Need support, reflux

amandajb1

Ok, so DD is my second and we are having all the same issues as I did with my first. She has reflux, milk allergy (and most likely something else, waiting to see what her stool looks like at the next gi appt. I have over supply and over active let down. No one is sleeping, she is on 3 meds already and all I want is some freaking milk chocolate (twix please!) or ice cream to make me feel better ( I am a super emotional eater) I know it will eventually get better but I feel like no end in sight. We will have one good night(like last night) and then I get my hopes up and its followed by misery. I feel so bad for my little peanut she only 3 weeks old and is going through all of this.

MrsMAF

I feel for you. We are going through a similar situation. LO has reflux and I am dairy free simply because I have suspected a milk allergy, but don't know for sure. All I know is he was doing better last week, then I had a couple of bites of vanilla ice cream on Sunday at a party and his eating has gotten worse again. Feedings are torture because he screams, fusses, pulls, cries, you name it. It's hard to watch him in pain, but also frustrating for me, because I feel like all I do is try to feed him all day.  So I feel your pain....I am a choco-halic and would just love some, especially this time of year!!!!

Hang in there... 

Pelusa214

MrsMAF:

I feel for you. We are going through a similar situation. LO has reflux and I am dairy free simply because I have suspected a milk allergy, but don't know for sure. All I know is he was doing better last week, then I had a couple of bites of vanilla ice cream on Sunday at a party and his eating has gotten worse again. Feedings are torture because he screams, fusses, pulls, cries, you name it. It's hard to watch him in pain, but also frustrating for me, because I feel like all I do is try to feed him all day.  So I feel your pain....I am a choco-halic and would just love some, especially this time of year!!!!

Hang in there... 

I am also in the same boat as both of you.  This is my second as well, and my first had the same - reflux and milk protein allergy.  I only made it 3 months with DD1, and a lot of that time I had to supplement because of the low supply mostly due to her constantly pulling away, crying, etc during nursing.  My LO now is not even 4 weeks old, and we have a GI appointment tomorrow to discuss other treatments since the Zantac is not helping.  I cut out dairy for 8 days and then had milk in my coffee 2 days in a row & DD proceeded to scream in pain for the next 2 days straight with HORRIBLE sounding gas & pain.  We started giving her Alimentum while I pumped just to give her some relief, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get back to BFing, so I started slowly adding nursing sessions back.  But I think she might have another intolerance as well because just in a few sessions, she has had more gas already.  And she's not feeding well, but she does the same thing with the bottle as the breast.

We are also getting no sleep, I have a toddler who not only has been acting out terrible since the baby was born but now has a fever & ear infection (and I'm terrified the LO is going to get sick, which will mean automatic hospitalization if she has a fever, according to my pedi).  I am DYING for a glass of milk!  I'm living on oreos, which I won't be able to have if I have to cut out soy, too.  I'm very on the fence about continuing to breastfeed.  I can't keep pumping & giving her formula for long, but I feel like my milk is making her sick.  I also suspect forceful letdown & wonder if she's getting too much foremilk & that is causing some of the gas, but my attempts at remedying that have not been successful.

Good luck to both of us, and whatever decision you make....don't feel guilty.  Honestly, as long as they get fed, that's what's important.  A year from now, it won't matter...

:-)

amandajb1

Pelusa214:

MrsMAF:

I feel for you. We are going through a similar situation. LO has reflux and I am dairy free simply because I have suspected a milk allergy, but don't know for sure. All I know is he was doing better last week, then I had a couple of bites of vanilla ice cream on Sunday at a party and his eating has gotten worse again. Feedings are torture because he screams, fusses, pulls, cries, you name it. It's hard to watch him in pain, but also frustrating for me, because I feel like all I do is try to feed him all day.  So I feel your pain....I am a choco-halic and would just love some, especially this time of year!!!!

Hang in there... 

If you think you are having problem with let down, I would address that pronto! Because that can as I am sure you know cause the same symptoms as allergy and reflux. I am dealing with all three! Do you do block nursing? One side per feeding or maybe per 2 feedings? I hope that helps.

I am not going to give up nursing, I really wanted to nurse DD #1 for a year and she self weaned while I was pregnant, I have the wish of wanting to feed DD2 exclusily with no formula. We will see what happens with that though.  I really dont feel formula would be better for her tummy troubles because it is much harder to digest and would put her at increased risk for allergies down the road (we have family history)

Yestereday we saw a chiropractor, jury is still out if it did anything to help overnight, but she was pretty comfy when we came home. I am just hopeful that this will break soon and we will find a med/diet/treatment combo that works. I am sick of meds 5-6x a day, but well do what it takes I guess.

I am also in the same boat as both of you.  This is my second as well, and my first had the same - reflux and milk protein allergy.  I only made it 3 months with DD1, and a lot of that time I had to supplement because of the low supply mostly due to her constantly pulling away, crying, etc during nursing.  My LO now is not even 4 weeks old, and we have a GI appointment tomorrow to discuss other treatments since the Zantac is not helping.  I cut out dairy for 8 days and then had milk in my coffee 2 days in a row & DD proceeded to scream in pain for the next 2 days straight with HORRIBLE sounding gas & pain.  We started giving her Alimentum while I pumped just to give her some relief, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get back to BFing, so I started slowly adding nursing sessions back.  But I think she might have another intolerance as well because just in a few sessions, she has had more gas already.  And she's not feeding well, but she does the same thing with the bottle as the breast.

We are also getting no sleep, I have a toddler who not only has been acting out terrible since the baby was born but now has a fever & ear infection (and I'm terrified the LO is going to get sick, which will mean automatic hospitalization if she has a fever, according to my pedi).  I am DYING for a glass of milk!  I'm living on oreos, which I won't be able to have if I have to cut out soy, too.  I'm very on the fence about continuing to breastfeed.  I can't keep pumping & giving her formula for long, but I feel like my milk is making her sick.  I also suspect forceful letdown & wonder if she's getting too much foremilk & that is causing some of the gas, but my attempts at remedying that have not been successful.

Good luck to both of us, and whatever decision you make....don't feel guilty.  Honestly, as long as they get fed, that's what's important.  A year from now, it won't matter...

:-)

amandajb1

Pelusa214:

MrsMAF:

I feel for you. We are going through a similar situation. LO has reflux and I am dairy free simply because I have suspected a milk allergy, but don't know for sure. All I know is he was doing better last week, then I had a couple of bites of vanilla ice cream on Sunday at a party and his eating has gotten worse again. Feedings are torture because he screams, fusses, pulls, cries, you name it. It's hard to watch him in pain, but also frustrating for me, because I feel like all I do is try to feed him all day.  So I feel your pain....I am a choco-halic and would just love some, especially this time of year!!!!

Hang in there... 

If you think you are having problem with let down, I would address that pronto! Because that can as I am sure you know cause the same symptoms as allergy and reflux. I am dealing with all three! Do you do block nursing? One side per feeding or maybe per 2 feedings? I hope that helps.

I am not going to give up nursing, I really wanted to nurse DD #1 for a year and she self weaned while I was pregnant, I have the wish of wanting to feed DD2 exclusily with no formula. We will see what happens with that though.  I really dont feel formula would be better for her tummy troubles because it is much harder to digest and would put her at increased risk for allergies down the road (we have family history)

Yestereday we saw a chiropractor, jury is still out if it did anything to help overnight, but she was pretty comfy when we came home. I am just hopeful that this will break soon and we will find a med/diet/treatment combo that works. I am sick of meds 5-6x a day, but well do what it takes I guess.

I am also in the same boat as both of you.  This is my second as well, and my first had the same - reflux and milk protein allergy.  I only made it 3 months with DD1, and a lot of that time I had to supplement because of the low supply mostly due to her constantly pulling away, crying, etc during nursing.  My LO now is not even 4 weeks old, and we have a GI appointment tomorrow to discuss other treatments since the Zantac is not helping.  I cut out dairy for 8 days and then had milk in my coffee 2 days in a row & DD proceeded to scream in pain for the next 2 days straight with HORRIBLE sounding gas & pain.  We started giving her Alimentum while I pumped just to give her some relief, but I'm afraid I won't be able to get back to BFing, so I started slowly adding nursing sessions back.  But I think she might have another intolerance as well because just in a few sessions, she has had more gas already.  And she's not feeding well, but she does the same thing with the bottle as the breast.

We are also getting no sleep, I have a toddler who not only has been acting out terrible since the baby was born but now has a fever & ear infection (and I'm terrified the LO is going to get sick, which will mean automatic hospitalization if she has a fever, according to my pedi).  I am DYING for a glass of milk!  I'm living on oreos, which I won't be able to have if I have to cut out soy, too.  I'm very on the fence about continuing to breastfeed.  I can't keep pumping & giving her formula for long, but I feel like my milk is making her sick.  I also suspect forceful letdown & wonder if she's getting too much foremilk & that is causing some of the gas, but my attempts at remedying that have not been successful.

Good luck to both of us, and whatever decision you make....don't feel guilty.  Honestly, as long as they get fed, that's what's important.  A year from now, it won't matter...

:-)

marinewife709

I am in the same boat, my DS was actually diagnoised with reflux yesterday so today will be our first full day of meds. Some days I want to give up so bad, but i am determined to make BF work. We have had a rocky start from the beginning we started out using a nipple sheild with a tube running beside it, then we graduated to just the nipple sheild, and have finally gotten to where my DS will latch on. I pump every 3 hours and give him about 3-4 bottles a day. He will latch good and feed for about 5-10min then he just starts crying and screaming, breaks my heart to see him in pain. Sometimes he fusses with the bottle but not every time. I have considered EP but ugh it would just be so much work. I asked my ped about him having a milk allergy and she said she didnt think that was a problem, so i have been eating dairy.... is there a certain thing that made you realize your LO's have a milk allergy?? I am sorry we are all going through this but happy to know I am not alone. good luck to everyone

Pelusa214

marinewife709:

I am in the same boat, my DS was actually diagnoised with reflux yesterday so today will be our first full day of meds. Some days I want to give up so bad, but i am determined to make BF work. We have had a rocky start from the beginning we started out using a nipple sheild with a tube running beside it, then we graduated to just the nipple sheild, and have finally gotten to where my DS will latch on. I pump every 3 hours and give him about 3-4 bottles a day. He will latch good and feed for about 5-10min then he just starts crying and screaming, breaks my heart to see him in pain. Sometimes he fusses with the bottle but not every time. I have considered EP but ugh it would just be so much work. I asked my ped about him having a milk allergy and she said she didnt think that was a problem, so i have been eating dairy.... is there a certain thing that made you realize your LO's have a milk allergy?? I am sorry we are all going through this but happy to know I am not alone. good luck to everyone

With DD1, she started with green, watery diarrhea and eventually had blood & mucus in her poop.  This time around, her poop is normal.  The GI dr. doesn't really think it's a food sensitivity, but wants to isolate the reflux & get it under control first before worrying about a food issue.  He told me to keep staying away from dairy & continue to breastfeed full-time, and after we get the reflux controlled, we'll see if there's still a problem.

amandajb1

marinewife709:

I am in the same boat, my DS was actually diagnoised with reflux yesterday so today will be our first full day of meds. Some days I want to give up so bad, but i am determined to make BF work. We have had a rocky start from the beginning we started out using a nipple sheild with a tube running beside it, then we graduated to just the nipple sheild, and have finally gotten to where my DS will latch on. I pump every 3 hours and give him about 3-4 bottles a day. He will latch good and feed for about 5-10min then he just starts crying and screaming, breaks my heart to see him in pain. Sometimes he fusses with the bottle but not every time. I have considered EP but ugh it would just be so much work. I asked my ped about him having a milk allergy and she said she didnt think that was a problem, so i have been eating dairy.... is there a certain thing that made you realize your LO's have a milk allergy?? I am sorry we are all going through this but happy to know I am not alone. good luck to everyone

They can check LO's stool for blood. Blood usually means allergy. Green stool can mean allergy too, or hindmilk/formilk imbalance or nothing. Checking the stool for blood is very easy, next time you go to the pedi bring a dirty diaper and request they check it. Our GI said its vital to treat the food allergy if they have one because the symptoms of reflux will not go away if you are all dealing with and undiagnosis or untreated protien allergy. Good Luck! You are doing great. Breast milk is best, even more so for baby's with any tummy trouble because it is much easier to digest than formula.