Confused and Frustrated

[Anonymous]

I am new here. I’m looking for someone with any insight to my baby’s issues.

Jack will be 8 weeks old this Wednesday. We have struggled with him since around week 1. He started off well, but eventually he began to fuss while feeding. He then started crying after his bottles as well. He was 11lbs at birth, he is currently weighing around 11lbs 8oz.

His symptoms include:

-As soon as the milk hits his tummy, I can feel it gurgle.

-Crying during feedings, sometimes after 1/2 – 1 oz. He will refuse the bottle, but is obviously hungry because he starts sucking on his hands like he hasn’t eaten in days. I have to give a nuk and let him calm down before he will take the bottle again.

-Crying after feedings until he is all cried out and falls asleep

-Wakes from naps suddenly after making a gulping noise, sometimes with a lil bark or meow sound (dont know how else to describe it) Sometimes he makes gasping sounds also. He will cry until he falls asleep again.

-He also wiggles and squirms during feedings and while he sleeps, because he is obviously uncomfortable.

-Mucous present in most BM’s, blood was present once (that I could see) when he was around 3-4 weeks.

He sleeps on his tummy (its the only way he will sleep), and oddly enough, has been sleeping through the night since about 4 weeks. Oh and he very rarely spits up and it is never very much.

Long story short, he has been on six different formulas, none of which caused a significant change for the good.

Similac Advance

Similac Soy

Enfamil Gentlease

Nutramigen

Allimentum

Currently he is on Good Start. He has been on this for about 3 weeks.

We have tried Zantac, that really didn’t make a difference.

Now he is on Prevacid 15mg x once a day and for about a week now, Maalox 1/4tsp before each feeding (except the one that comes after the Prevacid)

Maalox seems to be the only thing that helped significantly, but in the last 48 hrs it seems like he is going backwards. When we started the Maalox, he began taking 4.5 – 5 oz. every 3 hours with little to no fussing. Now I cant get him to take more than 2-3 w/o him stopping. He has been crying and sleeping more than normal as well. Its seems as though Maalox would serve as a temp fix anyway.

We have an appt with a Gastro doc on Aug. 19th.

I have hit a dead end it seems. I am tired of changing formulas. I am tired of trying something new, getting excited cause it seems to help, only to have all symptoms reappear after a week. Hopefully, the Gastroenterologist will have some answers but until then, I thought maybe someone here has had a similar experience and may be able to offer some tips.

Thanks in advance.

Oh and he has hiccups at least 5-6 times a day especially when he coos (hiccups make him VERY angry lol).

CaptJacksMom2010-07-19 13:17:52

[hellbennt]

hi & welcome!

please check dose at http://www.marci-kids.com/dosing.html
to see if it’s proper (most likely it is, or, it can go up to about 22mgs a day- this is off the top of my head, so don’t quote me, please refer to marci-kids- they are out of the U of Missouri and are at the FOREFRONT of research in this area!)
you’ll need to know Jackson’s weight in kilos, you can check here:
http://www.sfca.co.uk/match/kilolbs.htm

ok so it looks like I’m figuring it out for you
he’s 5.2 kilos

according to marci-kids:
Pediatric Dosing for Lansoprazole (Prevacid®)

Dosing dependent on age & weight

Age	Dose per day (mg/kg/dose)
< 3 months	1.5 to 1.75 mg/kg three times per day
3-6 months	1.25 to 1.5 mg/kg three times per day
7 months to 2 years	1 to 1.25 mg/kg three times per day
> 2 years	1 mg/kg two or three times per day
> 5 years	0.75 to 1 mg/kg two times per day

ok so he’s less than 3 months. it’s 1.75mg/kilo 3 x a day
so he’s 5.2 kilos.
1.75 x 5.2 = 9.1mgs
so you’d give 9.1mgs 3 times a day
right now you’re giving 15, so you could increase to
9.1 x 3 = 27.3mgs a day

next you need to make sure it’s a proper FORM.
is it solutabs? if it is, you need to give on an empty stomach, followed by a ‘meal’ 30 minutes later.
as for the maalox, it’s ‘ok’ but most on this forum try to find mylanta or a generic mylanta w/o any aluminum- look at the ingredients in the maalox- it has aluminum, right? it’s not going to harm him but to be safe…you might want to find mylanta cherry supreme or a store brand/generic equivalent (like CVS brand) that doesn’t have any aluminum in it…

you need to space the maalox/mylanta 4 hrs from the prevacid.

Please take a look here, at Prevacid 101, last post on the page:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1936&PN=0&TPN=1

once you get the meds right, you may wind up re-visiting the whole formula situation (unless proper meds do the trick)- you need to give every change a good 2 weeks, including when you switch formulas…

for a ‘quick’ fix, while you work on getting the prevacid right, I would
also add in the zantac, if you have any left.
make sure to give zantac 4hrs from the prevacid. you CAN give zantac w/ the maalox/mylanta but you canNOT give the maalox and/or zantac with the prevacid.
here’s zantac dose (don’t just take my word on it – read here!
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8288&PN=1)
your bottle says 16mg/ml
so:
5.2kilos x 10 = 52mgs of zantac for the day
to find the dose in mls, you need to divide by 15
so 52 divided by 15 = 3.5mls of zantac a day
you can divide that into 2 doses however you ‘need’ to
so if night is fine and morning is terrible, give 2mls in the am and 1.5 in the pm

you could do:
prevacid first thing in a.m.
4hrs later zantac
4hrs later prevacid
zantac again if needed

[Anonymous]

Hi Christie, your son is adorable!

I’m so sorry to hear about your troubles. My son is 11 weeks and has been going through nearly identical issues. He stops eating like clockwork after 1.5 to 2.5 ounces. When we force it, he maybe eats 3.5 which is like a miracle for us (not to mention a huge time investment as well). He gets hiccups constantly too (what’s with that!?!?).

I hope that the GI specialist is of help to you. Keep me posted and best wishes to a speedy recovery! You are not alone!

[Anonymous]

Laura’s advice should help you out. I just wanted to let you know I’ve been through this twice. My first reflux baby never was properly medicated and she suffered for 9 long months in misery. My 2nd reflux baby finally got a good dose of Prevacid (10 mgs / 3x’s daily) and that completely turned things around for him. His symptoms were almost identical to what you are describing and I found help here. I was desperate as you are and thank God for this site because it helped me find help for my poor boy.

I hope your little guy is feeling better soon.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like your LO has a lot of the common symptoms of a milk protein allergy (mucousy/bloody stool, fussiness, refusing to eat) which would explain why none of the formulas you have tried made a difference. Even the Ali/Nutram have partially broken down milk proteins in them. Some babies can handle them, but for others you will see a small improvement and then it gets worse again when the proteins start to build up again in their systems. I know you are sick of switching formulas, but I would consider asking the GI doc about switching to an amino acid-based elemental formula. They are the only kind that are 100% hypoallergenic because they don’t contain dairy or any other protein chains that he could react to. Hopefully your doc can help you find the right combo of meds/formula for your LO.

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