Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

Hi there.

Welsome to the site. I’m sorry to hear what you’re going through with your son. My daughter is turning two and we’ve been dealing with a feeding aversion almost since she was born, it seems. She also has reflux. Her aversion was really bad, and the only way I could get her to take any breast milk or bottle was to feed her when she was asleep, and even that was a struggle. We were facing a feeding tube for a long time, because it was just impossible to get her to feed, and later to eat solids.

What types of symptoms did your son have with his reflux when he was younger? Did he vomit or was it silent reflux? Did he eat? What was his temperament like? Did he sleep? Did he have any testing done? What type of meds was he on and how much? Does he have any allergies?

As for what he’s going through now- Can he talk? Can he tell you a bit about what’s wrong if you ask him?

Interesting that he was diagnosed with asthma, because that can also be a complication of uncontrolled reflux. The stomach pains make me curious about food allergies, or I guess even celiac. I think it’s a good thing that you have an appointment for a ped GI. I know that the appointment isn’t until August, but I would ask to be put on the cancellation list, and I would also call daily or every couple of days to see if there have been any cancellations. Tell them the gravity of the situation, and that you’re really concerned about his lack of intake.

I would also ask your ped to up his dose of medication. I don’t know how much he weighs, but I’m pretty sure that his dose is probably too low even based on conservative measuring. You might want to check out Laura’s intro stickied in the introduce yourself forum, and also http://www.marci-kids.com . Marci-kids is a great site in terms of reflux info- beware that they believe in very high and frequent doses of PPI, but even the North American society of pediatric GIs recommends at least 1-15mg/kg a day (which is also very low). In terms of the losec, I’m not sure how you’re giving it, but if it’s the capsule, then you need to give it on an empty stomach and follow it up with a meal 30 minutes later. You can sprinkle the capsule in a spoon of applesauce or something acidic but make sure that he doesn’t chew the little beads. You might want to try to get the prevacid solutab if you have it there- it might be called zoton- but I’m not sure if you have it. Do you have something like mylanta supreme that you can give and see if that makes a difference? If so, don’t give it near the PPI.

While waiting for the nutritionist, can you see if he’ll take a supplement like pediasure? That way you won’t have to worry as much about his lack of intake. I would also go back to the ped and see if he can push getting you in faster.

As for what do, I really think that you need to get some help from a specialist who can figure out what’s going on. I would probably push for some testing- maybe an endoscopy and/or a PH probe to see if it’s actually reflux that’s the problem and if there’s any damage. Like I said, allergies also comes to mind.

I would also try to get help from a feeding therapist to help give you some guidance, but really you have to get the root of the problem under control. While waiting, you can try to add calories to what he is taking in- give him calorie dense foods, and add butters and oils to his other foods. I would try supplements- pediasure, carnation instant breakfast- I’m not sure what you have in Australia. I might also call back the nutritionist and see if she can give you any suggestions or tips over the phone for things that you can add to his current intake to boost calories and nutrition. Here we have something called duocal which is calories and fats that are almost tasteless that you can add to liquids or foods. Ask your ped if he’s old enough to start a multivitamin so you don’t have to worry about nutrition.

I know how hard it is to watch your child seem to starve in front of you. It’s such an awful feeling. That’s why it’s so important to try to push for earlier testing. If things get really bad, you can always go to the ER, but of course, no one wants to go that route unless they have to. As for eating, I would just keep offering, but not pushing. If it’s any consolation, Hailey NEVER eats anything for breakfast (which is awful, I know), and goes from dinner the night before with a bottle before bed, to nothing until lunch, a small lunch, and a small dinner. We add extra calories through oil/butter on everything, and try to encourage fluids. We also try feeding her on the go things that she likes which sometimes helps, or do things like picnics etc that get some food in when she might not realize it outside of a typical meal situation.

Good luck to you, and hang in there. I remember the feelings of despair very well, and still get them sometimes when I don’t know where to go from here, and few people seem to see that we have a problem. Keep us posted.

BTW, Therese (evergreenie) is also from Aus, so maybe she can offer you some tips or advice.

[Anonymous]

evergreenie wrote:

Bugger. I hear your pain about the teething. Could they not just be born with them

Therese… that might make for some pretty uncomfortable breast feeding!!!!

Sue- Don’t feel bad about Taylor’s lack of teeth. At a year, Hailey had 2 teeth, at 14 months, she had 3.5, and now at almost 2, she finally has them all (except the very rear 2.5 year molars, I guess). I honestly thought that she’d never get teeth. At one point, I was getting so paranoid that I thought maybe she had a mineral deficiency from her lack of eating causing her not to have teeth!

Heather- If you’re into homeopathic stuff, there are some liquid teething formulations that you can probably tube. And of course there’s the Hyland’s gel that you can apply directly to the gums (I know easier said than done with a kid with a feeding aversion, but you can use it as part of his oral desensitization).

[Anonymous]

I agree with Christine. The pastor’s wife at my church told me that it was a myth you couldn’t get pregnant while breastfeeding…she was proof postive.

[Anonymous]

The purple stuff is probably the Prevacid. There have been threads on it in the past and Joel (who used to work at marci-kids) says that if it’s purple it’s been degraded in the stomach which means it probably wasn’t timed just right. Don’t worry though….just do your best to give it on an empty stomach and follow it up with a feeding 30 minutes later. It’s hard when they are eating so frequenly, but as long as you are seeing pain relief and improvement in her reflux symptoms, then she’s probably getting enough of the medication into her bloodstream.

As for the nursing, try to just go by her weight gain so you don’t drive yourself nuts. My babies were bottle fed (expressed breast milk) because they would not nurse so I can’t comment on the short nursing sessions, but none of my three were big eaters. Liza thrived on 20-25 ounces a day, Eliana on 20-22 ounces a day, and Myles on 15-18 ounces a day. Some babies (like some adults) have very efficient metabolism and they just don’t need as much. Also DGE babies tend thrive on much less – probably because the food sits in their stomachs so long and more nutrients are absorbed than would be if the food moved through more quickly.

I bet the fatty milk is filling her more quickly too.

I think growt spurts usually last a week or more.

ndrose2007-5-23 13:49:8

[Anonymous]

Addy was a super fast nurser before she started her aversion. Super fast, like 5 minutes max and usually only 2-3! When I would pump, I could pump 8 oz in 2 minutes! Maybe I had OALD but we had so much other stuff going on, I didn’t even know that existed until after I had to quit breastfeeding.

[Anonymous]

Not sure about the breastfeeding, but the purple spit up was common with Dylan. It was the prevacid for him…..

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone!

Quick question, Kate has been having the shortest feeds in the world lately. I’m talking six or seven minutes and she’s done. I’ve been feeding her on one side per feed because I have OALD and that seems to be helping so I’m figuring my breasts are fuller(not engorged anymore ever)and she’s getting the good fatty milk but it still worries me that she’s feeding for such a short time. She’s NEVER fed on each side for ten minutes like all the books say which used to totally freak me out. Max, even when she was little, was maybe fifteen minutes tops. She’s gaining weight like a champ though. I just wondered if anybody else’s babies had really short feeds. Also, the past FOUR days her feeding is like every two hours!!! Is a growth spurt supposed to last that long? I’m not much of a schedule kind of person so I just feed her when she’s hungry but last night I was exhausted! Every time she woke up with that hunger cry I was thinking you have GOT to be kidding me kid! You just ate!!!Just curious, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. She’s wetting diapers fine by the way.

Oh!! Sorry, one last thing. Sometimes in her spit-up(like maybe once a day), there’s like this purple grainy stuff. I know if it looks like coffee grounds it’s blood but this is kind of purple. Could it be the prevacid? She’s on the solutab. Our second ped said if it was purple it wasn’t blood because if it was it would be black but he has proven himself to be highly incompetent in my eyes so his opinion quickly goes out the window. I think that’s it for now…..yep, can’t think of anything else….yet!

[Anonymous]

Alexis’s Mom- Thanks so much for the Sandifer’s info. Hmmm, the search continues to find out what’s going on with Kate. She definately was showing Sandifer symptoms a couple of days ago but I haven’t seen it lately. The only thing is, could it be possible to show these symptoms WHILE feeding? That’s when I saw them with her. She would sort of jerk her neck into my breast, jerk her wrist around in this seizure like way, stretch out one leg, arch her back. It’s so strange it has a name because our second ped( what a rollercoaster this has been)actually laughed at me when I asked if it could be siezure and proceeded to tell me all children feed differently. Ha! Boy am I glad we kept on moving after one visit with him.

Momof4- You’re so sweetThanks for the supprt. It means a lot when you feel like a failure of a mom because you feel so helpless and can’t FIX what’s wrong. Did you feed Caden lying in bed or reclining in a chair? We might as well give it a whirl!

[Anonymous]

Yep, its normal. I had a very short one around 9 weeks and not another til I stopped breastfeeding. I would take a store bought test to be sure but it is normal for periods to be inconsistent when your breastfeeding.

[Anonymous]

I am over 12 weeks post partum. I had my first period at just under 8 weeks. I have not had another. So, I am in a sense, late. Is it normal to have irregular periods after I had one? Could breast feeding be interfering with my cycle, or could it be…no…not yet!!!

[Anonymous]

I am hoping that the allergy testing will help me to eliminate foods that bother my baby. My ped wants to just put her on formula…seems like a quick fix to me, thank goodness her GIPED is pro breast feeding. I am only having dairy, grains, fruits and vegetables done next week for her. I hope it can at least help me watch my diet for her, and not avoid unneccessary foods. She has been off of the zantac for four days because of the rash she had, her GIPED wants to give her system a rest and surprisingly she is doing pretty well, I wonder if the dairy was the culprit for her reflux flareups. I have been on a dairy ED for a week now.I sure hope we are on a better track soon.

[Anonymous]

It makes me so sad to read your post. Please don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault, and what mom wouldn’t wait and try and hope that her baby would take a bottle? You’ve done everything you possibly could!

I can definitely relate to the sadness you feel when you see other moms feeding their babies. My little guy is 20 months old and I still get pangs of sadness when I see babies happily drinking from bottles or nursing. It was such a struggle with both of my reflux babies and it’s just very, very sad, even though we didn’t have to resort to tube feeding; so I can only imagine how sad you must be.

Now to answer your question about if they ever get over it. Yes, I think they can and do. Myles loves his bedtime bottle now and he screams for it when he sees it. This started at about a year, even though since the age of 7 months he would not take a bottle at all except (reluctantly) that one bedtime bottle. He never ended up on a tube (thankfully) but I had to spoon feed him all of his breast milk and formula because he hated the bottle. Now he loves the bottle! Ellie also began to enjoy the bottle once her reflux was gone.

Does she take a pacifier? I think Heather (Bryce’s mom) said that it’s good to give them something to suck on while they are being tube fed so they associate sucking with feeding.

Is she on any meds for her reflux? Does she seem to be in pain?

I hope and pray you get a call for Speech Therapy soon. I will keep Cassie in my prayers.

[Anonymous]

I hate that you and Cassie are going through this! I know what you mean about other mom’s being so lucky that their kids will eat normally. Addy had a very bad feeding aversion (started with breast and then to bottle). It took getting her reflux and FPIES under control (zegerid and neocate and no other food). Her aversion started around 8 weeks and didn’t completely go away until 11 1/2 months. At 5 months, it would take at least 3 hours to get 2-4 oz in her and then by that time, it was time to start over so we were feeding around the clock. I tried everything under the sun, but nothing worked until she was completely well. It took a long time but she did finally start accepting the bottle without dream feeding or being in a totally quiet dark room with no other distractions but me and her. No one else could feed her but me. Luckily she never had to have a ng tube or anything like that. She’s got her momma’s metabolism so she kept weight on even when she wasn’t eating much. Just kidding, I am thankful for that!

It will get better! I know I hated hearing that when we were in the thick of it with Addy not eating but 9-15 oz per day, but now I know that it is true. You both will be in my thoughts and prayers (as all of you mommies, daddies and babies are on this site)!

[Anonymous]

That’s awful. No baby should have to go through that I’m so glad she is able to eat now. What exceptional parents you must be to get through all of that!

The reason I asked about the symptoms is that I’m always wondering if Caden could have had something I was unaware of, because nothing I tried really helped him (only time helped), and it helped to get the breastfeeding issues under control (OALD).

He definitely doesn’t have that though.

[Anonymous]

I think you should be just fine. When I weaned Brianna down to twice a day, my milk supply stayed just fine, and she was a twice a dayer for a few months. Also, I like Christine’s idea of pumping just at lunchtime as a good alternative if you do think your supply is getting low. Good luck!