Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

Sarah- I’m SO SO sad to read your reply. I’ll post another thead to you so as not to hijack this one, or pm me if you get a chance. HUGS. I hope that you’re doing okay.

Tommy’s Mom-

BIG BIG HUGS to you. Really, going through everything with the feeding aversion was one of the most challenging things I’ve experienced. Like you, I knew that something was wrong right away. My GI who I love kept saying colic and breast feeding issues and extreme fussiness until it was obvious that it was reflux when she stopped eating at 8 weeks old (along with her other symptoms). He sent us right away to a ped GI, and she told us that unless I could persist with feeding Hailey despite the challenge, that Hailey would likely need a feeding tube. We ended up trudging through, but it was exhausting and scary. I saw the GI monthly and they kept weighing her and saying that she was gaining and that we should just keep going on. I didn’t know how I would do that- Hailey screamed almost nonstop and I couldn’t feed her and I couldn’t take her anywhere. I felt so isolated and alone. Then I found this forum. The people here helped me to get the help that I needed for Hailey and to take matters into my own hands to ensure that she wasn’t ignored. We will do that for you too. Sometimes you just need a helping hand and some guidance.

Know this: YOU ARE NOT CRAZY! YOU ARE NOT MAKING THINGS UP! THIS IS NOT NORMAL! and THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT!

Babies should like eating! They should not be in pain all the time to the point that they cannot eat and are miserable. Hailey was in pain all the time to the point that she couldn’t eat, but also that she couldn’t focus on doing the things that babies should do.

We also saw every GI I could get my hands on in our city. We also saw a feeding specialist, 2 OTs, PT, SLP, an osteopath, a neurologist, and multiple dieticians. When things didn’t improve, we were sent to a pediatric psychiatrist and a pediatric psychologist. We waited months for this appointment, where he proceeded to tell me that it was my fault that Hailey wouldn’t eat, that I must be causing it, that she feels my stress, that I’m pushing too hard, etc. etc…. so I understand your disappointment of waiting. I also cried after that appointment, out of sheer disappointment. We waited almost 6 months to see the top ped GI in our city only to be told that she has reflux, she’ll outgrow it and that she was fine because she was gaining weight. It didn’t matter that I could hardly feed her. I also cried again. I waited 4 more months from that time for our scheduled endoscopy date which I pushed for, and then got a call that the GI was cancelling all his appointment for that date and that we’d have to wait another 3 months. Somewhere in between all that I decided that I had enough being disappointed and took matters into my own hands. I called around to anyone and everyone that would listen and in the end, I got Hailey on a good dose of PPI that worked for her. And I got her feeding therapy with the best people in our area that I could find. Our GI still thought I was nuts in the end, as have most people I’ve come into contact with. But, as I said before, you’re NOT crazy.

I’m only telling you our story so that you realize that you’re not alone. I know how awful it is.

My advice to you would really be:

1) First get him on a good dose of PPI that’s being made correctly. I would personally call marci-kids and try prevacid in CaraCream. It worked really well for my daughter. BUT, the dose needs to be high enough to work well. Which is why I suggest #2…

2) Find a new doc. We’ll try to help you. You need someone on your side who’s willing to give your son what he needs and not belittle you in the interim.

3) Check out http://www.marci-kids.com. They advocate for high dosing, much higher than most docs give out. But if you email them, then sometimes the head pharmacist there (Dr. Phillips) will call your doc directly and talk about dosing.

4) Read up about neocate. It sounds like your little guy may have milk protein allergy or at least milk soy protein intolerance. I would definitely read up about neocate- which does not have milk proteins (as opposed to alimentum/nutramigen) and see if that’s something that you want to try.

You don’t need a presciption for neocate as far as I know, but it’s very expensive.

5) Control the constipation. It’s really been an ongoing battle with us for Hailey to try to do this, and it’s still an issue we deal with now. But we always noticed that the reflux and feeding was so much worse when she was backed up. Ask your doc about miralax, and see if that gets him pooping. Otherwise, I think you can get miralax OTC there.

About the chest xray- Some babies can have silent aspiration where they have a little bit of each feed that they’re aspirating. This might not be enough to cause a pneumonia or something that will show up on a chest xray, but still is enough to cause problems with feeding and a wet sounding chest. My daughter always sounded this way, but our doc wouldn’t refer her for a modified barium swallow because he thought he knew it all and belittled us constantly. Unfortunately for us, our healthcare system is different, and I could never get it done. But if you can, I would. It’s not the same thing as a “barium swallow” aka “an upper GI”. The modified barium swallow is done by an SLP usually. They lace your baby’s milk with some barium, and then they watch while he feeds. The can watch the milk travel all the way down, and see if he’s doing the suck/swallow/breathe correctly, if he’s got good bolus formation, and make sure that the milk is all going down the right way. They can see if even a few drops are being aspirated. I’d ask your doc about it, if you can.

That’s all the advice I have for now. I’m going to see if I can get a friend to post here to help you some more. Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

Hi Jen,

Both of my kids were/are terrible sleepers and I spent more nights than I wish to remember with an unhappy, uncomfortable baby tossing and turning on my chest while I was semi propped up on the couch. Once we addressed the issues of reflux pain, milk/soy protein intolerance (MSPI) and chronic constipation their sleeping improved a lot.

Is Libby on anything for her reflux? We first tried Zantac for our daughter Paige and it helped a little bit for a little while, but ended up switching to Prevacid which helped her tremendously.

Also, many of our little refluxers have difficulties digesting milk and soy proteins (MSPI) and removing all dairy sources from mom’s diet (if breast feeding) or switching to a hypoallergenic formula (like Alimentum, Nutramigen, Pregestimil or even Neocate, Elecare) can help with reflux if MSPI is suspected.

Hopefully you can find lots of help here!

[Anonymous]

Hailey had a severe breast bottle aversion- total refusal of oral feeding while awake starting at 2 months. We had to start sleep feeding. Solids were also problematic- she would scream when she saw the spoon. Also didn’t like cup feeding. We started feeding therapy at 8 months and continued until 15 months. We had reached the point where she could drink from a cup and could eat various textures of solids, finger fed herself. BUT the volume was very very small, and she was a very fussy eater. She stopped sleep feeding at age 2 and was off bottles all together at 2.5 years old. We always have to worry about weight and it’s very hard to get her to eat anything then the four or five things that she likes… even that is of a small amount. I would ensure that your lo is on a good dose of PPI, and see a GI if you’re not already. Then I’d consider feeding therapy. It was a long road, but we couldn’t have done it without professional assistance.

[hellbennt]

as far as breastfeeding- she’s most likely getting ‘enough’ nutrition by eating whatever it is she’s eating. what I mean is that w/ both my boys, by 12 months I was ‘down’ to just 2 nursing sessions a day. I didn’t introduce cow’s milk until 12 months. what I would think is perhaps the issue is calcium (if of course the baby is eating a healthy diet)? I only am typing out loud here, as I am recalling the situation w/ Jonah- he would not drink any real substantial amount of cow’s milk (he was not mspi) until he was about 18 months. the ped said it was ok as long as he ate other dairy products. now, w/ a 12 month MSPI little one, I would think that you’d need to find other sources of calcium…Tums for sure has calcium!

but really there are other foods, like broccoli…

I seem to recall there being a post about this- it was HEIDI’s post- go look through either this forum (MSPI) or the Elimination Diet Forum & you’ll find it– key words to look for: ‘Reidun’s’ ____ ‘information’

HTH (hope this helps)

~laura

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Naomi and Laura! I can’t add the coconut oil just yet… the nurse wants me to hold off on adding anything new during the trial so we don’t get confused about what the true intolerance (if there is one) is. But, it’s good to know for future reference!

UGH! Amelia spit up again today directly after breakfast (she had just finished)! I am confused and frustrated! Could it be the quantity of foods I’m feeding her? Something I ate last night? For breakfast she had regular oatmeal mixed with a little baby oatmeal cereal and pureed pears and raspberries mixed in too. She also had banana and water. I breastfed her 2 hours earlier. I just don’t know what to think!

[Anonymous]

If you are interested.. there are a few things you can do to combat the OAL, and help her feed more comfortably. the OAL really can cause the reflux to worsen. Many moms nurse lying down so that gravity helps to slow the letdown, and some even find that laying back with baby on top helps as well. Also, I would also pull Ben off my breast when my milk letdown. I would let it spray into a cloth and then reattatch him after. He HATED this, but then he was able to nurse without gulping and choking. He was also able to stay on long enough to get to the hindmilk. Before doing this, he was getting too much formilk; his stools were green; and he had a ton of gas.

As for the empty stomach issue.. this is the main reason we switched to Zegerid. It doens’t have to be timed around meals.. I just found the timing aspect too tough with a breastfeeding infant.

[Anonymous]

I really hope she starts to feel better. She is a happy baby otherwise.

Now for a feeding do you mean solids or breast milk too?

She is a snacker (probably due to the reflux?) and nurses several times an hour. How do I get an empty stomach? And how ofter is your daughter getting it? Our Dr still said once a day.

[Anonymous]

Check out http://www.marci-kids.com As far as I know, none of the PPI’s are FDA approved because who would let anyone test the med on their babies? But the website would have the best info on that.

As far as the OAL goes… have you noticed that your baby chokes during feedings? Does the milk still spray out when you let down? Does the baby bob on and off the breast? all this would be evidence that the milk letdown is bothering her. There are a few ways to combat this.. the best being the block feeding you are already doing.

I would fax the dr. with the marci-kids info. or give her the web address.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Hello! Sorry to hear you are having a hard time. I think Sheri’s post about the meds is good, and don’t forget to check into how the pharmacy is making the compound. If not made properly, it won’t work or will only work for a few days before becoming unstable. As far as spacing the meds.. obviously, you won’t be able to do all of them.. Marci kids’ 3/day doses really assume that you won’t be needing the H2 blocker (Zantac) because the PPI’s generally work so much better. You will probably find that once she is on a good dose of a PPI, you can stop the Zantac altogether.. Or, maybe give two doses of the PPI (morning and night) and the Zantac in the middle of the day.

I also wanted to ask about your overproduction. Are you still breastfeeding? Do you have OAL? I did/do, and it certainly aggravated my son’s reflux. The block nursing is really helpful, but pumping can really cause more milk production, so you might want to avoid it if you can. I have some other ideas to get your supply under control and to help combat the OAL, if you are interested!

[Anonymous]

Mary, I agree with Lauren. I have long thought that Ben has a “level” of tolerance.. like he can only handle so much dairy in a day. If he gets too much, then he cant’ handle it.

And to answer your earlier question.. yes, I cut out dairy while breastfeeding. In fact, I was on the TED for several months, so dairy was only one of MANY things I wasn’t eating for a long time. Now, however, I can eat anything, and Ben can handle most dairy… I’ll probably finally try whole milk with him next month. I am STILL breastfeeding, and I’m ready to get my boobs back to myself, you know!

[Anonymous]

Hello all! I’m so glad I found this forum! My daughter is almost 7 weeks old and has been miserable pretty much since the day she was born. I tried breastfeeding her but it was just too difficult as she constantly cried and never seemed full. I switched her to the bottle and so far she has been on Isomil and Similac Advance. Most feeding sessions take about an hour to get 2-4 oz. down. Many sessions she will pull off the nipple and scream as if in pain. She will also arch her back. She also never seems to be full even though I feel like we spend all of our hours feeding. She also cries a lot in between feedings. She has a period in the evening from about 7-10 of nonstop crying where nothing except a car ride comforts her. I’ve taken her to see 2 different doctors. The first diagnosed her with reflux and put her on Prevacid. She told me to give it a week for it to work. After one week, it had not worked, so I called and the doctor said to give it another week to work and if it had not, to call again. Again, no results seen; in fact I think she was getting worse. I called again as instructed and the response I got was that if the Prevacid did not work, then she cannot have reflux and to stop the medication. She said if I was still concerned about my daughter’s condition to make another appointment and have her checked out. I did so and ended up seeing another doctor. She was awful. She agreed with the other doctor that our daughter could not have reflux if the Prevacid did not work. I felt like she was insulting me, making me feel like I was not doing a good job of parenting. She diagnosed her with colic and said there was nothing we could do and sent us home. I am so, so frustratred! My daughter is in pure misery and I am not getting any help from the doctors. I am wondering whether I should have given the Prevacid a little bit longer to work or if there is another medication I can try. Both doctors we saw said that Prevacid is a strong medicine and therefore there is no other medicine to try. I also don’t know what to do about the feedings. I don’t know whether to try and switch formulas or what. It is so horrible to watch your baby be hungry but in pain and crying every time she tries to eat. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Thank you Naomi! Are you still breastfeeding? Did you have to cut back on dairy while you breastfed?

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Sheri! That is a BIG help!!! I eliminated the yogurt for Amelia’s breakfast this morning… so far so good! I am not going to give her milk today, but may give her some cheese, we’ll see. I was eating yogurt too, so it was a double whammy for her (I am breastfeeding twice/day)!

I am trying to go back and figure out if it’s been a milk/soy protein allergy/intolerance this whole time or if it was reflux or both. I may never know, but to think I could have saved her all those months of suffering with diet changes or putting her on milk/soy-free formula really upsets me! I’m also thinking that her docs should have recommended that I try it. Well, we can’t go back, so I will do what I can for her now!

[Anonymous]

I have written on here before about my son and his ongoing issues with what we think it acid reflux. My wife breastfed till 5 1/2 months then switched to bottles as my son would scream being at the breast. Bottles has not been a solution. He only every avgs 24oz a day, sometimes 19, sometimes 27. He is in the 10th percentile for weight and gains very very slow. Because of this doctors aren’t taking me seriously. Over the last week, he got a cold and now is down to 8-12oz a day. This has made his bottle aversion worse and every single feed is a struggle to get anything into him (always has been). I don’t want to wait till he is FTT or risking a feeding tube before something happens but fear that is my only option. He is on prevacid 15mg 2x a day which seems to have little effect. He will suck for a bit and then turn his head away. We have moved to Nutramign three days ago but nothing has really changed. He doesn’t want to eat. He doesn’t cry when eating nor does he vomit. He spits up a lot but is otherwise a happy baby and is developing normally. He is just very small in all likelyhood because he doesn’t eat. I tried to get a refferal to a feeding clinic last week but was refused. I am seeing another pedi tomorrow in hopes things will change. What direction should I take? Should I try another PPI? Should we have tests done (swallow, endoscopy, blood?). Does he need feeding threapy and will it help. Am I staring a feeding tube in the face with no chance of avoiding it. I have no idea what is going on with my son other than he doesn’t like the bottle, didn;t like the breast, and is so so on solids. He has been known to take 7-8 ounce bottles and done so for a few days in a row..however since last wednesday, all of that is a thing of the past. Should I switch back to regular forumla fromt the Nutramign or wait it out to see if it helps. He congestions has been really bad of late so it’s hard from him ot breath. I wonder if the congestion is from the milk. I am just so lost and so worried and want to advocate hard but don’t know what to advocate for?

Any advice at all would be really appreciated.

Thanks
Adam

[Anonymous]

My (almost) 3 year old has very bad gluten and dairy (and many other foods) intolerances, so I will be definately put myself on a strict elimination diet throughout my next pregnancy and while breast feeding. Of course it would be important to ensure you are getting enough protein, fats, calcium, etc. from other sources. For us, I would rather do that to give the next baby a chance at not having these intolerances, than deal what we are all going through with both of my kids food intolerance issues.

My pediatrician also recommended that I avoid all nut sources as well if/when I am pregnant again since Ben has a peanut allergy. He’s never had nuts in his life (I’ve been very strict about waiting until he turned 3) and we were quite surprised when testing showed he had a severe peanut allergy. They believe he acquired it when I was pregnant with him and I ate peanut butter.