Awake-vent

Sillybon · May 2012

I thought the insomnia was supposed to end by now. Of course, it isn't really insomnia, I got too worked up to go back to sleep.

About a week before LO turned 3 months old she started to get really gassy. She screamed when put in a position to nurse and at the times when the position was ok she would scream after a few sucks. She started sleeping more. Her number of poops used to be 4+ a day then they went down to 1 poop a day. After a week of this I took her to the doctor. Doc perscribed Zantac for acid reflux. She has gotten a little better. Not sleeping as much during the day and back to smiling and cooing a little. I took her back again a week after for the same issues. Gassy, refusing to nurse, and now she poops every other day if we are lucky. The longest gap so far has been 4 days between poops.

Mother's Day she started screaming and couldn't be consoled. DH got frustrated and so I convinced him to let us take her to Righttime. Doctor there said it looked like she was getting an ear infection. I'm giving my child so much medication and I HATE it. 1.8 mL of Zantac twice a day, 2.5 mL of antibiotic twice a day, Little Tummies/Gripe Water to try and control the gas (when she screams), 2 mL of pain reliever (when she screams).

I want the baby I had before. I want LO to be content with little bouts of fussiness, not this...monster. And I feel TERRIBLE just thinking that. Tonight was the first time she refused to nurse at night which is why I'm so upset. She latched, gave a few sucks, pulled away crying and farting. I feel the situation is getting worse, not better. I wonder if I caused the ear infections since the best way to get her to eat has been to bottle feed her while she's laying down. I worry constantly about losing my milk supply despite pumping. The stress doesn't help. I'm trying to make an appointment with a lactation consultant to get LO back to nursing.

My friend who has been trying to conceive for at least 2 years now and worried about infertility said that my baby made her glad she didn't have one yet. Crying

I know my baby is in pain and that's the reason she is crying but it is so frustrating. I feel the gas is the main problem and that the doctors ignore it as part of a baby's immature system. I would believe that except she wasn't this way before! The thoughts and internal arguments go on and on in my head and this post is long enough. You don't need to be subjected to them too.

Thanks for letting me vent. I hope your situations are better than mine.

megaloo27 · May 2012

My baby has aweful reflux, and used to suffer from gas. I didn't bother with gas drops because they didn't seem to do anything. My DD had all kinds of issues nursing so we pump. She sucks in way less air from a bottle and gets less gas. I have to burp her when she is done eating, not in the middle. When she gets gassy I try to massage her tummy or push her knees towards her tummy.

I wonder if she is having to try really hard to suck? If her ear hurts that would be a good reason to not want to suck hard to eat. Maybe you should try a bottle with a faster flow nipple. Also I would suggest trying to feed more up right, if she has reflux, laying flat will make that worse. Also staying upright after eating. Make sure that when you are nursing or bottle feeding that her body is in a straight line. If she is turned, or her head is turned, this can lead to gas issues.

I also want to mention that when I eat dairy her gas seems to get worse. It may be worth a try for you to avoid dairy products and see if things get better.

It sounds like her digestive system is going through a change right now. As for the pooping, DD only goes once a week at the most.

You are not alone! Sometimes it is really rough having a fussy baby, but I know it will get better. It is so hard to see them in pain.

shotzie · May 2012

I'm sorry you're having such a rough time. I have a couple ideas...What is your supply like? If you have an oversupply, that can cause LO to get too much foremilk and become gassy. Foremilk has a lot of lactose in it, which causes the gas. The solution is to nurse one side per feeding to make sure LO gets plenty hindmilk too. Along with oversupply, often comes an overactive letdown. That means your milk comes out very fast and forcefully. LO has to gulp quickly to keep up with the flow of milk and ends up taking in a lot of air. For overactive letdown, you can lean back when nursing to slow the flow of milk. Or you can nurse until letdown, unlatch LO and spray into a burp cloth or bottle, then re-latch LO once your flow has slowed. Lastly, the gas could be from something in your diet that bothers LO. The most common culprit is dairy, the next is soy. You could keep a food diary and see if you notice a pattern related to what you eat. If there's a pattern, don't eat that food for a few weeks and see if that helps. You can get more info about oversupply, overactive letdown, and gassy baby from www.kellymom.com. It's a great bf'ing resource. Also, when LO is gassy, bicycle her legs and gently push her knees into her tummy to help relieve the gas.

Sillybon · May 2012

My nursing habits haven't been at all what I read about. LO has such a good latch that it caused me pain to try and break it. She's quick about sucking the nipple back in when I try and remove it. After she was born I would only nurse one side at a time to give the other side time to heal. It used to be that she would nurse for 10 to 30 minutes every two hours. After the fussiness started the nursing became erratic. Sometimes she would nurse for 5 minutes every hour, sometimes she would only nurse for 4 minutes and then not want anything for 3 hours. I've been offering the breasts and if refused I pump and bottle feed her.

I don't think I have over supply. If I pump every two hours I get close to 1 oz on the left and anywhere from little over 1 to 1.5 oz on the right. If I wait to pump 3 to 4 hours then I can get as much as 1.5 to 2 oz on the left and close to 3 oz on the right. It's been a while since I've pumped more than that.

I do put her on her back and bicycle her legs. I also put her on her tummy alot. That helps getting the burps out and seems to feel good for her. She used to hate tummy time until the fussiness and now she can spend up to 15 minutes on her tummy.

I'm starting to go to the extremes with my diet. I'm trying to only eat fruits, vegetables, and meat. No more carbohydrates or chocolate. The things I do out of love for that little girl!

bhead81 · May 2012

I can completely relate as B has horrible reflux and suffers from soy and milk intollerance. Once we switched him over to Elecare formula the gas stopped which helped a lot but his reflux has flare ups which are a nightmare. We are currently dealing with a round of flareups and I hate watching/listening to him suffer.

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