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I don’t know if this will help you at all but I also noticed that adding cereal to breast milk doesn’t seem to work. I didn’t realize it was because of amylase in breast milk. I currently make bottles for my son using 4 ounces of breast milk, 3 ounces of formula (soy), then add 4 – 5 tablespoons of oatmeal (not rice) cereal. After lots of experimentation I found this to work. (He doesn’t drink the whole thing). I do this so he gets more breast milk than formula. My son would not nurse so I pumped for 4 1/2 months and froze lots of milk for him. Pumping is very difficult, so I know what you are going through. I’ve done it for three babies (none would nurse for a variety of reasons). I hate to say it but from my experience you have to pump a minimum of 8 times per day to keep a good supply at least early on, later you can reduce to maybe 6 or 7 times.
I know it’s horrible, but you’ll never regret doing it. You have to decide when you’ve done all you can do and quit pumping. No one can make that decision for you. With each of my children it was different. I did it for 5 months for my first, 6 months for my second, and 4 1/2 for my third. If you’d like to you can email me anytime with questions about pumping (God knows I’ve experienced it!) ndakotarose@yahoo.com **The drawback to rice cereal is constipation. If you’re baby becomes constipated you may want to ask your doctor if you can switch to oatmeal. I started all my babies on oatmeal. My doctor said it was fine.*** My doctor also suggested a dairy free diet for me when my son’s problem first began, but I wasn’t perfect with it either. Where do you find the time between pumping, feeding, cleaning up, etc. etc? For me it turned out that once my baby was on the right medicine (Prevacid) his symptoms improved so dairy was probably never the problem. It’s complicated when you have so many factors to consider. Is it important to know what’s causing the problem? Probably yes, but sometimes it’s not possible. Some babies probably have a variety of problems that contribute to feeding/spitting problem. Does your doctor think the baby has REFLUX? Was the baby refusing to eat? Arching the back during feedings? Throwing up large amts of food? Fussy after eating and having trouble sleeping?This is what I would do if I was you. Check out this website http://www.marci-kids.com/ to see if baby’s symptoms sound like REFLUX/GERD. Also, check out the PPI dosing information at this site to make sure your baby is getting the right dose. (Many doctors prescribe too low of a dose for infants). With the right dose it could take two weeks for results – my son improved in less time, 1- 1 1/2 weeks once he was on the correct dose. In the mean time maybe try to stick to a dairy free diet as best you can, pump and freeze, but feed only formula. (It takes time to clear the body/breast milk of dairy- I know, more frustration
). Then if baby improves on medicine, try breast milk again. If baby does well then try adding dairy very slowly to your diet again to see if baby can handle it. The problem with this is that after some time your baby may not return to nursing after getting accustomed to bottle feeding. Maybe do the opposite and go back to nursing first (being strict with your dairy free diet) to see if the meds are working, then if the problem continues, try formula again. You said the vomiting didn’t start until you started formula? So maybe breast milk was not the problem.I know it’s very complicated. I’ve been there. It’s frustrating beyond description, but we mom’s will do anything for our little ones. I hope I’m not discouraging you any more. I’ve been there, and I know the desire to nurse, the inability to do so, the frustration of REFLUX, the hardship of pumping. I also know it all passes and you will get through this, just as I am getting through it with the help of all of these wonderful moms on this forum. If you have to and choose to continue pumping I’d be happy go give you advice and encouragement. Hopefully others will post with some other ideas for you in figuring out what the problem is and what to do about it.If you do not want to give up breastfeding then please please don’t!!!
I have a lot to say on this subject- these doctors who tell you things like to thicken your breastmilk get me SO MAD
I would get my baby on a ‘good’ dose of medicine and then I’d try the elimination diet (actually I DID do this!)
you might not even have to thicken- I realize it might seem necessary bcse of lack of weight gain- please get to a lactation consultant- maybe you have OAL? Over Active Letdown, also known as foremilk/hindmilk imbalance- maybe baby isn’t getting enough fatty hindmilk??
please please read from the following link https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4808&a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;TPN=1 all about breastfeeding you GERDling-again please, if you want to continue with breastfeeding, get help with your – maybe even La Leche League…
Since you mention you don’t want to do thickened feeds and you want to return to breast:
This is what I would do (And I’m just a mama who’s hung around this board for almost 3yrs now, also the yahoobreastfeedingreflux board, and I’m not a medical professional of any kind
):I would get back to your LC bcse she sounds like she knows what she’s talking about
. If she has any moms groups, that might be nice, too, to find some support through all of this…I would stop the reglan until you know for sure your baby has Delayed Gastric Emptying. This is what reglan is for, and there is a TEST for this, for DGE. If your baby actually has DGE, which is possible, then we can help you with that. First things first
.I would check your baby’s dose for zantac (will do that for you- see below) and, if you have any left around the house, I would give this. Just make sure it’s given at least 2 hrs seperate from any PPI (Prilosec or prevacid- I forget what you said). Some doctors say 4 or 5hrs seperate. My ped GI said two hours & we never had any problems. Why give zantac, too? Because my guess is that the PPI dose isn’t ‘proper’ and I’d also guess that perhaps no one told you how to administer it correctly…So, in the meantime, it couldn’t hurt to get some zantac into your baby.
As for stopping thickening, plenty of people have done this.
The meds will NOT stop the spit up, but it will stop the pain. In theory, if the spit up isn’t painful, then baby will perhaps just want to eat soon after spitting up, thus making up for the extra calories. If this doesn’t occur, well, again, we’re here to help you and so is your LC.
As for milk/soy protein allergy/intolerance: are baby’s stools ‘regular’ breastfed baby stools, ie: mustardy and seedy? I’m guessing not. I’d guess that they are watery, green, mucousy (stringy) or foamy like shaving cream…These are signs of either a milk/soy protein allergy/intolerance or OAL.
As for what to grab to eat: pear, pear juice, yellow squash, free range ground turkey and lamb…that’s the core of the elimination diet…From the mspi link from my welcome/intro there’s a whole section about the elimination diet & I’ve posted there all about my own experience/thoughts, etc.
Zantac:
baby is 8 and 1/2 lbs. That’s 3.9 kilos. Zantac dose is 5-10mg per kilo. So, at a ‘low’ dose, that’s 3.9 x 5 = 19.5mgs per day. The liquid is 15mg per ml, so that’s 1.3mls a day, total, on the ‘low side’ and
at a ‘high’ dose, that’s 3.9 x 10 = 39mgs per day. The liquid is 15mg per ml, so that’s 2.6mls a day, total, on the ‘high side’
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