BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Food Allergies => Topic started by: Austin's mom on June 14, 2010, 21:17:50 pm
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I'm pretty sure my lo is struggling with a massive feeding due to alleriges/reflux.
He is down to 8-16 oz a day and zero solids. I am stressed to the MAX.
Anyone have any tried and true ways to break through? I know force feeding will only make it worse. I really want to cry at his point. Another Dr. apt in the am, but they are never helpful.
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((hugs))) I know you have really been through the ringer recently. :-* :-*
Have you tried a (needle-less) syringe? It will take a while longer, but might work for "snacks" for him?
This is a great site www.kidswithfoodallergies.com. It was a lifesaver for me. They are a wealth of information. I'm running out the door, but will check on that site later today to find a link to any info on this.
xo
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Great thanks! I'll check out that website (-:
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Have you gone to pure demand feeding?
And BLW only for solids?
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I am doing more of a "demand feed" of sorts.. I'm definately not holding to a 4 or 5 hour routine. However, he hasn't been "asking" for food, until he is just ravenous, so its a bit hard for me to figure out what timing I should feed him on, if he is only getting 3/4oz at a time, vs the 8 that would hold him over 5 hours. Plus, no solid snack.
I am not very familiar with BLW. I know i have see some posts about them that Iwill go find. Thanks for bringing that up. Because he does still grab at my food, but purees, no chance in hell. I did trick him yesterday, by freezing the apple potato one in his self feeder, and he gobbled that down. Which just confirms its not the tast, but the form or method he is resisting.
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Sorry that was such a fast post yesterday.
My DS had feeding aversions due to poorly controlled reflux and is still under the feeding team now (although likely to get discharged next week. Yey ;D).
Basically what I was told was to feed on demand and wait for hunger cues. So that is what I did for a few days just to see what happened - and yes - sometimes he would go about 8 hrs before even asking for any - and then only take 2oz or so. J became a nighttime catch up calorie man so I kind of knew I would get 2 feeds overnight to stop us getting in trouble. He was averaging about the same as your LO at this stage.
Then I started to offer at 4ish hours if he hadn't asked yet. But the key is to make - offer - and if they say no respect the decision and put it away again. It is just so tempting to offer again and again and ultimately that fuels the fire. So I had many feeds of only 1/2oz or nothing at all. I would then either wait for cues or offer again at 4hrs, whichever came first.
He never did 'like' his milk though. I think he was over 12 mths before he ever took more than 5oz at a time.
For solids I was told to offer for food play and not stress if he didn't eat it. Let him squish, fling, ick etc etc etc and one day he will eat it. And he did. For slimy foods like fruit it took about 5 mths of offering. Toast and dry foods he accpeted sooner. We also gave him his own spoon quite early and he learnt how to self feed quite quickly. I would guess by 12-15 mths he could do that quite proficiently.
Essentially it is BLW and you stop the spoon feeding. I was told I could carry on offering the purees - and I did for while - but he never took them and I got fed up of making them after a while.
HTH
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makes so much more sense! Thank you! With the BLW thing, I'm just not sure what to offer him, that he can eat on his own due to allergies. Ive tried an apple wedge about a month ago, which he loved, but spit up. and the strawberries....not good. So I've kinda been afraid to try anything else raw. And I don't know how to tell if he is able to eat wheat like bread or crackers, becuase he wont eat single grained cereal, any more, and we never got past rice. I'm just not sure what is safe. Iykwim.
I gave him a few puffs a few weeks back, and IF he could get them in his mouth, i kinda felt like he still had that gag reflex going on still.
I probably should post something about ideas in the solid board I guess, for some other BLW experts too (-:
He does actually do a good job getting a spoon in his mouth as well. So maybe I'll have to try that more as well.
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What great information Liz, thank you! :-*
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Have you been given any info off the dieticians or doctors about what foods to wean onto first?
BLW would say give anything and everything - but of course you can't - so I would do the whole 3 day rule and start with the least allergic foods first.
Don't worry about the gag reflex being there - it is supposed to be there to protect them from choking. J used to wretch on a few types of foods when he was first given them but soon figured it out.
Fruits are acidic if the MSPI is causing reflux. I believe pear is the best to try first. Some allergy Mums avoid gluten until closer to 9-12 mths. Strawberries are well known for causing issues - it is the seeds - kiwi fruits are the same.
There is a Mum on here who might have some ideas for you - her DS was MSPI and I know she put a lot of effort into figuring all this out. I will see if she has time to pop in with some ideas.
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Hi there!
In terms of the solids, I would say to totally relax about it. I know it's hard and I went through a lot of stress with it as well (as Liz says I put a lot of effort into dealing with it all, it was very hard at times!) but keep in mind that he is only just over 6 months old - even if he has been on solids for a while, really, the recommendations are that LOs don't need to start on solids until they are 6 months old, and at that age most people start with just one meal a day. And, at that meal, having LO take ONE ounce of solids is a GOOD feed!! So that's about 3 tablespoons, IF they were to eat it all. 3 or 4 tastes or spoon licks is a super start at this age, really! I would start with breakfast (1 hour after his milk feed) and that's it - just a casual playful time and then leave it at that for the rest of the day.
If he will not take a spoon, then there are a few things you can try. I used to give the spoon to my LO (even at that age) and have him chomp and chew on it for a while, then try dipping it in the puree and hand it back to him to gnaw on. Some times it all went down his tummy and other times he ate it. I also offered some BLW type things - if it was banana then I just peeled the banana half way down and handed it to him. I did not move on to a second meal until he was actually EATING a full ounce at his morning meal (prob about 7 - 7/5 months old). Then adding in a second meal we went the same way...it was a fun playful time and he had to get used to sitting and having lunch in him as well and then added dinner when he was about 8.5 months.
For the first year, even though you are offering solids, you don't want to put more importance on the solids, the focus for them is on their milk - so in your case formula. This is until he's 1year old.
So I would see the problem not really being to do with solids, but to do with his milk. I hope I'm not confusing you with someone else but did you very recently switch to HA formula - either Nutramigen or Neocate? If so, then it is probably why LO is not taking it. It's nasty tasting stuff and can take a while for them to get used to it... not sure how long your LO has been on it though?
Is he teething? Or starting to teethe? That can really put them off of bottles and I found that putting some teething gel on 5-10 minutes before the feed really helped him take the bottles. You might find a lot of tips on the bottle feeding forum for this age/stage as well, as there does seem to be a bit of bottle refusal at this age for some LOs. Even just a change in position from how they are sitting for a feed can sometimes help.
Also, what does your current feeding routine look like?
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What would I do with out you all? Always so helpful!
He has been on Alimentum for a little over 3 months now. and So long as it was nice and cold, he took 5-6 good, solid 8 oz feeds a day, plus 2 "meals" breakfast and dinner. Like you said, I'm not nearly so concerned about the solids, because I think that will fall in to place on its own. The milk on the other hand...is def an issue.
About 3.5weeks ago, i started noticing mucous in his diapers again. I thought it was the solids at first, so i just decided to scrap them for another few weeks or so. But didn't have to, because he rejected them any way. I think, after seeing how the last few weeks have unfolded, that it really wasn't the solids, but the milk. Because it was an every day occurrence, turned into full on diarrhea all day. For 2 solid weeks. The day it stopped, was the day after he completely started refusing the alimentum. We went back to nutramigen for a few days, and it came back.
So now I'm trying to transition to neocate. He is about 70/30 neocate/nutramigen right now. But still, only made it to 17 oz for a 24 hr period. He has been between 8 and 19 oz for the last week. Its killing us.
We have been through the teething thing for 3 months now. He has two and one on the top is right below the surface. But I do watch pretty close for that and try to medicate appropriately.
I've tried to switch to some cups/ sippies, open, anything. Hoping it will help with the negative mind set in him. He does pretty well with them, just cant hold them.
Oh, Liz, I did retry the "safe" puffs today, just like 3 or 4, but he did great! He really "chewed" them and had no problem swallowing them this time. I was impressed! His little thumb forefinger grasp is getting pretty good too! so cute!
Our feeding routine... well it went to the wind when he started this belly stuff. We are kind of having to demand feed a bit, to regain trust, I guess. But we had been doing every 4-5 hours, and he seemed to do better at 5. He did the dream feed and then a 4:30am. and slept 6;30pm-6;30am. But now since he is not eating well, he has completely dropped both night feeds. But wakes up ravenous at 5:30am, then sleeps till 6:30. So of course he decides
to drop them, when I WISH he would eat! ugh.
I do need to get a list of "safe" foods to reintroduce. But I think we are just gonna chill on that until he is doing better with his bottles, and maybe around 7mo or so. Just see how he is doing. I went every 3-4 days before, but I think we will do a week next time.
Like Liz said, I'm trying sooo hard, to offer just once, and respect when he says no. Its so hard to build that trust back. I hope it works (-:
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Ok - I thought you had just started on the HA formula. So he was used to it so that is not a question. It could be the switch to the Neocate and it will just take a while. I know how stressful it is, we went through spells where DS was taking in 1/2 of what he needed with milk and it is a huge stress!!! I would use a good smear of teething gel 10-15 minutes before a feed because his behaviour really does sound like teething to me.
For a list of safe foods, I would say to start with fruits and veggies. Lots of people incl doctors suggest a baby cereal to start but lots say to just skip it. If you do go with a cereal then make sure there is no milk in it at all - check the label every time you buy it as they are known to change ingredients. We did a new fruit or veg every 3 -5 days and he early ones were avocado, banana, papaya, sweet potato, pumpkin, and blueberries.
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Ok. I'm thinking I'll re try avacado first, b/c it's something he could eat a bit of himself maybe? He is doing better today, thank god. Still not normal, but better.
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Just to update... He is doing way better. THank God! I don't have a rhyme or reason, really. I have tried to be very non pushy... but last weekend, my mother in law had him, and decided to feed him (against my advice, go figure) solids. And He ate two whole containers of them for her. Who knew? And he has been chowing down ever since. He has eaten a 1/4 of avacado for dinner the last two days, plus they have fed him other fruits and veggies at daycare 1/2 times a day this week too. I can't believe it! Course it totally ruined my one-item-every-five-days-reintroduction-plan... lol... But We are sticking with previously "safe" foods though.
Maybe watching the other babies made him interested? And I've tried to eat around/with him more as well. Like I ate the other half of the avacado with him yesterday, and as soon as he saw me take a bite, he wanted one.
Fingers crossed! Hope he keeps up the good work! xxx
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WONDERFUL news!!!