would you stop nursing to solve this?

[luckymamaoftwo]

I'm at a loss of what to do. All I know is that I have a miserable 3.5 month old who is constantly uncomfortable. I'm miserable, sleep deprived, frustrated and it's negatively affecting my 2 year old DD and DH. This has to change ASAP.

I'm EB and the last thing I want to do is stop, but nursing him seems to be contributing to his issues. My baby has been incredibly gassy and has seemed uncomfortable from birth. Our pedi put him on Zantac at three weeks (DD was also diagnosed with reflux at three weeks and took til 15 months to outgrow it), but we haven't seen much improvement. If anything, symptoms have gotten worse.

So here are the symptoms. In addition to what appears to be reflux, DS is very gassy, squirmy, writhes around, wakes from sleep with what appears to be pain and cries and stiffens and arches, has very restless sleep ALL the time day or night, and he has a bit of a bumpy rash on his face that comes and goes very occasionally. Nursing has NEVER seemed to settle him like it does most babies. In fact, most times after nursing, he's wiggly and spits up a lot---just generally uncomfortable. I can recall only ONE time in the past several weeks that he was mellow at the breast and actually FELL asleep while nursing. So it short, nursing him makes me feel like crap because it appears to upset his system and I'm not feeling the great bond and emotional "high" that I did with DD.

I nursed DD for 18 months and feel heartbroken about DS and his discomfort. I don't want to put him on formula, but I'm not sure I have an ED in me to try and uncover a hidden issue. I don't eat meat and rely on dairy very much in my diet. I did try to eliminate just dairy for 10 days but didn't see any improvement, so LC that I was seeing suggested that the problem didn't lie in my diet or my milk. Pedi wants to switch to Prilosec to see if it helps, but I'm not convinced that our issue is just reflux.

Sorry for the disorganized rambling. Things just seem to be escalating and we're all getting more upset. I don't feel like I'm getting to enjoy my sweet dear's early months, nor do I feel that he's enjoying his early months. Poor little babe.

Any help/suggestions/advice is very appreciated and welcomed!

[mbbinsc]

Sorry that you are having this experience. You may want to cross post or repost this on the allergy section of this board. There are other mama's dealing with these issues and can be a source of support for you.

You may want to figure out if it is allergy related before you switch to formula as that can be very allergenic, too. I know that is easier said than done, but you to realize formula may not solve his problems only make them worse.

[luckymamaoftwo]

totally, I get that. I am concerned that as easy as it sounds, starting on formula may not solve the problem but may add to it! But those around me who are in my "support" group are like a broken record about starting babe on formula.

[kjbrown92]

The top 8 allergies are pretty well known. The top 4 intolerances are dairy, gluten, soy, and corn. Yes, it means having to cook more, since those are in 80% of the foods most people eat. But to have the benefits of BFing is very much worth it. Start a food journal. And eliminate those 4 foods, and you'll probably find the culprit, and you'll get sleep, and he'll get sleep.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

The top 8 allergies are pretty well known. The top 4 intolerances are dairy, gluten, soy, and corn. Yes, it means having to cook more, since those are in 80% of the foods most people eat. But to have the benefits of BFing is very much worth it. Start a food journal. And eliminate those 4 foods, and you'll probably find the culprit, and you'll get sleep, and he'll get sleep.

I have to agree.

It might actually be easier to change your diet than try to find a formula that works for him.

[JessicaS]

I think formula would be much worse.

Have you considered switching meds? Zantac worked fine for my ds but there are other options. Have you spoken to your ped about it not working at all?

The zantac should be working by now if it was going to work. I would discuss it with the Ped, they might have some ideas.

I am sorry

[CarrieMF]

With my youngest Zantac alone didn't help, she had to have Gripe Water with it. Gripe Water by itself didn't work either, it had to be the combination.

You need to eliminate dairy(and the hidden dairy's) for longer than 10 days.

Keep a log of what you are eating/drinking & how the baby is. There may be something else you're eating that is causing it to increase.

[lil_stinkyfeet]

I had similar problems with my ds.. The first about 4 months were the worst.

The other ladies gave good suggestions, Also have you considered trying a Chiro? I took my ds to the chiro and it seemed to help all around even with his tummy issues.

Good luck!

[leafwood]

please consider the elimination diet before formula. we've been gluten dairy free and it helped ds. the formula may just start another bad cycle and it may be hard to get your milk back.

[mbravebird]

In addition to everything everyone else has said, you could try craniosacral. It can sometimes help with otherwise mysterious things, because it addresses the whole organism, rather than symptoms.

[Mamato3wild ponnie]

a non dairy probiotic, along with chiropractic adjustments helped us 100%! Possibly the elimination diet for you! chiro is a must along with the probiotic. Possibly holding off vaccinations until this is resolved.

[balancedmama]

I would definitely not consider giving up nursing for that. ED is not easy..but I think you will find that a happy baby really makes it worth it.

[neverdoingitagain]

You might want to also check into Thrush and Pyloric Stenosis.

[Marnica]

I have to agree with PP. I would not give up EB for this. I had an extremely difficult time with DS...I almost quit a few times. Unravelleing his issues took time, but I am so glad I stuck with it. He is 2 and still BF.

I agree with trying the ED, regular chiro visits (maybe some CS too) and probiotics. You can find the problem and I know it's hard, but formula is not without it's problems and quite often you will trade 1 problem for another (potentially far worse) one.

Good luck!

[ltlmrs]

I haven't read the other posts, but here's my two cents:

Your DS sounds just like my DD at his age and all the way up till 9 months, when it got slightly better (she was eating a lot of solids at that point!) and now at 20 months though she is still gassy, she no longer has reflux and is almost sleeping through the night (she still wakes up once to potty and maybe once or twice because of gassiness, she has a bm first thing in the morning and the gassiness starts a couple of hours before she wakes up.

I know it is tempting to quit nursing, but formula will only make it worse! I tried an elimination diet and it didn't work, so I just kept eating what I always ate. If your DS is so sensitive, he'd probably be even more sensitive to formula.

When DD started solids (we started her at 4 months because I was nursing her every 45 minutes and could not handle that any more), the reflux started settling, but it really didn't get much better until she was mostly on solids around 9 months.

Hang in there, you are donig the best for your little baby that you can!

Edited after reading the other comments: we never had DD on meds and probiotics did not help her either. However, tummy rubs (even in the middle of the night), keeping her upright as much as possible (I let her sleep on me for the first four months). Also, going back to a more TF type diet helped as well because I was better able to digest my own food and had more energy to deal with DD (I had eaten SAD and then whole foods for years, but when I was a kid we were mostly TF).

That said, I know lots of people who had great success with elimination diets, maybe I wasn't consistent enough with trying it.

[tylerdylan]

Elimination diets suck, but are really worth it!!!! You have to be very strict about it. I went down to just fresh fruit and veggies, fresh butcher shop meat and water for 2 weeks. then slowly added things in. It was very obvious what the culprits were since the reflux kicked back in immediately. For DS it was both dairy and soy. He outgrew the allergies at 11 months old. It was a tough diet for me to stick too, but well worth it IMO. And for the record we tried the Nutragamen (?sp) formula just before DS started daycare around 10 months old and he hated it and refused to drink it. Those dairy and soy free formulas taste horrible!