Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone

I have my second reflux baby who is also VERY high needs. My daughter had reflux and the choking bothered her the most. My son Jackson is 9 weeks old, and is a silent refluxer. Lots of congestion, back arching, crying and pulling off the bottle/breast (when he was breast fed) But he is gaining weight just fine.

He started out on goodstart formula and was breast fed, but eventually he would recoil from my breast milk- expressed or from the breast. So I stopped breastfeeding him because I thought it was my diet. He had bad gas from day one (he started out bottle fed because of meds I was on) So from the start he had INSANE gas- like passing gas CONSTANTLY ALL DAY. and he seemed very uncomfortable. The the reflux started..and I recognized it right away. I switched him to Alimentum liquid RTF formula and got him on to zantac. (I figured the gas was from the formula) The next day the gas stopped. instantly. The crying from the reflux was a little bit better. But I read that eventually the zantac won’t keep working and to try prevacid as it may work better. Well at about the same time we started prevacid, I switched Jax from the liquid alimentum to the powdered stuff (the liquid is SO EXPENSIVE) and I started him on Prevacid. So here is my problem. He has Diarrhea. I’m not sure if it is from the prevacid or the Powdered Alimentum. I dont’ know if I should stop the prevacid and see what happens, Go back to square one and do the RTF liquid and zantac and then try switching one or the other of the formula or the medicine?? What would you do??? I can’t have him having diarrhea all the time (like so thin it soaks into his diaper) I just don’t know what to do. he is such a fussy baby anyhow, so on any given day he coudl be crabby.. and I don’t know if it is his high needs, belly cramping.. refluxing.. 🙁 There are 150 granules in a prevacid capsule. I was told ot give him half a capsule a day. (75 granules) I have been giving him 25 granules 2 times a day and the diarrhea still persists… do you think it is the formula?? Sorry to ramble.. I just don’t know what to do.

theresa

theresa75762012-12-03 11:58:15

[Anonymous]

Amy, is your little one breastfed or formula fed? If breasfeeding, maybe it’s something you ate. If formula fed, what kind of formula is she taking and how long has she been drinking it?

I am sorry I can’t answer your question about the Tummy Care Max dosage as I never used it, but Laura knows all about it and should soon come on here and answer your question!

[Anonymous]

Ethan and Logan, twins, almost 15 weeks old. Here is our story:

Ethan and Logan were born at just under 6 lbs each @ 37 weeks. Not too bad for twins. Ethan was fine but Logan went into the NICU after a couple hours from birth due to low blood sugar (just below their ‘normal’ level), so he was tube fed for 2-3 feedings, then bottle fed after that. Hospital NICU will not let you leave until after 48 hours of successful bottle feeds, so 3 days after their birth we were all home. Breastfeeding was attempted, but milk didn’t come in right away, so bottle feeding commenced to supplement, 60 ml every 3 hours was the standard here for the first week, and about 80 the second week pretty consistently – Breastfeeding was hurting really bad, so we went to a lactation specialist on day 7. Mom started on Motilium as milk wasn’t coming in that great after a week, as recommended by the lactation consultant. Lactation consultant also checked for a tongue tie (as breastfeeding felt almost identical to our first child, before she got her tongue tie clipped). Both boys appeared to have a posterior tongue tie, and had a clip done under their tongues to try and allow their tongues to come out better and improve their suck (from more of a biting suck, to a fluid suck). Breastfeeding was immediately better feeling, but then as days went on it degraded more and more….oh ya, and they were on Similac advance ready to serve formula for the first week….and then the saga begins.

Week 2 – 4 – Moved to Similac concentrate (same exact brand and type, just mix the cans with an equal amount of water, and it saved us probably 50% on the ready to serve). On week 2 breastfeeding became better after the clip as mentioned, and milk came in pretty good with motilium, but still needed to supplement with formula (they just couldn’t get enough). Ethan had a second clip done at 4 weeks from the lactation specialist (the tongue still felt tight to the lactation specialist, and she said his suck wasn’t that great, we might not have been ‘sweeping’ under his tongue well enough, or he just didn’t get clipped enough the first time). Logan didn’t need a clip at 2 weeks, as she said his suck seemed ok (pretty much fluid and not biting), and most of their problems now will just be related to their high pallet – which will get better over time they said. They were starting to get a little hard to feed at this point, giggling or walking around and ‘shushing’ was needed to start on the bottles, they would fall asleep after a couple ounces, and we could give the bottle another jiggle and they would such some more and continue, and then take in another couple ounces (dream feeding). Their weekly average intake was around 450-600 ml for these weeks (pumped breast milk and formula), but this was with breastfeeding on top of it all, so who knows how much they really got – assume it was A LOT, as pumping normally produced 75-150ml on each side depending on the time of day.

Week 5- 6 – Breastfeeding got so bad (painful) that we took them to a different lactation consultant (one with more experience, and the same one that we took our first one to when she had problems). She checked them and said they were very tongue tied, very tight to the bottom of mouth….and did the ‘most aggressive clip advisable’. This looked like little triangles under their tongues, about 1cm wide. Breastfeeding improved for about 2 days, and then became very painful. Bottle feeding was about the same, difficult to administer – about the same intake as it was in weeks 2-4.

Week 7 – 8 – three days after the ‘aggressive’ tongue tie clips, treatment for thrush began (they didn’t have the white spots in their mouth that is associated with thrush sometimes, but it was based on moms symptoms – shooting pains in breasts), doctor thought the feeding difficulties were related to thrush. Thrush medication was not effective, stopped breastfeeding after this, and only pumped – too much pain. Pain continued in pumping, and mom was now diagnosed with Raynauds syndrome, got drugs for it, pain went away after a couple days, and pumping was fine, but nursing still caused pain (probably due to the boys not being all that great at nursing – biting more than sucking properly). Quit nursing – else mom would have gone insane. The boys had dropped from eating about 350-400ml a day by this point, and as soon as we ended the breastfeeding and went 100% bottle, intake increased dramatically.

I’ll stop now and explain this all a bit – through the first 8 weeks, getting them to breastfeed was ridiculously difficult – took sometimes up to 20 minutes to get them to latch (with them loosing it a lot of the time), and when they did, they would push off after a little bit (3-4 minutes), scream, cry, we then would have to calm them down, and try again. It progressively got worse and worse. The bottle feeds that we supplemented them with were 100% easier than the breastfeeding (still took some work, but nothing like trying to breastfeed them) – which also led to the decision for cancellation of the breast offerings to these 2 dudes. I should also mention that by 8 weeks that had almost doubled their birth weight – 11.5 lbs each, so all in all we thought things would get better with bottle feeding. Well – they didn’t as it would turn out.

By week 8 they had slowly but surely also started refusing the bottles more and more, and we suspected a milk intolerance had been building in their system causing the refusal of the formula (they had ridiculously bad gas by this point as well), so we swapped to similac sensitive by week 8 thinking it might be a sensitivity to the formula (their farts were like a sour gas leak from a refinery to give you a better idea of this). This formula worked for a couple days (we thought we had found the magic bullet). They started taking in 500-600ml at this point, so a far cry better then the 350-500ml in the recent previous weeks. They loved this formula (or so it would seem). They peaked out at eating 700-800 ml a day for weeks 9 and 10, but we worked HARD to get this in them, we had to resort to swapping the soother out for a bottle, wetting their lips with Oval, giggling, sleep feeding etc…etc…. We stuck this formula out for 3 weeks (see below at 11 weeks where we swapped again).

By 9 weeks old we explained what was happening to Dr. and were prescribed Zantac. I should also mention that there was pretty clear symptoms of reflux, not a lot of puking/spit up (the odd full bore projectile vomit, and spit ups every couple feedings with a burp), coughing, choking, and waking from sleep all of a sudden screaming blue murder (looked like silent reflux, vomit up their throat and swallow it again, and then lose their minds). The Zantac worked for a bit, and the feedings went up, fussiness and crying went down, and then about a week later it stopped working, so we got a dosage increase, and this didn’t work worth a damn.

Week 10 was a blur, but the feeding charts we maintained showed a massive drop down to 500ml a day.

Week 11 was something we could definitely remember, as we had so much hope for this new tactic. We swapped in desperation to Similac Allimentum (hypoallergenic formula), as we heard of it working for others in our situation. We were struggling with getting them to take more than an ounce in a feed during the day, 2-3 at night, so this had to be the right solution. Again, we had a couple of good days with the new formula, and then back to the bad habits. Makes us wonder if we should rotate between 4-5 different formulas, changing them out from one to another every couple days – although we never did follow through with this plan on advise of the boys doctor.

Week 12 about 4 days after starting the Allimentum, we got in to the see the Doctor again, and got prescribed Prevacid, it was a low dose (that we ignored based on our reading of what sort of dose it takes to be effective on MARCI kids website, and infantreflux.org). I think they said to give 1.5ml a day or something stupid. The Prevacid compound was a 3mg/ml concentration, and we gave them 2ml 3 times a day to start with – it seemed to really take effect and help for the first few days (probably all just in our minds though as we really wanted things to improve). Went back to the Doctor after 5 days of Prevacid to get it increased (as we were running out of the bottles that were intended to last us 2 weeks), and got a recommendation for a pediatrician, and booked ultrasounds. I should mention that all the silent reflux symptoms are still prevalent at this point, almost textbook from what we’ve read.

Week 13, went for an ultrasound (abdominal) and an ultrasound for pyloric stenosis – both boys came up with no problems as a result (happy about this, but it was a bit of a disappointment in a way – not knowing what is causing the problems is frustrating). Week 13 was actually a good week in terms of intake of formula, up at the 700ml mark on average per day, but still a pain in the a$$ to feed them, and daytime feedings whilst awake low (I think we just got REALLY good at dream feeding).

Week 14 I think we started to become zombies, and weren’t trying so hard to get them to eat (it was tiring), formula intake down to the 600ml mark for this week, still same issues with feeding, still reflux symptoms, but we did see some small improvements in the reflux symptoms at this point.

Week 15 has been 100% better, but week 15 started with them having about 2 weeks of Prevacid complete, so we think it’s really starting to take effect. I should also mention that we are dosing about 3.5ml twice a day now of Prevacid (which seems to be working for them), and it’s a 3.3mg/ml concentration. Administering the Prevacid is completely ridiculous, first 2 weeks was like trying to make someone without teeth crunch on a carrot. We tried very small doses with the syringe (like 0.25 ml at a time in the corner of their mouth) and they just will not take it straight. We probably had 7-8 instances where they lost it so bad they had Prevacid coming out of their nose. You could definitely hear when they swallowed it the ‘belly bomb’ from the sodium bicarbonate buffer in the mixture, and I think this is what freaked them out the most.

We had our pediatrician appointment yesterday afternoon – about a week ago I said that I’ve never looked forward to a doctor’s appointment this much in my life – getting in with a pediatrician requires a referral here, and getting in within a week is even more difficult (probably because our doctor put a rush on it for us). Yesterday though, things don’t seem all that bad, we think we have the reflux under control with the Prevacid, and now we’ve moved on to working them up to sleep through the night better. We had them both on the main floor of our house, and would take shifts watching both of them. Mom would go to bed between 8-9pm, and dad would take the first shift until sometime between 1:30am to 3:30am, and then swap – this worked well for a lot of nights, and ensured we got sleep that wasn’t interrupted (all that much). When it didn’t work out so well was when they both woke up at the same time. About a week ago (after a really bad night of dad not being able to handle both kids, and they both escalated by 4am to losing their minds because you can only hold one kid at a time) we decided to split them up and each of us takes a kid – less uninterrupted sleep, but it has been working WAY better (less anxiety about the 2^nd kid waking up whilst feeding the first one).

Today we are at the end of week 15, and this week has been the easiest in terms of administering the Prevacid – we had really good luck putting the dose in a bottle with a small amount of apple juice to trick them, or mixing with gripe water (prime ingredient being sodium bicarbonate, so this shouldn’t be an issue). But they caught on to these tricks after a few days (and it was really hard to give this to them when they weren’t hungry). Pretty hard to make a baby drink something after eating just 2-2.5 hours previous so that they would have the half hour to an hour wait while the Prevacid got absorbed before we fed them their regularly scheduled feeding at 3-3.5 hours. Feeding got a lot easier this week, no jiggling, they seemed hungrier (which is probably what helped the most), only had to wet their lips a few times to get them interested – all in all things have improved, except for last night – feedings were really difficult, sleeping wasn’t happening, and we think it was due to resorting to mixing the Prevacid compound in with ½-1 oz of formula rendering it useless – has to administer the 3.5ml dose via syringe while they were losing it (and you could hear this big reaction in their bellies, and then massive burps afterwards, and then there was calm for a bit – but almost feels like back to square one with the feeding issues).

Any ideas ?

[hellbennt]

rather than gripe water or colic calm, maybe try probiotics?

I think if you would like to pursue the ‘colic’ route, then read here:

Wondertime article, Colic Solved:

http://web.archive.org/web/20101226170946/http://wondertime.go.com/learning/article/interview-colic-expert.html

page 2 of the article tells what probiotics help babies

probiotics, brands used:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8970&PN=1

also: I think the colic calm isn’t good to take w/ the PPIs?

I’ll do a search in a bit – ok, read through here:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3438

as for the gas – I would look into protein intolerances/allergies- you say you give the colic calm for gas, but you might want to look into the reason for the gas…are you breastfeeding or formula? if formula, what kind?

best EXPLANATION OF FOOD ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCES and their RELATION TO REFLUX that I have found, to date: 2nd post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=2

hellbennt2012-11-21 17:37:21

[hellbennt]

the solutabs must be given on an empty stomach, followed by a ‘meal’ 30 minutes later

17lbs = 7.8 kilos

prevacid dose is 1.5mgs per kilo & then this dose is given 3x a day

so:

7.8 x 1.5 = 11.7 mgs

11.7 x 3 = 35mgs of prevacid total, for the day

the medicine won’t stop anything other than the pain.

it *might* help the choking bcse if baby isn’t in pain, maybe he won’t try to swallow everything back down?

the choking, if it’s mucous, comes from (most likely!) a protein in your diet? how are baby’s poops? gas?

Reasons a breastfeeding mother might think her baby is reacting to something in her milk:

*poop that is not ‘normal’ mustardy yellow, seedy breastfed baby poop

*mucous in poop; mucous can look like: snot, jelly, cottage cheese, stringy like the inside of a banana

*foul-smelling poop

*stinky, foul-smelling painful gas

*straining and grunting to poop and, when baby finally does poop, it’s soft

hellbennt2012-11-21 17:25:45

[Anonymous]

Hello,

My name is Karen and my son Henry is 4 months in a week. We just started Prevacid solutabs, 15 mg twice per day for reflux. His symptoms are choking, some spit up, short sleep, congestion, hiccups, eating his hands constantly, etc.

We just started the Prevacid yesterday and I am reading about dosing, etc. Henry is almost 17 lbs (i think he comfort nurses). Does 15 mg twice per day sound like enough?

Henry’s reflux has just gotten worse over time. He was happier, sleeping longer until the past few weeks when I finally realized the reflux was a lot worse. He jolts awake a lot. i hold him a lot.

Any thoughts about dosing or what I should be doing would be nice. Sleep has gotten so bad the past few weeks and we are all tired. I went off dairy for 3 weeks saw no improvement. i didn’t think of going off of soy! He has great skin so far.

He had a tongue tie that was clipped and breastfeeding has been better for both of us. There is some reattachment.

Any thoughts about dosing or tips would be great.

Thank you,

Karen and Henry

[hellbennt]

hi & welcome! You are doing THE BEST job, Mama!!!

One thing that you might want to do is the Total Elimination Diet (TED).

It’s ‘just’ 2 weeks and after that time you introduce foods back in – but not the major foods! Not milk, soy, legumes, nuts, wheat, etc.

please read:

best EXPLANATION OF FOOD ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCES and their RELATION TO REFLUX that I have found, to date: 2nd post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=2

Misconceptions about how Neocate & Elecare work: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6013

Reasons a breastfeeding mother might think her baby is reacting to something in her milk:

*poop that is not ‘normal’ mustardy yellow, seedy breastfed baby poop

*mucous in poop; mucous can look like: snot, jelly, cottage cheese, stringy like the inside of a banana

*foul-smelling poop

*stinky, foul-smelling painful gas

*straining and grunting to poop and, when baby finally does poop, it’s soft

the TED takes two weeks and then you start adding foods in to see what you CAN eat.

Research all you can! You are your baby’s best advocate!

Look for all posts by Erinntx! (be SURE to read her ‘sticky‘ – the link is below)

Erin‘s sticky: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12948&PID=105126#105126

More Erin: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13175&PID=106395#106395

Erin post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13576

here’s some more light reading for you :

MSPI ‘Main’ page:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697

best EXPLANATION OF FOOD ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCES and their RELATION TO REFLUX that I have found, to date: 2nd post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=2

Misconceptions about how Neocate & Elecare work: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6013

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT:

Erin‘s sticky: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12948&PID=105126#105126

More Erin: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13175&PID=106395#106395

Erin post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13576

Great anne post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9242

Exposure to foods & blood testing: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12993

Sheri’s allergy/intolerance explanation: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10223&PID=87638#87638

Another Sheri explanation- intolerance/allergy post:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11579&PID=97442#97442

Accuracy of allergy testing & great post by sherri explaining IgE and IgG (intolerance/allergies) https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10815

(sue again, replying to gina- breastfeeding info to (TED)https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11324&PN=1

probiotics, brands used:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8970&PN=1

erin posts that mentions enzymes:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12781&KW=enzyme

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12610&KW=enzyme

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12227&KW=enzyme

Post from me:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12200&KW=enzyme

babywearing SAVED US!
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1044&PN=1

http://www.thebabywearer.com/forum

[hellbennt]

hugs!

First, I’d find an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant!

AND I’d contact la leche league!

The La Leche League Breastfeeding Helpline w/access to toll free breastfeeding help 24 hours a day. Just call 1-877-4-LALECHE (1-877-452-5324)

to find a local internationally board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) click here:

http://www.ilca.org/falc.html

also: please read this

about how Neocate & Elecare work: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6013

I would also make sure that protonix dose high enough! The following chart doesn’t have protonix, but look at the other meds: prevacid, prilosec & nexium – average the doses out to get an idea…

Marci Kids PPI Dosing Chart & dose according the the chart.

here’s more to help:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13904&KW=feeding+aversion

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13876&KW=feeding+aversion

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13875&KW=feeding+aversion

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13866&KW=feeding+aversion

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13809&KW=feeding+aversion

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/search_results_posts.asp?SearchID=20110108140213&KW=feeding+aversion&PN=2

Feeding Aversion:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13904&KW

[Anonymous]

Hello and welcome! No, this is not the wrong place to post your question!

And NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT… you are NOT a failure!!! You are an awesome mom!! The word “committed” stood out to me! That’s the kind of moms we need to be! I am totally impressed that you won’t give up breastfeeding and are willing to go without so many foods for your baby’s sake. Don’t kick yourself when you cause your son to be in pain from something you ate! I lived with this guilt for years with my children. Many nights when I paced the floor with my screaming baby, I would ask myself “Now what did I eat or feed them that I shouldn’t have?” I cried many desperate, guilty tears!!

My first son constantly had skin rashes and he got such bad diaper rash at times that his skin would be bleeding. We used cetaphil soap and I think we used Dreft soap. And I think that the stuff we used for his rash was the corticosteroid.

Your pictures didn’t show up so I can’t compare to what my children’s looked like.

PLEASE don’t give up breastfeeding unless you feel like you have to! There are several things that I would start with! Yes, I would start with TED!

Is your son on any kind of meds for reflux? I personally don’t recommend meds unless you have to use them. But for some babies they probably need meds.

Have you tried probiotics and/or digestive enzymes with your son?

Before a baby is born they have no probioitcs which are the good live bacteria (also known as gut flora) that coat and protect the entire digestive system. A baby picks up their first dose of probiotics while coming down the birth canal and the second largest dose they get is from colostrum. If a baby is born by c-section, doesn’t get any or much colostrum, or mom or baby has antibiotics (antibiotics kill probiotics), then these babies will tend to have more digestive problems. But for most babies it takes 3-6 months for their body to get their probiotics built up so this can be why a lot of babies have painful spit up. When the protective coating of probiotics is low or depleted then the reflux coming up the esophagus can be really painful.

Digestive enzymes are made in the pancreas and “sent over” to the stomach to aid in breaking down our food. All foods have natural enzymes in them to break them down but when a food is cooked or processed then the enzymes are killed. For some babies it can be hard for their pancreas to have to make so many enzymes right away if the mom’s milk is made up of a lot of foods that are enzymes deficient. So when their isn’t enough enzymes in a baby’s tummy to break down their food properly then the stomach will produce excess acid to try to break it down. This excess acid kills probiotics. So, the intestines can also be depleted of probiotics and become raw, inflamed, and even bleed.

At ages 1 and 3 my boys had both been on anti acid meds since a week old and we were able to stop the meds when they started drinking alkaline water.

At ages 2 and 4 they were avoiding many foods, drank only water, and rarely slept all night long with out tossing, turning, or waking up from pain. And this is when someone suggested I contact an internationally known nutritionist that focused on digestion. He is the one that taught me about probiotics and enzymes.

Within several days of my boys taking a probiotic/enzyme supplement they started consistently sleeping through the night pain free. Within several months I started adding dairy and other foods back into their diet.

Are my boys cured? No, but as long as they drink their alkaline water and take their pills they are 95% better and can eat anything. If they eat hot dogs, summer sausage, corn, or drink/eat straight dairy products I give them an extra pill or 2.

Many a nursing mom has found that if she will take probiotics and enzymes, (and some moms will give them directly to the baby too) her milk will be more broken down and easier for baby to digest and makes for a happier baby.

I am not saying that probioitcs and ezymes would cure your little one of his problems but I do believe that it could very likely help him at least some.

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I’m a recent lurker, thanks to some fantastic links from HellBennt that brought me here. My DD is 2 months on the nose and has been suffering from a nasty case of MSPI for nearly a month. At that time I noticed a speck of blood in her diaper and went off of major dairy.

Within a week her eczema went so crazy it was yellow and oozy, the colic was unending, her reflux went wild and more blood specks were in her diapers. Her Pedi had me cut out all hidden dairy and chocolate and peanuts. He wanted me to hold off on soy but I cut that too. The next two days were just as awful and I realized she was reacting to beef as well.

So I said screw it and decided to try TED. I went with rice, turkey, squash. potatoes and pears. The turkey made her spit up and added specks of blood to her diaper so two days later I switched to lamb. The lamb really skeeved me out so I tried chicken. Chicken didn’t seem to work either (same results) so the pedi told me to try fish. In a moment of pure stupidity I ate scallops instead of fish – fish, and she had a really terrible reaction. More reflux, more screaming, more blood.

Then I ate fries that were acceptable, but they were fried in soybean oil. I read soybean oil was supposed to be okay, but I think it really hurt her too. Two days later I ate puffed rice made by a friend. As strict Hindus they eat this snack when fasting as it is dairy and ‘protien’ free. Being new to the reality of the TED I stupidlyate something I didn’t make myself and again she had the reflux, screaming and blood. Then she seemed to react to either rice chex or summer squash. God, at this point I can’t even tell anymore.

This past week her diapers have been the worst yet. 🙁 She has gone from specks of blood to streaks and blobs.

It seems like 24hrs after I eat something the reflux starts and the blood follows 12-24 hours later. We don’t have stinky gas andwhen I can finally get her to sleep she sleeps like a champ, she is just reflux, screaming and bleeding.

I *think* what it comes down to is that I have been a really bad TED’er. I should have given up on meats when she had a bad reaction to the turkey and left it at that until I baselined. I just kept thinking if I could find a meat that worked I would have no problem sticking to the TED and not adding anything for a good few months until I knew she was ‘healed’ enough to handle variety again. The fries were an honest mistake – everything I read said that soybean oil shouldn’t be a problem. The rice snack was just stupidity.

Today I met with the Pedi GI. He is part of a practice at CHOP rated as the very best in the US.

The very first thing out of his mouth? Pump for two weeks and put her on Allimentum. 🙁

He seems to think it is just Milk and Soy and that my list of things that bother her (dairy, beef, shellfish, peanuts, chicken, turkey and possibly soy) is unreasonable and ‘there is no way she is intolerant to all of those things.’ I was also told that there is no way I can continue on a TED without sacrificing my own health and (My personal favorite) I have ‘already given her all the benefits breastmilk has to offer so there is no problem switching to formula now. He believes she is still (17 days later) still reacting with new intensity to dairy left in my milk. He also mentioned having to try multiple formulas to figure out what works for her. Isn’t that exactly what I am doing with TED? How is formula the better choice?

He also said no probiotics or enzymes as there is no proof they are effective.

I asked for a script for zantac for her reflux and got a speech about ‘bandaids’ and how I can’t give her zantac and eat what I want as it won’t cure the MSPI. After explaining I just didn’t want her to suffer as we tried to work with the MSPI and I had no intention of eating dairy – he wrote the rx.

I managed to convince him to ‘let’ me go for another 10 days on TED to try to get the bleeding to stop. To that effect I am down to the things I know don’t bother her: Potatoes (white and sweet), Avocado and pears. (I also splurge on Pelligrino with dinner)

I know I can’t do just potatoes, pears and avocados for long, but I figured if I can make it a week and show signifigant progress I can try either rice or squash again and go from there. If there isn’t any progress at least I know I tried everything I could and move forward with formula with no regrets.

I get that he is the Dr and all, but based on what I have read here and elsewhere (and especially Erin’s links) I think he is sort of full of baloney. The allimentum won’t be the cure all he is making it out to be and I will have sacrificed my breastfeeding relationship for nothing. I know he wants a two week formula trial – but I know that with two other kids and FF the baby I won’t be able to pump nearly enough to keep my supply where it needs to be.

I also asked him about oversupply potentially being a part of the problem. My second son was on block feeding per the LC for suspicion of oversupply. I have tried block feeding in the interim just in case as the GI admtted he knew nothing about it.

So what should I do? Is it reasonable to go for a super TED for a week to see what it can do? Am I being selfish for letting her go another week like this to try and salvage breastfeeding? Am I right that Allimentum is not the fantastic cure he is making it out to be? Am I completely out of my mind here?

[Anonymous]

I am SO sorry you and your little one have been struggling so much! (((HUG)))

My first 2 children were born by c-sections and I was not able to nurse them for very long. They both suffered severely from acid reflux and food intolerances mostly milk and soy protein. They were on reflux meds and special formulas with the proteins extensively broken down in it. I often felt desperate just like you. 🙁

In doing some research about c-sections, breastfeeding, and digestive problems, I found some interesting information…..

Whilst in your womb, your baby’s intestinal tract is sterile – and so its free from bacteria. From birth though, your baby begins the process of acquiring the friendly bacteria in the gut that play such a critical role in health and wellness.

How your child is born, strongly influences what kind of bacteria your child will acquire. Infants that are born vaginally begin accumulating beneficial bacteria including Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Escherichia coli (commonly abbreviated to E. coli) and Enterococcus in the birth canal with the very process of birth. These bacteria form the foundations of a healthy digestive flora and originate from healthy maternal vaginal and fecal flora.

Babies born via cesarean on the other hand, receive a different mix of bacteria at birth. This comes from the maternity hospital itself, notably from nursing staff and equipment and includes Clostridium and Streptococcus.

Following birth, the acquisition of digestive flora continues until your baby is around two to three months of age with most of this beneficial bacteria coming from the mother via touch, suckling and kissing.

The way in which you feed your baby also has a strong influence on his or her digestive flora. A breastfed baby tends to have greater numbers and types of beneficial bacteria than a formula fed infant, notably Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus and Enterococcus. These bacteria, specifically those belonging to the Bifidobacteria clan (genera) thrive in the presence of breast milk proteins and constitute up to 90% of a breastfed infant’s micro flora. They help prevent harmful bacteria colonizing the infant’s intestine.

Newborns have an immature digestive system that has never processed food. The gastrointestinal system is literally just learning to function. Muscles that support digestion have not developed the proper rhythm for moving food efficiently through the digestive tract. Furthermore, newborns lack the benevolent bacterial flora (probiotics) that develop over time to aid digestion. This explains why a lot of infants outgrow colic within the first six months.

At ages 2 and 4 I started my boys on a probioitc and digestive enzyme supplement and they got WAY better!!! They started sleeping all night long, and in several months I started to let them eat dairy and soy and they have been eating it ever since! They still take 2 or 3 of the probotics and enzymes pills a day.

Some information on digestive enzymes and probiotics….

The pancreas is what makes digestive enzymes and puts them in our stomach to break down the food we eat. All foods have enzymes in them but anytime a food is cooked or processed it kills the enzymes. With our diets today of mostly cooked and processed foods it’s hard for our pancreas to be able to produce enough enzymes. Without enough enzymes in the stomach to break down the food the only thing our stomach knows to do is produce more acid to try to break it down. Too much acid in the stomach will cause heart burn, acid reflux, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, etc.

If a parent has a pancreas that isn’t producing enough enzymes then it is possible that their children can be born with a pancreas that doesn’t work well either. If the mother will take a supplement of enzymes and probiotics while pregnant she will pass these on to her baby and have a baby with a healthy digestive system.

Probiotics are the good, live bacteria that live in our body. One of the things they do is coat and protect our entire digestive tract (and also the ears and nose). When the stomach produces too much acid then it is forced up the esophagus and down the intestines and will kill probiotics. (Antibiotics also kill probiotics.) When the probiotics are depleted then the acid is traveling right up next to the , throat, esophagus and intestines with no protection. This can cause them to get raw, inflamed, and even bleed sometimes.

The company where I get the probiotics and enzymes from will ship to anywhere but I’m sure the shipping would be quite high. So if you are interested in trying to find a probiotic and/or enzyme supplement in your area then you can go to this page on my blog to learn more about what to look for…. http://help4acidreflux.wordpress.com/how-to-choose-the-right-probioticenzyme-supplement/

I wish you the best in finding help and answers for your little girl!

[Anonymous]

Hi

I hope someone can help me or at least just offer some advice. This might be a long post but I need to give the whole background.

My baby girl was born via a c-section as she was frank breech from 30 weeks. I went into labor naturally two days before her scheduled c-section so she was full term. I had no complications during pregnancy and she weighed a healthy 3.5 kg. She was put on Aptamil comfort formula from day 1 as I had breat cancer last year so I am not able to breast feed. From about a week old she struggled with cramps. She would wake up every 30 min to hour and would pull her legs up and cry. She also screamed while passing stool. Doctors kept telling me she had colic. Eventually I took her to a Ped GI and he switched her to Similac Total comfort (at 3 weeks old) which is hypoallergenic 98% lactose free and its a milk based whey protein formula. She immediately stopped the cramping and crying when pooing but then started crying every night like clock work from 22:00 to 24:00 after which she will sleep until 5 or 6 the next morning.

Apart from the evening crying, she was good. She liked going out and she liked her stroller. She is not a great sleeper during the day. She sleeps very light and for short periods of about 15 to 20 min. I tried swaddling etc but it didn’t help much. Her night sleep is great but when she wakes in the morning and gets her first bottle and go back to sleep, she sleeps about 30 min and then starts doing something strange. She will start moving her arms around an grabbing or rubbing her face while breathing like someone with a blocked nose (weezing) and then straighten and also pull her legs up and frantically look or somethig to suck as comfort. This last for about 10 seconds and immediately she goes back to sleep. This continues in cycles for about an hour and sometimes she will start crying. She has done this every morning.

2 weeks on the new formula she started crying while sleeping or when waking up from sleeping. She seemed irritated often. This got worse. She would start screaming while eating, arch her back and neck, claw at the bottle, pull on the teat and then frantically suck again. She started vomiting and have wet burps. Her weight gain was fine. She also always through up when putting her flat to change and would hiccup a lot. I took her back to the GI and he said she has reflux. He gave me nexium sachets 10 mg and she gets half a packet in the morning and half at night. He didn’t give me any other info.

I then researched online about when and how to give nexium and also ensured her pillow is elevated and she is fed and kept upright. Within 24 hours she was a different baby. She was amazing. She seemed more sleepy but she was great. Fast forward one week later (which is a week ago), she started making th same wheezing noises at night and sleeping very restless. While making these noises she will rub her face and then pass gas. Very often, loudly and very smelly. Progressively she started with similar symptoms as before but it now seemed that she is crying during feeding due to gas. Se cramps and pushes and then brings up her formula. She gets irritated and seems to be crampy and gassy like crazy. Constantly passing gas and then stops crying when she has. She kept on waking up from cramps. When I massage we tummy, it seems to help. Past Friday it was very bad. She cried, passed gas, vomited and wet burped and instead of one dirty diaper a day, she had two to three which all looked different. I took her back to the GI yesterday and he now wants to do an upper GI contrast but hey can only help her in two day from now.

I live as an expat in UAE and have been to three doctors. No one listens or tells me anything. I made videos of what she does to show the doctors. Personally I am thinking hat the gas is due to nexium. I found a few posts online where people complained of that. After seeing the doc yesterday I decided to not give her her evening nexium, and although she was still a bit restless last night while sleeping, she did not cry from cramping but is still gassy. Today she hasn’t cried at all even though she is still gassy. I did give her her morning dose.

I have no idea where to go from here. Do I do the scan? Could it be the meds? Is her morning behavior perhaps normal? I really feel so helpless. All she has had is pain and discomfort.

Plse can someone help

[Anonymous]

I thought I might add that I have fought taking PPIs for years because I have always worried whethrt or not I would absorb all the nutrients I need from my food and whethe ror not my other medications would work—I discovered one of the meds I was taking would nor work properly when on a PPI.

After my daughter had her fundo, she hadn’t gained any weight 7 weeks post-op–surgeon wa talking feeding tube–GI said to give her a month—not sure how, but I got enought weight on her and avoided the feeding tube.

Later, she started to refuse to eat–or she would chew her food and spit it out. Breast feeding was the only way I could get her to eat. I won’t go into the whole story–but it turned out she had esophageal thrush. Once we treated her, she started eating, sleeping and gaining weight—and then she got sick, stopped gaining weight—and we had a feeding tube hanging over her head again—pediasure did wonders to avoid a feeding tube a second time. She continued to be failure to thribe as time went on—she had eveloped obstructive sleep apnea–she didn’t sleep well and children produce the most growth hormone in the deepest stage of sleep. she had her tonsils and adenoids removed (and an inguinal hernia repaired) a week after she turned two. She has done great ever since as far as eating and gaining weight—she never had any bad side effects from her fundo.

The surgeon tried to tell me 15 years ago that I needed to have surgery–but I didn’t want to—-stupid—I could have avoided a lot of pain and problems over the years if I had had the surgery back then.

I know they say that it can take up to 18 months to get over reflux—but with reflux still as bad as his is at 12 months old—I would have the ph probe done. I had no idea how bad my daughter’s eflux really was until after her probe and her scope and biopsy reports came back.

My reflux has twice caused shatzky’s rings in my esophagus–the 3rd scope showed the eosinophils. reflux is miserable.

[Anonymous]

That is so neat that your little boy still gets your milk. I know that breast milk is best. To be honest, nursing in itself is not my favorite thing (don’t know why for sure but I think it has something to do with all the bad memories of trying to nurse my first baby when he screamed etc most of the time and I was existing with no sleep) but I did nurse Shiloh till she was 8 months old. I might have nursed her longer but we took my dad on a camping trip and while there he was injured and then in the hospital for a week and then passed away. So with all that stress, I quit nursing. 🙁

Can you tell me how that works with pumping? How often do you have to pump to get enough milk for your baby to strictly drink your milk? As often as the baby would nurse? That seems like a lot work and time consuming. But if I have an “aversion” to nursing with my next baby, maybe I should try just pumping because I really want my babies to have breast milk.

After I wrote all that I decided I should start a new discussion about it. Here is a link to it. https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15455&PID=116002#116002 If you don’t mind, please answer over there. I’d love to get your advice.

Ok, back to reflux. That’s really neat that you get to nurse him at night and I am really glad that he sleeps so well.

I mentioned probiotics before but now I will mention enzymes. :)Digestive enzymes are what play a major role in breaking down our food. All foods contain enzymes in them to break down the food but when a food is cooked or processed, the enzymes are killed. But our pancreas also produces digestive enzymes and places them in our stomach to aid in breaking down our food. The bad problems is… that us Americans eat a diet of mostly cooked and processed foods. For many people, their pancreas gets tired and wore out from making so many digestive enzymes that it starts to slow in production. 

It is also possible that a baby can be born with a pancreas that doesn’t work well and this is often inherited.

When food enters the stomach, the stomach excretes a small amount of hydrochloric acid to activate the enzymes in it to start breaking down the food. If the food contains no enzymes and the pancreas produces very little then the only thing that the stomach knows to do it excrete more and more acid to try to activate enzymes. Because there is such an excess of stomach acid then it can be forced up into the esophagus causing heart burn or acid reflux. And it can also be forced down into the intestines causing many problems there too. This excess acid also kills probiotics. 

When there are no or little enzymes in our stomachs to break down our food we wind up with undigested food. This undigested food is them forced out of the stomach and into the intestines. While it is sitting in the stomach it can cause bloating. And beings it isn’t broken down properly then it can cause constipation for many but diarrhea for some. 

So as far as the probiotics helping with more that just bowel issues…. well if you add in enzymes then you will have a powerful combination that should be able to help with vomitting and possible help your child want to eat more and better. My oldest child loved (still does) to eat a ton. As a baby he sometimes drank 40 oz but was still labeled Failure to Thrive. I assume this was from all the barfing. 🙁

But I know that more often, babies struggle with not eating enough. Please take the time to read these stories. They are about babies with feeding problems that have found some help with probiotics and enzymes. http://help4acidreflux.wordpress.com/lorraines-story/ and http://help4acidreflux.wordpress.com/federicas-story/

Yes it is ok to give probiotics and enzymes while giving Prevacid. (I can’t speak for all company’s but I know that the company we use says that)

[Anonymous]

Thanks, ladies:). Yes…he does table foods. I mash everything up pretty well. He can eat cheerios, puffs, etc. His self- feeding skills are limited….I am telling you, this kid would not eat if he didn’t have to. Feeding therapy….I have had a few sessions, but they really dismiss me and tell me that he has age-appropriate skills, ugh!

Martha – thank you! No, he never had formula. A little before 1 he started cow’s milk in a cup….but he still gets a bottle of breast milk before nap and another before bed. He actually chugs these bottles now, so I plan on keeping up the breast milk in a bottle for awhile longer since he now enjoys it. Plus, when he has days where he eats so little, I know the breast milk is so good for him. Thank you for your advice, and information about the probiotics. I never have tried them because I did not know it could benefit him in other ways besides bowel issues (which he has no problems with). I read your blog…and I have contacted the company before about dosage. Do you do the probiotics along with the prevacid? I just eagerly anticipate a day where his belly does not require ANY medicines!!! He actually sleeps pretty well. He typically sleeps 11-12 hours at night, but usually wakes once. I nurse him during this time….partly because it is the only time he will ever let me nurse him, partly because itmis a good way to get more calories in him, and partly because if I let him cry, I am afraid he will vomit. So if I am to blame for these bad habits, so be it, He also takes a good 3 hour afternoon nap.

My daughter had horrible reflux, but she was a comfort eater. I will tell you, reflux is horrible. Gagging and vomitting is horrible. But having a baby tha refuses to eat is the pits. I realize I have been fortunate…my kid can eat, and with enough distraction, we usually can get enough in him. We have never had to worry about a feeding tube. I often would think a baby cries because he is tired, hungry, or needs a diaper changed. Feeding a baby should be bonding with him…it is heartbreaking when it can be so difficult.

I don’t want my baby to grow quickly, but at the same time, I won’t miss many parts of these days.