I don't know if I am just a wimp or my babies are really colicky or what but they had me crying again this morning. They were up from 7am until noon and they do this all of the time. They get sooooo overtired and will not sleep. It always starts when I try to feed them at the same time on their boppies. Everyone is fine until I have to have one take a break to burp the other and then all he** breaks loose. I cannot prop their bottles successfully. DD has terrible reflux and needs burped FOREVER and I still can't always get a burp out. We are on Nutramagen which is reallly really elemental and $$$ and use Mylicon drops at every feeding. Nothing helps. The DR. said we should really hold off on giving her any meds as it is better to let them work it out on their own. It is sooo hard to watch her in such agony. She looks so hungry and bobs her head back in forth trying to eat your shoulder like a little bird. She stuffs her fists into her mouth, anything she can. Then, you give her the bottle and she suck for a minute and then turns all teary eyed and red and spits the bottle out and screams. This seriously disturbs her brother who then also screams. He seems to forget how to eat and drools all of his formula out down the side of his mouth all the while rooting around for the bottle that is already in his mouth. He gets frustrated and can really scream bloody murder and turn all sorts of great colors. His "inability to remember" how to suck makes propping the bottle nearly impossible. Now I am trying to burp one and both are screaming and know one can burp and no one will eat anything. It is a disaster. We go on like this until they basically fall asleep from sheer exhaustion and neither have eaten enough. The only way I can get them to calm down at this point is to hold them both against my chest at the same time but then they get so sweaty they are miserable. If the sweat or one of their little "sleep screams" doesn't wake them up they ALWAYS wake up the minute I put them into their swings to sleep. They will not sleep in the pack and play or anywhere else for that matter. The swings work briefly but they really only want to be held and there is only one of me and two of them. I try must best but end up feeling like the worst mommy in the world. I love them so much and would do ANYTHING for them but they seem so miserable all the time. They also wake eachother up constantly so we finally put her swing in our room (we now sleep upstairs in the guest room while the other is doing their shift or the night nanny who comes three nights a week is here). DS's swing is still in the great room so we are tiptoeing around all night and it is really hard to be that quiet all the time. The second they hear us they want to be up - I thought babies were supposed to be heavy sleepers. The way our house is set up we do not have a seperate living room or anywhere to put them that is away from the action of the house (what little action there is these days) and I am terrified to put them both in our bedroom as they are the loudest sleepers (including sleep screaming whenever something is going on digetively) and they will wake eachother up constantly. Plus we have a big dog who is annoying right now but great with the babies but always seems to bark at the most inopportune moments. Yikes, am I missing something or is there a better way to be doing all of this? I feel like I am completely messing it up. I want them to have the best chance at being happy and I just don't feel like I am giving that to them right now. Our main problem is feeding and it seems like everyone else found a way to do it but I can't. I have tried bottle propping, putting them in boppies, car seats, bouncies (which they hate by the way) and nothing works. We were doing okay last week but the past two days have been atrocious. Please tell me if I am missing something. Oh, the other problem is that they fall asleep in your arms but refuse to stay asleep once placed down. Luckily, DH is AMAZING! sorry for the long post. Amy
OK, take a deep breath -- this all gets better and there's likely a good reason for whay you rkids are so colicky right now. Happiest baby on the block is a great book for colicky babies -- but in lieu of that, here's a thought... You probably don't want to hear this, but you probably should be breastfeeding and go dairy and soy free. It's possible that your daughter is highly dairy protein intolerant and the only way to completely remove dairy from her diet is via mom's diet and breastmilk. Severe protein intolerance (dairy, soy, etc.) can cause all the symptoms you describe. it's awful and needs to be managed -- but reflux meds can help with the pain. Are you treating reflux? They may be too young yet, but it's worth getting to a GI dr to see what's up. OUtside of breastfeeding here's some thoughts -- My son, who was also dairy intolerant, did best when he was bounced on a pilates ball. it was the only thing that calmed him down. We would also put the babies over our knee to help burp them and that seemed to work well. Is there anyway to feed them separately for a few weeks to get them through this fussy period? Having them sleepin hteir swings at this age is FINE -- anything that works, is great up until 4 months or so. Anyway, it will ge better -- but I'd suggest getting to a GI dr, babies shouldn't be soooo fussy... there's usually a reason and dairy protein intolerance is a big one for newborns. (nutramigen has predigested casein (dairy protein) but it still has casein) Teri D
Get the meds!! Really, it sounds to me like reflux. The longer that you let it go, the more damage it does to their little esophagus. My babies just quit eating around 2 months because of it. I don't want you to have to go through that too. Call, and make the appointment NOW! You are a good mommy Amy, reflux is horrible and evil! :hug99: :hug99: :hug99: ETA...Jacob was also a horrible sleeper and he had refllux the worst of the two. He would wake up screaming every 20 minutes, like he was in pain....and he was.
Sounds like reflux to me, I'd push the Ped to treat. It's not going to hurt anything! Lily was miserable up until 8 weeks when my Ped finally prescribed Prilosec...she took that for about 2 months, then I took her off of it to see if she was past the problem. She did fine! 2 days into the meds, she was a different baby! 2 months worth was all she needed to get past the hurdle! Talk to your ped again!
Could be reflux or just colic. My older DC screamed from the moment of wake up in the morning, to the moment of bedtime at night (around 2:30 am!). We bf'd and I even did an elimination diet and no help. The ped prescribed reflux meds and they didn't help. I felt like a horrible mom, as you can imagine. I don't think there is any harm to trying reflux meds. If they don't help, you discontinue them. One thing to mention: your babies may not have a feeding problem, but a sleep problem. Some extremely colicky babies will eat and eat and eat furiously because it comforts them. They are overtired and feeding is the only thing that quiets them. I even see it in my babies sometimes and they're 6 months old! As soon as the food stops (for burping or whatever) SCREAM CITY (if they're overtired). It's not like this for a well-rested baby. I highly recommend the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. Great info on colic! His advice really saved us with my first child, who went from getting 8 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period to 18 hours!
Amy - My B/G twins (Henry and Gabriella) will be 6 weeks on Wednesday - so I'm right there with ya! Fortunately, mine are good eaters - BUT - they will not go to sleep most of the time unless someone rocks them or walks with them. They don't like stroller rides, swings, bouncies etc when it's time to sleep - even car rides have stopped working. But what I found that works is a sling. I put the fussiest baby in the sling and go about my business or just walk, and off to sleep they go. This also leaves my hands free to hold and walk with the other baby if they are fussy as well - and it's easier to rock both babies this way too. I've been blessed to have my husband home for the past 5 1/2 weeks, so it will be interesting when he goes back to work FT next week. I've been re-reading the section on multiples in Healthy Sleep Happy Babies, and we may end up doing short CIO periods for naps, so they can start learning how to soothe themselves to sleep. Best of luck - I know we both need it!! Suzi
QUOTE(momalicious @ Jul 6 2007, 01:41 PM) [snapback]319835[/snapback] You probably don't want to hear this, but you probably should be breastfeeding and go dairy and soy free. Strong statement to make without having been asked the question. Gosh, I could have written this post. We are on Nutramgien and until 9 months on Prevacid also. It was at 8 weeks when I was about to lose my mind not understanding what was going on with my poor babies. They were diagnosed at 8 weeks. Call your ped. This is something you dont want to go left untreated. Like you, during those beginning months, I tried feeding them in every way. The boppies on the couch worked best for me. I did my best to prop one while I burped the other. Often times, the one being propped would drop the bottle and both would be crying. I would suggest to get them used to noise because you dont always want to have to be quiet when they sleep. You may want to get a white nise machine. Let us know what happens. You are doing your best!! Figuring out 2 babies is so hard and takes time. :hug99:
Just wanted to offer some ((hugs)) -- I think I had a mini-breakdown around the 6 week mark, and I wasn't dealing with the feeding issues you are. Hang in there!
Oh, I feel your pain! I too could have written your post about my DS. It is so hard to watch the little ones suffer with reflux (at least that is what it sounds like) doing everything in your power to make it better but with nothing working. My little guy had horrible reflux where he screamed all the time while I was Breast Feeding and supplimenting with Formula! He screamed when he ate at the breast, he screamed when he ate from the bottle, when he burped, ALL THE TIME. Basically, he screamed from the moment his eyes open until the moment he fell asleep which was NOT very often. We tried Zantac and Gentlease to begin with but his reflux didn't get better. In desperation, we switched to Nutramegen hoping it would help with the Zantac. Finally, after seeing the doctor for the 3rd time in a week, he got us in for a GI workup on him. When all of that came back normal, he gave us Prevacid and within a week, our little guy was like a new baby. He went from Mr. Fussy to Mr. Happy Guy. He started to be able to sleep longer (even if it was in his bouncer or swing). When he burped and spit up, he didn't scream in pain. Prevacid was a Godsend for us, but more importantly for him. Don't beat yourself up! You are doing a great job as a mom! Hang in there! :hug99:
I feel your pain. My little guy never took to bf'ing, so I bottle feed him breast milk while I nurse his brother and he does the same thing as you described. It's horrible to see your baby in such agony but I'm sure there's an end. I use Mylicon at every feeding for both boys and that seems to help. I also use Woodward's Gripe Water at night. It not only stops them from crying but it actually helps them sleep longer. They are only 4 weeks and we get 5 hour naps in at night. I also purchased a noise machine on EBay and the white noise helps them sleep. I hate to say it, but CIO is the best approach. It's so hard to hear them cry themselves to sleep, but for your own sanity, you need to get them to understand that you are only one person and cannot be there for them all of the time. I also agree with pp that you should try feeding them seperately for a couple weeks until they work through their digestive problems. Good luck and hang in there.
QUOTE I hate to say it, but CIO is the best approach At 4 weeks??? CIO is not recommended until at least 4-6 months by most.
Oh, honey, I feel like I just read a page from my own journal. I know you've heard this a million times but it does get better. Off the top of my head... -My boys are terribly fussy eaters (just as you described) and I have NEVER been able to successfully feed them at the same time. They're 18 weeks now and we've never accomplished it! I used to think it would be easier when they were two months, three months, four months...I've given up. I feed them one after the other. They're more patient these days but I know how hard it is when they're only 6 weeks old. When you're alone you could just try to feed them one after the other. You might have to feed one 15 min. early and the other 15 min. late (are you on any kind of feeding schedule yet?) or do what I did - bribe every friend, neighbour and relative you have to come over and help you feed the babies. The major vomiting, etc. has subsided but they're still not up for double feeding. -Reflux meds might help, they might not. I have one on reflux meds. The good thing is that they can't do any harm. If they don't work you can just take your kids off of them and it won't have caused any problems. -The special formulas (inc. nutrigimen $$$) didn't help my fussiest feeder. The only thing that helped, and you might think this is crazy, is switching to a liquid concentrate rather than a powder. I have no idea why. He's on Enfamil A+ liquid concentrate and his brother is on Enfamil A+ powder. Oh, and as far the previous suggestion about breastfeeding (as if you can really go back to that at 6 weeks anyway) - it didn't help me. My babies were just as fussy with bottles of expressed milk. Feel free to PM me.
Sorry you - and they - are suffering. you are NOT a bad mommy. i agree w/ pp's - get to the doc and get a GI workup - they should not have to work it out themselves...if they're not eating there is no weight gain.... Also, WAY too early to do CIO; your babies need to know that you are there (although of course you are only one person adn no baby ever died from crying a little bit) but they need SOMEone there. Have you tried swaddling?
