Home › Forums › Infant Reflux Support › HELP!!! › concrete diagnosis???
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May 8, 2008 at 1:38 pm #51235AnonymousInactive
I’m so happy I found this forum! I have a few (ok, a million) questions I’m hoping you guys can help with. My 4 mo old daughter is very irritable at times and Isuspect it might be reflux based on the following:
- She refuses to eat pretty often- I usually have to catch her when she’s asleep or just waking up to get a decent session in
- When she does eat, it’s like she’s snacking and pulls away (sometimes crying and arching her back) but doesn’t seem satisfied or full
- She chews on her hand (hungry?) after pulling off the breast
- She spits up after feeding- not all the time, but often enough. Sometimes it’s almost 20-30 minutes after she has eaten
- Hiccups and coughs often
- Burps often- she seems pretty gassy
- She’s had two total screaming episodes that I attributed to gas- these were complete meltdowns and it took me hours to console her
Things I’ve done to try to make this better:
- keep her upright and un-jostled after feeding
- gripe water
- acidophilus (me and her)
- chamolmile tea (me and her)
- tummy massage (she hates it)
- mylicon (can’t tell if this helps)
- eliminated things from my diet like carbonated drinks, caffeine, dairy, juice
- feed her in and elevated side-lying position. Lying down helps her with my overactive letdown (which she actually enjoys a little now that she’s older) and also helps me keep a grip on her. But I’m keeping her head elevated a little in case this is reflux
So here’s my dilemma: I described this to the pediatrician who suggested I give her Tylenol to rule out teething, but she was almost sure this is reflux. She wants me to decide whether to medicate or not. I would like to try everything possible before medicating her (esp for something that I’m not even sure she has!). If I do have to use medication, that’s fine, but I want to be sure that I’m treating her for the right thing. Could this be teething? A food allergy? Something I’m eating? Gas? Thrush? Is it possible that she’s just getting enough milk and is tired of mom waving the boob in her face all the time ???Based on your experiences, does this sound like reflux? Is it usually up to the parents to diagnose? Any thoughts on this? And also- how did each of you know FOR SURE that your child had reflux vs some other condition?Sorry for so many questions- I’m just really confused and tired of playing the guessing game while my daughter is uncomfortable. And I also don’t want her to HATE nursing. I’ve breastfed exclusively since she was born but it has never seemed to really “comfort” her like it does with other babies. It’s like she’s just eating because she absolutely has to, not because it soothes her. And her recent squirming makes me think that she is really uncomfortable when she’s eating.Thanks for reading my post!aziza78 2008-05-08 13:57:35 May 8, 2008 at 4:20 pm #51241hellbenntKeymasterWhat to do about OAL scroll down to the 4th post by Bensmama:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9959
OAL:Gaining, Gulping, and Grimacing?
http://www.lalecheleague.org.nz/articles/gaining_gulping_grimacing.htmBreastfeeding & reflux: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2942&PN=0&TPN=1
about OAL (overactive letdown):http://www.users.qwest.net/~fsdebra1/refluxoal.html
breastfeeding a reflux baby: post w/ link to shelby’s breastfeeding blurb & Paula’s breastfeeding 2 MSPI refluxers: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10173&PID=87204#87204
hellbennt2008-05-08 16:25:48
May 8, 2008 at 5:03 pm #51244AnonymousInactiveHi and welcome! It does sound like it could be reflux. My dd had the same feeding behaviour earlier on. We thought maybe it was colic, or gas, or overactive let down. We finally figured out reflux. She was a silent refluxer so it wasn’t as obvious- not much outright vomit, just refluxing, then swallowing it back, arching, crying, irritable, feeding problems, trouble sleeping. We had tests later on to rule out other issues. The thing is that it can be hard to see if it’s diet/mspi or reflux, esp when you’re BF. Would you be willing to try the elimination diet and see if that makes a difference? If not, and you’re still having trouble, you can give the meds a try for a month or so, and if that doesn’t do it, then you can decide what to do. Good luck.
May 9, 2008 at 10:18 pm #51296AnonymousInactiveOne thing worth trying is to supplement with a formula that is pre-digested such as Enfamil Nutramiagin (sp), or Similac Alimentum. These tend to be easy on the tummy but, if you try medication at the same time you won’t know which one solved the problem…
Also, don’ t know if your baby likes the pacifire but babies who have reflux like the paci (generally) because the swallowing helps keep the acids down.
May 9, 2008 at 11:17 pm #51298AnonymousInactiveThanks so much to you all. It just breaks my heart to see my DD in pain and I don’t know how to fix it. Some days she’s fine so I’m going to try the elimination diet and see if its something I’m eating. I tend to go overboard with my diet when it comes to dairy and acid so…I’ve also been offering the breast every hour or so to snack and that seemed to help a little.
The links were great. She does take a pacifier which is really good esp if it soothes the reflux.
May 10, 2008 at 1:45 pm #51320AnonymousInactiveHey there! Your dd sounds just like my daughter. She would do the whole pull of and bob back on and then act like she wasn’t hungry but would gnaw at her hand or suck her thumb. I didn’t realize it was reflux until she stopped gaining weight because she stopped wanting to eat. It was awful.
I had OAL, which it sounds like you do too, and I did several things to get that under control. I think Laura already gave you the link to my ideas there.. but it wasn’t really until she was medicated that she was able to eat more comfortably.Breastfeeding refluxers was the hardest thing I have done, and it broke my heart all the time.. but I am so glad that I stuck with it.It does sound to me that she needs to be medicated. As you said, you don’t want her to hate nursing, nor do you want her to stop nursing altogether.If you don’t want to go to the prescription meds right away, try some Mylanta Cherry Supreme.. just a few mls. when she is having one of her screaming, arching fits, and see if it helps.. if so, then you can bet that’s it’s acid reflux bothering her. -
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