UGH!

[Anonymous]

Well I was gone for a few days and tried to log back in and my account had disappeared! DOH! Had to make a new one.

Emma started Prevacid last Monday (15) and we have had some good days here and there. I know it can take up to 2 weeks to see any improvement, but it did seem at times like she was more calm. The past couple of days she has started acting funny again about eating. I give her the bottle, couple attempts at sucking, then she starts flailing her arms around, arching her back, shaking her head back and forth, etc. The usual. Last night and early this morning when I tried to feed her, she turns her head as far to the right as possible and tries to eat that way in addition to everything else. If I pick her up and put her over my shoulder to comfort her, she cries and starts sucking on my shirt. Put her back down in my arms and she roots around for the bottle, give the bottle, and start back over again with all that.

It was 4:50 this morning and I am sitting in bed with my husband with her doing this and just lost it and cried. I have never had anything so frustrating in all my life. I know her Prevacid dose is low and she could go up on it also. I know she has the typical reflux symptoms, I just get so worried there is something else wrong with her. Sometimes I give her the bottle and she just kind of chews on it, hard to explain. The only thing I have found is if I put a nipple with a bigger hole on the bottle, she will actually eat that without fuss. Has anyone else had that happen? Is it possible not having to suck so hard makes her reflux less? Sorry to sound stupid, if I am, I just don’t understand why that could possibly make so much of a difference.

She has her 2 month checkup this Friday and is due for shots and this is with the ped who said she had colic. I am about ready to skip the appointment until she is a bit better because I dread who the shots are going to affect her!

Jen

[Anonymous]

Just a thought – when Kayla was little and she would get an ear infection, she would really fight the bottle, even when her reflux was under control. Sucking really hurts when they have an ear infection – just a thought???

Robin

[Anonymous]

Well not to my knowledge. She has no fever or any other symptoms at this point. The last time she was at the doctor, she didn’t have one, but at this point, anything is possible I suppose!!

[Anonymous]

What was weird with Kayla is that was her only symptom. She never ran a fever, never pulled at her ear. Who knows?? Kids – wish they came with an instruction book – wouldn’t life be easier??

Robin

[Anonymous]

I really feel for you and understand your frustration completely. I had never felt so expasperated in my life until I had two reflux babies and tried feeding them! Only a mom with a reflux baby can understand how difficult it is.

When Myles was first put on Prevacid he seemed a little better initially, but his dose was too low and it didin’t last. His feedings became more and more difficult. I finally convinced his doctor to put him on the higher dose that marci-kids recommends and then finally things turned around.

The chewing on the nipple is something Myles used to do, too. I think it was just because he was conflicted…he was hungry and wanted to eat, but uncomfortable and couldn’t eat. So he’d gnaw on the nipple. The faster nipple hole used to work for him sometimes, too. Probably becuase he’d get more down before the acid started burning. But that didn’t work for long because he’d choke and/or throw up.

Hang in there. I think if you can get her meds increased things will probably get better. Myles behavior during feedings was exactly like you described until he was put on the higher dose.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know how you guys have done it for so long and with multiple children with the same affliction. I can’t imagine 9 months of this or longer! We have a good day where she is happy and smiling and calm all day with little spitting up and I am so thrilled, but I know it’s not going to last. The next day it’s back to the usual. She can’t even get excited and coo and such without spitting up.

The ped that I like is leaving for maternity leave and can’t see her for her 2 month physical so Emma has to see the other doctor that I initially liked. When this crying with feeding started, he is the one who saw her and after everything I told him, he said she had colic. What baby with colic cries and does those things only when they eat? She had none of the symptoms of colic other than she cries a lot – mostly when you try to feed her or after she spits up.

Anyway, I hate that I have to go in and talk to him because I don’t feel like he’s really taking it seriously. Going to have to pep talk myself, I guess, before the appointment to just give him the what-for and not let him ignore the situation.

I am just feeling very whiny and frustrated today. Overall, Emma is better and cries less then she was and generally seems a bit more happy that before. I am thankful for that. Seeing her the past couple of nights acting like that kind of got me concerned that maybe it’s not working very well and I am going to have to argue with the doctor about upping her dose!

[Anonymous]

Does Emma sleep feed at all? Alexis and Taylor eat much better when they are sleeping since they are hungry and they suck without thinking about how much pain they are in.

[Anonymous]

Not really sure…I had a hard time getting her to eat at 8 last night, but she finally ate 4 ounces – I think she was still hungry but she got really upset, so I gave up and just let her suck on her fist until she fell asleep. Then about 10, she woke up and ate 2 more ounces without a problem. The 2:30 feeding, she woke up and ate fine also. I say woke up, but she’s not really awake awake, if that makes sense. When she woke up at 5 and I was gone longer than normal making the bottle, I guess it gave her time to get good and awake because that is when she got really upset. She still wakes up a ton at night sometimes. Pretty much Emma has been the exception to every rule in babyland.

Three children before her and she is absolutely nothing like any of them in any way. I’m pretty much convinced that in addition to having reflux, she is also a high needs baby. Course if we could ever get her reflux under control, who knows what she would be like!

[Anonymous]

I would actually set an alarm clock for their feedings, I would go into their room and pick them up before they became hungry and fed them before they would actually wake up, that way they don’t even know what is going on. It seem to work very well for us.

[Anonymous]

If the larger nipple is working, why are you not just using that all the time? Emma could be getting frustrated if the flow is too slow for her and in turn swallowing more air, which could aggrivate her reflux. Just a thought….

We also have much better eaters when they are asleep, that for our own sanity, right before David and I want to go down for the night, we pick up Carter, asleep, and do not even change the diaper and put the bottle in his mouth. He ususally takes the most during this time, and then we get a good stretch before he wakes up again.

Not sure if that will help or not, but it worked for us….

Hang in there!!!!

[Anonymous]

Well, the thing with the larger nipple, I was worried that I would end up causing more problems by her eating too much, too fast, etc. She has been eating with them today so far with minimal fussing, though she does choke sometimes and once spit up quite a bit afterwards.

As far as the sleep feeding..is that good or bad? Someone at one point had said that was bad to get started. I was doing what you had said and feeding her right before we went to bed while she was half asleep and even 4-5 hours after that if she was still sleeping, but stopped because I had read it was a bad habit to get started!

It’s so confusing to know what is right and what is wrong. It’s like I had said before, I have gotten to where I second guess everything I do now. Three children and this baby has got me in a total mess!

[Anonymous]

I would continue to do the one right before you go to bed especially if she is giving you a 4 or 5 hour stretch after that, but then let her sleep through if she wants to.

I always had a clearer head and felt better equipped to deal when I had more sleep, so do whatever is giving you the most sleep, but also keeping her hydrated and nourished.

You are doing a great job and she is adorable!!

[Anonymous]

Sleep feeding can lead to a long lasting feeding aversion. Most babies do get a night time bottle right before bed, and may not be fully awake during their middle of the night feeding (if they are not sleeping throught the night yet), BUT the majority of their feedings should be while they are awake. If a baby won’t eat when they are awake they are likely in pain and this needs to be addressed. This of course is my opinion, but I almost ended up with a baby with a feeding aversion, and there are some on this board with babies over one year old who will only sleep feed. That’s a nightmare you want to avoid.

You may have to look for another doctor if your current doctor won’t take reflux seriously. A pain free baby will enjoy eating.

Good luck. Sorry if I sound preachy. I don’t mean to. I saw things get so bad with Myles that he would only eat when asleep and I don’t want that to happen to anyone else. Myles gave up his bottle at 7 months of age and I’ve been spoon feeding him all of his fluids for the last 3 months (except his one bedtime bottle). I’m sure this has something to do with the fact that he was not properly medicated for his reflux until he was nearly 5 months old.

[Author]

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