Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

I’ll try to keep this brief, but I’d love some feedback.

I’ve been breastfeeding and supplementing with formula since day one (I have a low supply due to a breast reduction). For the first 9 weeks of her life, she was gassy, fussy, arching, unhappy, and not gaining quickly. I switched her to soy formula and cut dairy out of my diet, and that made a big difference in her general happiness level. She also gained 6 oz in a week, which was the most she’d ever gained. But the next week she gained nothing again.

I finally suspected reflux (I thought spitting up was normal, and didn’t realize normal spit up is just a little) and talked to the doctor. I think she suspected I just wasn’t feeding the baby enough, so she told me to stuff the baby with as much formula as possible, then we’d do another weight check. She gained 11 oz that week! We still put her on Zantac, though, because she was still spitting up a ton. The next week she only gained 4 oz. (I’ve been feeding her 26-30 oz of soy formula, plus breastmilk.)

We tried Similac Alimentum and she hated it and turned her face away. Then she threw up everything she ate and stunk like buttermilk. She ate far less the day I tried it than usual, so I called that one a failed experiment.

I thought her spitting up had gotten a little better on the Zantac, but in the last few days it’s been like the Exorcist around here again. After one feeding last night, the cloth diaper I had been using as a burp cloth was totally soaked and needed to be laundered.

I’m checking her weight again tomorrow, but I don’t feel good about it. She’s over three months old and just broke ten pounds last week.

I read some of the forum, and I think I might request that she see a pediatric gastroenterologist and try a PPI. Any other thoughts or suggestions for me? Thanks in advance…

[Anonymous]

My son is 8 weeks old and has refulx. He is currently on Alimentum and some breast milk. I had a reduction surgery and can only supply him with about 6-8oz per day of breast milk. He doesn’t have a problem after drinking the breast milk but if he has several bottles of formula in a day he is screaming all night.
I called my doctor today and asked if I should put rice in his bottle and she told me to stop breast feeding and put him on neocate. Why would I stop the one thing that helps him. She knows that I’m not on an emlination diet because he doesn’t react to my milk. I also don’t know if it’s worth it for just a few ounces.
I don’t know what to do at this point. He is having some test done on Thursday where he drinks something and gets and x-ray done. (I forgot the name)
Should I stop breastfeeding? He doesn’t nurse good enough to get milk from me so I have to pump a lot to get those 6oz per day. He does comfort nurse at night because it’s the only thing that calms him down.
I’m going to start putting him on his tummy to sleep because he is more comfortable.
I’ve also started to feed him more in case he is just hungry and I’m over looking that. He was taking 2oz ever 1 1/2 to 2 hours and I’ve started offering 3oz instead.

[hellbennt]

I did TED, so I’d say to do it. Also there are enzymes you can take to help resolve the blood in the stools (along w/ the diet). I have an article here in my hand- I can give you more info later- have to head out the door-

this was discussed recently;

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11039&KW=pancrease

&

google:

breastfeeding clinic U of CA, Davis Medical Center

Pancrease

Pancrease MT4

hellbennt2008-06-28 09:53:05

[Anonymous]

Well the lactation consultant, PhD sounds great! Very up to date with the newest cutting edge GI treatments. And how great for her to spend so much time with you. It’s nice to hear of someone like that!

Personally, if you were to go with a comprehensive digestive enzyme like TriEnza, I would recommend only using part of a capsule for a young baby. At 4 months, she would likely do fine with about 1/3 capsule with each feeding, and you could perhaps increase to 1/2 capsule if necessary, or as she gets older. You can just open it up and sprinkle it into her formula or expressed breastmilk and mix it really well. I have a couple tiny little wisks that work great. Since infants usually eat smaller amounts at more frequent intervals, I don’t think it would be necessary to use a full capsule until they are eating bigger meals, perhaps as a toddler.

If you are concerned about possible dairy intolerance/allergy have you eliminated dairy completely from your diet as well? You likely have, but just thought I would mention it.

Good luck! And feel free to ask any more questions.

[Anonymous]

We did our Upper GI at about 10wks. I don’t remember having to wait 4hrs, I thought it was 3. If you are breastfeeding you can get away with less time b/c breast milk is digested so quickly. I would call the hospital and ask how long they want a bf baby to wait… 4hrs is tough for the bf babies. She will be flat on her back only for the procedure. They feed her from a bottle but you can be in the room. we were. It in total took about 5 maybe 10 min from start to finish. If she does have pyloric stenosis you may not necessarily know so the test is great to rule out those things. Just not a good indicator of reflux. This is probably the easiest of all the diagnositc type tests as she will be awake and the procedure itself isn’t painful at all. HTH.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply!

To answer your question…we see all 3 . Her ped would really only put her on Zantac, reluctantly. He referred us to ped GI at our request. She has put us on Prevacid solutab (however, right now, only 1/2 the dose marci-kids recommends) and she ordered the GI. But, this week I went to see this amazing lady who is a lactation consultant, but also a PhD. She has been practicing for over 30 years, but is very up to date! She is unlike most doctors who only think of drugs and tests. She spent two and a half hours with us talking about the reflux and breastfeeding. I felt a renewed spirit after I left her office. She suggested things the ped and ped GI never did. Like the enzymes, switching DD to a special organic soy formula (not with corn sugars in it) because she may be allergic to dairy, pediatric chiropractor b/c this has sometimes held reflux babies, and more.

She just didn’t give much specifics on the enzymes so I wanted to check it out before I did anything. Can I ask you…

-I know no one can say for sure, but it seems these enzymes are safe for kids…even a 4 month old?

-How much would you give to a 4 month old? The doctor told us to open 1 capsule in each bottle we had to give her with formula supplement. Does this sound right?

THANKS!!

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry I’m just now getting to this. I just happened upon here and got the pm from Laura.

I’ll do my best to remember what we did. I will say that we were breastfeeding so It may or may not work for you. Basically what ended up working for us was to lay on my back and allow Justice to lay his head on my upper arm. If the baby is smaller there will probably be more of the baby on your arm. Oh, I almost forgot I put a pillow under my arm and his body layed on the pillow and his head on my arm. You could probably do it laying on your side too. For us I let Justice stay latched on all night and nurse. The nursing releases hormones that help you and baby get sleepy. I say all that to say I’m not sure how comfortable what we did really was, but because of the hormones being released I was able to go right back to sleep. Other things I tryed were until he was about 5 months old he slept in a very upright bouncy seat. He was very tightly swaddled so he couldn’t slouch. I never turned the bouncy seat on, but I would bounce it to get him to sleep. With my oldest son who also had reflux I used the swing until he outgrew it. I tryed an amby bed and as much as I loved it, it didn’t really work for us. I think you do what works for you and you just let everyone that is bugging you about it know that they have never gone through anything like you are going through. You are not spoling your baby and my opinion is you can’t spoil a baby. A baby is in you for a little over 9 months and then people expect them to just be fine being away from you when being with you is all they have known. You are doing a great job and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Careing for a baby with reflux is a hard job that not everyone can do. I will add this also. I was told that my boys would never sleep without me and at 7 months for my oldest and 10 months for my youngest they were sleeping in their own beds. Sadly I did do cio for my oldest. I regretted it and swore that I would never do it again. For my youngest I helped him learn how to sleep on his own. So, it can happen. I hope this helps and hope you are getting some much needed sleep very soon.

[hellbennt]

hi & welcome!

The Upper GI, is good to look for structural abnormalities,

it is *not* good to verify reflux: it is a snapshot in time if you were, so if baby doesn’t happen to reflux at that particular time of the test then a dr might be quick to dismiss you & tell you reflux isn’t there/isn’t bad- the way to show reflux is a ph probe, where the actual length (duration) & frequency (how often) of reflux episodes are recorded (I think actually the acidity is measured as well? Thus the ‘ph’ part of the test?)…

I have a LOT MORE to say & (most of) it’s here:

J

Groupie Intro: my intro: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&PN=1&TPN=1

from this link, look for Prevacid 101- this will tell you all about prevacid- check http://www.marci-kids.com for ‘proper dose’ & prevacid 101 will explain the various forms & how to administer it properly

also from this link, look for the ‘section’ about breastfeeding

and. ask your dr NOW abut carafate. this is not a long term solution, it’s like a band-aid solution but maybe will help get baby to eat

so glad you found us!

~laura

[Anonymous]

I’m new here and I’m hoping you all will have some advice for me. My dear Phoebe has a preliminary diagnosis of silent reflux but it took awhile because her only symptom was crying and kicking during breast feeding. The fussy feeding started slowly, and gradually built to the point where she would not breastfeed at all and we basically force feed her a bottle. My pedi said it could be a dairy intolerance, so I’m now on TED. She doesn’t prefer the bottle because she screams her head off when we give her that too.

I’m just wondering when if the prevacid helps and the dairy is out of our systems if she’ll begin to breastfeed again or if she’ll continue the aversion. Right now she’ll breastfeed in her sleep so I make sure I feed her a couple of times a night. Its worth the sleep sacrifice to see her eat without screaming.

Any advice or personal experience would be great. She is having a swallow study and upper GI in the next week, but as you all know that seems like forever.

[hellbennt]

not sure if we’ve addressed poop in another thread, LOL! since your breastfeeding, the congestion *might* be due to mspi. but I think you’d see mucous at the other end, lol, thus the question about poop. if there’s usually mucous in the poop (actually looks like snot or can appear to be stringy), then you might want to try either eliminating all milk & soy proteins from your diet for a good 3 weeks or you might want to just go full steam ahead & do the TED (total elimination diet). I did it & it’s a PITA (pain in the rear), but you might be at that desperate point to see what, if anything, you’re eating is affecting your baby…

however, regardless of all of that diet stuff, I whole-heartedly agree w/ saline saline saline. Saline & mylanta cherry supreme are my two ‘go-tos’ w/ ALL babies, reflux or not!

[Anonymous]

UGH! IMO, your doctor is an idiot! You’re breastfeeding too much??? Good grief… Anyway,I think I would stop the cereal too. It sounds like your lo is suffering from some protein intolerances. They probably affected her through your breastmilk until she was about 6 months or so.. when you said she started to get better. That’s probably when her system could START to handle them better.

However, I doubt she is ready for solids on her own. Many, many reflux babies can’t handle solids until after 9 months or even up to a year, so don’t feel pressured to give them to her. Cereal, in particular (and rice even more so, for some) is really hard to digest, and can certainly be causing her current problems.

Just my opinion, but I would cut out the cereal for a week and let her system recover. Then if you really feel the need to do solids now, maybe start with a mild fruit or veggie… like pears or sweet potatoes. take it very slow, and if you see her react like she has with the cereal, stop for a a month or so and then try again.

Also, you may want to look into probiotics. They can be really, really helpful in aiding with digestion. We use them with great success, and so have many other reflux moms. There’s been quite a lot about them posted recently, so you could probably find some info. fairly easily. You have to read carefully, but there are quite a few brands that are totally milk and soy free.

Also, Laura mentioned the TED.. and you said you have been dairy/egg/soy free.. are you also checking ingredients on boxes, etc? those products are in EVERYTHING, and it can be very hard to totally cut them out.

I hope this helps! And I hope you are able to find some better support and help out there. Hang in there!!!

Bensmama2008-06-24 13:42:42

[Anonymous]

This is going to be a long post…I am hoping someone here can offer advice.

 

My daughter is 8mos old and has had terrible sleep issues starting at 3 mos. She has always hated to be placed on her back. After lots of online research we found that she might have silent reflux. At around 5 months, we took her to see a GI doc. She prescribed Prevacid but never followed up with us. We live in Hawaii and she is only on our island twice a week. By 6 mos the Prevacid seemed to either stop working or Sofia got better. We weaned her off and she was doing well.

 

 

Then her sleep issues came back when we started solids. I would give her oatmeal before bedtime and she would be up every half an hour crying with bad gas.

 

 

Someone recommended another GI doc and we saw him today. He told us to start feeding her rice cereal 4x per day with breastfeeding to follow. He also told us to give Mylanta if she seemed uncomfortable.

 

 

Well, tonight was HELL! I gave her rice cereal at 3pm and right before bedtime. She was up every half hour to an hour crying and would not even fall asleep with nursing. Then, at 3am she was up and refused to fall asleep. My husband rocked her for 1.5 hours and they are finally asleep but I am unable to close my eyes.

 

 

I feel like the cereal is causing her more pain since each time she’s had it she has had an awful night of sleep. Have any of you experienced this? The GI doc said we are so behind in solids but I feel like when I give it to her, she is in pain!

 

 

Do you think I should demand an endoscopy? We have been through 5 pediatricians here and none of them have a clue about reflux. We continue to suffer sleepless nights and I am soooooooooooo tired. Sofia has never slept through the night or for more than 5 hours at a time.

 

 

I feel like no one is listening, even this current GI. I told him that the cereal caused her gas and night wakings and he told me I was BFing too much and the breastmilk was causing her gas…even though we have had better sleep since she’s been off solids.

 

 

I need your thoughts/opinions! I’m so desperate for my baby. She is otherwise healthy and has gained weight like a champ. It’s the nights that are pure hell.

 

 

Thank you.

[hellbennt]

w/ breastfeeding, they tend to self-regulate, so if it’s a nice bonding/comfort thing then just do it, lol!

this is coming from someone who nursed before bed for a long time- up until about 12 months I’d say- when it was time to stop I/we were fine

[Anonymous]

I know this is random, but right now with McKenzie’s schedule I feed her at 6:30ish and then give her rice cereal and she is in the bath and upstairs around 7:40ish where she eats again…adding the rice cereal actually has seemed to be a good thing for her. But here is my question…do any of ya’ll not nurse or give a bottle right before bed. I was looking for some way to combine those last two feedings as tehy are so blose together, but tonight I didn’t feed her at 6:30 and did at 7:40 and she feel asleep just fine, but about 30 min into it she started moving around uncomfortable(during the day this is when her naps end). When I do it the other way, she ususally sleeps and doesn’t wake up…and I was thinking it is because she doesn’t eat too, too much at the last feeding, so not much to reflux…then I starting thinking, maybe if I cut that right before bed feeding out that would be even better for her. I can’t imagine I have more than an ounce in each breast when she feeds at night since it has only been an hour…but I guess I am scared not to feed her at night that she might wake up in the night to feed (currently she is sleeping through the night).

this might be way to random, and maybe I am just high on sugar (we went to a carnival tonight) but what do ya’ll think?

[hellbennt]

A big hug to you, Destiny!

It is NOT your fault!

I blame your (#$&#$&!!!! doctor…

PLEASE don’t beat yourself up

anyway, if you need/want more breastfeeding resources, let me know

(you can PM me or look at ‘groupie intro’ or the breastfeeding forum, etc)