Something I noticed...WDYT?

proudarmywife08

DS has reflux and spits up a lot. He's on prilosec now which is helping him more than the zantac. Anyway, I've noticed that if I bottle feed him pumped BM he spits up much less (little to none) and has little to no gas too. Why would this be? And what do you think I should do? Should I try to pump and do bottles exclusively for a while? I hate pumping and it would take up a ton of time, especially with DD needing my attention too. So, any opinions?

SapphyrEyes

It might not hurt to try for a couple bottles to see if it's a trend. Don't know why that would cause less pain though.

triumphantreturnofplanningbug

Could it have to do with the temperature of the milk?

hamilton.ja

My guess is he gets more air when breastfeeding and that your flow is faster than the slow flow on a bottle.

Personally, I wouldn't go to all that trouble if he's still gaining well. Unless there is a FTT issue because of the reflux I'd say let the medicine do its job and not worry about the rest. No medication for reflux will actually stop a baby from spitting up, they just make it more comfortable for them by stopping or reducing acid production. 

proudarmywife08

hamilton.ja:

My guess is he gets more air when breastfeeding and that your flow is faster than the slow flow on a bottle.

Personally, I wouldn't go to all that trouble if he's still gaining well. Unless there is a FTT issue because of the reflux I'd say let the medicine do its job and not worry about the rest. No medication for reflux will actually stop a baby from spitting up, they just make it more comfortable for them by stopping or reducing acid production. 

I know he won't stop spitting up b/c of the medication but I just find it weird that he's more comfortable after taking a bottle than BFing...

hamilton.ja

The gas issue would be the only thing that might make me pursue it... but honestly, I would not want to EP just for that reason. Probably selfish of me but I didn't think much of Bruce spitting up once he was on the medication because it didn't bother him at all, you know?

Maybe try getting a let down, taking him off and letting your milk run into a prefold or something to see if it makes any difference on the gas front? Do you notice him gulping more when nursing than when taking a bottle?

julygal

I agree it could be due to getting more air on the breast than on the bottle.  DD could not form a proper seal when she was first born and the speech therapist and OT said that many babies form a better seal on the bottle (FWIW I do not think they were pro-bottle as they really wanted me to breastfeed and actually told me DD did better on the breast).  Anyway, you son could be one of those babies that does better on the bottle.

I don't think I would switch over to exclusive bottles.  Pumping is not fun and as you mentioned doing it with a toddler around is very difficult. The most I would do is pick the time of day reflux seems to bother him the most, or you are the most exhausted and therefore dealing with reflux is harder, and give him a bottle then.  Try it for a day or two and see if it helps.

proudarmywife08

hamilton.ja:

The gas issue would be the only thing that might make me pursue it... but honestly, I would not want to EP just for that reason. Probably selfish of me but I didn't think much of Bruce spitting up once he was on the medication because it didn't bother him at all, you know?

Maybe try getting a let down, taking him off and letting your milk run into a prefold or something to see if it makes any difference on the gas front? Do you notice him gulping more when nursing than when taking a bottle?

He does struggle with nursing, not just during letdown but pretty much the whole time. I wonder if my milk just comes out super fast for him. He gulps a lot and pulls off and chokes/coughs. I just figured he was dealing with it. It takes him quite a long time to BF until he's full and I thought it was due to the reflux but he does it when he's on meds too. It takes forever b/c of the pulling off, coughing, etc. I might try stopping him at letdown but I might get a screaming baby too...ugh the decisions. 

crackerjackprinter

Have you tried the block feeding?  Feeding only on one side for 2 hours and then switching?  It really sounds like you may have an oversupply.  Kellymom has a great page on it!

proudarmywife08

crackerjackprinter:

Have you tried the block feeding?  Feeding only on one side for 2 hours and then switching?  It really sounds like you may have an oversupply.  Kellymom has a great page on it!

I have tried that. That also doesn't seem to make a difference.

jennterrell

personally, i'd try to do a bottle feeding or two at times that you deem it most helpful (like when you want him to sleep better without gas or reflux issues). Do you have a handsfree bra for pumping?

proudarmywife08

jennterrell:

personally, i'd try to do a bottle feeding or two at times that you deem it most helpful (like when you want him to sleep better without gas or reflux issues). Do you have a handsfree bra for pumping?

No but even if I did, it wouldn't help with chasing down a toddler :-)

hamilton.ja

I had an oversupply issue and thinking back probably had similar issues with DS but at this point he was still unmedicated (started meds at 3 months approximately) so it was hard to tell what was what. I did find that feeding on one side at a time for shorter periods of time helped, and so did pumping a bit to start so I got the really over active part out of the way for him. I switched sides between every feeding unless he really took almost nothing and then I'd go back to that side but 99% of the time I switched at every feed but never offered both breasts at the same feed. The pulling off that is usually associated with reflux is more that they pull off and fuss and arch their backs, what you're describing with the pulling off and coughing/choking sounds more like he's having trouble dealing with an over active let down and oversupply to me.  I'd definitely try the block feeding again if you're willing and if not try expressing some milk to start. As much of a pain as it is, if you could do it hands free into a towel, at least it would be easier than hooking up to a pump in terms of being able to stop quickly to chase down your DD.