***cara-n-steve***

juliannat

hi Cara, re: your post from yesterday...is there a reason that your LOs are on neosure? Mine went on emfamil A+ liquid as soon as they came home (3 weeks after birth so at 36w adjusted) - I wonder if that would help.I am just now moving them to powdered and DD is adjusting beautifully while DS is a little fussier about his. Sigh, he's my little project

Mine both went through a SUPER gassy period - like, loud farts in the middle of the night that would practically shake the monitor - and DS was even checked for pyloric stenosis (negative) - but they seem to be growing out of it gradually.

I've seen your other posts about reflux and pyloric stenosis so I can share what helped for us - DS had bad reflux but was never medicated:

1) mylicon drops never really did anything

2) chiropractor - DS went to my chiro 4x and it worked WONDERS for his reflux - don't worry it's not a craaaaack type of manipulation - more of a gentle pinkie finger pressure here and there - my chiro treats lots of IF patients as well as pg women and babies so I had complete trust in her. 

3) probiotics - I put probiotics in their bottles 3x/day and it seemed to cut down a bit on the farting and burping

4) FP RnP - LOVED this for DS - keeping him on an incline to sleep really helped him be a lot more comfy.

The reflux/gas period was nasty but it will pass! And since I am just a little ahead of you with 33w babies, feel free to page me anytime as I'm happy to share what I've learned (not that I am an expert by ANY means...but others a little ahead of me have really helped me out!)

 

cara-n-steve

Hi Julianna!

My LO's started on donor BM in the NICU and kept losing weight.  They then fortified the donor milk, but it still wasn't helping them.  They put them on the 24 cal neosure and then sent them home on the 22 cal.  The NICU Dr.'s told me they'd probably be on it for 6 months to a year.  Our last pedi appointment we were told if they keep up the good work on gaining weight, she may take them off of it early.  Is it not the norm for them to still be on it?

I've never heard such loud farts in my entire life!  I think they could wipe out small countries.  I feel so bad for them.  Normally they wake up screaming and then a few minutes later they start passing gas.  There hasn't been much sleep in this house lately!

I never thought about taking them to a chiropractor.  I'll ask my pedi about it when we go for their 2 month appointment next week.  I'm assuming they have to specialize in babies? Which brand of probiotics are you using?  I'm willing to try anything to help them feel better.

For Greyson's reflux we tried inclining his crib and it didn't help.  We ended up putting his chair in the crib and it's helped a lot with the vomiting.  He got tested for Pyloric Stenosis last week and thankfully it came back negative. They also did a sleep study because he snores horibbly which they think is from the reflux but just wanted to make sure.  The sleep study came out great as well.

Thank you so much for the advice.  I'm definitely going to discuss these things with their Dr.   It's normal at the stage for them to just eat and sleep right?  I feel like I'm supposed to be doing something with them.  We do tummy time a few times a day, but other then that they just eat and fall asleep.  I keep feeling like I"m missing something!

juliannat

Hmm I have no idea what is normal re: formula when going home from a NICU stay - maybe you could post that q of the "around 33 weekers" MoMs? Mine both put on weight steadily even while in hosp so maybe that's why...and, OMG, I just realized I was still BF/pumping when they left hosp and it was only some supplementing...at the first hosp (first week) they used the higher cal formula when my milk was just coming in...at the second hosp (2 weeks spent there) they supplemented with enf.amil when I didn't produce enough for both all the time...DUH, mommy brain...(I gave up BF/pumping at their 40w date)

And yep, they pretty much just ate and slept a lot for the first couple months and yep, I felt like I should be doing more. I still do! - even though they play a lot more now and smile and coo. Just wait until they smile - that is the BEST. 

Re: reflux, DS really only started sleeping full time in his crib about a week ago - he was in the RnP up to then. We would take it upstairs and put in their room so that they were still sleeping together and to make the eventual transition to the crib easier. Then as the reflux seemed to improve, we would put him in the crib at bedtime, then when he woke up for night feeding, back to the RnP...gradually "weaning" him off it. He still naps during the day in it sometimes though (although DD is right now). That sucker only holds up to 17 lbs so I was afraid he'd outgrow it and still be attached to it (he's almost 13lbs now)

Probiotics - we used Udo's Choice - they used to have an infant version which you might still be able to get, but if not then get the toddler version - it's basically the same formulation (I talked to the co directly). I put 1/8 tsp in a 4-5 oz. bottle 2-3x/day.

Chiro - yeah, ask your pedi about it - can't hurt. Some drs are really anti-chiro but others are really open to it so I will be curious to hear what he says. Mine does have some extra training in working with babies.

 

nikinikinine

totally butting in. Sorry!

I went to a prenatal chiro that also specializes in children and am taking my LO's to see her next week for adjustments to help with reflux. You can find a pediatric chiro in your area on this website.

https://icpa4kids.org/Find-a-Chiropractor/

GL!