One month old

[Anonymous]

Has anyone ever given their one month old mylanta?

Before I go to the doctor with the reflux theory, I’d like to see if something like mylanta “puts out the burn” for her. I’m pretty sure it’s reflux, but not positive.

Anything else to give a one month old for quick relief?

[hellbennt]

yup

I gave it to Ari as a newborn (he’s only 2 months old) & will still give it here & there- just a ml or even 1/2 a ml at a time, using a skinny syringe- only 2 or 3mls tops over the course of a 24hour period

Ari doesn’t have reflux, but I used it to see if it helped when I wasn’t sure what was going on with him-just like you

I think even non-reflux babies can get some sort of relief from mylanta, well that’s my experience so far– I think the shock of a squirt of something other than milk helps put a pause in the shrieking, lol

for a while (first month to 6wks) I was convinced ari had mild reflux, but I mean MILD, but now I think he’s just a normal baby- I just have no clue whatsoever what a normal baby is like

[Anonymous]

Mylanta helps with gas pains….so maybe that’s why it helps Ari when he’s unhappy. I’m glad to hear he doesn’t have reflux.

[Anonymous]

Good news for both of you Laura!!!

gas pains? Yes, that’s one of Lucy’s big problems. And she arches her back. besides the screaming and spit ups. Sounds like reflux to me??? I’m still wishing it’s not. Wishful thinking?

It only seems to be a problem when I eat something “bad” – I’m nursing – or when I have to supplement with fomula – I’m working on my supply, having a hard time keeping up with her needs. I can feel this weird rumble in her intestines when I’m holding her after she’s had formula. It really freaks me out. I know it has to hurt her. I’m going to get fennelgreek and blessed thistle today to help with my supply. Hopefully it kicks in fast for me. It’s a vicous cycle for her – eating to “put out the burn” and needing formula because she’s eating so much. Then when she eats so much, she spits up and has reflux even worse. it’s hard for me to watch her do this. If I don’t feed her, she’s inconsolable for hours.

Here’s a question… is all formula corn based? If not corn, no dairy, or soy as well? One doc told us that no formula contains gluten. Not sure what to believe.

If I could find a formula that worked, I’d use it for sure. This BFing thing is really hard!!!!!!!!!!!! I think of quitting every day. Does that feeling go away eventually??

Sounds like I need help again.

I’ll try the mylanta next time and see what happens.

[hellbennt]

I have found that with breastfeeding, there’s a ‘3 factor’

what i mean is that the first 3wks are rough and then by 3 wks everything is much better

then 3 wks after that, at 6wks things are MUCH better

then at 3 months its great bcse they have head control & can help you out (not as floppy, can latch on their own, etc)

ok: crazy question: how do you know that your supply is low? I’d go to a lactation consultant/LLL mtg just to ‘check’ bcse I’ve heard from my own LC that sometimes moms think their supply is low when it isn’t…

[Anonymous]

Amy,

I’m sorry things are so hard right now. I can’t really give you any nursing advice because none of my babies would nurse…I pumped for all of them and I wanted to quit that every single day. From all the women I’ve known who did nurse, they describe it a lot like Laura does. That it really gets much, much easier with time.

Is she fine when you don’t eat anything “bad” and when she doesn’t have any formula? Maybe it’s not reflux but just intolerances. Are you on an elimination diet?

I hope you get it all worked out soon.

[Anonymous]

Oh, I’m elimintating very strictly after the “mac and cheese incident”. LOL. She cried for 4 hours after that one. So, I’m on Henry’s diet now… gluten, soy, dairy, corn and fructose free. It’s really tough!!! She does much better on it though. It makes it worth it. It keeps me from touching that mac and cheese again! My moms homemade-hard to resist

Well, I’m on week 4 and waiting for it to get easier. Yes, I’ve been working with a lactation specialist all along. My milk didn’t come in until day 6-7, so I needed help right from the beginning. She lost a lot of weight in the hospital and all that fun stuff. She’s making up for it now and gaining well. So, how do I know? Well, she’ll go on a feeding binge for about 4 hours where she’ll eat every hour about 5 times. She emptys my breast on the first feeding and then gets more and more discontent. Shaking her head, bobbing thing at the latch on etc. You know? And I just can tell I’m not making any milk fast enough for her. how can I make enough milk for her to feed that much??? I’ve started pumping more and bottle feeding her and that helps a little. But, I’m going through my supply really fast. Can’t seem to get ahead of her eating schedule.

I just bought some fennelgreek and blessed thistle. Hopefully I can get ahead of her a bit. I’ve got a seminar on Oct 2 I need to leave her for. we’ll see what happens.

Thanks for all the advice! It really helps me get through the rough times.

[Anonymous]

Amy, I’m sorry that you’re going through such a hard time. I really hope that BF gets easier for you soon. For what it’s worth, I did notice that it got easier in a similar pattern that Laura mentioned, but then Hailey’s reflux kicked in full force and complicated issues. I agree that maybe an LC can help. I was convinced that I wasn’t producing enough milk when I looked at Hailey’s feeding behaviour, but I was actually producing fine. Then I took the blessed thistle and the fenugreek (which made me smell like a strange pickle for some reason) and my milk production went so overboard, that I actually developed issues with engorgement. I hope it works for you though. Some of the behaviours that you describe make me wonder if she is feeding to soothe herself, rather than for actual nourishment. Hailey did the same thing, feeding for hours, bobbing on and off, very unhappy unless sucking. It turns out that she was trying to comfort herself. Good luck to you guys whatever route you end up taking. I hope that you can catch a break soon. BTW, how does Henry like his little sister?

[Anonymous]

So, ok girls, what do I need to ask my LC? Or tell her? Maybe I need to start keeping track of Lucy’s feedings again? I know she’s feeding roughly about 12 times a day. It’s just in a few clusters at a time.

Lori, what did you see in Hailey’s feeding behaviour? How do you know you were producing enough?

I’m gaging it on the fact that even if I pump, I still can’t keep up with her. She’ll drink it faster than I can pump it. For me to get a few hours of sleep, I try to pump to get ahead and it’s not enough milk. My husband ends up having to use formula.

What did you do for the engorgement? Doesn’t that eventually resolve and go away? Like when you sleep at night, your body just knows to take a break. Is that true?

Henry loves Lucy sooo much. He throws blankets and pacifiers in her bassinet when she’s crying. He tries to stroke her feet or head when I’m nursing. It’s so cute. Thankfully, he’s not jealous-yet.

[hellbennt]

amy,

pumping isn’t necessarily quite a clear indication of what you’re producing- your baby is much much more efficient at getting milk from your breasts than a pump is- (for instance, when you think you’re empty, try hand expressing & my guess is you’ll see milk- that’s what makes me think that perhaps your supply is there? but this is just me guessing over the internet) -that’s why I say to ask you LC about what she thinks your supply is like

I think what I would do (well I’d go see my LC bcse I love her!) is to see what happens if I didn’t pump and only offered the breast- if that’s possible- sounds like you have a frantic nurser over there! what is the longest kind of stretch will she give you at night? (or ever?)

my breasts haven’t regulated yet- I’m waiting! they are getting better- ie: more times during the day when they’re soft rather than full/hard…

for me, if I happen to be blessed with a long stretch of sleep (5hrs) I wind up pumping after I feed Ari…

I really don’t do a whole lot of pumping (I’m lazy)

baby crying- more later

~laura

hellbennt2006-9-22 8:11:43

[Anonymous]

Well, tonight I tried the mylanta. I was desperate. She’s nursed all day. And I do mean ALL DAY!! She goes on a 5 hour stretch a couple times a day, I just never know when it will happen.

The mylanta helped literally for 2 minutes then back to crying insanely. Poor thing.

I started charting her feedings today and so far she’s gotten in 14 feedings! One stretch was from 12 to 4:30 with only a few 10 min. breaks. It’s wearing me out!

Now today is an example of having to supplement. I just didn’t have enough to keep up with her. After nursing for 4 hours, I’ve got nothing left and then she wants more. So, that’s when I add formula to my pumped BM. At least I’m trying not to give her the fomula straight. I’m hoping it’s better that way.

I’m really frustrated. I don’t know how to handle this. And, what happens if I try to go somewhere? Take 4 hours out of a shopping trip to nurse her? At the least she nurses for 20 min on each side, unless she’s really crying and fussy.

I’m sure I’ll end up calling the LC again next week. We went through all the weighing before and after feeding routine and all looked good, but she wasn’t nursing near this amount then.

Then I wonder if it’s reflux causing all this, but she truely is hungry when I feed her. Ravenous is a better word for it. She’s like a little piranha when she latches on

She goes to the ped doc next week. I’ll ask about it then. We probably will end up at the GI doc eventually. I just hate to do that so soon for her. Then I dread all the tests they’ll want to do to her. What ones would be absolutely nessecary do you think? The scope is almost too much, the upper GI isn’t enough. The PH probe is terrible to go through. I just don’t know.

Well, now I’m just venting. Thanks for listening.

[Anonymous]

Hi Lucy. Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply to your questions.

Hailey’s feeding behaviour started out that she needed to bed all the time or she would screech hysterically. The breast was literally the only thing that would soothe her. She’d latch on ravenously, and feed frantically for as long as I’d let her on each side. But then when I took her off, she would start screaming again. If I put her back on, then she would suck happily again. I mistook this to mean that she was still hungry. But if I let her keep sucking, she would suck for 4 or 5 hours. At that point, I did notice that her suck was not the deep sucking that you get with nutritive feeding, but more of a shallow suck, which I did learn was to soothe herself. She was using me as a soother, and unfortunately, my breast was the only thing that could quiet her. She wouldn’t take the pacifier. The LC we saw, looked at the situation and told me that I must not have enough milk which is why she wanted to be at the breast all the time. She checked out my latch, and said that it was fine. But things kept going on like that until my nipples were so raw from constant feeding. We hired a private LC and she said that she didn’t know, that her suspicion was also that my milk hadn’t come in fully yet and so she was hungry. So she had me take the supplements you mentioned to get a really good supply. But she also did a test. I had a supplemental feeding system (the kind that has a little bottle and a tiny tube that you tape to your breast). We filled the bottle with expressed breast milk, and then put Hailey on at a point where she was on the 4 hour binge. We saw that she still didn’t do deep sucking and was trying to suck shallow to avoid getting the milk. That’s when I knew that she was just trying to soothe herself. But I kept up with the supplements anyhow, which gave me the most ridiculously huge milk supply- it also gave me a very forceful letdown which Hailey couldn’t tolerate. I did try to give her other things to soothe her during that long stretch becaue I knew it couldn’t be a hunger issue at that point. Things progressed until it got worse- the screaming was nonstop and when I would go to nurse her, she would go frantically, then when I’d get a letdown, she would pull off. She would do this over and over, and she’d choke and sputter, and milk would come out of her nose. She’d have stridor sounds. It got increasingly harder to feed her. She would do shallow non-nutritive sucking, I thought that I didn’t have enough milk again, but if I would pump, I could get another 6 ounces in 20 minutes. So I figured that if I could get that from a pump, then she could extract even more milk then that if she wanted to. At that point I took her to the doc who diagnosed her with reflux. I continued nursing and pumping and tried to give it in a bottle which wasn’t any better. For us, I think that it was all reflux all along that just got progressively worse. But I’ve heard of other babies doing what Lucy is doing just because they want to soothe themselves during their fussy period. After you feed her, can you try offering her something else to suck, like your finger or a paci (if that won’t interfere with the latching)? Maybe that will keep her happy and give you a break.

Good luck. I hope that things get easier and that it’s just a colicky phase. Keep us posted.

[Anonymous]

Amy-

Have you talked to the Pedi about trying some meds. to see if it helps with the reflux. It def. sounds like she is eating to soothe something. I just don’t think that she really needs to eat that much. Yeah for you for sticking with the BF for this long. How do you get anything done? I would have given up by now. Abby started on Zantac at 2wks. but this only lasted to 6wks. when she started on Prevacid. The GI might not do any testing right away. Abby’s GI just ordered an Upper GI b/c she wasn’t responding to the meds (that was b/c she was underdosed). I would try a trial run of a med. to see if it helps decrease some of the feedings and give you a break.

[hellbennt]

amy,

I wish I could teach you how to nurse wearing a ring sling! then you could wear her w/ open access to your breast (no one can see) and you can walk around & shop, do stuff in the house, etc

I was ring sling challenged with jonah – it was really intimidating and I just couldn’t figure it out- but this time around I was hellbennt () to figure it out- so anyway: where are you? I can look to see if there are local babywearers (a group. etc) so someone could help you figure out how to nurse in a carrier so you can be more mobile-

this would be a temporary solution- I also think that trying reflux meds would be good- if they help- then it’s reflux…testing isn’t necessary right away,at least I wouldn’t think so? will your ped humour you and prescribe zantac? you can look up here the highest dose for her weight & start there (not to tell you to dose your baby on your own, but…)- apparently there’s a new efferdose that doesn’t taste so horrible- & if you can only get the ‘regular’ kind, then you can mix it w/ a bit of mylanta to mask the taste a bit…

[Anonymous]

Maybe I’ll just call the Gi doc on Monday now that you guys are talking. Yeah, I don’t get anything done I want to. It’s been rough, but I’m still in pain from all my complications from the c-section, so it gives me a chance to heal. I have a lot of family helping out. Henry’s gone for the weekend.

I think that’s why I end up pumping cuz it gives me a little break.

So, Lori… I could’ve written your story!!!! it’s exactly what Lucy’s doing. She won’t take a paci at all. I have 2 different kinds that I try with her and it makes her scream more. Then I put her to breast and she’s all calm unless she gets fussy and screams while she’s nursing. That’s a weird thing she does. She does the head shaking thing and screams and then latches on for a few seconds and repeats it. I stroke her back to calm her and then she usually settles in. We did that same supplementer as well. In the first few days, I really didn’t have any milk for her though. She does seem to be doing drinking at the breast most of the time though. At least I think.

so, Lori, what did you end up doing??? If she won’t take a paci, what do you do???

You girls are awesome to be helping me through this—Thanks!!!!!

[Author]

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