Not sure if my daughter has Infant Reflux

[Anonymous]

Hello All! This is my first posting. I have been searching the web endlessly trying to find out what is going on with my baby girl. She is 4 weeks today! The problem we are having is that she is Very gassy. She doesn’t spit up very much, but she eats very irregular. Sometimes she will only eat an ounce or two and other times she will eat four ounces. She get the hiccups after every feeding. When we lay her doun to sleep she grunts and whines and wakes herself up. She used to love her bouncy(sp?) chair, but now she grunts and whines in it. The only way we get her to sleep is if we hold her while we are sitting or standing. She doesn’t really cry, but is always grunting and fussing. She chokes very easy when we are feeding her. We are bottle feeding her with my breast milk. We also can’t get her to burp alot of the time. She also sounds like she is congested. I think that is everything! Sorry this is so long and rambling. My husband an I are just at our wits end and we want our little girl to feel better. We have a doctors appointment on Monday for her month check up and I was looking for a few pointers to talk to the doctor about and a few pointers on how to help her out. Any feed back is greatly needed and welcome!

[hellbennt]

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

[Anonymous]

Sounds like reflux to me, probably what we call silent reflux where it comes up and they swallow it back down. But Laura’s groupie intro will have tons of great information. Also check out marci-kids.com for medication recommendations and such. Good Luck, glad you found us.

[Anonymous]

I would make an appt with a peds GI just to check things over with them. You don’t want the pain to get any worse.

As far as gassy goes, she could have a MSPI and th emilk products are passing through the BM to her. Another reason to talk to the GI.

[Anonymous]

Welcome! I definitely agree with the previous posters. I’m not a dr, but it also does sound like MSPI (milk soy protein intolerance) to me. My ds grunted a lot before we cut milk and soy out of his diet. My ds was REALLY REALLY hard to burp. Check out the MSPI section on this forum, there is really great info in there! Here is a link to find a ped GI near you and you can also check this forum under the Specialists section to find reviews on drs.

http://www.naspghan.org/aspModules/PublicLocateDoctor/PublicLocateDoctor.asp

[Anonymous]

I agree with the MSPI. At that age, my baby was constantly fussing and grunting-even in his sleep. He was never awake without the fussing. As the weeks went on the fussing continued with more crying. He was also very very gassy. All babies are gassy, but his was so extreme that I began to question what was wrong. At his 2 week check-up, the pediatrician was quick to assure me that it was not MSPI since it didn’t run in my family. At his one month check-up, I insisted we check the stool for blood and sure enough there was blood in his stool. So, since you are BF, you may want to eliminate dairy from your diet and go from there. Some of the other symptoms you mention also sound like reflux to me but it could be caused from the MSPI. For me, I switched to Nutrimagen and after 2 weeks I found blood in the stool so I then switched to Neocate. On top of the MSPI, my LO also has reflux. I was hoping the issue would be solved once the nutrition was taken care of, but he still needs medicine for the reflux.

If I were you, I would have the stool checked for blood. I took 3 samples over the course of a week and only 1/3 showed blood. So, I would suggest that you check several samples to make sure. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Your daughter sounds a lot like Evan at that age (couldn’t be put down, hated burping, persistant wheezing). We too bottle feed breastmilk, and he ate a lot, the DR said it was soothing for him. He’s being treated fairly aggressively for reflux now. Good luck with your appt.

[Anonymous]

I first want to say thank you for all of your posts! It helps to hear from people who are going through or have been through want we are going through. They agreed that she has the signs of silent reflux. They just want us to thicken up her breastmilk with cereal. They also told us to hold her up when she eats and for 30 mins afterward, to prop her up when she sleeps, and to give her less food more often. All of these things we have tried, but the cereal in the breastmilk. So I guess we will see what happens. The doctor wanted to see us back in 2 weeks, but the receptionist said they couldn’t get us in for a month! Very frustrating. I have already looked up numbers for specialist, so if this doesn’t work in a week or so I am just going to make an appt. with them. I am supposed to start work again soon so I need to be able to sleep at night and not hold her. It is also hard to see her in so much pain! I know I’m preaching to the choir, but it helps to vent =) Sorry for any typos I am typing with one hand while holding the baby in the other! I hope you all are having a good day!

[Anonymous]

welcome..

very fast.. just wanted to let you know that thickening the breastmilk with cereal WONT work. i am sure laura has a post on why.. but i remember that there is something in the breastmilk that breaks down the cereal.. and making it unable to thicken? i hope someone else can fill you in on that. PLUS a lot of the time cereal makes reflux worse .. expecially silent reflux.. .. babies that age need to digest really well..and the cereal is hard at 4 weeks old to digest. she might do fine.. but just a “headsup”.

[hellbennt]

yes, there’s amalyse or some other enzyme(s) in the breastmilk that will break down cereal. for silent reflux you might not want to consider cereal. it can also get your supply all wonky– from ‘groupie intro’ https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=853&PN=1&TPN=1 check out the links in the ‘section’ called ‘breastfeeding your reflux baby’

did you get a prescription for zantac? I would ask for this as you wait for the ped GI specialist. I would also go look at http://www.marci-kids.com to prepare yourself for what you will be asking for from the ped GI (or even from your ped or even from a family dr!)

once you ‘know’ what you want to request/ask for then I always suggest FAXING the dr. This way it’s in writing…

FAX FAX FAX the dr

dont wait for a call…

start off w/ a THANK YOU

keep it short & sweet

stick to the facts (no feelings and no rambling emotions)

state current meds, doses, symptoms

make request- flat out- short & sweet

THANK AGAIN

follow up by calling office to say fax was sent

call again later to discuss requests in fax, ie: have you called in the increased prescription yet? THANK YOU

sample fax: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10633&PID=90325#90325

another question: how are baby’s poops? ‘normal’ breastfed baby poops that are mustardy & seedy? or green (occasional green is fine! just not almost all the time)? mucousy? this looks like snot or stringy or even curds…if poops are not ‘regular’ the majority of the time, then this can be a sign of MSPI. look for the link from groupie intro (link above)

[Anonymous]

I’m not too happy about thicking either.

Laura thank you for all of the links! I feel so lost about all of this! When I brought up Zantac our Ped said it was too soon and that she wanted us to try other things first. THe hard thing is that the ped group we go to is the only one close to us. We live in a very small town in Ohio. We are currently in the process of relacating to Columbus, so I am looking for dr there. I think she has MSPI and Silent reflux. She has most of the symptoms for both. She has had some of them since birth. Every time I brought them up they would say it was normal, but it has just gotten worse. I always get the first time parent comment from them. I may be a first time parent, but I know when my baby is in pain! I can call and set up a sick baby appointment at my ped and they willl get me in fast. If I don’t see any improvement (which I doubt I will) I am going to get her in again soon. I am also concerned about her choking. She chokes easy, so I’m afraid it will be worse with thickening!

[hellbennt]

I would TELL dr that you are requesting a SWALLOW STUDY. Don’t ask; tell. This will show HOW she’s swallowing (the mechanics) and show if there’s any aspiration. If dr doesn’t want to then INSIST saying “what if she’s aspirating?!?” Then, if she IS aspirating, you can find out EXACTLY how to thicken your milk and to what EXACT consistancy using a thickener that is MADE for this called Simply Thick. But hopefully, you won’t be going down that road

[Anonymous]

For when you move (not sure how far Columbus OH is from Cincinatti) here’s another moms recommendation of a good GI dr:

Eli’smom wrote:

God’s gift to GERD parents:

Philip E. Putnam, MD

Title

Director, Endoscopy Services

Appointment

Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Email

[email protected]

Phone

513-636-4415

Fax

513-636-7805

Credentials

M.D.: University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1984.

Residency: Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1984-1987.

Fellowship: Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of Pittsburgh, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1988-1991.

Certification: Pediatrics, 1988; Pediatric Gastroenterology, 1995.

Special Interests

Comprehensive evaluation and diagnostic procedures for patients with general disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, including: eosinophilic enteritis, abdominal pain, gastroesophageal reflux, complex nutrition related to the GI tract, GI bleeding, inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhea and failure to thrive.

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/svc/find-professional/p/philip-putnam.htm

kdub2008-07-07 22:29:00

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