BabyWhispererForums.com

EAT => Bottle Feeding => Topic started by: travis's mum on September 04, 2005, 12:34:39 pm

Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: travis's mum on September 04, 2005, 12:34:39 pm
My LO is six and a half weeks old. I breast fed exclusively for the first few weeks but as my LO  was very active and HUNGRY I introduced the bottle for the night time feed. I gadually replaced more feeds with bottles as I found breast feeding very tiring and taxing due to lack of sleep and energy. This week I completly stopped breast feeding. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but last week my lo became constipated (he has always had no problem before) when I spoke to the ped he told me not to worry my lo needs to learn how to 'push' and I do not need to change the formular. Now my lo has started moving again in the mornings some times I give him some warm water to help. but if by mid day he has not done his thing I find it interferes with his feeding, (he fusses) his sleeping (he wakes regularly making noises and passing wind) and while he is awake he's not to settled at times (tries pushing). I wish I could do more to help him, does anyone else have this problem? :oops: My mid wife says its normal for bottle fed babies?
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: Isom'smom on September 04, 2005, 12:41:38 pm
Yes it happens.  The thing you should be looking at is his stool: hard or soft? color? etc.  If it's soft like fresh toothpaste - don't worry.  If it's hard, try adding an extra half ounce of water in the bottle.  Works well for us.
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: travis's mum on September 04, 2005, 19:46:33 pm
yes thats what the ped said, his stools are fine. Oh well we'll just have to ride it out, I wish I could be more of a help for him I don't like to see him so uncomfortable but I supose he has to learn for himself. Thanks for the reply. :?
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: babesx2 on September 09, 2005, 19:02:58 pm
hi
same thing happend to 1 of my twins when istarted to drop of the bf ,i also found it extremly tiering still felt extremly guilty though anyways back to prob, hv told me to add 1oz more water or 1 scop less of powder that helped occasionly but he woz still straing badly and would go bright red in face it woz horrible to watch and i felt usless in the end i took it up on myself to change fromular and he hasnt had any prob with contipation since

they were on farleys now on aptimil

hope this helps
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: Deb_in_oz on September 09, 2005, 23:08:51 pm
we were in the same boat - the day olivia woudl poop we wouidl get excited because we knew the next 24 hours she would eat and sleep well, then it would start again - gradually over the next 2-4 days she would struggle and fail to poop, sleep worse and get upset - real constipation - wish we had added water or changed formulas earlier, but it did get better eventually.

besides the poops being hard - the key sign of constipation is straining and struggling to poo with nothing coming out.  it is normal for a little one to strain sometimes (even get red in the face) and if they do so and get a result and it is soft than that is totally fine.  it is when they keep struggling like you describe that it is constipation and not "learning to push".  if he is suffreing it is not "normal" in the sense that you don't have to just accept it - i would continue to offer some warm water and try doing "bicycle legs" to stimulate him, and put him on his tummy for a bit as this can help too, i rub lo belly in circles and when she would try hard Dh woudl help her along by pushing her knees in towards chest and giving her help to strain against him / bear down  :oops:   whatever it took (we seriously used to cheer when there was poop it made such a difference for all of us)  good luck.
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: travis's mum on September 10, 2005, 08:23:02 am
Thanks for all your replies it's good to know I'm not alone in this situation. Your posts sound so familiar (and a bit funny even though when you have to deal with it, it's not at all funny).

Well things seem to have got worse my LO has now changed the time he needs to 'go'. Before it used to be sometime before mid day which meant we had an awfull start to the day, but at least we had a reasonable nights sleep. I always say you can take on the world as long as you've had a good night sleep! :lol:

Well those days are gone like I said he has changed his time to 'go' and now the whole prosses stars at 4am :shock:  :shock: and if we're lucky it finnishes at 9am By which time it is far too late to go back to bed :cry: .
I called the ped again desprate for an answer and he told me if I really wanted I could change the milk, and if theres no change after a week go to see him again. So conviced this was the answer I cheerfully bought a different type of milk (he was on aptimal comfort, he is now on aptimal 1). Now the milk seems alot thinner and my Lo is not used to not having to suck so hard. I'm having to burp him very regularly to avoid projectile vomiting, and my Lo is not impressed with the change as he's started to fuss when I feed him (as if saying This is not my milk! You've given me the wrong one!) So I seemed to have made things worse not better! On monday we'll be off to the ped. I'm so desperate for things to get better this problem is causing mayhem to our daily routine never mind our moods :?  :?
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: Deb_in_oz on September 10, 2005, 09:28:46 am
give the new milk a little while too - lo is so young that as much as he says "hey what is that" they can adjust over the course of 2 days (since there are a lot of opportunities in those 2 days) 

You could also try mixing the bottle with half of each kind of formula to get him adjusted.  even half of the new one can help if the formula was the problem.  then the next day reduce the amount  of old formula and by day 3 have all new formula in the bottles.  HTH
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: travis's mum on September 10, 2005, 11:10:12 am
Thanks for the advice I'm sure you are right about him getting used to it. I know I need to calm down and give it some time and allow him to adjust. To be honest he already seems to be getting used to the consistency of the milk. And with my guidence of stopping and burping him often (even though he doesn't like it because he's impatient) we are managing to avoid any vomiting. So at least thats one less thing to worry about.  :) As far as the constipation problem goes that is definetely going to take a couple of days to show weather its sorted or not. :roll: We'll have to wait and see.
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: Holly n Harvie on September 10, 2005, 11:42:02 am
After 8 weeks of BF I switched too, same reasons... and my DS was having wind and poo probs. The health care nurse told me to try gripe water and to do "bicycles" with his legs to get things moving. TOTALLY worked for Harv. Every time we did it he passed wind and now (even though we dont need to) when we do "bicycles" to him he laughs and thinks its a game. It must feel good to them.
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: tommysmommy on September 27, 2005, 14:14:46 pm
Hi there!  I had a similar problem...we switched him to Soy milk and that did the trick....YIKES!!!  We have sinced put Tommy on another formula because he did not drink the Soy very well (maybe the taste or consistency).  But it definately did the trick. Best of luck to you, I know how miserable it is to see your little one struggle so much.
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: dibble on September 30, 2005, 15:13:44 pm
My lo is 5 weeks old and we are suffering the same 'early morning poo' disruptions..we changed his milk to help sort out a reflux problem..he now has omneo comfort..but just the same as your lo...the straining starts at about 4 am and goes on to about 9..you'ld think he was passing bricks..but far from..Sometimes just knowing that you're not the only one suffering can help ease the anxiety!
Title: My own experience...
Post by: thbriggs on September 30, 2005, 22:05:58 pm
My daughter Bailey was placed on soy early on due to milk intolerance, the trade off was extremely hard bowel movements that involved screaming until everything came out.  Two suggestions:

1. When you can tell the grunting starts, head into the changing table, disrobe the baby and hold their legs up towards the stomach.  I found if I did this Bailey was able to strain better and it would be over with in a few short minutes.

2. Our pediatrician said to try giving the baby an 2 ounces of juice each day (apple or pear).  We found she only needed this every other day and it REALLY made all the difference in the world.

Good Luck,

Tiffany
Title: taboo problem! (or is it?)
Post by: travis's mum on October 04, 2005, 07:48:16 am
At what age did you give the juice?
Title: Juice at an early age...
Post by: thbriggs on October 04, 2005, 18:03:00 pm
We started giving the juice at about 6 weeks.  I would mix it with water so she could tolerate it better.  Doctor said that for this particular problem it is fine to give them juice despite the early age.  The trade off made it well worth introducing juice early!

Tiffany