BM-Alimentum, but baby won't take bottle

[Anonymous]

Long story as short as I can:

DD started with reflux symptoms: green poo, frequent eatings, and massive spit up. Prevacid helped but not enough to keep it under control. Mama led research led to the TED diet. Did that for a few months with great success.

DD had her 4 month vaccines last week. Since then the green poo and frequent feedings have begun again. Feedings are up to 1 an hour in the daytime, every 2 hours in the night.

Took her to ped earlier this week when I couldn’t get it under control. Diet has remained the same.

Ped put her on 15 mg of prevacid 2x a day (she was much fussier at night).

That didn’t help. A few days later I took her in again. She did a culture on baby’s diaper and found blood in the stool (absolutely invisible to the eye but I believe her).

So we’re to do Alimentum cold turkey. I’ve done the ted diet for months and this kid is sick. I think it’s the next thing.

Problem? Baby will not take a bottle. She HAS, and due to a family death, we traveled and she got off schedule, went on bottle refusal.

So here I am. Baby needs alimentum, which apparently tastes like *&^, and she won’t take a bottle.

1. Any advice?

2. Any mama support? I bf ds 18 months. I plan to pump (just in case) but this very well may be the end. I’m more than sad. This probably means I wont even be able to hold her for a few days, she was so used to BF frequently.

3. Thanks. Mama appreciates. 🙂

Amanda

sopamanda2012-08-02 19:30:24

[Anonymous]

please. Any tips to get her to take it? I’m in a back bedroom, baby is screaming bloody murder.

[hellbennt]

oh mama! hugs!

I know you want to start the forumula- but please tell me about your diet- I can’t help but think there’s hope somehow for you to clear up the blood yourself….

I know you just want me to tell you how to get your baby to take a bottle…I don’t know…I know it can’t come from YOU…at least not at first…

I would think next step is ped GI? not ‘just’ ped?

have you read everything?

how Neocate & Elecare work: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6013

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT:

Erin‘s sticky: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12948&PID=105126#105126

More Erin: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13175&PID=106395#106395

Erin post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13576

Great anne post: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9242

[Anonymous]

Can you try pumping and mixing the alimentum with breast milk? Alimentum is awful –I am sorry.

[Anonymous]

My eyes filled with tears as I read you post! It was all too familiar. 🙁 I want to write a long post to you but am really busy right now. So please take the time to read my blog (see signature) I will come back on here hopefully later tonight and say more.

[Anonymous]

Ok, I’m back! I read your post again and my heart aches for you and your little girl! 🙁

I am sorry to say… but I don’t think formula is going to fix the problem. The reason that a formula like Alimentum is prescribed is that the proteins in are extensively broken down in it and therefore easier for her to digest. But you should be able to make your milk easier for her to digest that that stinky horrid formula. My sons drank the Enfamil brans called Nutramigen and my family said it smelled like dead fish and I bet it tastes like it too. 🙁 Some people didn’t even want to hold my baby because when he barfed, which was often, it stank so bad. 🙁

I am in the midst of doing some research about vaccines and the effects of them on children with digestive problems but at this point can’t really tell you whether they could’be caused this flare up. Hopefully someday I’ll know more about it. I do think it might’ve caused it but I don’t fully know why. One reason I can think of is that the shots may have stressed the body and stress adds acidity to our body. Also I’m sure that traveling was stressful too so that could’ve added more acidity too. Is it possible that she is getting teeth? My children started getting them at 4 1/2 months old. Teething causes the saliva to become very acidic. This is to break down and make the cells in the gums die so the tooth can come through.

My acid-reflux-free baby has had 4 bouts of reflux. Twice while getting teeth and once when we went out of state to be with my family over Christmas and just recently when we went on a week vacation that ending up going to my dad’s funeral and being gone 3 weeks. 🙁

Now, if you have already read my blog, sorry to repeat. But here is a little info that I learned after having my oldest child suffer for years…Digestive Enzymes are made in the pancreas and then go into the stomach to aid in breaking down food. What causes the pancreas to not make enough enzymes? The biggest cause is either diet or inherited. All foods have digestive enzymes in them but when they are cooked or processed then the enzymes are killed. Many people that cut out foods that are high in protein and/or change their diets to mostly fresh foods will notice a significant improvement in their digestive problems. Proteins are one of the hardest thing for the digestive system to break down.

When there isn’t enough enzymes in the stomach to break down the food then the stomach will make excess acid to try to break it down. This excess acid can cause problems like acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome. It also kills probiotics (good live bacteria that lines, coats, and protects the entire digestive tract). When probiotics are depleted or low then the esophagus and intestines can become raw and even bleed. Probiotics also get killed when taking antibiotics.

So, if you would take a probiotic/enzyme supplement it should make your milk have the proteins extensively broken down in it just like in the formula, only better. You can also give the supplement directly to the baby to help her get better faster.

I can not guarantee that these pills will help your child. But within a very short time of my children starting to take these pills they began to improve. They helped them tremendously and after they had been taking them for several months they were able to eat the foods that always made them sick and they didn’t bother them. 🙂

Feel free to ask questions if you have them. I hope that SOON your little one is feeling better.

[Anonymous]

Ok, short update. I’m stuck in the bedroom with no computer access, so reading and writing long posts is tough. I’ll get to it!

No teeth coming, at least no drool.

Day 2. Yesterday she was very calm for most of the day, I believe because she was so exhausted. She started fussing around 5 (5-8 was always her fussiest time). I left the house and she quickly ate. She ate 3-4 times during the day and consumed about 11 oz.

Finally settled around 8:30, but the crying was awful, we were afraid of a repeat of ye bottle refusal night. She slept until 2, ate then (screamed and ate) and slept until 6:30 am, whereupon the screaming started again. Hubs had trouble getting her to take bottle this am. Not sure if it’s happened yet or not. Very fussy.

She’s Also quite lethargic. I was hopin yesterday was from exhaustion but she’s just not her happy self when she’s awake.

I feel like we have to give it another day. It’s Saturday (how does that ALWAYS happen to me?!) and as long as we’ve come this far, I do have an inclination (wih heartache) to see if her tummy will accept it.

We have no family here. Closest is 800 miles away. Considering asking someone to come help. My husband has to go to work Monday.

There is no ped GI within 2 hours or so. That is the next step, clearly, but I’m afraid we won’t be able to get in for months. I’ll ask next I speak to ped.

She is a good ped. My OB/gyn has children my kids’ ages and he goes to her. She’s also very recommended in town. She’s called on a Sunday to see how baby was, and spends as much time with us as we need and answers questions. At this point, she’s what we have other than ped GI.

Amanda

[Anonymous]

Read the blog and after last night, I do think I need to prepare myself that I may need to breastfeed.

I do think I need to wait at least another day, unless she worsens. In the meantime WHAT PROBIOTIC DO YOU RECOMMEND? We’re near a whole foods and I’ll get it ASAP and get it into my system. Also how long will it take for said probiotic to get into my system??

Many many thanks. I’ll keep checking back but would live to go ASAP.

Thank you thank you thank you.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and spitting hasn’t been an issue since we started Prevacid, about 2 months ago.

Symptoms that brought us back to ped, after Ted diet:

Green frequent poops (went from one every 3 days or so to 5 per day)

Frequent feedings. We fed 3-4 night at the best, every 2 hours or so during day to after last Wednesday–daytime every hour, nighttime every 2 hours.

Amanda

[hellbennt]

it’s so hard to find time to read through everything!

please…

this is like martha’s blog:

Erin‘s sticky: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12948&PID=105126#105126

and this explains the formulas

how Neocate & Elecare work:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6013

[Anonymous]

If you want something TODAY you can go the health food store and see what they have. Try to find a probiotic that has at least 8 strains of probiotics in it. A lot of probiotic supplement have only 2 or 3 in them. The Digestive Health pills have 13.

Digestive Enzymes. I’m not sure what to tell you there. I guess you’ll just have to ask them at the health food store what they have. Some people say to not take supplement enzymes because your body will become dependent on them. But that is only true animal or pancreatic based enzymes. So be sure to get plant based ones.

I would recommend that you order the Digestive Health pills from Core Health Products. http://www.corehealthproducts.com They ship very quickly. But if you find something else you are satisfied with then that’s all that matters. 🙂 Happy Mom2012-08-04 11:57:03

[Anonymous]

Took her into ped (not her ped but her office). She ate at 1:30am and refused to eat, took her in at noon. She’d only had 11 oz between Thursday 4 pm (last breast milk) and today at noon. She was lethargic, sleepy and not herself at all. She had lost a half pound.

Ped gave us nitramigen and said if she didn’t drastically pick up by the evening to offer her the breast.

I did at 5pm. She ate and was a different child (active, smiling) within 20 minutes.

Now to figure out what the heck I should eat. More later. Tired.

[Anonymous]

Oh wow! I’m glad she’s doing better! She was probably dehydrated. But oh… diet change is SO hard. 🙁 I hope you are stronger than I was because I fully believe breast milk is best. 🙂

[Anonymous]

We had the same reaction to Elecare last night. It was so amazing to watch him eat and want more.

[Anonymous]

Hugs Leah.

Doing better. Hoping she won’t have super frequent feeds a nd weird poops now that we’re back on bm.

And yes, I am one of those ‘breast milk is best’ people. I worked 75 miles from my home with my 6 year old DS and pumped and fed him bm 18 months!

I did buy an ergo about a month ago, hellbent I’d read that you had luck with them. I have a serious back problem so I went with the one that seemed most supportive. She hates it. I try to reintroduce once a week or so but so far it hasn’t been helpful for us.

[Author]

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