refusing feedings and super fussy?

The past couple of nights DS has been fussing all night long. No bottle or cuddle can soothe him. During the day he naps in and out and isn't nearly as fussy. Today he's started refusing his bottles. He'll take a few sips and then immediately spit the nipple out and start crying. He's been sticking his legs straight out and just tensing up. We've tried Mylicon drops because he is super gassy...but so is his sister.

Both him and DD were on Neosure until last week when DD's pedi put her on Nutramigen and Zantac for reflux issues (see my previous posts about reflux). Her pedi determined that brother didn't have the reflux issues bad enough for meds because he didn't have apnea spells or poor weight gain because of refusal to eat. So right now he is still on the Neosure. The Nutramigen is outrageously expensive and we are currently on WIC and her pedi won't write the letter we need for it until we follow up with him after two weeks of being on the Nutramigen. And he mentioned that he won't sign off on it for brother because he doesn't feel that she needs it.

I'm frustrated because brother's tummy is hurting (I think). He's constipated from the Neosure. At the pedi's suggestion we've tried giving him juice mixed with water, we've tried giving him Karo syrup in his bottle, we've tried everything! I don't know if he's crying because of the constipation or the gas or what.

Does anybody have any answers? I feel so bad for him and want to get him comfy but I can't hold him all day long. I have a 3 year old that has jealousy issues anyways that needs my attention and a super refluxer in DD that I'm constantly cleaning up spit up off of. DH is getting cranky because he's not getting sleep at night because he has a very physically demanding job and works outside in super hot temps 12 hours a day 6 days a week.

I'm just stressed.

 

What rock has your ped been living under?? Reflux can cause significant pain even without outward symptoms. Does your ds arch his back often or seem to anxiously take the bottle then spit it out or fight it? Even if he isn't spitting up or losing weight, he could still have reflux. I'd push for more intervention from the ped.

 

If your son is crying all the time and you think he is in pain then bring that to the pedi's attention! If the pedi isn't taking your concerns seriously then you should find another doctor. You know your baby, you see what is going on all day and night. :hug: You're right, your son shouldn't be crying all the time, it sounds like something isn't right. Did you try giving him the nutramigen to see if that helps stop the crying?

 

I am sorry to say that your ped is wrong. Both my kids were gaining weight just fine but DS had outward reflux the arching, crying, spitting up etc. DD had silent reflux.. more writhing, pushing the bottle out etc. Zantac actually doesn't work for all babies. In my case it made my kids symptoms either worse or no better. It wasn't until we were on prevacid that I saw a MAJOR improvement. I had to push my ped to switch. My ped first put my son on nutramigen and it made him poop very frequently and he didn't like it. Not all babies with reflux are intolerant to lactose. Go with your gut instinct. Honestly, try different combinations,see what works for you kids and don't be afraid to speak up to your ped.

(As an aside I am ALWAYS so surprise to hear that docs won't write the insurance letters.. WTF?? Honestly, if the child isn't getting better, why no try something and see? What does it cost them to try? I am sorry that you have to go through that.)

GL!

 

I spoke with one of the doctor's I used to work with yesterday. She told me basically the same thing about them not necessarily being lactose intolerant. She told us that Similac Sensitive worked wonders with her kiddos. Helped with their constipation, gas and reflux. I hate to be changing their formula up but I figured we'd try it. We actually bought the target brand. It was 14 and some change for a HUGE can of it vs 20something for a slightly smaller can of similac.

Ella is still taking the zantac and combined with the sensitive formula seems to be doing better. Ben seems to be doing a little bit better and had a crying spell this morning that lasted about 45 minutes....broke my heart! However I think I know what his issue is....he is super constipated from the neosure. Right after his crying spell during which his tummy was hard as a rock, I changed his diaper and he had a little poo that was as hard as a rock! He always seems to have what reminds me of rabbit poo but this was the worst I've seen come out of him.

I'm going to give him a few days on the formula and see if it helps fix him. If not I'm going to get him in to his pedi. And if he doesn't start being a little more concerned then we may wind up switching.

Also - how often can you give Mylicon drops? Can they have it at every bottle? He's eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day and every 3 to 4 hours at night.

 

Mylicon (simethicone) isn't absorbed systemically, it stays in the gi tract, so yes you can give it with every bottle. I actually put it directly into the bottle right before the feeding. That way it broke up any bubbles that developed from them sucking before the bubbles could get sucked down and cause gas pains.

 

re: mylicon, there is a max dose listed on the bottle. So just as long as you stay in that range it should be ok.

 

I agree with other pp's. If your doctor isn't listening to you, I would find a doctor who will. You are the one who is with the babies day in & day out, most doctors realize that & will listen carefully to what the mom is saying. If you are having problems already with this doctor listening, you might do well to go ahead & find a different one before they get any older. I hope the change in formula helps! :hug:

 

I also have a suggestion for the constipation, you can try a couple of things. I would suggest double checking with your dr about this, but my ped gave us the okay to start this at 6 wks with my girl twin. You can try putting dark karo syrup directly into his bottles for awhile. You can start with 1-2 bottles a day, and a couple tsp's of syrup, and work your way up/down as needed until he starts poo'ing easier. In the meantime, while you are waiting for that to work, you can buy liquid glycerin suppositories, not the hard ones but they are like little mini enema bottles, use about half a suppository, it will help him poo within about 15-30 mins. Both my girls (and my boy twin sometimes) had troubles with constipation the whole time they were on formula, my ped gave us the okay to use the supp's as needed, even if it was daily. But once the karo syrup started working, we didn't need the supp's very often, every 2-4 weeks someone would wake up screaming and we'd need one, usually overnight is when it was worse.

And the mylicon, I agree with pp's, you can use it several times a day, but I wouldn't exceed the max dosage on it without talking to your ped first.

:hug:

 

We do use the dark karo syrup. That was something that when our pedi suggested it, we were looking at each other like "whaaaa?". How often do you do it? He didn't give us a certain amount of bottles he just said to add 1 or 2 tsp to each bottle. It seems to help a little. I saw the liquid glycerin suppositories when I was at the drugstore getting a new bottle of Mylicon a couple of nights ago.

As far as the Mylicon goes, we bought the drugstore brand and on the bottle it only said no more than 12 doses in a 24 hour period. So I'm going to assume that it's okay for him to have it at every bottle since he's eating every 3 hours or so. So that's 8 bottles in 24 hours.

 

Your poor boy. I'm so sorry he is in so much pain. My only thoughts would be to try out a lactose and soy free formula like the one your girl is on as many babies have a hard time with lactose (as well as soy) in the beginning and I see your little guy was a bit early. :hug:

 

I used it every bottle, and went up to about a tablespoon or so in each bottle until we got relief. Then I backed up from there....every second bottle, every third bottle...etc. Once I was able to determine how much would work, I would mix it up into the whole pitcher of formula so the same amount was spread out over the course of a whole day, a little bit in each bottle. It worked and kept the constipation at bay from the time my oldest dd was 3 months old until she was over a year, when we had to switch to benefiber. We just were able to stop using that when she was 3.5 yrs old. We used the karo with the twins from 6 wks until 10 months, when they switched to milk they did much better.

 

My first DD was on Enfamil and Simulac and was very constipated - especially when she no longer got Expressed Breast Milk. A friend mentioned Good Start formula and it was wonderful! So our twins were on the Neosure formula and again would have had constipation if not getting EBM, and we just got permission to switch them over. It's already been a full day and babies are much happier. We do use gas drops in each bottle.