Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

Public health is for breastfeeding help. I assume it’s all in how you frame it. Call back the CCAC and tell them (even if it’s not entirely true):

“My son has reflux and a feeding aversion. He won’t breastfeed or bottle feed. He won’t drink from a cup and he won’t eat solids. He is borderline FTT. We can barely get enough in him in a day to prevent dehydration and he’s going to need a feeding tube if we can’t get help to feed him. We need a feeding therapist to come to our home as soon as possible. Public health does not deal with babies with feeding aversions. Our doctor will write a referral if needed. If they say no, say you’d like to speak with someome higher up.”

I really feel for you. Another way to go, and this is what I did initially, was to start cold calling. I’m an OT and I called “OSOT” and asked for a list of all OTs who do feeding therapy in my area. Then I called them all, and they each referred me to another person, and eventually I had about 20 people who I was talking to. Let me know if you need more help on this, but I’d try the first method first. Good luck.

[hellbennt]

you are THE BEST MOTHER EVER!!

you found this board!

can you go to a lactation consultant? they have sensitive scales & they weight baby before and after feeding to see how much she’s taking in-

it might NOT be you or your supply!!!

also: this is a free call: The La Leche League Breastfeeding Helpline – US began on June 1, 2007. Everyone in the U.S.A. will have access to toll free breastfeeding help 24 hours a day. Just call 1-877-4-LALECHE (1-877-452-5324).

and:

there’s a breast feeding support group at yahoo where they are really helpful (like we are here) :http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/breastfeedingreflux/ & one of the moms from that group has her own page: http://www.users.qwest.net/~fsdebra1/

– she’s the moderator of the group, so you might want to start there…

[Anonymous]

I am so sorry your little girl is having trouble with her feedings. You are not a bad mommy. You are great and doing a wonderful job! I have an idea…I don’t know if it’s a silly idea or not, but here it is. When my little boy was born he spent ten days in the special care nursery. While he was there, I would go in and breastfeed him. Unfortunatly, my milk never came in, but boy did I try. Finally, one of the nurses gave me a bottle that fit around my neck and it had a small feeding tube. I would hold my son to my breast and he would suck. However, since I didn’t have anything coming out, we but formula in the bottle. He was able to drink it that way. I know the bottle tube thing was by Medula. I don’t know if this will work, but it’s just a thought. I hope things get better for you and your little girl. Being a mom is hard work!!!

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure about the Canada thing. I know the other parents from Canada have gone the Caracream route..so I would definitely try for the Caracream if you can.

As far as doing us in… I was SO stressed about breastfeeding a screaming infant, and the whole timing issue just added to it.. Not to mention that I never felt like he really got all of the medicine. The little purple bits would come out of his mouth, or he would spit them up, or I would find purple spit up in his bed, etc. I just felt like he wasn’t getting the benefits of it at all! We moved from the solutab to a compound, and while that worked better for awhile, it wasn’t compounded properly, so he wasn’t getting the full benefits from it either.

To be honest, I don’t know if the Prevacid itself was causing a reaction, as he was already screaming all the time anyway. The timing factor was just too much to handle while I was trying to breastfeed him, and with the Zegerid, I, at the very least, knew that he was getting all the possible good out of the medicine that he could. That, in itself was a HUGE stress reliever. I just wanted/needed to know that I was doing everything I could to help him.

[Anonymous]

Hey Adam.. sorry to hear that your ds is refusing feeds. We did go through this for a bit ourselves and ended up doing sleep feeds for awhile, but I still tried to feed him awake whenever I could. I would shake toys to distract him, sing songs, whatever I could to keep him on the breast. Sometimes, holding him straight up and standing and walking around the house would work… KILLED my back, but, hey, whatever you can do, right?

Also, I would guess that the switching to bottle and breast and back and forth MAY? be causing some confusion. As many moms have found that going to bottle didn’t really help in the end, I think (again, just my opinion) I would try to stick with the breast. Laura listed some great ideas too. I did the nursing in the bath thing and even put him in his bouncy and hung my breast over him. It was quite a sight, but it worked!

I’ll be praying for him and for you all. Hang in there!!!

[Anonymous]

It’s safe to give to babies, but you can’t get it in Canada b/c it’s the cherry supreme. (Sorry, I forgot)… They have other antacids here but I don’t know which one people have used, maalox maybe, but I can’t remember for use.

The summary of our story is that Hailey was always screaming and hard to feed. They told me it was colic and BF problems like OAL. I stuck it out with the feedings getting progressively worse- her pulling off, coming back on frantically, screaming, arching, kicking, milk coming out of her nose. Finally, out of desperation I tried pumping and bottle feeding, but that was only worse for her- the milk was thin and it came out of the nipple too fast causing a lot of choking. At 2 months old, she just stopped feeding. I couldn’t get her to feed. She never showed hunger cues and screamed at the sight of the breast/bottle. We went to our ped and he prescribed zantac, then compounded losec (prevacid wasn’t available at that time in Canada). She got worse and we went to a ped GI. She added domperidone and told me that Hailey had a very severe feeding aversion. I couldn’t get her to eat, only a few ounces from a bottle when she was asleep. She wouldn’t eat awake altogether. Things went on like that until she was 4 months old with her refusing to eat, me not being able to leave the house b/c I was always trying to feed her. We’d see the GI every month and they’d up her meds with no change. At 4 months our ped GI felt that Hailey needed a feeding tube and I refused to do this unless she had testing done. So we were transferred to Sick Kids but there was a 6 to 8 month wait to see our GI. In the meantime I was still trying to sleep feed Hailey. We had a feeding evaluation done at Sick Kids by an OT there. They felt that she didn’t need the modified barium swallow done b/c they felt she wasn’t aspirating. We did have an upper GI which was pretty useless, just to rule out any structural abnormalities. At the recommendation of our ped we saw an infant psychiatrist about the feeding problems, which was an absolute waste of time: he blamed the feeding problems on us force feeding her, which we never did. We waited to see the GI, and finally saw him when Hailey was 10 months old. He told me to keep doing what we were doing, which was depressing, but did book us in for an endoscopy, which we had to wait 5 months for. In the meantime I saw several other doctors and specialists who didn’t have too much else to offer. What helped me the most was a self-referral I made to our local CCAC. You can do this too- CCAC is the home care program. I called them and told them that I was having a lot of trouble feeding Hailey and that she had reflux and a feeding aversion, but that she didn’t qualify for the feeding program at sick kids b/c she didn’t have a feeding tube. Within a week we had a feeding therapist (SLP) coming to our home to work on the feeding with us, we also had a pediatric dietician, an OT and a physio to deal with the sensory issues she had and the physical delays. She was 8 months old when all this started. Our SLP was amazing and she really helped us to move forward. At the same time prevacid came to Canada and I started giving Hailey a 30mg dose in CaraCream. I think when her pain started to be better controlled, things really started to improve, though it was a slow road. Prevacid in caracream has been her saviour, though she didn’t like to take it, it worked well for her. Feeding therapy was a long process starting at 8 months, going on to 15 months. From then, things have improved a lot and she does eat, if that offers you any hope. I hope that you find an answer for you soon. Good luck.

[hellbennt]

mylanta cherry supreme is safe- it doesn’t contain aluminum-

it’s the adult kind

you can’t overdose- you know you’ve given too much if the stools become loose

so you can give up to 1/2 a teaspoon spread out over the course of a day

maybe even up to a teaspoon- you’ll have to see?

also: carafate?

maybe this will help?

it’s not a long-term solution-it’s meant to be used for short-term help; it’s like a super duper mylanta- like a teflon coating for the stomach/esophogas (it’s not actually teflon!)

also how about trying to breastfeed in the bathtub? seriously sounds ‘funny’ but the relaxing warm water- maybe dim the lights, etc…

or just trying to breastfeed in the dark & quiet w/o distractions?

easy for me to say as I’ve never dealt w/ a feeding aversion!

there’s a breast feeding support group at yahoo that might help as well :http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/breastfeedingreflux/

and The La Leche League Breastfeeding Helpline – US began on June 1, 2007. Everyone in the U.S.A. will have access to toll free breastfeeding help 24 hours a day. Just call 1-877-4-LALECHE (1-877-452-5324).

and great resources for moms breastfeeding allergy babies on the LLLI website:
http://forums.llli.org/forumdisplay.php?f=37

[Anonymous]

My five month old son just doesn’t want to feed anymore during the day. His weight gain is slow and is in the 10th percentile. His feeding has never been great but over the last week has gotten worse. He’ll feed fine overnight 2x (last night it was 3x) but during the day, nothing…perhaps 2-3 mins on the breast and that’s it. He was put on Prevacid and today is day 10. He has been worse on prevacid with respect to the eating and really, if he’s not eating this drug doesn’t have much effect. We have been moving back and forth from trying the breast to trying the bottle. Do you think this could be causing confusion. Should we try to just bottle feed for 24-48hrs to see if his feeding improves? My wife doesn’t want to stop breastfeeding for the benefits of reflux but if he won’t eat, can moving to bottles with either EBM or forumla be bad??

Our pediatriction but him on domperidone yesterday to help with possible DGE (not sure if he has this but he never seems hungry). I am really worried that this is going to get worse to the point where he won’t even take enough to stay hydrated (not an issue right now). His development has been fine and is meeting all milestones (if not ahead) but we know that he can’t be getting enough.

We were on solids for a two week period which went ok but his bm’s went from once every one or two days to once every three days and he seemed really uncomfortable because of it. We didn’t see any reactions however. We have been off cereal for the last two weeks.

We are really at a loss and just want things to improve at least a little.

Thanks for listening.

Adam

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for the advice. My wife and I really don’t want to stop breastfeeding for the reasons you suggest lori. What if forumla doesn’t help and all we have done is stopped the benefits of breastmilk. We have thought of MSPI but wouldn’t there be other symptoms other than a feeding adversion? His bowel movements look normal (he has always been fairly regular with one a day but over the last little while we are averaging 2x a day). There are no traces of blood, the colour is normal. He has no fever or rash. In truth, his spit up is frequent but not bad in that he doesn;t cry or projectile vomit. The spit does tend to be mucussy however.

He does sometimes take a bottle of formula at night – about 5 ounces. He will take it and his night time spit is rare. We have tried forumla sometimes during the day and its not like we have had anymore success. So right now I suppose he get a little of both. My wife has eliminated all milk products as of yesterday.

The thing is he seems to want to eat more but won’t. How did you overcome the aversion?

[Anonymous]

I feel your pain. My son is 5 months old and has trouble eating and sleeping. His weight gain is very slow and all efforts to get more into him have not worked well. My wife tries to feed him every three hours with one bottle before bed. We are lucky if he takes 5ounces at night – the other times he is breastfeeding and may only be getting 3 ounces. He is only 14lbs. It is very tough on my wife and I. We have debated whether to switch to forumla full time to deal with the weight gain but also know forumla makes reflux worse.

We were on Zantac but the pediatriction switched us to Prevacid. He has been on it for 8 days now and is not much better – for many days he has been worse. I know it takes time for it to work. Our problem is that it needs to be given 30 minutes before a feed. Well for a baby who doesn;t always feed well, this is not ideal. We have an appointment tomorrow and the pediatriction has recommended going back on Zantac as well at 1.6mls 2x a day. We’ll see.

I feel your frustration…there have been very few good days in a row and we have have yet to really get on a good stretch of feeding and sleeping. All we really want is for his weight to get up and be in less discomfort.

Just know that you are not alone.

[Anonymous]

I’m sure this has already been said, but basically what happens is when you take your baby off the zantac to put them on the prevacid they are not really on any meds until the prevacid kicks in. So, it is best to keep the baby on the zantac for the two weeks that it takes the prevacid to kick in. That time for us with the pepcid and prevacid was the best my son ever was. My ped wouldnl’t go for it long term though. So, we did zegerid and it worked pretty well, but the sleep never improved. Caracream or zegerid are best since you don’t have to time around meals. My son breastfed and I know how hard it is to time around the meals. If your wife can handle it, Do not stop breastfeeding. The breast milk has enzymes in it that help with the reflux. The milk also calms mom and baby which is what both need. There are just so many benefits to it. I hope things are better soon.

[Anonymous]

Uggh, I feel your pain! My daughter had a feeding aversion, starting with the breast, exactly as you described with your son. She’d pull off, arch, kick, come back frantically for more, scream, cry, etc. We were told it was OAL, and it was really reflux rearing it’s ugly head. It progressed and got gradually worse, and the same feeding problems persisted with the bottle.

Her feeding aversion was so bad that we could hardly feed her and so the prilosec/prevacid really wouldn’t work… we couldn’t give it and time it around feeds. She wouldn’t feed on demand.

If I were you, I’d consider prevacid in CaraCream. It’s immediate release so it works irrespective of timing around meals and feedings. You mix it yourself with the capsules. The good thing, is that you’ve got a good dose for his weight, so you should see some improvement if you’re able to give it correctly and if it’s purely a reflux issue. You can contact marci-kids for more info on caraCream. When we started using it, it really turned things around for my dd, though the taste was kind of funky for her so that was a challenge.

If things don’t improve, you might want to consider MSPI- maybe something in your wife’s diet is causing a reaction.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Hello Everyone!!

I posted a couple of weeks ago, that my 5 wk old (he’s 7 wks now!) was recently diagnosed with reflux. His major symptom was the constant screaming in pain, with a little bit of spitting up and constant hiccups…His ped put him on .6mls of Zantac and by the end of the weekend (we started on a Friday evening), he was a ‘new kid.’ The screaming was cut back considerably (just the normal screaming of ‘hey mom, I’m hungry/bored/tired/poopy’) and he just acted like a happy baby.

So…that was about 2 wks ago or so. NOW, he seems to be spitting up WAY more than he did then!!! It happens mostly right after nursing him. He never, if ever, spits up formula (he’s breastfed 99%, but once in a while, we’ll give him formula, maybe one or two 4 oz bottles a day), it’s always my breastmilk. For example, this morning at his 3am feeding (YAWN!!!!), he was on my left breast for about 15 mins until he ‘fell off.’ I gently put him ‘over my shoulder’ to burp him and there he went, spitting up about a tablespoon-full. He pooped while I was burping him, so I changed him (I have him elevated on a pillow while I change him, and I’m careful not to lift his legs/butt too high while wiping), and he spit up again, about 2-3 times (not too much quantity, this time). When I cleaned him up, he still acted hungry, so I was about to put him on my right breast. I gently laid him down on my ‘breast friend nursing pillow’ (I LOVE that thing!!) and he semi-projectiled another tablespoon or two (nothing like warm spit up on your arms/shoulders, etc., huh???).

I just don’t get it…

I called his ped and spoke to a nurse on Saturday. She said that maybe he’s got the milk protein allergy and that I should lay off the milk for the weekend and see what happens. I don’t agree with this. If he’s ‘allergic’ to my milk (or the proteins in it, I should say), wouldn’t the milk have to settle and start digesting in his tummy for a ‘while’ and not IMMEDIATELY after nursing? I’m obviously not a professional, but that just doesn’t seem right.

Could it be his medication (Zantac) that’s making him spit up more? Again, he did spit up before he was diagnosed, but nowhere near the quantities he’s spitting up now. And again, it’s only when I nurse him. He’s fine when he drinks from a bottle.

Oh, the nurse also suggested thickening his bottles with cereal, which I’ve done, and he sucks that down! LOVES it!! And no spit up. Even when we give him just regular Gentlease, no spit up. Breastmilk in a bottle, no spit up. But just nursing…

Any suggestions? I’m going to call his ped again today. Just doesn’t make sense!!

Pam

[Anonymous]

For overactive letdown, I would advise against pumping, as typically that will lead to the oversupply of milk, which can only make matters worse. What I recommend is block feeding.. ie. feeding only from one breast at the feed. This is uncomfortable for a bit, but the body will adjust. This way, your son will be able to stay on the breast long enough to get the hindmilk which is fattier and not so hard to digest (doesn’t cause gas issues like the foremilk can). Some moms even use one breast for several feeds in a row.

Also, as far as combating the letdown issue… I would take my son off the breast when my milk let down and let the milk spray out into a cloth. Once it stopped spraying, I would put him back on. He hated this, but he was much more comfortable eating. Also, she could try nursing him while lying down or even nursing him with him on top of her. The gravity issue helps to slow the milk down.

Prevacid actually starts working fairly quickly, but it can take several weeks for an erosions in the esophagus to heal. This is often thought to be the reasoning behind why it takes time. Hopefully, once the OAL is under control, the feeds can be more fruitful and help him fill up his tummy.

I actually never used Zantac with my kids, but following the 4 hour rule, I would give it sometime in the middle of the day and then maybe again in the middle of the night (if you’re up – hopefully not!)

Hope this helps!!!

[Anonymous]

Help,

I am new to this forum but have been reading threads for advice. My 5 month old son has been diagnosed with Acid Reflux since he was about 3 months old. He would spit up quite a bit we noticed a presistant cough. He had a chest xray and the while the radialogist thought he had bronchitis (he had no other symptons) the peditriction felt it was AR. He was put on Zantac .8ml 2x a day. He was 12lbs 1oz at three months. At four months he was 12 11ounces. The pedi was concerned about slow weight gain and wanted my wife to stop breastfeeding and supplement with Formula. We weren’t comfortable doing that. My son is not a good eater and not a good sleeper. While he is generally happy and very active and alert, he will often scream pulling off the breast and refuse to eat even when hungry. We have been giving him one bottle or forumla before bed – he’ll take anywhere from 4-7 ounces. His weight is likely at 14lbs now (5 months).

Our new pedi took him off the Zantac and put him on Prevacid. We are now on day 6 giving 15ml solutabs 2x a day. He seems a lot worse…eating and sleeping less. Is this normal? I’ve read prevacid takes time to work but this is really hard – especially with a slow gainer you want them to eat. Should we wait, go back to Zantac or both? Is there a proper way to give both to give relief. This is really tough on my wife and I. Any help would be appreciated

Thanks,
Adam