Search Results for 'breast feeding'

[Anonymous]

It’s such a difficult decision. I also beat myself up trying to figure things out. I just wanted to say good luck.

[Anonymous]

As soon as Carson could lift his head we put him on his tummy. I too was hesitant but he slept much better. If you have Angel Care, I would be so comfortable with that.

[Anonymous]

I’m probably going to be clubbed to death for this suggestion— but does your baby sleep on her tummy?

Violett also spits up a lot if she’s ever lying flat on her back, so we have her sleep on her tummy. She never spits up when sleeping anymore.

We use the Angel Care Monitor by BebeSounds (an alarm goes off if baby stops breathing)— it makes us feel secure knowing that she’s breathing when sleeping on her tummy.

Just a suggestion to add to the fabulous advice you’ve already gotten!

[hellbennt]

I find that I nurse best in a quite dark room before/after sleeping…this doesn’t help when we’re out & about though…then Ari will sip & pull off to look all around…and squirm…and hang upside down

[Anonymous]

That is wonderful, Therese

You’ve been such a huge help to me too through my own reflux journey.

Thank you for always being supportive and positive when I felt down and horrible!

I’m sticking around for awhile too, even though Caden is almost done with reflux too I believe. He goes for a week or two with no symptoms, and then we’ll have a few fussy days. I can handle this after what we’ve been through!

I’m hoping maybe I will be able to share my experience with other breastfeeding moms with OALD, since that was a big part of our problem. Too bad I didn’t figure that out until my 3rd breastfed child!

[Anonymous]

Laura,

I agree with hellbennt and others that it’s obviously a very personal decision that only you can make, but I was in your boat (in a way) with Caden a few months ago when he was having horrible mucousy bms, and he was SO colicky! He never spit up much (silent reflux), but it was so hard to deal with day to day. I kept thinking that surely my breastmilk was the problem and seriously considered weaning to formula. Well, I stuck it out, and here we are at 6 months, and he’s doing great on my breastmilk now, so whatever was bothering him wasn’t due to my milk. I will say that I DO have OALD, and once that was under control he started doing better all around, although it didn’t get rid of his reflux.

I just thought I’d share a little of my story as encouragement for you. Do what you feel comfortable doing, and you’ll know if weaning is the right thing for you if you decide to do it. For me, I just didn’t want to wean him, as he is our last baby, so I chose to stick it out (I’ve breastfed all 3 of our sons). I’m glad I did.

I’m starting to introduce solids now, too, and I’ve found that he is sensitive to certain foods, so we’re going really slow. So far, he has had no reaction to pears or carrots, but everything else I’ve tried has caused either gassiness, a rash, or both. All grains are out for now (we tried rice cereal and oatmeal and had a fussy, gassy baby), bananas are out, applesauce is out, and sweet potatoes are out! Those are the foods I’ve tried so far. You just have to do what works for you and your baby

Oh, and I tried cutting out dairy and almost everything else! I did TED from Dr. Sears’ website, and Caden didn’t do any better. So, I started eating whatever I want after that, and he did no worse…

So, for us eliminating foods from my diet wasn’t the answer either

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[Anonymous]

Partyof4,

All 3 of my boys have outgrown their reflux (for the most part) by 6 months. Caden, our youngest, is now symptom free for a week or more at a time. Then, out of nowhere he’ll have a few days of fussy, colicky behavior again, and I’m assuming it’s the reflux. BUT, this is SO much better than we were doing a month ago! So, I can honestly say that for whatever reason, my boys seem to outgrow reflux by 6 months. He’s even napping now!!! That is such a hugh milestone for him. He slept 2 hours in my bed yesterday while I did things around the house (this was unheard of a month ago). So, we’re on our way out with reflux (at least I hope and pray)!

Also, we suffered through horrible colic for the first 4 months, so it doesn’t mean that my situation is easier than those who outgrow it at 9 months! I know there are some who don’t have the colic to deal with, but the babies outgrow their reflux at 9 months rather than 6. They’re just all different I guess.

[Anonymous]

Ok, I’m not even sure I have questions… just frustrations. Ben has had a cold. We are on about day 10, and he is getting better, so that’s good. However, his nursing has gotten progressively worse. What the??? His main cold symptoms were yucky runny nose and congestion, but he persevered and nursed right through it. Now that he is getting better though, he is not wanting to nurse very much at all. He nurses for about 5 minutes on one side, and I can usually convince him to go back for a few more minutes, and then maybe he will do a few minutes on the other side. I know they can get much more in a shorter amount of time at this age, but I know he isn’t taking in as much, as my breasts are still very full after he is done, and they are starting to feel engorged.

My problem is that I can’t figure out if it’s still the cold bothering him, reflux, or if it’s just the normal 8 mo. male baby that doesn’t want to sit there long enough and nurse??? Sometimes he will just pop off, smile and want to sit up, but others, he will turn his head in and down and stiffen, like a reflux reaction.

I would figure, however, that if he were nursing for shorter periods of time, his solids intake would increase, right? Well, this isn’t happening either.

He’s also constipated, which I am wondering if that’s due to the cold, less liquid in his diet, what? He was also drinking about 1-2 oz. of water before his cold and even the first few days of his cold, and now he is hardly interested in that either.

He’s not teething, as far as I can tell.. though it’s about time for him, as he has no teeth yet. I don’t think it’s the ears, as he has no fever and hasn’t been swiping at them, etc.

I’m just really frustrated, and don’t know if I should just wait it out to see if things improve once he is totally over the cold, or take him in to get checked out.

[Anonymous]

I’m glad you made a decision. Here’s my 2 cents: people always said to me that reflux would go away at 6 months. My first son spit up constantly for 9 months and regularly till he was 1 year old. I thought all those people who said it would clear up at 6 months were crazy. Then I had my 2nd son. He went from soaking my shirt 2 to 3 times daily, to 1 x per day at about 5 months, to now spitting up maybe 1 to 2 times a week!!! And, his other symptoms (grunting, wiggling, back arching, crying, inability to sleep) pretty much all disappeared at 6 months. Now at 8 months, we’re even medicine free. So, basically my 2nd did clear up his reflux by 6 months. This could happen to you!!! So, keep breastfeeding. What I’d do so you’re not constantly reassessing your decision, is say, I’ll re-think this at x date (when baby is 5 months, 6 months,etc). This way you can function and find other things to worry about!!! Good luck. Once I decided to keep breast feeding the 2nd, who is MPI, things actually got better. Hope this works for you as well.

[Anonymous]

I also didn’t know what to do with Carson. I bf until he was 6 months and then our specialist almost insisted we switch to Neocate. Oh, it would help him sooooo much………. Well, his nights are no better than they were. His weight is quite low and we struggle to get him to take the Neocate formula. For me, BF was easy and wonderful and I wept for days/weeks after he was on Neocate. I was on a very strict diet so eating brownies did help me through it! FOR US, Neocate was not a miracle formula that healed everything up.

Glad you have made a decision! Like you said, day by day, week by week. You can always change your mind.

[Anonymous]

I can’t use Myles as an example on when babies go to three bottles because he had a bit of a bottle aversion and gave it up totally at 7 months (except for a bedtime bottle), but both of my girls were on 3 bottles a day at 9 months and from what I can remember from my nanny days, that was pretty typical for a 9 month old.

Since Myles disliked bottles I learned to get lots of breast milk or formula into him by adding it to his baby foods. For instance I used to make his morning oatmeal with 7-8 ounces of breast milk. It was runny and messy but I felt he needed it because he did not take a bottle all day and would not drink from a sippy either. Also I’d add a little milk to his baby foods, maybe 1/2 an ounce to each serving so that added up to another two ounces a day.

I think if she drank 3 bottles a day she’d probably be getting enough formula.

As for bedtime, Myles was going to bed at 9 for a long time. It gradually got earlier and earlier as his daytime napping decreased. Since about a year of age he’s been going to bed at 7:30.

[Anonymous]

Wow, that is really neat. I’ll definitely use that if I have to give up breastfeeding the second one.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if you can get infant gaviscon in the US. But this is essentially a formula thickener. And you can use it with breast milk. You spoon feed them the thickener and then you breast feed like normal. It then supposedly thickens in the stomach. You need to OK it with Dr for longer term use and it might be a tad constipating (although this will prob be less of a problem for breastfeeding). I’d be interested in knowing if you can get it.

[Anonymous]

Okay, usually what happens with a refluxer is you try something new, like formula and it will work for a week and then things will go back to normal again. With my first son everytime I would switch his formula he would be better for a week and things would go back again. I would recommend bfing. There are enzymes in it that actually help refluxers. Also it is easier to digest. That being said, you are the mom and I think you should do what you think is best.

As far as sleep goes, I think it is very common that no matter what formula or bm or med. the baby just doesn’t sleep well. Not that that helps much. I’m just saying not to stop bfing just for the sleep. you might find that you stop bfing and do formula and it doesn’t change. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Anonymous]

The Medela pump in style is what I used. It was wonderful but its pricey.