Frustrated

So for the last 2 1/2 months I've had two screamers in my house. About 3 weeks ago we went to the pedi and he gave us zantac, told me to cut milk and soy out of my diet, and put us on Alimentum (we give one formula bottle a day for sanity). So we went through this for 1 week and both were getting better, still fussy but they both went from screaming 6-7 hours a day to 20-30 minutes a day.

Then my DD gradually started screaming more and more every day. (DS was getting fussy as well but I don't know if it is because DD was constantly screaming) . So after 2 weeks on Zantac we were back to 2 hours of crying with DD.

Back to the Dr we went and he put us on Prevacid. They also weighed her and noted that she hadn't gained as much as they thought she should be (she was gaining about 1/2 ounce a day instead of 1 ounce), so then he questions if I'm really feeding her enough and if maybe she is just crying because she is hungry. Which is a valid question but still made me feel like a horrible mother. So he instructed me to offer her an ounce of milk (EBM or Formula) after each feeding to see if she was still hungry or not. (note- she has 7-9 very wet diapers a day)

So far she has just looked at me like I'm a lunatic and spits it out at me. Now my chunky DS (who weighs 3lbs more than his sister) will take the ounce and anything else we will offer him. And they have no worries if he is getting enough to eat.

The Dr said that if we don't see a change with the prevacid in a week and she hasn't gained enough weight, I will need to take her totally off BM and put her on a hypoallergenic formula ( neocate?) He said that I should keep pumping for her just in case that isn't it but we would stop BFing her for 2 weeks.

She really hasn't shown any signs that I can find of being allergic to my breast milk ( no blood in stool, etc). And in my opinion since she has improved every time we give her reflux meds (even though the zantac stopped working) shouldn't that be a sign that it has nothing to do with bm allergies? I just feel like he sees cutting the BM out as the easiest option without exploring our other options like other reflux meds.

It seems like the prevacid is really starting to work but we still have a very fussy girl in the evenings. But I've read that it can take a week for prevacid to start working. So now I'm supposed to go back in 2 weeks for a weight check and I'm scared to go back. I really don't want to deal with him telling me to quit BFing.

What do you think? Am I being totally off base? Has the screaming warped my brain cells? I really like my dr otherwise, but he just isn't the biggest bfing supporter. I'm sure I left something out!

 

Just throwing a couple things out there for you-
1. Colic is very common around 3 months
2. Maybe you could pump and feed ebm with rice added to see if that helps with reflux-this is what I do for ds who has reflux and no meds help but I wanted him to keep getting bm, also you would know that she is getting enough...not that she isnt-7-8 wets a day is a great indicator!
Sorry you are having trouble, you could always get a second opinion from a different doc, call around and find a pro bf-ing doc and go to that one!
Good luck to you!!!!!

 

I would ask why is he so intent on stopping BF?
Hang in there...they will eventually outgrow it!
BTDT, got the t-shirt!
All 3 of r's suffered with reflux/colic for the 1st 4mos. or so.
If your doc insists on you stopping BF, find another doc for a 2nd opinion.
Here's a :hug99: 4u!

 

My Taylor suffered from the same thing. It was a nightmare. My pedi, dh, MIL just about everyone kept telling me it was breastfeeding. I finally had her see a specialist and confirmed she did have reflux, they did a some xray test (can't remember the name) to confirm this and put her on reglan. She did really well on it. But as she got older and gained weight (slowly) we would have to up the meds. I could always tell when the meds needed to be up because she would return to screaming non stop. I know it is so hard. PM- I have btdt.

 

Have you checked out growth charts specifically for breastfed babies? The growth charts they have in the pedi's office generally reflect weight gain of formula fed babies, which is usually greater. It's possible

I would also consider getting a second opinion from another pedi, if you really want to continue to breastfeed.

My boys also had reflux and were on meds for a while. We didn't have trouble with weight gain, but there was a lot of screaming going on, and pulling away from the breast. It made feedings very difficult. It's really hard and extremely frustrating - you are not alone and I feel for you! :hug99:

We worked hard at positioning (trying to BF them in as upright a position as possible), sitting them up for 20 minutes after feedings, feeding more often and burping (very gently!) often, etc. You might also consider trying a different medication.

Also, screaming/fussy behavior is totally normal for an infant, especially in the evenings. There is a whole range of "normal".

Hang in there, it WILL get better as they get older. My boys stopped taking meds around 6 months of age and they basically outgrew the reflux.

Michelle

 

I had one child with BAD acid reflux like yours....Zantac really helped but he didnt BF and I always felt guilty thinking breastmilk would have helped him. I would think BM would be better for him....milder. I think you need to listen to yourself too, and not necessarily the docs all the time....they tend to "eliminate issues to see what the real problems are"...I dont think he knows what to do. My advice is to seek a Gastrointestinal specialist SPECIFICALLY for children. Yes, they exist, and I almost took Collin to one....he grew out of his though. Good luck, and hope your BF does not have to stop.

 

Thank you all so much! It was what I needed to hear. :friends:

 

QUOTE
Have you checked out growth charts specifically for breastfed babies? The growth charts they have in the pedi's office generally reflect weight gain of formula fed babies, which is usually greater. It's possible

I would also consider getting a second opinion from another pedi, if you really want to continue to breastfeed.


Also, screaming/fussy behavior is totally normal for an infant, especially in the evenings. There is a whole range of "normal".


Ditto, ditto, ditto! :good: I bet you a zillion dollars that your milk is NOT the problem, and it's gentler than any formula out there!

QUOTE
So he instructed me to offer her an ounce of milk (EBM or Formula) after each feeding to see if she was still hungry or not.


This is just plain crazy. Plenty of babies will suck down a bottle even after getting full nursing - and all it means is that babies like to suck. It really tells you NOTHING about whether they're hungry or not. Topping off with the bottle, though, does tend to cause milk supply problems.

It really sounds like the meds need tweaking. It's NOT your milk, and BFing is still the best thing you can do for a reflux baby! Your pedi sounds extremely uninformed about and unsupportive of BFing - I'd definitely consider getting a second opinion.

 

OK, first, there is no such thing as a "breastmilk allergy". I have heard doctors say this (inclucing the pediatric GI), but when I pressed for answers (after doing LOTS of research) it turns out not to be true. More often they are referring to a milk protien allergy (which is why they recommend cutting out dairy/ soy formula, etc.). The truth is, they tell mothers to stop breastfeeding becasue it's the easiest for THEM... they suggest sticking the baby on a formula so you can tell how much she's getting and increase/ decrease amounts as necessary. They make you feel like you are doing something wrong- sorry for the mini vent, but it really bothers me!

Doctors can order actual tests to discover if reflux (or other issues) are present. An upper GI is when the patient drinks barium and and a continious xray is done to actuallysee if there is reflux.

Personally, I would ask to explore other ideas before stopping the breastfeeding. How confusing would it be for your DD to stop nursing for 2 weeks just to find out it's ok and start all over again?

Does your baby spit up a lot? That was the main reason for my twins weight issues, due to the reflux.

Also, some babies just gain weight slowly. I would be more concerned if she was losing weight. How is she doing developmentally?

I went through so much of this stuff with my twins (I won't get into the details right now becasue it was just endless tests for various problems). It was awful. In the end, they were on several different reflux meds until they were two and a half years old. They were preemies, small to begin with, and are still little peanuts now at age 4.

 

That is really bizarre advice. BM is the easiest thing for a reflux baby to digest. I'd be getting another opinion. Don't stop BF if you don't want to. There is no formula out there that is better than BM. I'm so sorry you are going through this.

 

i have had NOTHING but problems since i started feeding my guys formula three times/day. i don't see how anyone can think the bm is responsible for the problems.... we've had terribly unhappy babies/tummies since we started the formula parade, and i'm still looking for something that's giong to work for them.... so, i just wanted to agree w/you thatyour doc's taking the easy way out. unfortunately, not enough of them are informed about how good bm is for children.

best of luck and hang in there!
~~jl

 

We were having similar problems with DD although my pediatrician has been fairly supportive of BF.
I am not sure you would be comfortable with this, but after weeks of frustration, I took the advice of
a poster on this forum and did some research on chiropractic care for infants.

I did get the okay from my pediatrician, and the results have been unbelievable. The only thing that would
soothe my DD was nonstop nursing. Otherwise, she would scream for hours on end until the wee hours of the
night. DH and I were at our wits end. The pediatrican diagnosed silent reflux and recommended Axid which we began but it didn't seem to be helping much.

Anyhow, we found a chiropractor and the results have been amazing. She went from rarely napping and NOT
sleeping at night to going 10 hours at night and taking great naps. More importantly, she is smiley
and relaxed AND rested. The chiropractor told me the BF makes reflux much easier for a baby to bear as
the BM is much gentler on their digestive systems. He said things would have been much worse had
we been giving her formula.

By the way, we saw an improvement after the first visit. We have a total of six visits total.

I can't remember who suggested chiropractic for us from this forum, but I will be forever grateful.

However, it has to be something you are comfortable with for your baby!
Good Luck.
Beth

 

Your babies are still in that "fussy" age but I agree with all the comments above. Your breast milk was made for your babies. If your body was good enough to make them it is good enough to help them grow. Now with me I couldn't produce enough for two. I purchased a bouncer ... it was the infant to toddler rocker and my reflux one would sleep in it. You must try it !!! The position is great for reflux babies. she is 6 months and still sleeps in it... I need a crib soon.

Heather

 

QUOTE(sassypants2+2 @ May 20 2008, 11:46 AM) [snapback]783227[/snapback]
.... So he instructed me to offer her an ounce of milk (EBM or Formula) after each feeding to see if she was still hungry or not.


This advice alone raises a red flag to me! Many reflux babies will gorge themselves, because they are trying to stop the pain. That's exactly what my reflux baby, Benny, did. In his early weeks, when he was getting EBM in bottles, he would honestly eat whatever amount we would give to him... and then he would cry and throw up. A reflux baby eating more food after completing a meal isn't really a sign of anything... except that the baby has reflux!

Hang in there, I've BTDT too, and I know that you aren't exaggerating when you refer to 6-7 hours of crying each day. Reflux/colic is TOUGH - on the poor baby and on everyone else in his/her day-to-day life. My Benny was on Zantac... it helped briefly. His Zantac dose was doubled... that helped briefly. He was put on Prevacid... that helped briefly. Finally, his Prevacid was increased, and the improvement has been more permanent. Somewhere around 3 months, he started sleeping better at naps and nightime, started spitting up less (he's still a spitty guy, but not the projectile whole-meal vomits like before!), and started having periods when he was awake and in a good mood... there was actually a time (between about 4 weeks and 3 months) when he seemed upset/sad/uncomfortable during every waking moment. I always knew that there was a happy, sweet baby inside, and I have been so thrilled to see that baby emerge over the past month-and-half!

We still give him the prevacid - my DH forgot to give it one night a few weeks ago, and Benny was miserable the next day. I think at 5 months, I will halve to dose, and see if he reacts any differently the following day!

Oh, and even though my boys nurse the same amount of times, and seem to take a similar amount, my reflux boy is over 3 pounds less than his twin... so I don't think it means much as long as the baby is gaining steadily.