still not eating – vent!

[Anonymous]

My twins still aren’t eating well. They get in around 24 oz a day, and that’s with me forcing it and with a middle of the night bottle (which should have ended by now). 30 mg of prevacid seemed to hurt them, so they are on 22.5. That may be too little for Jack (he’s 15 lbs 5 oz) butI don’t want the side effects of a higher dose. I am feel so clueless and helpless. We had an appt with their gi yesterday and nothing was changed. She said it sounds like I know what I am doing as far as doses, etc. She will try to get their upper gi done earlier. Please give me your stories regarding not eating well!

[Anonymous]

My son never ate more than 16 – 18 ounces of breast milk or formula per day until he was about 8 months old. He gained weight steadily and was fine with that little intake. Some babies just don’t need as much as others. Even my first born who had no reflux or digestive issues only ate 22-25 ounces per day on average. So, 24 ounces really sounds fine. Even less would probably be ok. If they are gaining weight steadily I would’t worry about their intake.

Are they comfortable and pain free?

[Anonymous]

My son only takes about 24 oz per day and he is gaining weight quickly. He just doesn’t seem to be able to eat more than 4.5 – 5 oz at a time. As long as they weren’t cyring during the feeding I would assume that is just how much they need.

[Anonymous]

My daughter has had a severe feeding aversion since two months old. Since that time, she has only taken bottles by sleep feeding. In fact, between 2-10 months she was taking no solids other than those bottles. She’s never taken more than 12-20 ounces a day, on average 15-16, and that was reluctant. But thankfully, by some grace from above, she did manage to gain weight. We have had to feed her at night to keep her weight up, and this has unfortunately continued. But we’ve done what we had to do to keep her thriving. I actually have a different take on this than others, but my personal opinion is that even though they may be gaining, it is not okay. I mean the volume is fine, that’s not the issue. But babies should be able to eat… they should like eating, and it shouldn’t hurt. Beware that forcing can lead to an all around feeding aversion (not to scare you). We never forced Hailey, but we were persistent, and she developed a feeding aversion anyhow. My feeling is that if they can’t eat comfortably, it’s best to get help for it now. We were always told that things were fine because Hailey was gaining, but imo there’s more to being fine than just gaining weight. What do they do when you try to feed them? Is it arching, turning away, crying, pulling off, etc? If we had found the right help early on, then we might not be in this situation now. I would suggest trying to find someone who takes your babies issues seriously. The doc should have more to offer than “you seem to know what you’re doing, so…”. Have they had any testing done? Perhaps they might do better on a different med? Just throwing thoughts out there. I can’t remember how old your twins are, and I can only fathom how hard it is dealing with this with two babies. I hope that you find someone who can help them soon. HUGS.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Lori if most of what he is eating is “forced” or sleep feeding. If they happily take 24 ounces per day and are gaining, they are doing great, but if feeding is a continual struggle then, yes their reflux is likely not controlled.

Also, what side effects from the higher dose did you notice? Just be aware that untreated or under treated reflux can have some very bad and lasting side effects like feeding aversions, and erosions to the esophagus, so it’s very important that the dose is high enough to keep the acid from doing damage.

Like Lori said, a baby should enjoy eating. It should not be a struggle to feed them.

[Anonymous]

They push the bottle away, but they do not arch their backs, cry, etc. Rarely they are fussy – but that could be from an aversion at this point. WE are having an upper GI tuesday, so that will hopefully show SOMETHING.

[Anonymous]

Good luck with the UGI. Hopefully it shows you that all is where it should be. s&h’s mum2006-8-18 21:16:16

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