How do you sleep feed?

[Anonymous]

I have a 12 weeks old son with GERD and he refuses the bottle and we can’t get enough ounces in when he is awake. Everyone is talking about sleep feeding, but half the time he falls asleep while eating but stops sucking. How do you sleep/dream feed? Please help!!!

[hellbennt]

actually this is not a road you want to go down…

most likely he is undermedicated.

http://www.marci-kids.com is THE place to research!

hang in there!

what medication is your baby on?

try giving some mylanta cherry supreme, the adult kind, before a feed.

this kind (check ingredients) does not contain aluminum.

you can give 1ml at a time, up to 5mls over the course of a day- if you see loose stools (only side effect) then simply back off…

if your baby is on zantac or axid or pepcid it most likely is not high enough…

go tothe INTRODUCE YOURSELF forum and click on ‘Groupie Intro’

this is looong but full of info you can keep referring back to

look for Prevacid 101

from there there’s a link about the zantac dosing…

[Anonymous]

I did this with my DD and still doing it because of acid reflux.
She does fall asleep while drinking too. What I do is tap tap her shoulder or back lightly to kinda wake her up, and she would wake up a little to suck. I do this whenever she falls asleep until she finishes her bottle. Hope this help.

[Anonymous]

The first question is what makes you think that he’s not getting enough? What’s a feeding like? Does he show you he’s hungry? Does he start to eat willingly? What are his behaviours like while feeding? What’s his growth chart like? How often and how much does he feed?

Sleep feeding is not something that you want to do. Typically, it means feeding the baby at night while sleeping- so you pick them up, rouse them awake, and then feed them while they’re sleepy, and then plop them back to bed (for a non-refluxer). Some people with refluxers have found that the only way that their babies will eat is if they are sleepy or falling asleep, so that they’re relaxed enough to forget about the fact that they don’t like to eat.

We did this with my daughter. BUT, it was not what we wanted, we just kind of ended up there. My daughter was difficult to feed and then stopped feeding outright when she was 8 weeks old. The only way I could get anything into her was to rock her in the glider in her room until she was sleepy, then when she almost asleep, pull out her fingers, and try to pop in the bottle. We could sometimes get her to take 1 at a time, then it continued until we finished between 2-3 ounces, and sometimes 3-4. It took me over 2 hours to feed her. I was a prisoner in her room and felt isolated. I could hardly leave the house because as soon as I finished one feeding, another would not be far behind.

I did not want to go down that route, but my daughter had pain from reflux and would not eat, and we could not get someone to prescribe the right type and dose of meds. Once we fell into the routine, it was hard to break. She would not feed any other way- at all. She could not be awake to feed. When we started solids, the same thing happened and she refused, but you can’t feed solids while asleep. And really, even feeding bottles while asleep puts them at risk for aspirating, so you have to be careful.

By the time we had some help for Hailey, we were so entrenched in sleep feeding, and the GI doctor told us that she thought that we needed a feeding tube. I was in denial. There were several other moms on this site at the time going through the same thing- some went the route of struggling with sleep-feeding or even syringe feeding, and their lives were very difficult. Others went the route of a feeding tube, and they had their own challenges. Ultimately we all ended up in the same place- feeding therapy when they baby was on solids.

The ending to this story is that Hailey’s first year was impossible due to the feeding issue. I’m not sure what I would do if I had to choose again- feeding tube or sleep feeding- neither was what I wanted.

BUT, your baby is young enough that you can still try to reverse things and get things under control. Here’s what I’d suggest, knowing nothing about your baby:

1) Get a referral to a ped GI (ask here for a recommendation to someone who believes in good doses of meds)

2) Read up on meds at http://www.marci-kids.com . They believe in aggressive dosing which is what kids with feeding aversions typically need. It sounds like your baby has developed a feeding aversion, which is due to pain from reflux. The sooner this is controlled the better, and the meds help to fix the pain so that they can eat again.

3) Get testing if you haven’t already- a feeding evaluation/swallowing study (not the same as an upper GI) to make sure that there’s no something wrong with the feeding technique or suck-swallow-breathe pattern or something else. An OT or SLP does these.

4) In the meantime- talk to your doctor. Videotape a feeding. Record feedings to show your doctor or try to let your doctor try to feed. Don’t believe useless things that people tell you- like your baby feels your stress, it’s the type of bottle or nipple or this or that. It’s reflux and the pain, not you or your ability or anything else. Get your doctor to weigh your baby and see where he falls on HIS own growth curve. That will be able to tell you if he’s getting enough.

5) Make note of the behaviours when he’s feeding- is he crying, pushing away, arching, choking, stiffening. My dd used to scream and cry when she saw the bottle, never to tell me she was hungry. If I tried to feed her she would turn away. When nursing, she’d cry, I’d try to feed her and she’d suck until a let down and then would pull off and scream and arch away.

6) Record ounces and check for dehydration. My daughter rarely ate more than 16 ounces a day, if that helps, and she was never dehydrated.

7) Consider issues about MSPI if you haven’t already.

Anyhow, I’ve got to run, but good luck to you and hang in there. Feeding problems can be so hard, but for what it’s worth, my food-hater is now a food-lover!

HUGS

[Anonymous]

Lori,

I feel your pains. I am, somewhat, was and now in the same situation. I was a prisoner of either our coach or our bed (we only have 1 bedroom). 3 months ago, before prevacid, I cried every day. Feeding was a struggle, 1/2 oz at a time, and she would drink at max at 16-18oz a day. And my days were all dedicated to feeding her. I had to quit my job to care for her. She was drinking 24-26 oz a day from 4week to 6 week of life, and slowly decreased.
I was thrilled and was flying for 2 months, until the devil (acid reflux) came back recently. I’m now back to square one with her eating ability. Haven’t had any luck with Zegerid yet as I have trouble getting her to take it without choking and then vomit it out. I’m at my wit’s end and just wish it’s just a dream. I can’t imagine going through a whole year like this as you did. It’s so hard and my heart truly goes out to you and your family.

mailan2009-09-17 15:37:20

[Anonymous]

Kristie,

Hang in there. It was hard- beyond hard. But we’re on the other side now. My refluxer turned 4 in May and is a great eater. You will also get through this. Unfortunately for us, we were dealing with things for longer than most- we started feeding therapy at 8-9 months and graduated at around 16 months, I think. Feedings started to get a bit better around 20 months after getting ear tubes put in. After that time I didn’t have to sleep feed anymore, and she actually started to like her bottle more. I think that her pain was well under control and she was outgrowing the reflux. Solids was still difficult as she ate little and was very fussy, but things got steadily better in all departments.

Last year we had a hard year that put things in perspective for me about Hailey’s reflux. It reminded me to be thankful that it was only reflux and not something worse, and to be thankful that we all made it through and to be thankful for the this forum for helping me get there. When I was in the thick of it I couldn’t see that.

You will also get through. If your daughter doesn’t like zegerid, then try prevacid in buffer babies if you haven’t already. Medicating Hailey was also a nightmare, it’s hard once they already have the feeding aversion. They don’t want the meds in their mouth. We actually had to mix Hailey’s prevacid/caracream into an ounce of milk and sleep feed it, but caracream was more like a salty caramel flavour and kind of lended itself to that a bit better. She didn’t like it, and sometimes I couldn’t get the dose into her and it was very stressful. But we kind of got into a routine like that and it worked for her, most of the time. When she was around 2, I started mixing the caracream/prevacid with hershey’s syrup right before giving it. and she would suck it right down, you could hardly taste it. I remember the stress of a hard feeding, and then her gagging on the med and puking up the whole feeding. It was awful.

Anyhow, hang in there Kristie. I know that the thought of dealing with things for 1-2 years seems impossible from where you’re at, but things get gradually better and it doesn’t seem as long when you’re in the thick of it… you just put one foot in front of the other.

Really, I think that getting the meds and diet under control are key. Once you do that, things slowly improve. Allergies and feeding aversions are harder to deal with. Keep trying different ways of getting her to take the med. Try distraction, different syringes, a spoon, different tastes and forms of the meds until something works. You’ll figure it out. Some people have luck with prevacid solutabs, or a capsule in some applesauce, but this is hard to time around meals, and also, your little one isn’t quite old enough for that yet.

Hang in there. I know it’s hard. But you’re further ahead than I was at that age, didn’t find this forum until dd was 5 months old, and things were so bad by then.

HUGS.

[Anonymous]

Lori,
Thank you for your support. I needed it.

[Author]

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