Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

First of all, I’m sorry that you’re going through this. I have to say that I agree with Laura- it really sounds like pain from the reflux, like his acid isn’t being controlled.

I’m sorry to say this, but that is exactly what trying to feed Hailey was like in the early months while she would still eat. She would cry like she was hungry, frantically latch on, gulp, choke, gag, pull off, arch, scream, cry, kick, hit, then sometimes come back frantically for more b/c she was starving, and as the feeding problems got worse, she’d pull off and refuse altogether. Eventually she refused to eat flat out. She’d cry whenever we approached a feeding situation, or even when she saw I was about to BF. She’d scream when she saw a bottle as well.

In our situation, people blamed it on OAL as well. They said that my let down was so forceful that she was being choked by it, and then that my flow was so quick that she was filled up after just a minute or so. I didn’t believe it then, and after what we’ve been through, I know that it was reflux. OAL doesn’t cause babies to go bezerk like that when you try to feed them. I would bet that your situation is due to reflux pain. I would also guess that it’s related to one of the medication problems that Laura talked about.

If you’re not seeing a ped GI then that might be something to consider. If you tell us where you are, we might be able to recommend someone who believes in more aggressive PPI dosing to help your little one’s pain.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

So today was my first day back to work full time and I was a wreck having to leave Cade. Being my second child, I mistakenly thought it’d be easier this time. It was horrible. All day I dreamed of coming home and breastfeeding, cuddling and making him smile. We got home and he immediately started SCREAMING. Bloody murder. I could not get him to stop! The sitter said he hadn’t slept much, which is odd for him (since his meds. kicked in!), so I at first thought he was overtired, but he still wouldn’t sleep after getting home. Long story short, we ended up at urgent care. I figured they’d call me nuts and send us home, but would rather have them do that then end up in the ER at midnight. Good thing I went, he had a double ear infection.

My question – I’ve been reading a lot on this forum of your kids having ear infections. My 3-year old (didn’t have reflux) has never had one. Are reflux kids more prone? If so, why?

Thanks. I think we caught it early, thank goodness. How fast do they get over them?

[Anonymous]

Wow, can I relate. Kate also showed Sandifer symptoms and her only REAL problem was feeding. It was like a switch went off when she was done like ” Whew, it’s over. Now I can be happy!” It was awful. There’s nothing harder then trying to nurse a struggling gerdling I also have OALD and what helped me SO much is nursing lying down and letting her off when my milk let down to avoid all the choking and air gulping. Oh! I also nurse her on one side per feed which helped SO much right away. In terms of meds, once you get the right dose and med, things will improve. It’s so hard. I would have panic attacks before every feed with Kate. I almost stopped a couple of times but thank good ness I stuck it out. When it does get better and he finds relief, what an amazing experience it is to nurse a happy, comfortable baby! Good luck with babywearing too. Kate never was too fond of it, I think she felt too constricted but it has been a lifesaver for a lot of moms who find that they have their hands again!!! Yay! Good luck and I hope things get under control soon. Oh! Try not to change everything at once too b/c then you have no idea what was the reason for the improvment. Just speaking from experience. It’s hard not to desperately try everything at once though!

[Anonymous]

I wish I could remember in detail what I did, but it basically went like this. I slept in the room where I wanted Justice to sleep. I wanted him in his room and in his crib. So, we put a matress on the floor in that room and that is where I slept. At his bedtime and once he was tired, I would sing him a song. Our song is Jesus loves you, then we pray. After that I put him in the crib. Here is where you can do what you think is best. You can either let them cry a little or just lay them back down once they sit or stand. With Justice I did both. Everytime Justice would sit or stand I would lay him back down. He is very determined so sometimes, I would just sit there and let him look at me and cry and then I would eventually go to him and start the laying him down thing. Once he would lay still for me I would rub his lower back in large circles. You will also want to keep a sleep journal so you can see the progress. I would have never known it was working if I hadn’t kept mine. With it I could see the amazing progress that he was making. I don’t like the cio method, but was okay with some crying. I think there was a big difference in Justice’s cry when I was in the room and when I would leave. When I was in the room with him he would cry like he was mad. If I left he got frantic. I have a friend that is big into no crying and she agreed with the whole plan. It takes much longer than crying it out does, but was worth it to me. Dr. Sears talks about how if your baby becomes very clingy when doing the cio method that you need to stop doing it. He does not agree with cio, but says if you decide to do it that is a sign that you should stop. I wouldn’t call what I did cio since he was never alone and I tryed to help him. I am still amazed to be honest that it worked.

A few other things are if you are breast feeding, you need to use your judgement on when or if to feed the baby. With Justice the first few nights I did fed him a few times because he had been eating all night long and I was very full and in a lot of pain. If any of this does not make sense please let me know. I feel like I am leaving some stuff out, but I think that was the basics. Oh, if you get aggrivated, LEAVE THE ROOM!!!!!!!!!! Even if for that night your baby has to cio. I would get very angry at Justice and just needed to leave. That is where my husband would step in or I would get on this site and vent. I would try not to stay away for too long, but wanted to be calm before going back. I hope something works for you soon. Please keep us updated. Oh, one more thing. My older son and husband slept in the same room together and they had a sound machine in the room with them also so that they were not being woken up all night long. It is tough, but so worth it!

[Anonymous]

I agree with all that Laura posted. It does sound like a combination of things.

I did want to mention though, that my son started doing all the same things you are describing at about the same age as your son. It was so bad that the only way he would nurse would be me hanging over him while he was sitting in his bouncy seat. He too would start to cry as soon as I sat down with him and pulled up my shirt. Benjamin was on a good dose of Zegerid at the time, but his reflux just really peaked at that age, and we had to up his dose. Once we did, he settled back down and things got better. He’s been on that dose ever since.

I would definitely look into the links that Laura mentioned, and I hope that you find some answers soon.

[hellbennt]

don’t appologize about long posts

you haven’t seen one of mine, lol, or maybe you have- have you taken a peek at Groupie Intro, lol! and watch out! this one is long, too

ok some thoughts: my guess is that you’re using prevacid compound and that the medicine has lost it’s stability (if you go to the top of the screen/page & click on ‘Settings’ & then ‘from there ‘Edit Profile’ & then ‘Signature’ you can put baby’s name, age, meds, form of meds, breastfeeding, etc)

my next guess is that if you’re using another form of prevacid, such as the solutabs, & perhaps you’re not giving them on an empty stomach (hard to do w/ a breastfed baby)

next guess is regardless of the form of prevacid your baby is taking, the dose is not high enough

http://www.marci-kids.com addresses ‘proper’ dosing of meds &

also in the ‘Medicines’ Forum’ there’s top post called ‘Ttreating GERD w/ PPIs’ that’s really helpful with all of this

next guess: you have OALD (overactive letdown)- there are links about this from Groupie Intro which is the top post in the Introduce Yourself Forum

What I would do: 1) address OALD 2) get baby on stable form & proper dose of PPI 3) in the meantime, if you have any zantac (or axid or tagament or pepsid) give this also, making sure to give it 4hrs seperate from the PPI, until you get the PPI ‘straightened out.’ 4) check out the Babywearing link in Groupie Intro, as there are ways to hold your baby in a ring sling, wrap and Mei Tai carrier (all explained in babywearing, lol) upright and you can wear baby in burp position in ring sling & wrap… 5) once everything is settled medication wise and nursing wise, then if there are still issues, you can address your diet if you so choose (more about that from Groupie Intro in the ‘breastfeeding a refluxer’ section

whew!!!

hope I haven’t scared you off

~laura

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone. I am so glad I found this site! I am sorry this post will be so long, but I have quite a few issues. I have been to 2 Dr.’s and 3 lactation consultants (not very much help).

Anyway, I have a 4 1/2 month old who is exclusively bf. We’ve sort of struggled from the begining. I used a nipple shield the first 4 months. I was finally able to get him to nurse without it just a few weeks ago. I have had mastitis 4 times. He was diagnosed w/ reflux at 5 weeks mainly because he has so many Sandifer’s syndrome symptoms (neck twisting/arching, back arching, kicking one leg out, etc.) He would grunt so loud all night long as he arched. He swallows most of his spit up and has gained weight pretty well. He was 9 lbs 5 oz. at birth and was over 16 lbs. at 4 months. We started him on Prevacid at 5 weeks, which eventually helped. However, the past few weeks something has drastically changed.

Here is what he does when he nurses: he’ll initally latch on and suck, choke on my let down (I try to recline back though), pull off, sometimes suck again for a few short minutes, other times he will refuse to nurse again for 10 minutes or so. He will look at me like I have Tabasco sauce instead of milk! He will sometimes just turn his head away and bring his lips together really tight. Other times he will push away so hard I can barely keep him in my arms. He will sometimes fight me so hard he will actually hit me. Sometimes he’ll start to cry and push away if I even start to sit down in my glider(where I usually nurse him). I always stop and let him rest, but a few minutes later he is STARVING! We repeat the same pattern pretty much all day long. He does the same thing with a bottle of pumped milk. To me it seems like he is in a lot of pain when he eats. He curls up into a little ball and his Sandifer’s syndrome symptoms come out really strong. He used to eat every 3 hours or so during the day, and would only get up around 5 am to nurse. Now, he’s up every 1-3 hours all night long. To me it seems like he’s actually getting more milk in the middle of the night (a habit I desparately want to break). He nurses SO much better in his sleep. I should also mention that when he’s not nursing or hungry he is a super happy baby that laughs and smiles all the time! He’s not particularly gassy either.

About the time he started struggling with nursing more he also started choking on his spit up more frequently ( a few times each day and lot’s of time at night).

Has anyone else experienced a similar thing? I sought out help from quite a few people and no one seems to have any ideas on how to help. Does this even sound like a reflux issue? I would appreciate any suggestions! Again, so for such a long post!

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone! I am brand new to this site. I’m a first time mom so I have quite a few questions, but for now I’ll just ask the most pressing one. My son Connor is 4 1/2 months old and began taking Prevacid at 5 weeks old. The Dr. has suggested adding Reglan a few times, but I’ve always been weary because of the side effects I have read about online. I’ve called a few pharmacists in the area and they all say it’s fine. Have any of you had your child take Reglan and if so, did you notice any side effects? The Prevacid worked initially, but he has started choking on his reflux a few times a day and quite a bit at night, which totally freaks me out. I am breast feeding and thepast two weeks have been miserable. It seems like he is in pain every time he nurses and will only nurse a few minutes at a time (which means I pretty much nurse him all day long. . ) anyway, if any of you know much about Reglan, I would love to hear about it. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I use lansinoh wipes on Brianna. She has a pretty sensitive bottom too. She breaks out with ALL the major brands (huggies, pampers, etc). they are supposed to be for breastfed babies, but I am still using them on Brianna even though she is on whole milk now, so I don’t think it matters. You actaully get them in the aisle that has the bottles and bottle sanitizers and breastfeeding accesories, not where the normal wipes are. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I like your ideas for transitioning Ari to the sitter. Just follow his lead and go from there! Some of our greatest transitions have taken place at the sitter’s house…sometimes it’s just easier that way! SHE got Sarah to sleep unswaddled…SHE got Sarah to really drink well from the sippy…and now I’m thinking SHE will do a great job teaching Sarah to spoon feed herself! LOL!! I also agree that you need to wean him from breastfeeding when you’re comfortable with it. I also agree…who cares how long it takes. Whatever works for your family!

That’s also funny what you said about not sipping milk…I feel the same way! I don’t care if she sips her water all day but I want her to sit and DRINK her milk! Why is that!?!?!

Thanks again Laura! Can’t believe Ari’s (and Jonah’s) birthdays are coming up so fast! WOW!

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to let you know that my 3- year old daughter has been on antibiotics since she was a year old due to grade 3 kidney reflux. We didn’t know she had it until that time because she was UTI free (I believe breastfeeding helped keep her from getting an infection) until 1 year. At that time, she got a very bad infection and ended up in the hospital with 106 degree fever and pneumonia. BE GLAD that you can do something to prevent that! It was the most horrible experience. She’s now 3 and still on the antibiotics, but I keep the faith that she’ll grow out of it. Although I HATE having her on the antibiotics, it comforts me to know that they should provide some level of protection from ever getting THAT sick again from a UTI, not to mention any possible kidney damage.

Good luck!
Andrea

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry to hear this. I hope that you can figure out what’s bothering him and will be able to continue breastfeeding. Good luck with everything.

[Anonymous]

thanks for all your answers. im thinking i might go to good start, the lacto free is still pretty expensive. its worth a try. so far hes doing good, only thing different is hes eating more and his poops arent as runny. maybe the dairy problem from breastfeeding was bc of reflux or he outgrew it..i hope so..

[Anonymous]

I think I responded to one of your other posts on the same topic. Maybe even on the breastfeeding reflux yahoo group. If not your story is the same as another mom. Anyway, zegerid was great for us, but didn’t help with the sleep issues. We eventually had to do sleep training at 10 months. I wanted to be sure he was reflux free before starting and we took him off meds at 9 months. We did not do cio so if you are interested I am willing to tell you what we did once you are ready for sleep training. I hope for you though that a simple med change will make all the difference. That is much easier.

[Anonymous]

Oh, Claire, bless your heart! I had mastitis once with Jonathan, and I did what Laura suggested after reading to do this on a breastfeeding site. I never needed antibiotics, but I did have a fever and chills and was VERY tired, so rest is key to recovery (easier said than done with a reflux baby!). I’ll say a prayer for a quick recovery for you! (I think it was gone in less than a week.)