initially lose weight without his guaranteed breastmilk/formula given during naps. His sleep feedings interfere with the development of normal feeding patterns. The first step is to offer scheduled and times meals including 3 meals and 3 snacks and milk in a cup offered every 2 – 3 hours apart.

Noah’s parents are concerened about his weight, therefore they continue to syringe when awake or sleep feed by bottle. He continues to be fed table food cautiously by his mom, who fears he will choke. Noah’s dad feeds a bottle when he is home with less difficulty than mom. Noah’s dad also challenges him with more food textures.

We do not need to see Noah again, as his feeding behaviors and skills are age appropriate.”

Is it just me, or are these people idiots?! Does his feedings sound normal to you? He fights bottles and cups, wont chew, doesnt eat table food, still sleep feeds etc etc. How is that “normal” feeding behavior? Not to mention, if I discontinue his 2 sleep feed night time bottles and his morning bottle, he will be down 450 calories per day! He is already falling off the growth chart. I was blown away when they told me I didnt need to bring him back to therapy anymore. If the only feeding clinic in town doesnt think we need to be seen, I guess my only alternative is to drive 2 hours away to the next Childrens Hospital for their feeding program? How ridiculous is this?!

lisaann2006-5-12 20:49:41

[Anonymous]

Well, just spoon fed him three four ounces of breast milk with a couple tablespoons of oatmeal, and he kept it down. I just wish he’d take a bottle. He’s refused all day today, but at least he’s eating something.

Tracy….

Thanks for your reply and ideas. If this continues I may try Alimentum or Nutramagin like you suggested, but I’d probably have to stop giving him the breast milk, too. Otherwise, I’d have no idea if the breast milk has anything to do with it or not.

As for his behavior when bottle feeding, he usually begins by sucking and drinking 1/2 to one ounce, then spits it out and refuses anymore. I always burp him at this time and he usually burps. Then he simply refuses to drink anymore….even if it’s been 4 hours or all night since he ate last. He will turn his head side to side to get away from the bottle, or push it away with his hand. If I continue trying to feed him he will often gag because he doesn’t want to suck or swallow. Today he was chomping (biting) the nipple. Maybe it’s teething…I just don’t know anymore. The interesting thing is that when I ditch the bottle and go to the spoon, he eats very eagerly. He’s hungry and thirsty…he just doesn’t want the bottle.

As for the taste issue, yeah, I can see that as a possibility sometimes. He is very, very sensitive to tastes and will throw up almost instantly when he is given something new or something he doesn’t like. But, what I’ve been feeding him these last three months is unchanged, so that shouldn’t be bothering him now; at least you wouldn’t think so.

You’re probably right about not feeding him right away after he vomits. I do it because I have to feed him 30 minutes after giving him his Prevacid, and if he throws up immediately, I think the medicine won’t work. It’s so complicated and aggravating. Thanks for all of your ideas.

Lori….

If anyone understands, I know you do. I don’t know how you do it with Hailey’s aversion to solids as well as the bottle. Thank God Myles does like his solids. I like your peds’ story about the two month old who was only spoon fed. It makes me feel better, so thanks for sharing that. I sometimes am so afraid that he will just stop the bottle completely, but maybe it’d be o.k. as long as he’s eating solids. What was the reason for that baby to not drink a bottle from two months on? I’ve never heard of a baby who hated the bottle – except mine, and these babies here with reflux. You’re right that I should keep offering him the sippy. I just put them all away because he’s never been interested, but I should try from time to time. Maybe he’ll surprise me one day. Thanks for your support. I can’t wait for the day that this is behind us both.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Karen…..

He’s been getting one bottle of soy since about 1 month of age so I don’t think it’s that. And he’s been eating the same five baby foods for at least three months. The breast milk he gets at most of his feedings is frozen (I stopped pumping a few months ago), so I guess it’s possible there’s something I ate back then that could be bothering him.

Thanks Jill…..

The pedialyte is a really good idea. There’s no way he’ll take it from a syringe (he’s so stubborn) but I could put a little in a bowl and mix it with some cereal…he might take it that way. Maybe like you said he’s teething worse than I realize. I have a baby safe feeder and I have tried frozen fruit in it. He didn’t really like it the first few times, but I’ll try again. Anything to get some fluid into him.

Thanks to both of you.

[Anonymous]

Myles is back to throwing up constantly. Last night he threw up three times before he went to bed. I tried the bottle first. He drank two ounces and refused anymore, so I switched to spoon feeding him thickened formula. He ate it, seemed to want it, but promptly threw it all up. I fed him again. He threw up again. I fed him again. He threw up again. He threw up 3 times. Finally he kept down about 3 ounces and went to bed.

This morning he refused his bottle (he hates his bottle), so I gave up and spoon fed him breast milk thickend with oatmeal. He seemed to really want it, but threw it all up. I had 20 minutes to feed him again, change him (he was literally covered head to toe), get both girls dressed and fed, get myself dressed, and get out of the house in time to get Liza to pre-school. I ended up giving them dry cereal in the car because by the time I changed Myles, cleaned the puke which was plastered all over the kitchen, and fed him again, it was time to go.

He’s been throwing up three to five (or more) times a day for weeks now. He only eats four to five times per day, so it’s basically every feeding some days.

I just can’t stand this anymore. I feel like screaming day and night because I’m so sick of it. How long is this going to go on? He’s nearly 8 months old. I thought for sure he’d be better, or at least improving by now. I’m not even going to bother calling the doctor because I know all I’ll hear is, “He’s going to outgrow this.” Yeah, I know, but WHEN?

Why is it getting worse? He’s not sick. He’s teething slightly (drooling and chewing on things, but nothing breaking through).

My other question is regarding his complete disdain with bottles. He’s down to three on a good day, and he’d really prefer none. How am I going to get enough fluid into him with only three bottles per day, or if he starts to refuse even those? Have any of your babies been off the bottle this young?? He just doesn’t want the bottle and I don’t know what I am going to do about it. I’m quite sure it’s not because of any pain. He does not seem to be in any pain at all. When he’s hungry he spoon feeds well, opens his mouth like a little bird…but when offered the bottle he fusses or refuses. I just don’t understand why.

[Anonymous]

I’ve read a lot of the old threads here about Alimentum but I have a question…

I recently switched my 3-month old daughter to Alimentum full time because she had such TERRIBLE gas when I was breastfeeding her (I eliminated all dairy, caffeine, gassy veggies a while ago but gas did not go away). So she has been on the Alimentum part time since last Friday and full time for 2 days now…and I have not noticed any difference yet (we had 2 good sleep nights and now she is back to waking 4 times a night). Some threads say it takes a week or longer to notice and others say you notice right away. Does anyone know what the final word on this is?? Should I stick with it for longer before trying something else? What would I try? Nutramigen?

Just fyi, the GI doc never confirmed that she is MSPI — never found blood in her stool, etc. She has an endoscopy in a week and a half so that should explain somen things, but in the meantime I don’t want her to be in pain because of the formula i’m using.

Help!

[Anonymous]

Oh and yes, i’m pumping in case i want to return to breastfeeding but I’m thinking that if the formula helps, then I will donate all of the milk i’ve pumped….