Help! My 3mo is crying all the time!

[Anonymous]

I agree w/ Laura…. are you supplimenting from supply issues, timing issues (working, etc…) or because the docs just told you to because he was preemie? If your wife could exclusively breastfeed, if you think formula is the issue, that might take care of a lot of the discomfort…. If that is not a choice or things are just way too stressful (been there before 🙂 ) then I would go to Neocate.

It is really hard! This board SAVED me when Dylan was just a baby almost 6 years ago!!!! I can’t believe my screaming infant is now 6. No matter what the boys have been through, those were some of the toughest days of my entire life! It is very difficult to deal with the fact that we put this expectation on ourselves as parents to “FIX” whatever is wrong, but we are not all knowing, we rely on the docs and sometimes they are just playing a guessing game too. It is very emotionally and physically draining.

You guys are doing great and there is a TON of support here! I really thought I was going to loose it those days but the support here (as family and friends had happy babies that cried when hungry, wet, only….) really helped me through.

[Anonymous]

Laura and Ann Marie, thanks for your support. My wife and I appreciate it. I have not had all that much time this morning or last night to research stuff as our little guy was up almost all night kicking, screaming and when sleeping, he was nervous and moving his arms and legs so he is definitely not getting a good night sleep.

I did check out Marci-kids.com and it looks like our recommended dosing for Prevacid is way too low. According to the website, a 3-month old weighing 12-13 lbs should be taking 7.5mg of Prevacid three times a day on an empty stomach 30-60 minutes before a meal. Right now, we are only on 7.5mg once a day. That is 1/3 the recommended dosing. I am going to have to bring that up with the GI and see what she says.

Getting back to Ann Marie’s point above, my wife and I are at our breaking point. She gets little to no sleep and I am not getting much either. We are tired, frustrated and scared as well. We are thinking about taking Keemy (that is his name) to Childrens Memorial Hospital’s emergency room if this keeps up or even to the University of Chicago Hospital where our GI is at. My wife would like some doctors to observe him and get an idea of what is happening with him. I have recorded my son crying of late and even twisting and turning while sleeping in the bed. We want to show this to the doctor and see what she thinks.

I will keep everyone posted if anything changes. I always hope and pray that a new day will bring about new results but I am always wrong. I guess there is nothing wrong with hoping.

[Anonymous]

I think it is a good idea to go to the ER if you are getting no where. I would say this, I am a big advocate for breastfeeding if it is the best thing for baby and mommy. It is VERY difficult, and for us our babies were in the NICU and we could not breastfeed (exclusively pumping for weeks) until I eventuallly dried up. In all honesty with the frustration of feedings and the constant crying, I don’t know that I would have been able to continue breastfeeding even if I hadn’t dried up. I have the GREATEST respect for so many moms here who have figured it all out and were very successful breastfeeding, but I also have GREAT respect for the ones who decided for whatever reason, that formula was better. For me personally, I was a better mom not breastfeeding, as my emotions were way too high, I was putting too much pressure on myself to pump round the clock, and I was just falling apart. Looking back I was very post pardom with Dylan but did not recognize it then. I was a better mother elimiating that stressful piece of my life. I needed to be able to be calm (as the babies are amazing at sensing our emotions) and feedings were beyond stressful as Dylan spit up so much, at first gained weight so slowly, cried and shreiked constantly and never slept. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong, where it wasn’t something I was doing wrong, I just hadn’t gotten him on the right formula/med dose yet.

When you both hit the point of exhaustion and frustration with all of this, it is really important to just work together and realize that you are both doing all you can. I will tell you our doc was not on board with the marci-kids dosing so we were at 7.5 mgs 2x a day, but for Dylan that seemed to be enough.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with going to the ER and asking for more help. Sometimes you get a good resident if you go to the teaching hospital that they are willing to look at more than a busy attending at a bigger hospital, etc… you need to just go on your own knowledge which hospital you trust more to take you seriously.

Hang in there and know that you and your wife can/should vent whenever you need to. This was such a stress for David (my husband) and I. We have been through a lot with both the boys, but the constant crying, and lack of sleep can really push us both over the edge, so we would take turns with the baby, going for walks, etc…..

Let us know what happens if you go to the ER.

[Anonymous]

We have decided to go to Children’s Memorial Hospital here in Chicago. I know someone I work with who is friends with one of the head nurses and she said that we should bring him in there. We are going to go in tomorrow morning. I will keep everyone posted on how things go. Thanks for the support.

[hellbennt]

good luck. I think ann marie & I are saying the same things- just differently

basically with the meds so low (ann marie’s baby was good at 2x the amount and others fare better with the dose at 3x the amount) the reflux and uncomfortableness might not be ‘all’ about the protein, wherever it may come from (breastmilk or formula)- most likely it’s a good mix of both…that’s why I asked about the stools/gas…

as for the jerky movements: perhaps these are Sandifer’s Symptoms? if so, this is good ‘amunition’ (ie: vocabulary) to use w/ medical professionals…

you can try calling the # at marci-kids (573) 884-0672 or even email dr philips phillipsjo@health.missouri.edu to see if they are affiliated w/ anyone at U of Chicago…

hang in there!!!

[Anonymous]

Yes, Laura, we are . Just two different ways….we both have been around way too long!!!

[Anonymous]

My DS was put on carafate every 6 hours after a bout of terrible esophagitis caused him to start vomiting blood. He was a miserable little man until about 2 days after we started the carafate. (Mind you, his prevacid dose was increased at the same time as well from 7.5mg once a day to 7.5mg twice a day. We also added mylanta every six hours too. So not sure if it was the carafate or the combination that helped) Now 3 weeks later he is doing well with the reflux issues. The combination of prevacid and carafate is challenging to coordinate around feeds, but I feel like its made DS a happy guy for the most part. I think the neocate has a lot to do with things as well.

Did they increase his prevacid too?

[Anonymous]

An update: we have not gone to the emergency room as I had stated we would earlier. The reason being is that while Keemy has not been perfect, he has not been screaming and hollering as much over the last two days. As I write this I am knocking on wood that tonight goes well.

I do not know if the carafate has helped or if the prevacid is kicking in some, but the reflux seems to be a little bit better. There is still a ways to go to make the way it needs to be and I still would like our GI to up the prevacid dosage but we will have to wait and see on that.

I did email the doctor from Marci-kids per Laura’s suggestion. I emailed him last night and have not heard back from him yet. I am sure he is a busy man so I am not surprised he has not gotten back to me yet.

One thing I have noticed is that he has not seemed to take the Nutramigen AA formula as well the last few days. We have been giving him the formula in one ounce portions more often throughout the day and night to help his reflux. Perhaps that is what is helping him right now. Regardless, I do not think the formula is as great as it was when he first started on it 10 days ago. I know there is a honeymoon period and when I spoke with the GI nurse on Tuesday she mentioned that a switch to Neocate might be needed. From those of you that have had children using Neocate, what is the biggest difference between this formula and the Nurtramigen AA? Have you had success using it? Should I push for the formula switch when I call in tomorrow?

Last question, not related to my topic…..I have noticed a lot of people on these boards use two letter initials when describing their child. Are these the child’s initials or letters I should know of that I am not aware of because I am a newbie? For example, the post above mine refers to DS. Does DS stand for something? If so, what do these letters mean so I can start using them and incorporating them into my post?

Thanks again everyone!
Tom

[hellbennt]

there’s a list of abreviations somewhere around here, LOL (that’s Laugh Out Loud)

the D’s are: dh=dear husband; ds= dear son; dd= dear daughter;

lo= loved one (I always think it’s little one); FWIW= For What It’s Worth;

IME= In My Experience

can you please help me understand what you mean by

We have been giving him the formula in one ounce portions more often throughout the day and night to help his reflux. Perhaps that is what is helping him right now.

( sorry that I do not get it)?

[Anonymous]

What I mean is that instead of giving our DS (LOL!) 2-3oz of formula every two-three hours, we are giving him an ounce or two every hour or hour and a half. That or he will get breastmilk. We are told that smaller portions of either formula or food would help with the reflux. Does that help and make sense?

[hellbennt]

ah…I say if baby is hungry, feed him…my baby was a comfort feeder and a silent refluxer…I breastfed on demand…meaning all the time, LOL!

but some do find smaller feedings help…others find their los aren’t ok with smaller feedings…sigh…trial & error…

is your dw (don’t get to use THAT one much, lol! mostly we’re typing aobut dh!) getting help from a lc (lactation consultant) or la leche league?

[Anonymous]

hellbennt wrote: ah…I say if baby is hungry, feed him…my baby was a comfort feeder and a silent refluxer…I breastfed on demand…meaning all the time, LOL!

but some do find smaller feedings help…others find their los aren’t ok with smaller feedings…sigh…trial & error…

is your dw (don’t get to use THAT one much, lol! mostly we’re typing aobut dh!) getting help from a lc (lactation consultant) or la leche league?

Basically that is how it has been working. When my cs (cute son) is hungry we feed him. We just do not overfeed him. Since my last post he did not anything to do with the formula. He cried and kicked and did not want it at all. I will have to talk to the nurse about that tomorrow.

As for my ldw (lovely devoted wife) she has been in contact with a dietician for the protein intolerance and what she needs to eat to avoid any problems for our son. She has done well with it thus far I think.

One more thing some of you will find funny. My wife took our son to our regular pediatrician (I always go but had work yesterday at that time) yesterday to make sure he did not have an earache or anything wrong that might be causing him pain. My wife informed her that we went to a pediatric GI on our own, without a referral from her, and that we were informed that our son has an intolerance to the protein in milk and soy. She did not think that was the case. She just said he is collicky and it will get better on its own in time. Additionally, she gave my wife some formula samples to try and guess what……..they were SOY formulas!!! That is the last time we go to that pediatrician. She also said to my wife and that formulas like Nutramigen AA, the one we are on, and Neocate, are no different than the regular formulas. The only difference is that they are expensive. She said they do nothing for the baby. When my wife told me of these events my jaw about hit the floor. My wife was taken aback by this as well. I respect doctors and all, but simply ignoring what a specialist diagnosed our son with and then claiming nothing was wrong and formulas like the one we are on are no good is ludicrous. We are in the process of finding a new pediatrician.

[Anonymous]

FWIW..The only difference that I know of is that Nutramigen AA has an extra fat source called palm olein that Neocate doesn’t have. Some studies show that formulas made with palm olein have lower calcium absorption compared to those made with just soy and coconut oils. Also, some insurance companies will cover neocate and elecare but not Nutramigen AA as it is so new.

As for your Pediatrician, I’m glad that you are finding a new one. I am amazed at how rude and arrogant she was. Well maybe her ego was hurt b/c your wife knew more than she did!

[Anonymous]

Update: we went to the ER last night at Children’s Memorial Hospital and it was a complete waste of time. The nurse in the triage checked him out for five minutes and told us he was a collicky baby and there was nothing they could do for him. They then sent us to the Urgent Care area, where everyone goes and we did not want to wait two hours for them to tell us the same stuff we have already heard from other doctors. It was very disappointing. My dw and I were hoping they would be able to thoroughly check him out, observe him, etc. but that did not happen at all.

I think our best bet now is sticking with our pediatric GI and doing as she advises as we have been doing for 12 days. We have another appt with her on Thursday of this week.

Last night was a bad night for our little guy. He was crying and crying and in horrendous pain which is why we took him to the ER. He continued to cry a lot there. I feel terrible for him as he is so tired but cannot sleep. I have been doing some research on the Internet for pillows that might help and came across the AR Pillow. Has anyone had any experience with this? I am going to search the board after I post this to see if anyone has. It looks nice but I do not want to purchase it yet until I hear from others about it.

[Anonymous]

I totally understand what you are going through. I just sat down from walking the hall since 3:30 this afternoon. my liitle man finally passed out after crying nonstop for the past 8 hours. I don’t understand why he has a few good days and then its right back to where we were in the very beginning. We are now at 3 weeks on neocate, 4 weeks on prevacid and carafate, and added miralax last week. He has been refluxing worse now that he is pooping regularly again. I wonder if he would do better on zegerid? What else can I do?

[Author]

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