2 month old with possible milk allergy and silent reflux.....help!!!!

[Niknak1029]

Okay let me start from the beginning. I had an 8lb. 1 oz baby. In the hospital he would barely feed and wouldn't latch on. Nurses said he should be eating much more since he was a big boy and one even tried to make him eat a full 27 ml, she kept messing with him until he finally threw up everywhere and it was brown tinged. From then on I wouldn't let them feed him, because I didn't want to traumatize him. When I would feed him, he'd eat very little then gag, cough or act like his throat hurt. This went on until we left hospital and for several weeks. At newborn appt I expressed concerns, doc said he was gaining weight he was fine. At three weeks he began getting mucusy stools, one diaper was blood tinged and all he did was cry...day and night. So I switched to alimentum. Doc said possible milk allergy and acid reflux was what he had, put him on Zantac. Diarrhea went away but crying and pain only seemed to get worse. He grunts in his sleep, will rub his face until it's raw if your holding him as if it itches, cries inconsolably often during day and every night for at least 2 hours straight. Always fussy. Will ride in the car without crying for long periods of time. After putting him on alimentum his appetite picked up. But now nearly 5-6 weeks later he's slowly went back to not eating. Still cries all the time. Arches his back and straightens his body while crying. Never brings his knees to stomach but acts as if he's trying to kick away if you are holding him. No spit up but will gag, cough something up, swallow it back down and make an awful face, sometimes even cry after doing this. He acts like hes starving but will only take between half an ounce and at most 2 ounces at a time. Sleeps very listlessly and always rustles around and grunts unless swaddled. But now he's getting strong enough to get out of swaddle or if he can't he cries out in frustration because he can't move. Any advice on whats wrong?? We go to Pediatric GI on the 11th. But that seems so long, since we've dealt with it for so long to wait with him so uncomfortable and in pain. Help!!!!

[gardenmommy]

I have no suggestions off the top of my head, but I wanted to give you a hug.  It sounds like you have both been through so much.  It does sound like reflux.  I hope you can get it figured out very soon.  It isn't any fun at all to have an unhappy baby.

[Caryliz]

I can't speak to the reflux issue as I have no experience there. But the arching of the back, the kicking, the 2-hour screaming fits and the mucus-y stools were exactly what we went through with our DS when he was a newborn. Our pediatrician suggested I cut *all* (and I mean ALL) dairy out of my diet (DS being exclusively breastfed), give it 24 hours, and call her back. And that was it! Instantly happy baby. Turns out he was not milk-allergic or lactose-intolerant; he was casein-intolerant, meaning he could not digest cow's milk proteins. They would create an incredible amount of gastric distress for him, even if I so much as ate a few bites of chocolate cake that was made with butter and/or milk, and then BF him a few hours later. I went from using cow's milk to soy milk on my cereal and in my coffee, and eventually DS' mucusy stools returned, this time a lovely shade of green. Pediatrician suggested I was overdoing it on the soy (I'm also vegetarian so was getting soy in other places, too), so I switched to rice milk, and that seemed to clear things up.

Pediatrician told us this is a very common issue for babies of southern European descent (DH is Italian, from the far south of Italy), which is why she thought of it right away. She also predicted that DS would outgrow it, and 5 years later, I'm happy to report that he has. By the time he was 4 he could eat regular ice cream and cheese pizza if he didn't overdo it, though he continued to drink soymilk and eat soy yogurt, mostly because that is what he had become used to. These days he eats anything and everything, though I notice he gets a little gassy if he overdoes it on the cheese -- which indicates to me that there is still a small issue, it just doesn't distress him, and so I let him make his own choices.

 Hugs to you, mama!   I remember what an incredibly difficult time we went through and just want you to know there IS a light at the end of this particular tunnel. 

[newmama38]

Our son had acid reflux and zantac did not help.  Our pediatrician suggested Reglan as the next med option, but hubby and I didn't feel comfortable with rare neurological side effects.  DS started taking prilosec (or prevacid...can't remember now) granules and that made a big difference.  He stayed on this med until 13 months old.  Our son did not have the other symptoms that you described, however.  His symptoms were mainly notable reflux and minimal sleep.  Good luck.  I remember how horrible I felt for him, how worried, and how exhausted I was.  You will get through this...keep doing your own research and asking the doctors questions that you have.  Perhaps keep a journal of your baby's exact routine and behaviors from now until the GI appt.

[gardenmommy]

How is it going, mama?  Removing dairy from my diet helped with two of my children, too.  If I had known, it would have made a third a lot more comfortable, too.  I'm hoping you have found something to help.