xp re formula allergies &/or screaming through feedings

groovygrl

not sure if this is a good place to post but thought perhaps some ladies on here might have some experience (and you've been helpful to me regarding reflux in the past , thanks!)

 

My DD (7 weeks)  screams through many feedings & we thought it was reflux (based on several other symptoms/behaviors) but she did Axid & still was screaming sometimes & has now been on Prevacid for 10 days and I think it is getting worse. The last 2 feedings I could barely get 1 1/2 to 2 oz in her when at a non-screaming feeding, she easily eats 3 or more. I know that allergies to milk or wheat (or other) can cause similar things but I thought that  the milk allergies caused a lot of spitting up/vomiting/etc? She does spit up but not in any outrageous amount & not every feeding.The screaming is worse if she is worked up prior to feeding but it seems that in the last couple days it also occurs if she is calm before feeding.Unfortunately we haven't been able to experiment w/ different formulas that may be easier on her stomach b/c they were premature & are still on higher cal formula until at least their 2 mo visit to make sure they're growing appropriately. I really want to nip this in the bud and find out the problem if I can though! I guess it could also just be the infamous 'colic'...???  So I'm curious-1. what were your baby's symptoms?2. how old at diagnosis?3. when did you see a GI specialist? (if you did)4. did you do anythign for it besides changing formulas?

  

TriciaJoy

Robbie was dx w/reflux in the NICU. Originally, they gave him an NJ tube (going into the intestine instead of the stomach) and that fixed a lot of his issues (mainly desats) so we knew he had reflux at that point.

As he got bigger, they tried him on Zantac which did pretty much nothing. Thent hey did an upper GI and that's when they found a hiatal hernia. Turns out that he was born w/an incomplete diaphragm so it didnt keep his stomach seperate from his esophagus- this lead to a lot of pain and reflux.
It was fixed surgically.

Shortly thereafter he was started on formula-Elecare and he started puking his guts up. Previous to that, maybe once a week, we'd see a little, but no big deal.

Stopped the formula.. puking almost completely stopped.
We then spent the next few months trying formula after formula (Enfamil AR, nutramigen, alimentum, nutramigen AA, Elecare AGAIN etc etc) and he'd go about 2 days and start heaving his guts up like crazy.

He stopped eating, ended up back in teh hospital for failure to thrive, and at that time was put on Prosobee RTF and the puking was okayish.

Then we tried the powder and it got bad again. At this time, he REALLY needed something for calories since he wasn't eating very much. But I couldn't figure out why RTF was okay but powder wasn't. After some research, I figured out it's the corn syrup.

I then switched him to Good Start formula which is not made with corn syrup and we *FINALLY* had our answer.

 

tierelieber

Go to a GI specialist. I had the same problem with DD- she would scream through a bottle, but little spit up. I went to a GI doc and he immediately referred me to a speech pathologist for a swallow function study. Turns out DD has a problem coordinating her swallowing- the formula would start to go down the windpipe and send a message to the brain that she was drowning. It's pretty common in preemies, and often misdiagnosed in even full termers. Definitely get a jump on this now, before LO starts to lose weight. I was exactly where you are- I thought it may be an allergy too, but is she's not screaming through every bottle, it's not an allergy. I'd put money on a swallowing problem.

DD now drinks formula thickened with Simply Thick and uses Playtex drop-ins. She's been on this combination since about 3-4 months actual, 1-2 months adjusted. She is gaining weight like crazy. She does have reflux, but it's not as bad as most of the ladies on this board. She will throw up probably 5-6 times a week, which is totally manageable.

Let me know how it goes!!