Infantreflux.org | 5 Month Old Refusing Bottles....Advice Needed

This topic has 8 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 16 years, 7 months ago by hellbennt.

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April 1, 2008 at 10:58 pm #49736

Anonymous
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I have a 5 month old that has had problems drinking bottles since he was 2 week old. He has never been tested for acid reflux but thats what the pediatrition thinks it is. A breif history…….

0-1 months – started off with similac advance and nursing. He started spitting up and vomitting at 2 weeks old. 3 weeks old he started screaming in pain while drinking bottles, but would still drink. Refusing to nurse. Had problems handling the flow of newborn nipples.

1-2 months – enfamil A+ and expressed milk…would drink an ounce or two at a time, screamed while drinking both formula and breast milk.

2-3 months – enfamil, breast milk, then nestle good start/ Zantac 1ml twice daily….handled the good start a little better but i think it was because it wasnt as bubbly, still had a hard time handling the flow of newborn nipples, would drink an ounce or 2 at a time.

3-4 months – good start and breast milk and then alimentum/ Zantac…started to refuse bottles all together. as soon as the bottle would touch his lips(before he took a sip) he would scream and wouldnt drink. I had to put him to sleep with a pacifier and then slide the bottle in.

4-5 months – alimentum/ zantac….started to drink again for a couple of weeks, didnt scream like he use to but still not drinking recommended amount.

5 month- Alimentum/ Zantac…. started refusing most bottles, spitting up more often, started rice cereal last week(got desperate) will drink without problems when alseep. Can handle a 3-6month nipple occasionally.

The pediatrition doesnt see it as being a problem because the baby is thriving and gaining weight, but I cant stand seeing a baby hungry and not being able to drink. He will eat rice cereal without problems but I worry that he isnt getting enough nutrients. I feed him between 4-6 tsp(split into 2 meals) of cereal per day and right now he averages around 20 ounces of formula per day. Any input/advice about medications, formulas or anything else would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

April 1, 2008 at 11:05 pm #49737

Anonymous
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oops… if forgot mention that he is also constipated. He will have a small “turd” every other day, very rarely(once every 2 weeks or so) he will have a normal bowl movement. Any feedback for this as well would be great.

Thanks

April 1, 2008 at 11:26 pm #49738

Anonymous
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Oh gosh – if your pediatrician doesn’t think it’s a problem then you need a new pediatrician! I’m afraid your little guy is headed down the path to a feeding aversion if he doesn’t get some pain relief for his reflux. Only being able to eat while asleep means he is in pain, and he associates eating with pain. That is why he refuses while awake, even though he is hungry. Just because he is gaining weight, doesn’t mean he is thriving.

My son was the same – gained tons of weight, but was absolutely miserable, screaming non-stop for the first 7 months of his life. The doctor was never worried because of his weight, but I so regret not pushing harder to get him some relief! It wasn’t until he threw up all over me in the doctor’s office and I broke down and started crying that the ped actually started to take it seriously.

What dose of Zantac is your little guy on? And how much does he weigh? We can help you determine if the dose is appropriate or not, based on his weight. Unfortunately though, Zantac often stops working for our little ones after a while. It might be worth considering a switch to a PPI medication (like Prevacid, or Zegerid) as these are often much more effective at giving our babies pain relief. A great website with lots of info about PPI meds and their use in infant reflux is http://www.marci-kids.com .

In the meantime, you could give him some Mylanta Cherry Supreme (the adult one, they don’t make one especially for kids) for a bit of pain relief. You could likely use 1 mL, up to four times a day if necessary. Too much could cause loose stools, but in your case it could help with his constipation as well.

Glad you found us, hopefully you find lots of help and support here!

MFPIx22008-04-01 23:28:13

April 2, 2008 at 7:49 am #49743

hellbennt
Keymaster

hi & welcome!

I have a LOT to say & (most of) it’s here:

J

Groupie Intro: my intro: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&PN=1&TPN=1

so glad you found us!

~laura

April 2, 2008 at 12:36 pm #49757

Anonymous
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Hi and welcome,

so glad you found us! Sheri and Laura covered everything but I wanted to mention that Rice is one of my son’s worst enemies. It was SO constipating for him. If the thickening or feeding him rice isn’t helping, you may consider stopping it altogether or trying a soy-free oatmeal (Earth’s best or Beech-Nut). We even trialed Rice Milk recently with Landen since he turned 1 and we were trying to wean him from Neocate formula and it STILL constipates him and flares his reflux up!

I couldn’t agree more on getting the baby on a PPI drug– Prevacid, Nexium, Zegerid…

GOOD LUCK!!!

April 3, 2008 at 3:32 pm #49835

Anonymous
Inactive

Your lo sounds a lot like my daughter, and the doc. didn’t take me seriously either until she stopped gaining weight, which did eventually happen. I too would seek out another opinion and really look at getting him put on a PPI. My daughter was also constipated and I’m pretty sure the rice cereal was the biggest culprit. I never even gave it to my son because of that issue. We just went straight to oatmeal.

I hope you find someone to help you out. And this site is a great place. These ladies know it all!

April 5, 2008 at 1:06 pm #49923

Anonymous
Inactive

Thank you all for your replies. Ben is 17lbs and 51/2 months old. He takes 1ml twice a day of 15mg/ml zantac and the pediatrician never changed the dosage since he was 2 months old. I went to the family doctor and got a prescription for prevacid. Where I didnt get it from a pediatrition, I just wanted to check with you guys to make sure it sounds ok.

Prevacid 3mg/ml

compound

give 1.3 mls twice daily.

The pharmacy crushed pills and made it into a liquid. I didnt receive any instructions but just read that it should be taken on an empty stomach, and that it comes in quick and slow release.. and that one of them becomes ineffective if crushed? I am so confused!! My baby doesnt sleep for more than 10mins at a time so I find it hard to do any research. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. thanks

April 5, 2008 at 1:33 pm #49924

Anonymous
Inactive

Ugh… your description of your son brings me back to the nightmare I lived with my son. My little guy was similar in that he would only drink an ounce or two at at time, couldn’t handle even an newborn nipple, screamed during feedings, etc. It took me too long to figure out he had reflux (I had a previous refluxer so I should have known) and then another month or two to get him on a good dose of Prevacid. By then he’d developed a feeding aversion and I ended up having to spoon feed him expressed breast milk. It was that or a feeding tube. He simply would not take a bottle anymore.

I’m telling you this so you know how serious reflux and feeding aversions can be. I think you’re on the right track by getting him on Prevacid, but the dose may not be high enough. Most docs underdose. Also there are often problems with the compounded version of Prevacid. It’s often not made right and loses it’s effectiveness right in the bottle. Visit http://www.marci-kids.com to learn more about this. Also this link should help.

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4505&KW=pharmacy+compounded+

The right dose of Prevacid did stop my son’s pain and I’m sure it will help your little guy too. Good luck and hang in there. I know how hard it is…

April 5, 2008 at 3:43 pm #49928

hellbennt
Keymaster

I’m not a doctor, but if I had zantac around and if I had this site around, I’d increase the dose…that’s just me. Don’t just take MY word on what his zantac dose could be, read here:

Zantac dosing- my/other’s question: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9539&PID=82914#82914

zantac is VERY WEIGHT SENSITIVE.

I’m going to calculate the highest dose for his weight, so you can see how high you can go- not that you should, but you could go as high as this:

17lbs = 7.7 kilos

max dose is 10mgs per kilo, so

7.7 x 10 = 77mgs per day, total, split up into 2 or 3 doses (you can ‘experiment’)

the bottle is 15mgs/ml (look at it)

so 77 divided by 15 = 5.1mls total, given over a 24hr period, split up into 2 or 3 doses of whatever works out to be 5.1mls

example: reflux is worse at night, so give 3mls at night & 2mls in the am

zantac needs to be given 4hrs seperate from the prevacid, but it sounds like your prevacid IS NOT COMPOUNDED PROPERLY

what I would do is:

1) print out how EXACTLY the prevacid should be compounded, go to the pharmacist who does the compounding and SMILE and ask her/him to PLEASE HUMOUR YOU & to compound the prevacid EXACTLY as the print-out says

2) FAX your doctor and THANK dr & ask dr to PLEASE write out a prescription for HOW TO COMPOUND- ask dr to PLEASE humour you–

and give NAME & FAX # of Pharmacist

3) go to http://www.marci-kids.com and find PROPER dose of prevacid

and then WORK ON DR to GET THAT DOSE

hellbennt2008-04-05 15:55:34
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