Please, Please help us!

[Anonymous]

This is going to be a long post…I am hoping someone here can offer advice.

 

My daughter is 8mos old and has had terrible sleep issues starting at 3 mos. She has always hated to be placed on her back. After lots of online research we found that she might have silent reflux. At around 5 months, we took her to see a GI doc. She prescribed Prevacid but never followed up with us. We live in Hawaii and she is only on our island twice a week. By 6 mos the Prevacid seemed to either stop working or Sofia got better. We weaned her off and she was doing well.

 

 

Then her sleep issues came back when we started solids. I would give her oatmeal before bedtime and she would be up every half an hour crying with bad gas.

 

 

Someone recommended another GI doc and we saw him today. He told us to start feeding her rice cereal 4x per day with breastfeeding to follow. He also told us to give Mylanta if she seemed uncomfortable.

 

 

Well, tonight was HELL! I gave her rice cereal at 3pm and right before bedtime. She was up every half hour to an hour crying and would not even fall asleep with nursing. Then, at 3am she was up and refused to fall asleep. My husband rocked her for 1.5 hours and they are finally asleep but I am unable to close my eyes.

 

 

I feel like the cereal is causing her more pain since each time she’s had it she has had an awful night of sleep. Have any of you experienced this? The GI doc said we are so behind in solids but I feel like when I give it to her, she is in pain!

 

 

Do you think I should demand an endoscopy? We have been through 5 pediatricians here and none of them have a clue about reflux. We continue to suffer sleepless nights and I am soooooooooooo tired. Sofia has never slept through the night or for more than 5 hours at a time.

 

 

I feel like no one is listening, even this current GI. I told him that the cereal caused her gas and night wakings and he told me I was BFing too much and the breastmilk was causing her gas…even though we have had better sleep since she’s been off solids.

 

 

I need your thoughts/opinions! I’m so desperate for my baby. She is otherwise healthy and has gained weight like a champ. It’s the nights that are pure hell.

 

 

Thank you.

[hellbennt]

I would perahps stop the cereal. If I were to start cereal I would try oatmeal & make sure it’s beechnut or any brand with no milk or soy.

Then, I would eliminate ALL milk & soy proteins from my diet. This means ‘hidden’ ingredients like ‘whey’ casin, rennet, etc. I would do this for 3 weeks & see if sleep improves. OR you could do a Total Elimination Diet.

I have a lOt more to say lOL!

gotta dash out the door-read this: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&PN=1&TPN=1

[Anonymous]

Thank you. I have been totally dairy/egg/soy free for awhile now. I will research the beechnut cereals. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

UGH! IMO, your doctor is an idiot! You’re breastfeeding too much??? Good grief… Anyway,I think I would stop the cereal too. It sounds like your lo is suffering from some protein intolerances. They probably affected her through your breastmilk until she was about 6 months or so.. when you said she started to get better. That’s probably when her system could START to handle them better.

However, I doubt she is ready for solids on her own. Many, many reflux babies can’t handle solids until after 9 months or even up to a year, so don’t feel pressured to give them to her. Cereal, in particular (and rice even more so, for some) is really hard to digest, and can certainly be causing her current problems.

Just my opinion, but I would cut out the cereal for a week and let her system recover. Then if you really feel the need to do solids now, maybe start with a mild fruit or veggie… like pears or sweet potatoes. take it very slow, and if you see her react like she has with the cereal, stop for a a month or so and then try again.

Also, you may want to look into probiotics. They can be really, really helpful in aiding with digestion. We use them with great success, and so have many other reflux moms. There’s been quite a lot about them posted recently, so you could probably find some info. fairly easily. You have to read carefully, but there are quite a few brands that are totally milk and soy free.

Also, Laura mentioned the TED.. and you said you have been dairy/egg/soy free.. are you also checking ingredients on boxes, etc? those products are in EVERYTHING, and it can be very hard to totally cut them out.

I hope this helps! And I hope you are able to find some better support and help out there. Hang in there!!!

Bensmama2008-06-24 13:42:42

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your response. I was beginning to feel like such an idiot myself. My gut tells me to stop the cereal, especially since today we’re supposed to give to to her FOUR times! I have a feeling if I do that she will be one miserable little girl.

I’m glad you mentioned starting slow and giving fruit. Actually, the days we only gave mango she slept so much better!

I did see the postings about probiotics and will look into it further. I think this is something that may be worth giving her.

As far as my diet, I know that a lot of things are hidden. I have been avoiding all processed foods and I literally only eat things like chicken, turkey and pork that are prepared by my husband, veggies and rice or potatoes. I am trying to think if I have slipped up anywhere along the lines but my diet is so strict!

Anyway…much thanks and I feel like my feelings have been validated. I have to call the doc this morning just to tell him what happened last night. I hope he listens and maybe offers another suggestion.

[Anonymous]

cereal did not work for Ashlynn it only made matters worse! I also had to take it slow on the solids because Ashlynn was having a hard time with them. But watch out now she loves to eat and has been doing good on whole milk for about 2 weeks now.

[Anonymous]

We didn’t do any cereal until 8 or 9 months old and then we did grits (ground corn) and didn’t do oatmeal until 11 months. I never did rice cereal. We started with veggies/fruit. May babies just can’t handle solids until they are older. If it is bothering your lo then I would stop and keep nursing.

[Anonymous]

It is very possible she could be intolerant to rice. I know everyone says this is SO rare, but myself and another user (MFPIx2) both have a child that cannot have rice!

I think it could be very likely that she is intolerant to it, or perhaps it is just too hard of a grain for her little belly to digest.

As the others have said, i’d def look into intolerances (try eliminating things and see if it improves) and if no improvement, maybe persue some testing like an endoscopy.

Hugs to you and I hope your LO is feeling better soon.

[hellbennt]

Mspi/allergy info(‘main page’): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2697&PN=1&TPN=1

info about labels (hidden dairy, eggs, & more):

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1292&KW=parve

article to help figure out how to reintroduce food from elim diet? Tracy’s post:

(http://allergyadvisor.com/Educational/December_2.htm scroll down to ‘C’ orange/mustard box-it’s the SECOND orange/mustard box)

Milk Protein Names
http://www.nomilk.com/mri.txt

http://members.shaw.ca/allergies/milkallergy.html

conservative approach to introducing solids for the allergic baby

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=451&am p;PN=3

finger foods: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1653

Toddler foods-mspi safe& otherwise: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2599&PN=1

[Anonymous]

Everyone, thank you for your posts. I was beginning to feel like a bad mom for not being totally into solids at this point. Even the doc kind of admonished me and told me we need to play “catch up”. But to force all of this food into her so quickly makes me nervous. I am not going to give rice cereal anymore. The doc also scared us about iron deficiencies….have you folks found that is true in breastfed babies or is it fear mongering?

[Anonymous]

I know that docs worry about this. Hmmm… you could try taking some iron yourself, so that she is getting it through your milk. Also, there are infant vitamins you could try too (tri-vi-sol and poly-vi-sol). She will get some iron in the fruits and veggies too.

[Anonymous]

Hi! At first, I was a little bummed about no solids for my little man. But the way I look at it now is that it’s just one less thing I have to do each day. Thinking of it like that has really helped me.

You can get her iron levels checked if that helps. I asked my ped about iron at my sons last well baby (he is 7 months) and she said not to worry at this point.

[hellbennt]

at 9 months Ari had slightly low iron

he was my non reflux baby, though

he turned out fine- he was ‘just’ monitored

but again, he was non reflux and didn’t have dietary issues…

I would go to http://www.kellymom.com and search for low iron, etc. It’s a great resource, as is http://www.askdrsears.com

[Anonymous]

Thanks again, everyone.

[Anonymous]

Good morning!

Like Laura ,Danika my 2yo had low iron issues and she was not a refluxer and loved to eat at the time. Now all she want to eat is chicken nuggets and greenbeans. At the time when it was low I gave her the poly-vi-sol lwith iron. Now when Ashlynn had her well check last week her iron was fine. Hang in there because it does get better and I am so thankful to god that I found this site.

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