[Think of Winter]

Hello,
My 2 mo dd is scheduled for a barium swallow next week. I was told to withhold her bfast. I called the lab to ask about this, and told the tech that my baby will be absolutely hysterical if I don't feed her before I come, and she said "uh huh. That's how we get them to drink it." I also asked about bringing pumped bm, since that's what my ped suggested, and was told that they mix the barium w/ water, not formula, and not to bring anything. My sister had the same test done on her 3 day old, and she didn't withhold bm, and baby drank the stuff up just fine. Just wondering what other mamas' experiences have been. I am not going to let my baby go hungry. I just won't. She'd be too hysterical to eat anyway, especially out of a bottle for the first time.
Thanks,

 

[Eman'smom]

How long have they told you to withold BM? BM is a "clear fluid" it's not like formula or juice. Is she doing the Barium swallow for her upper GI or stomach, that can make a difference? Talk to your ped, not the tech, they don't know what they are doing.

Ds has to have a scan at 9 weeks, the tech calls and says not to feed him anything after 12 am for the 9 am scan, our ped chewed him out

 

[Anglyn]

I dont know what your issues are, but if they arent dire, I wouldnt do the test. DD had it twice and twice I had to withhold bm and both tests were inconclusive because she would not drink or eat anything with the barium in it. So I have exposed her to xrays twice for nothing.

But again, I dont know what your childs issues are.

 

[Think of Winter]

We're doing the barium swallow to dx reflux. Dd has had frequent episodes of circumoral cyanosis. I'm not sure this is reflux related, but it's the reason her ped ordered the barium swallow. She does have other reflux symptoms, though. I was told to withhold bm for 4 hrs to make sure she's hungry enough to drink the barium. They're looking at upper gi.

 

[Panserbjorne]

FWIW reflux is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Two of my kids refluxed-we did lots of craniosacral therapy, chiropractic care and physical therapy. It took care of the problem-and it was not at all minor in one of them. I wouldn't do the test period for what I would consider to be a crap "diagnosis" but if you do it I would have them mix the barium with pumped bm which is a liquid and you couldn't pay me enough to withold breastfeeding.

 

[Plummeting]

DD had reflux. I would recommend that you try other things before resorting to a barium swallow. That stuff is not the harmless, inert substance they make it out to be.

Try eliminating all dairy and soy from your diet for 3 full weeks. The majority of cases of infant reflux are actually caused by casein (cow's milk protein) intolerance. Read ingredients carefully. Dairy and/or soy are in practically every packaged food on the planet. Dairy ingredients you might not recognize include casein, sodium caseinate and whey. Sometimes "natural flavoring" has soy or dairy, but you'd need to contact the mfctr to find out for sure.

Oh, and avoid goat's milk as well, since most babies sensitive to cow's milk are also sensitive to goat's milk. (Not all, but most.)

 

[girlsmamma2]

My first dd had reflux, maybe not to the extent of yours i'm not sure but I too would look into other ideas rather than such a procedure on a newborn. docs tend to jump really fast to all kinds of tests when sometimes, not sure if this is the case with your dc or not, they aren't warranted. i have a 2 month old and cannot imagine not nursing him....can't imagine it.

fwiw, our 3 1/2 yo had to be hospitalized for 3 days due to a uti. they did all kinds of test and also recommended an invasive procedure and another not so invasive procedure after it. the more invasive one was not warranted but it's hard to explain that to them when they don't have an intimate knowledge of your child. all that to say...just because their protcol booklet says something it doesn't apply to everyone. I have no knowledge of your dc's issues but I hope there is another way you can go. Much luck to you.