Baby has feeding aversion–help!

[Anonymous]

I’m new here and I’m hoping you all will have some advice for me. My dear Phoebe has a preliminary diagnosis of silent reflux but it took awhile because her only symptom was crying and kicking during breast feeding. The fussy feeding started slowly, and gradually built to the point where she would not breastfeed at all and we basically force feed her a bottle. My pedi said it could be a dairy intolerance, so I’m now on TED. She doesn’t prefer the bottle because she screams her head off when we give her that too.

I’m just wondering when if the prevacid helps and the dairy is out of our systems if she’ll begin to breastfeed again or if she’ll continue the aversion. Right now she’ll breastfeed in her sleep so I make sure I feed her a couple of times a night. Its worth the sleep sacrifice to see her eat without screaming.

Any advice or personal experience would be great. She is having a swallow study and upper GI in the next week, but as you all know that seems like forever.

[hellbennt]

hi & welcome!

The Upper GI, is good to look for structural abnormalities,

it is *not* good to verify reflux: it is a snapshot in time if you were, so if baby doesn’t happen to reflux at that particular time of the test then a dr might be quick to dismiss you & tell you reflux isn’t there/isn’t bad- the way to show reflux is a ph probe, where the actual length (duration) & frequency (how often) of reflux episodes are recorded (I think actually the acidity is measured as well? Thus the ‘ph’ part of the test?)…

I have a LOT MORE to say & (most of) it’s here:

J

Groupie Intro: my intro: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&PN=1&TPN=1

from this link, look for Prevacid 101- this will tell you all about prevacid- check http://www.marci-kids.com for ‘proper dose’ & prevacid 101 will explain the various forms & how to administer it properly

also from this link, look for the ‘section’ about breastfeeding

and. ask your dr NOW abut carafate. this is not a long term solution, it’s like a band-aid solution but maybe will help get baby to eat

so glad you found us!

~laura

[Anonymous]

This is just MHO but If you are going to do any probe I woudl do an Impendance prbe. The leading children’s hsoptial are all switching to do t hese probes instead of the PH ones.

the Impendcance probe is VERY similiar to the PH one BUT, the one HUGE difference is that the Impendcacne can tell the difference of WHAT is being refluxed. It will measure the “reflux” on the PH scale so that you know exactly what is coming up.

A PH probe will only tell you that the child is refluxing it won’t tell you IF it is acidic or non acidic.

I owuld also start a med after you EDG to hlep relieve some of th eapin and heal the esophagus if need be.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

We went through the same thing with my dd. Her story starts off similar to your daughter- the only symptoms were pulling off and screaming, kicking and arching during bf, and general fussiness and irritability. The ped said colic until 2 months old, when she totally refused to bf and I had to switch to bottle which she also totally refused. Then they said reflux with possible MSPI. They put us on a PPI but the dose was never enough and she never did get over her feeding aversion. The only way I could feed her was to feed her asleep and it got progressively worse, to that was the only way I could feed her, at home in her room, asleep, and even then it was a big struggle and she would fight. She also refused solids and we were on the verge of a feeding tube. She got the same tests as your dd, as well as an endoscopy, but not until later due to the wait. We started feeding therapy from 8-15 months, and then worked on things ourselves from that point forward.

I’m just telling you our story so you’ll know where I’m coming from when I give you my advice. This is just from what I’ve learned, so hope it doesn’t sound harsh:

1) The UGI and swallow study will probably not be terribly valuable unless there’s a structural abnormality or a swallowing problem. You’d likely know if those existed due to coughing during feeding, choking, or excessive vomitting.

2) Unless the prevacid is a high enough dose it often doesn’t help. Most docs underdose. Check out http://www.marci-kids.com for info about dosing. They suggest aggressive dosing, but most kids with feeding aversions need this. We had to see almost every doc in our city until we finally got her on 30 mg, but by that point her feeding aversion was terrible. Also, make sure that you’re giving the prevacid (solutab?) on an empty stomach and followed up with a feeding 30-60 minutes later for the med to work.

3) Try not to fall into the trap of sleep feeding only. Try feeding in different evironments by different feeders. We fell into this pattern, and soon it was the only way I could feed her, and it had to be me and no one else. From 1 month to almost 2 years old, this was how she took a bottle. It was very hard.

4) Consider TED and MSPI.

First I would try to get the meds sorted out. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Hi Lori,

Did you sleepfeed Hailey till she was 2?? I’m still sleepfeeding caydee but most of the time it’s not successful. She is 10 months now and it’s such a struggle and I think I’m going to end the sleepfeeding soon. She wakes up immediately now when she feels the bottle in her mouth.. I’m surprised you got to 2 yrs!! I’ve been doing this for 7 months and I think it’s time to stop or i’ll just go insane! She’s drinking alittle of pediasure from her sippy and eating very little solids. I just started her on periactin for stimulating her appetite. She is currently on 15 mg of prevacid.

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