[thepeach80]

I took Evan in today for a 3 wk weight check to see if he was back to his birth weight. Well, at 3 wks he was just over .5 ozs under his birth weight. He only gained 2 ozs this past week, but he gained 2 after I fed him in the office. DR says he needs to gain some more weight. I also suspect he has some reflux issues which is causing problems w/ his sleeping at night (since we co-sleep he usually lays flat) which makes him sleep more during the day and not want to eat. He wants to eat a lot at night though between the choking and coughing. DR wants me to offer 2 bottles of bm a day if I can pump that much for him, if not use formula. If he doesnt' want it, fine, if he does, that's fine too according to her. I have no problems w/ formula, I had to supplement w/ AJ, but things are going so much better this time. Any wise words?

 

[SEEPAE]

do you switch breasts during feedings? if so try one side feedings he will get more hindmilk that way and since hindmilk is heavier it should stay down better.

 

[thepeach80]

I forgot to mention he hardly wants to eat during the day. I try and wake him and get him to eat and if he does wake, it's rarely for long enough to get a full feed.

 

[SEEPAE]

try putting him on an incline with a taunt pillow or a wedge at night and see how he does.

 

[Chanley]

reflux is a clear indication of allergy problems.

most likely it is dairy in your breastmilk.

DO NOT GIVE FORMULA!

formula is made from cows milk or soy. These are very hard for sensitive tummies to break down.

Cut the dairy, casien, whey adn other dairy derivatives out of your diet and you will most likely see a huge improvement.

Babies will sense that eating is causing pain and will refuse a breast that holds milk they cannot tolerate.

 

[thepeach80]

I'm already on a dairy free diet and we use Nutramigen to supplement b/c my oldest is allergic to dairy and soy. Thanks though. I have a call in to the nurse to see if we can try meds, I don't know what else to do. He has horrible nights and neither of us is sleeping. I tried to keep him propped up last night in his boppy, but he likes sleeping in my arms so it only worked on and off. It seemed to help at the beginning though.

 

[foreverinbluejeans]

DO NOT GIVE BOTTLES! If you must supplement, you can use alternative feeding methods. Bottles are often the beginning of the end of breastfeeding even with a baby who is doing well. For info on spoon feeding, go to www.google.com and type in 'spoon feeding breastfeeding.'

One way of increasing your supply is to pump one breast with a rental pump while your baby is nursing the other. This increases the stimulation of the lactation hormones responsible for making milk. Only rental pumps are recommended for increasing supply and they are very reasonable to rent.

You may be able to reach a LLL Leader by calling 1-800-LALECHE. Sometimes during the holidays there are not enough volunteer Leaders to answer the 800 line. The volunteer phone shifts change around 4, so keep trying. The LLL office closes between Christmas and New Years. You can also find the names and numbers of Leaders near you on the LLL website.

 

[Lula's Mom]

: Marcos is 5 days younger than Evan. He was having the same problems- choking, sleeping instead of eating during the day, and if I could wake him he'd still only eat for 5 minutes before he fell asleep again. He was horribly gassy too; I don't know if Evan has that problem. I started suspecting reflux too.

But then after a night of

and

: ... I thought I'd try feeding him repeatedly on one side for a few hours (which didn't mean much at first, since he might sleep 6 hours at a stretch during the day, and nothing I did could wake him!!) in case it was oversupply and overactive letdown. I thought he might be getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. I also put him to sleep on his tummy across my chest or stomach. Slowly, over the course of a couple of days, his symptoms improved, and now he nurses much longer, his gas is all but gone, and he does not choke anymore. I make a lot more milk on the right side, and it comes out faster, so he pretty much only gets to have the left side unless his older sister has recently nursed the right side. Where he was sleepy and uninterested most of the time, he's now a nursing fiend.

So try the one-sided feeding for 3 or 4 feeds in a row, and see if he doesn't improve. If this hadn't worked, my next step would have been to pump and finger-feed him with a syringe and tube, which I already have from the days of difficult nursing with Lula... There's no way I'd be giving bottles at this point.

 

[SEEPAE]

I think Kristi gave some good advice, they call the one side feeding for a few feedings in a row block feeding and its suppose to help with overactive letdown. So I think her suggestions wont hurt

also do you think he could have his days and nights mixed up? if he sleeps so well during the day but not at night?

 

[thepeach80]

Quote:

also do you think he could have his days and nights mixed up? if he sleeps so well during the day but not at night?

Nope, b/c yesterday was awful! He was having the reflux symptoms all day yesterday and just cried a lot of the day. I think he was sleeping during the day b/c he was so tired from not sleeping at night. He actually did better last night sleeping in his Boppy. I miss holding him all night.

If he can sleep, he's a lot better nurser when he's awake. Last night went better b/c I kept him propped up as much as I could and he went longer between feedings so he got some sleep and I tried to burp him after he ate. So, it seems as we figure out how to get the reflux under control, he's eating better (longer) so hopefully he'll start gaining weight.

 

[Chanley]

Umm the nutramigen STILL has dairy in it. it is predigested but it is still dairy.

my niece has the same issues, her mother did not breastfeed.

All of the babies in the family have dairy issues, she still had reflux even on the nutramigen she was just able to stop screaming long enough to actually eat.

Breastmilk is going to be the easiest to digest.

 

[SEEPAE]

that is great that the inclining helped! I also would try no supplimenting for a week and see if it helps and make sure you watch your diet very closely.