Screaming while eating

I have seen this mentioned on here from time to time, but one of my boys seems to be having a hard time lately. He is hungry, but stops while eating and squeals and cries. He really struggles getting gas out. He has been eating EBM with Neosure by bottle for weeks now. Anything you can think of? Anything I should be concerned about or doing differently?

Thanks!

 

Ours did that at times too...our pediatrcian said it could be reflux (though we didn't see spit up, it could be internal only). Our twins also had trouble with gas...perhaps ask the doctor? Good luck and I hope it gets better--I know how tough it can be.

 

looks like you're in the same situation as i am. our boys were born at 33 1/'2 weeks and they were sent home with instructions to be fed EBM supplemented with neosure. they were fine for a few days but suddenly they both started showing signs of extreme discomfort, one moreso than the other. jacob even screamed while eating, like you described. he then developed very ugly bowel movements and both babies were obviously in gastrointestinal distress. over the weekend they both started having diarrhea so we saw the doctor today.

the doctor suggested that packing so many calories into their little systems might be overloading them a bit. their intestines might not be able to keep up with the calorie load. since both boys are growing and thriving he recommended that we cut back and just feed straight EBM without the supplementation. for the occasional bottle of formula (since i'm ot producing enough to sustain both on EBM alone) he recommended that we follow the regular neosure directions rather than boosting the calorie load the way the hospital instructed.

so all day we've been doing nothing but plain old EBM and (knock on wood) it seems to be helping. bowel movements are returning to the normal color and texture (not quite completely back to normal but getting there) and they seem less uncomfortable. he also gave us a prescription for baby zantac to help with their reflux, and that seems to be helping some of the grimacing and grunting and overall restlessness after eating.

so you might consider talking to your pediatrician and seeing if he/she thinks you might have a similar situation going on. if they're gaining weight and thriving you might be able to take a break from supplementation and give their guts a break.


p.s. he also suggested that we might try switching from neosure to similac sensitive if things don't improve, just on the off chance that it's lactose intolerance. we're starting with cutting back on supplementing and we'll try switching if things don't correct themselves with this measure alone.

 

When my DD does this, usually she needs to burp...it may be something more complicated, but for me, I thought it was reflux or something more serious at first, but then I realized I wasn't burping her soon enough, especially in the evening when she seems to take in more air for some reason. Now I can tell by the look on her face and usually get the air out before she cries. Oh, and once in a long while it'll happen with DS, and he takes forever to burp...it's a struggle and sometimes I think the crying must be for something else...and then out it comes!

 

If it is gas try to mylecon drops. My doctor said they are completely harmless and you can use them after every bottle. They helped us with my DS, who seems very gassy- we still use them occasionally.

 

QUOTE(piccologirl @ Oct 13 2008, 08:08 PM) [snapback]1025202[/snapback]
he then developed very ugly bowel movements and both babies were obviously in gastrointestinal distress. over the weekend they both started having diarrhea so we saw the doctor today.


What do you mean by ugly bowel movements? Some of the other stuff you mentioned sounds familiar as well. I will try the straight EBM tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.

 

QUOTE(Shelly @ Oct 13 2008, 11:48 PM) [snapback]1025257[/snapback]
What do you mean by ugly bowel movements? Some of the other stuff you mentioned sounds familiar as well. I will try the straight EBM tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.

he went from normal curdy yellow breastmilk poops to dark brown/green watery poops overnight. they smelled foul and they were very dark and very runny. at first the doctor said it wasn't diarrhea because it wasn't happening any more frequently than his previous poop schedule, but we had our doubts. it just kept getting darker and greener until finally on sunday he was pooping pretty much constantly and it was a strong green color. and again, very foul smelling. that's when his brother started having the same green terrible poops. so we went back into the doctor's office on monday and discussed what we were seeing.

and i have to say, so far so good (knock on wood). we're back on the yellow end of the spectrum and there isn't nearly the amount of fussing after eating that there was before. we need a few good days like this to really call it a trend but we're optimistic. i have my doubts at this point that lactose is the issue. i think we were just overloading their poor systems.