Disorganized eater again?

Brummy14

DD1 was always our over zealous, disorganized eater...and that likely added 3 or 4 weeks to her NICU stay alone. She was a chronic choker, breath holder, the works.

Once she came home, she did really well for about 4 weeks, still choking occasionally and holding her breath, but was pretty unphased by it, and would just pull away, catch her breath, and keep on going.

However, during the past two weeks, it's like she's regressed. She chokes more often, and it sounds like she will occasionally slip on the nipple and get a 'bad' suck, such that we can hear the air go down painfully. This gets her super upset, and then the rest of the bottle feed becomes this crazy battle, or takes over an hour, so we give her enough time to 'forget' what happened...every time it happens.

Anyone experience this? Nothing has changed on our end ... still the same food, bottle, feeding style, the whole deal. The neo said to call if it gets worse...which it hasn't, but I called them and left a msg anyway now that I have a better hypothesis about what's causing her freak outs. Initially they said they have some babies who will just fight the whole time, and they never figure it out. Ugh.

Thoughts? Any similar experiences?

kellyagogo

I'm a lurker but thought I'd chime in since our daughters are close in age.  We have issues with disorganization as well and are still sideline feeding because of choking problems.  Do you cradle feed or sideline?  I'm not sure what bottles you are using but do you think it might be the nipple?  We just recently switched to a faster flow for one of our girls and it seemed to help with the disorganization.  

Brummy14

kellyagogo:

I'm a lurker but thought I'd chime in since our daughters are close in age. nbsp;We have issues with disorganization as well and are still sideline feeding because of choking problems. nbsp;Do you cradle feed or sideline? nbsp;I'm not sure what bottles you are using but do you think it might be the nipple? nbsp;We just recently switched to a faster flow for one of our girls and it seemed to help with the disorganization. nbsp;

Yeah, we're still sideline feeding, and we did try a faster nipple, which just seemed to make it worse ::sigh:: I think we'll just keep sticking it out with her and hope this is a phase.

thishappyhouse

We went through this.  It was BAD... choking, turning blue, passing out the whole works.  She turned a corner and did well enough to come home without and NG or Gtube but feeding was scary and problematic until about 6-7 months (2-3 adjusted)  I noticed that if she choked on a feed in the morning she was more likely to have more bad episodes with subsequent feedings.  

 

I hope it gets better for you soon!   

kellyagogo

I guess I really don't have any advice then, just support?  I know what you're going through and for me, this has been the hardest but most fun thing I have ever done.  Sometimes it feels like everyday is a stick it out situation.  Good luck, I hope it is just a phase.

Sept30Madison

Julia has had this problem off and on due to her feeding aversion. she's had an aversion since 3 months old (just the time where eating becomes volitional rather than a reflex)

For her aversion issues, we work with a speech pathologist on a weekly basis through early intervention.  for fixing disorganization and fussiness, we've had the most success in feeding by swaddling and waiting to feed until she's really sleepy and will do a "sleep feed."