Question for sh’s mom re: peristalsis

[Anonymous]

Lori,

I noticed in one of your posts that you said Hailey has always had a hard time passing even soft stools. Myles has this problem, too and I am convinced it has much to do with his reflux, minimal appetite, and bottle refusal. You said,

“Every doctor we’ve seen has told me that this is normal, that it’s not constipation, and that she’s just learning how to pass her poop and that some babies, especially babies with weak esophageal sphincters also will have weak peristalsis and rectal muscles needed to expel poop. They keep telling me this over and over so it’s interesting that they told you otherwise.”

( Sorry, I don’t know how to do that box around a quote like the rest of you do.)

Anyway, what do they say about this? Do they think it will go away on it’s own? It doesn’t require any treatment? Don’t they think this has anything to do with why she doesn’t want to eat?

I’ve been telling my dh for weeks that I think Myles has some kind of “motility” problem. He thinks I’m nuts, but I know his digestive tract is not working like it should. I’m just wondering what your doctors say about it. I will definitely talk to Myles’ doctor about this soon, but I wanted to get some idea of what your doctors think.

Thanks.

How’s Hailey doing? Sleeping better in her crib? Did you have the EEG?

ndrose2006-5-16 21:51:28

[Anonymous]

Christine,

They’ve all dismissed it and said that it’s just her learning to pass her poo and that it’s a skill (huh??) that they need to get better at just like learning to walk and talk and eat. They said that in time it will get better and she shouldn’t have any problems with it. Basically that it’s normal, but may be a bit worse for her b/c of the whole reflux and digestive thing.

No one has been concerned about it at all, though they have said that not pooping every day, while very normal, can make the not-eating and the reflux worse.

I too have thought that Hailey may have DGE, but I think that really it’s probably not as common as we think. I know that others too have felt that it was probably the cause of the problems but tests had come back fine. It might be the problem for Myles, but the only way to find out is to do the test.

Hailey is just getting over her cold and ear infection and so her sleep is still pretty bad, though she is in her crib. We are hoping to move her out of our room next month, as we really need some alone time to get back some semblance of a normal marriage.

Our EEG is scheduled for mid June, scope for mid July. We’re seeing a nephrologist next week (sigh).

Hope that things get easier for you guys soon.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Lori. I’ve never heard that babies need to learn how to poop. Hopefully, they are right and it will get better with time. I guess I’ll bring it up the next time I have Myles at the doctor. He’s drinking a little bit better and only throwing up once a day now, so I haven’t taken him or called the doctor yet. He’s only drinking two bottles a day (4 ounces) but eating solids and oatmeal with more breast milk, so I think he’s getting enough.

I hope your nephrologist appt. goes well and he treats you better than some of these other doctors have. Please let us know what he says.

That’s great that Hailey is sleeping in her crib. That’s a good step towards getting her sleeping in her room.

Thanks for answering my questions.

[Anonymous]

Her christine, I asked Aidans ped about dge and she said “well yeah almost all reflux babies have low motility, but not that many actually have DGE.” So I think that low motility really is an issue with these little guys, and I just try to get as much fiber as I can into Aidan (but not too much too much causes all hell to break loose )And I think his motility is improvign a bit, not sure if it is the probiotics or not, I think it might be, I started giving them to him 3 days ago, and he seems to be hungrier sooner and has been pooping a lot more (sorry if that is tmi-lol).

Lori, I hope either the nephrologist or the eeg shed some light into what is bothering Hailey, and I’ll send some prayers your way. I would be so frustrated if I was in your shoes…side note, I’m trying to get Aidan to sleep in his crib…I forgot from my oldest what FUN that is

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jill,

Definitely not tmi. I really want to know if this is something I should worry about or not. I’m sure Myles has low motitlity if not dge. I put a call into his doctor this morning so I’ll probably talk to her later.

What kind of probiotics are you using? Do pro-biotics aid digestion and make things move a little faster?

Did your doctor say he’d outgrow the slow motility problem?

I give Myles about 1/2 cup of oatmeal per day plus 2 jars of fruit or veg, so I think he’s getting enough fiber. He wouldn’t eat any more than that anyway.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I use an adult probiotic because the baby one I bought contained dairy and fish, not that Aidan is dairy intolerant but it seems to irritate him a bit, so I just use jarrow jarodopholous (and i KNOW I spelled that wrong) for doseing it lists the doses for adults, and infants and kids. I’m not sure if that is the reason his pooping has imporoved, but it’s not doing anything negative so I figure why not?? I give it to my older son to, although he HATES drinking the “funny looking water”. And I think it’s helping him 2, he used to complain of tummy aches a lot and hasn’t for the last few days. I did read somewhere not to give them to babies under 6 months but I rounded up a bit b/c Aidan will be 6 months june 5th-lol I know there are other ones specifically for babies but they are a bit pricey and I already had this one.I didn’t ask her if they grow out of slow motility…although I would think as their systems develop most of them would?

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jill.

I did talk to Myles doctor this morning and she said it does sound like he has slow motility, but probably not as bad as dge. She said he will likely outgrow it with time and as long as he’s eating enough to thrive, I shouldn’t be too concerned. She did think that so much oatmeal in his diet may be contributing to the straining and difficulty with passing his stool. She said some doctors would prescribe Reglan or Eryhromyocin for this, but she’d prefer not to unless he was having complications (poor growth, or pain), which he is not.

I did ask about Probiotics and she was not very enthusiastic but didn’t say “No, don’t do it.” She just said she hasn’t seen any of her patients improve on it, but she’s a family doc, not a ped, and she’s only seen adults on it. So, I don’t know if I’m going to try it or not.

I just wish there was some cut and dry answers out there for all of this.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the kind words and support. For what it’s worth, I don’t think that the docs have treated me badly, I just think that when they don’t know what’s wrong with a baby, they like to blame the mother (who else should they blame? they can’t blame the baby!). But it’s hard enough to go through this, especially for so long being blamed all the time. I raised my older one the same way and she turned out to be an amazing child that I’m so proud of. I can only hope that I can say the same thing for Hailey. Either way, I’m doing my best. I don’t think that anyone really knows what to do when it comes to raising a child like this, the books certainly don’t give you much practical realistic advice, but everyone likes to give their criticims. I’d like to see what these docs would do if they had a child like this. Also, it’s funny, because when your child is healthy and well-adjusted, no one seems to care about how you’re raising your kid. As soon as your child gets sick, everyone likes to chime in about what you might be doing that’s causing it.

As for the constipation, Hailey has been backed up again, I think because she’s cut back on her intake. We’ve had to use suppositories to get her to go which is frustrating.

[hellbennt]

(this isn’t for Lori, bcse we’ve discscussed it before)

difficulty passing stools can be a sign of mspi

soy can also be constipating & I see that Myles drinks some soy formula…

[Anonymous]

My son who had all the feeding difficulties as a baby also had slow motility or DGE – he had the emptying scan and it was definitely not normal, but I’m not sure how it was classified. In any case, he is now 9 years old and very healthy (and in the 90th% for weight), but pooping is STILL an issue. He can go a week – yes, a week – without pooping, and even then we have to practically force him to sit there, and it takes forever. When he does finally go, it is never hard little pellets or whatever you think of with constipation – it is always huge, man-size, get-the-plunger type poops. (sorry – way tmi!) We have to be really sure that he drinks a ton of water and gets a lot of fiber, and we have to sort of keep him on a schedule – “When did Andrew poop last? Two days? OK, make him sit on the can tonight.” So, I think with slow motility that they outgrow the worst of it, but may still have a tendency toward it – nothing earth shattering or anything, just something to be aware of in terms of diet, etc.

[Anonymous]

Tricia,

That’s kind of what I was afraid of. It doesn’t seem to me like something that’s just going to go away totally. My dad told me once that my mom’s digestion is VERY SLOW. I didn’t really think much about it then but now with Myles, I’m wondering if it’s a hereditary thing that is likely lifelong. My doctor says Myles will outgrow it but, I’m not sure I believe that.

So, what is Andrew’s appetite like? Does he have slow metabolism? Does he get by on much less food than other kids his age?

Thanks.

ndrose2006-5-17 21:16:40

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