Bottle feeding
What a mess...
VdsGuest ·
It's a long story..
My son is now one month old.
Week 1: When he was 3 days old, he had really enormous colic. He screamed from 8pm to 6am and we couldn't soothe him with anything. He didn't poop during the day, so of course he had a lot of discomfort by evening. We switched from the pediatrician to Nutrilon Neo (he was on regular Nutrilon first). His bowel movements improved to 1x/day during the day, but he still had colic, though less.
Week 2: He was constantly straining, smacking his lips, sticking his tongue out, and gagging. So back to the pediatrician with the suspicion of silent reflux. The pediatrician agreed and started Zantac. After a week with no improvement, we went back. They started Omeprazole 5mg 1x/day.
Week 3: The reflux is no longer silent; he regurgitates regularly (about 10cc) and has had a full gulp a few times. He still has colic and enormous gas. He's pushing day in and day out. We give him Infacol for the gas, but that doesn't help either. We burp him 4 times during his feed and he does big burps. We keep him upright in his Baby Bjorn carrier because when he lies flat, he starts groaning and pushing again.
Week 4: Back to the pediatrician for a check-up. We continued Omeprazole and were also given Belladonna for the colic. The doctor also suggested switching to Nutramigen in case the reflux and colic are caused by a cow's milk protein allergy.
He's been on Nutramigen for 4 days now. I thicken the feed a bit with Nutricia (half a scoop) because he was constantly choking. He's a huge eater...
He's already using Dr. Brown's bottles because of the colic and gas. He's still gulping air when drinking from those bottles and remains very greedy. He drinks about 150cc 7x/day on average. He weighs 4kg. We went to an osteopath yesterday and have to go back on Monday. He felt a lot of tension in his tummy.
Brief overview of our problems:
- Reflux continues despite Omeprazole and thickening the feed. He doesn't cry anymore but is extremely uncomfortable.
- Gas/colic; despite using Dr. Brown's bottles, Nutramigen, Infacol, Belladonna, and regular burping.
- Restlessness!! He's extremely restless all day and night. He often wakes up startled (Moro reflex) and can't get back to sleep. We've tried everything... swaddling, a bath before his last feed at 11pm, a cherry pit pillow, trying to burp him more, tummy massage, moving his legs towards his tummy, baby wrap, baby carrier, evening walks... When he gets his bottle at night around 2am, he doesn't want to sleep. If I lay him on my chest on his tummy, he constantly pushes it away (like a frog).
- He drinks a bottle every 3 hours, even at night. Whereas with Neo he could once sleep for 6 hours at night.
- Groaning and pushing all day and night!! This is really driving me crazy...
Hopefully, someone recognizes this and can give us some advice because I'm physically and mentally breaking down.
Greetings,
A hopeless mom
My son is now one month old.
Week 1: When he was 3 days old, he had really enormous colic. He screamed from 8pm to 6am and we couldn't soothe him with anything. He didn't poop during the day, so of course he had a lot of discomfort by evening. We switched from the pediatrician to Nutrilon Neo (he was on regular Nutrilon first). His bowel movements improved to 1x/day during the day, but he still had colic, though less.
Week 2: He was constantly straining, smacking his lips, sticking his tongue out, and gagging. So back to the pediatrician with the suspicion of silent reflux. The pediatrician agreed and started Zantac. After a week with no improvement, we went back. They started Omeprazole 5mg 1x/day.
Week 3: The reflux is no longer silent; he regurgitates regularly (about 10cc) and has had a full gulp a few times. He still has colic and enormous gas. He's pushing day in and day out. We give him Infacol for the gas, but that doesn't help either. We burp him 4 times during his feed and he does big burps. We keep him upright in his Baby Bjorn carrier because when he lies flat, he starts groaning and pushing again.
Week 4: Back to the pediatrician for a check-up. We continued Omeprazole and were also given Belladonna for the colic. The doctor also suggested switching to Nutramigen in case the reflux and colic are caused by a cow's milk protein allergy.
He's been on Nutramigen for 4 days now. I thicken the feed a bit with Nutricia (half a scoop) because he was constantly choking. He's a huge eater...
He's already using Dr. Brown's bottles because of the colic and gas. He's still gulping air when drinking from those bottles and remains very greedy. He drinks about 150cc 7x/day on average. He weighs 4kg. We went to an osteopath yesterday and have to go back on Monday. He felt a lot of tension in his tummy.
Brief overview of our problems:
- Reflux continues despite Omeprazole and thickening the feed. He doesn't cry anymore but is extremely uncomfortable.
- Gas/colic; despite using Dr. Brown's bottles, Nutramigen, Infacol, Belladonna, and regular burping.
- Restlessness!! He's extremely restless all day and night. He often wakes up startled (Moro reflex) and can't get back to sleep. We've tried everything... swaddling, a bath before his last feed at 11pm, a cherry pit pillow, trying to burp him more, tummy massage, moving his legs towards his tummy, baby wrap, baby carrier, evening walks... When he gets his bottle at night around 2am, he doesn't want to sleep. If I lay him on my chest on his tummy, he constantly pushes it away (like a frog).
- He drinks a bottle every 3 hours, even at night. Whereas with Neo he could once sleep for 6 hours at night.
- Groaning and pushing all day and night!! This is really driving me crazy...
Hopefully, someone recognizes this and can give us some advice because I'm physically and mentally breaking down.
Greetings,
A hopeless mom
Replies
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Dani Guest #2
Hi,
I totally get your frustration. I had the same thing with baby #1. After 5 months of seeing doctors and trying Nutramigen, we finally got some relief. One day the baby was just happy and content.
Baby #2 is now 3 weeks old and is also starting to grunt and have tummy troubles. The carrier works best here, or tummy time (even though it's often discouraged now).
7x 150cc is quite a lot for a baby, right? That could also cause gas pains.
Otherwise, you could try Neocate—it's even easier to digest for little tummies. Hopefully, you can lean on a network of friends and family.
Hugs -
Floor Guest #3
Congratulations on the birth of your son. Wow, the first period is quite intense! I don't really know much about these complaints myself. But I still want to help you get started, even though I'm not a doctor
The symptoms seem to resemble cow's milk allergy; can you get more help in that direction? I'd also say that 150 cc x 7 is a lot for one day for a 4 kg baby. The health center taught us this as a guideline (so it's not set in stone): per 24 hours, the baby may have 150 cc per kg of body weight. So that would mean a total of 600 cc per day, and he's getting 950 cc. Apparently, he's not really full either..
so should you add more locust bean gum powder? In any case: seek help from multiple sources. Maybe also a vertebral blockage from the birth or something. See what an osteopath can do; they can sometimes work wonders. That restlessness isn't good, it's just not normal, and your intuition is always right, so trust it.
I also once looked into probiotics: our son was born via C-section, and then their guts don't get bacteria for the gut flora in the natural way. Also if you don't give breastfeeding. Then you can add probiotics. That can help. I myself spent a long time experimenting with what the right food for him was.
I understand your hopelessness, and I'd like to give you a heart under the rib. Put him on mama! -
Anne #4
7x150 does indeed sound like a lot for a 4-week-old, although my daughter could sometimes "hamster" with this milk. I don't think she was really satisfied. What I gather is that your baby drinks quickly? Even though we had a big baby of almost 4200 grams, she used a premature nipple (when she had a bottle alongside breastfeeding) in the first few months. They're made by Dr. Brown's. My daughter kept choking on the Difrax ones or the smallest regular Dr. Brown's. The Dr. Brown's premature nipple was ideal. Also, I'd suggest having a lactation consultant or similar professional check whether her frenulum is okay? Not too tight? That might be why she's swallowing air along with the milk. Those are the only tips I have; I'd also try sticking with Nutramigen for a while and not switching too quickly. Wishing you lots of success! -
Anne #5
That reflex you're talking about, by the way, drove me crazy in those first few weeks. Our baby was also very restless for the first 5 weeks until I went dairy-free and later switched to soy. But that reflex, it stayed. Swaddling just made her cry more. I really got frustrated at the beginning; every time she had just fallen asleep, her hands would start moving again. During the most restless period, she lay on the changing mat next to us in bed, and when her hands flew up, I could immediately grab them so she stayed calm and didn't startle awake. It probably just gave a safer feeling. But even when everything was calmer, no more colic etc., and she was sleeping through the night, she still had that reflex sometimes. They really have to grow out of it. For some babies, a Puckababy sleep sack helps; their hands can't fly up too much but can still move inside the sack. No idea if that's recommended for this age and safe sleeping. Lots of success, the solution is surely close! -
Floor Guest #6
Yes Anne, we also benefited a lot from the Puckababy swaddle sacks. We weren't allowed to swaddle because the baby was in breech position, so that sack was a nice middle ground. At first he was too small for it, but around 3500 grams they can fit in it. The maternity nurse thought nothing of it, saying "we don't teach how to work with this here," but I did it anyway and it seemed like a miracle had happened.
We also had a lot of reflux here, by the way. We had the bed tilted, lots of spitting up. There's not much you can do about it except wait, indeed. -
Mama vanJ #7
Hi! Can I ask which Nutramigen he’s getting? Reading the symptoms, it’s indeed cow’s milk allergy. And indeed also reflux. Here’s a girl of 9.5 months with CMA and reflux. -
Anne #8
Good point, I automatically assumed it was puramino and not lgg. Lgg didn't help enough here, puramino did. At least the spitting up was a bit less, not gone though. -
Mama vanJ #9
First, we tried Pepti, but she got a rash where it was spilled. Then we switched to Puramino, but the bumps stayed and only got worse. Then we switched back to Neocate, and that turned out to be the solution! Bye-bye puffy eyes, bye-bye breathlessness, bye-bye rash, and bye-bye restlessness! -
kruimel #10
I think 7x 150cc (150cc per feed, 7 times a day) is also a huge amount for this age.. according to standard calculations, a baby on average gets 150cc of milk X the number of kilograms of body weight per day with a maximum of 1 liter...
Your little one is now on 1050cc of milk per day while that on average should only be 600cc. Maybe you could try smaller bottles, given more often?
I also immediately thought of formula, I don't have any experience with it though..
No further tips, I know that tummy time is discouraged but maybe it's worth trying anyway (of course not in a Puckababy) and only when you're with him..
Lots of strength and don't let yourself be swayed by doctors.
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Floor Guest #11
Oh yes, crumb, I calculated wrong 1050 is really a lot.. -
Lies Guest #12
@vds (guest)
I totally relate to your story. My son is 8 weeks old and he’s wriggling and grunting all day and night, it’s driving me crazy. His bowel movements don’t happen every day, and we’ve tried all sorts of home remedies but nothing helps, which is very frustrating for us. We’ve also been to the pediatrician and an osteopath several times. Naturally, they contradict each other.
The osteopath says; stick with Pepti for now and taper off the omeprazole because this causes him to have fewer bowel movements.
The pediatrician says; switch to Nutramigen and continue with the omeprazole. For the bowel movements, she says I should give lactulose so he has more frequent bowel movements and thus fewer cramps.
I find this so difficult.
What should you do? Changing formula is quite a big change for the gut, and starting lactulose suddenly means you don’t know in my opinion what exactly is having an effect: the formula or the lactulose. It’s driving me mad. What should you do? You don’t know beforehand.
I’m not really helping you move forward, but I wanted to let you know that you’re not alone. Maybe it’s little comfort, but it does me good to read your story and realize that I’m not alone either.
How is your son doing now? -
Most15 #13
Hi Verbeek,
This is an old thread, but I read your story and thought: let me just leave a reply.
That must have been so intense for you/you guys.
Have you ever considered carrying your baby? I swear by a wrap and (later) a carrier. They get rocked this way, close to your warm body. That warmth is also nice for colic. Just a thought, by the way. Strength!
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