Eating Problems & Constipation?

Cara03

We've been blessed with a great eater up until 2 weeks ago. Since then Jacob will take the first ounce or two of his bottle and then get really fussy and start screaming. We'll calm him down, try the bottle again, and the screaming just continues. He used to take 28 + ounces a day with 2 cereal feeds and yesterday we struggled to get 18 ounces in him. (He still eats his cereal fine.) His BMs have also been a problem which is ongoing since before the eating trouble started. He will go a small amount about every 4 days. It is really hard and he sometimes screams while going.

I feel so bad for him and so helpless. Pedi put him on Zantac for reflux  week ago, and Neonatologist started him on gas drops as well, about a week ago. We tried different bottles/nipples, distilled water, different feeding positions, heating the bottle vs room temp, apple juice & water for constipation, and so far nothing is working. He hasn't been extra fussy between bottles but we're very concerned about the lack of calories he's taking in and the struggle to feed. Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

(And Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there)

AlishaMay

How long has it been since he pooped?  One of my LO's has reflux and my pedi explained that the cereal feeds tend to cause constipation.  We give our LO 5ml of pear juice twice a day and this is keeping her regular.  Before starting her on the pear juice though, she hadn't gone poop in almost 3 days and she had started to not eat as well.  Our pedi recommended a glycerin suppository after the anal temp didn't work.  I found liquid glycerin suppositories at my pharmacy and used 1/2 of it on LO as my pedi recommended.  She went in an hour and we has been regular ever since.  She started feeding better after that too.

Also, our pedi has us adding cereal to every feed since the cereal weighs down the formula and allows gravity to help keep the formula from coming up as easy.  If he's taking the cereal feeds fine and not the un-thickened feeds, maybe he needs all of his feeds thickened?  We're adding 1 tsp of rice cereal per 2oz of formula.  This also adds a few extra calories, so we can give her a little less volume, which doesn't overfill her tummy, without sacrificing any calories.  Maybe this is something to talk to your pedi about?

One other thing that helped us was to reduce the amount she was eating, and fed her more often.  When their little tummies are full it tends to make them more uncomfortable, so spreading it out seems to really help her and in the end she ends up getting the same amount.  Maybe his little tummy can only handle about an ounce or two at a time?

GL, I know how hard it is to watch your little one in pain.  I hope things get better for you and your LO soon.

Sweets2005

Cara03:

 It is really hard and he sometimes screams while going.

DD does this, too.

It has been better since we cut out the cereal- that stuff really blocked her up! Also, we make sure she gets at least 1 fruit puree a day which helps her go and if she goes more than 2 days without pooping, then we maybe give some prune puree or a tiny bit of prune juice.

I hope your LO feels better soon!

ppants

Both of my twins had reflux and had to be on both zantac and prevacid.  Zantac alone wasn't enough.  Hope you guys get some relief soon!

BostonLove11

I have been having the same issues minus the constipation.  I had a great eater for the six weeks after we got him home from the NICU.  Then he began doing exactly what you described after 2 ozs and eating less because of it.  Feedings became such a struggle.  They upped his prevacid and he barely screams/cries anymore, however, he still doesn't seem to want more than 2.5 ozs at a time most of the time.  We will have one good feeding a day of 4-5 ozs, so I know he is capable of it...but the rest of the day will "snack."  Anyway, we are going to a GI specialist next week because he his definitely not gaining weight like he used to anymore.  We have recently tried adding rice cereal but it doesn't increase his volume, if anything decreases.  Sorry, it sucks:(  I know how you are feeling.  

lemen99

Sounds familiar. I'm sorry

For us the trick was:

-Prilosec and lots of it, keeping up on dosage as he gained weight

-Miralax (constipation made his reflux so .much worse)

-Medicine for delayed gastric emptying

I highly recommend seeing a GI doctor if you haven't already ! I'm sorry this is so so so frustrating.  We're still battling these issues. (HUGS)