One month-old fussing on the bottle, dropping ozs

[October]

Hi,

My DD is 4.5wks old and in the last few days has started to drop her typical 3-3.5oz feeds (7 per day) to 2-2.5oz. Plus, it takes up to an hour to get that down her sometimes ! We changed her formula 3 days ago (to Nestle Good Start) because she was on Similac Advance and it was giving her terrible gas pains (she burps OK). Her doc. said last week that her growth is awesome but things often change after our doc. appts...funny that !

Our DS was premature and had gas issues so much so that he was checked out on one of our trips to Boston for the full 9 yards (heard of Hirschsprung's Disease? He had MSPI diagnosed instead fortunately) Anyway, I'm sensitive to tummy issues and want to detect anything happening with DD sooner rather than later.

I've looked up reflux and I don't think that's an issue. I am most concerned that she takes so long to feed and isn't taking more ozs. We've today switched her to No.2 Avent nipples to see if the faster flow helps eliminate the gas. She's been quite spitty today (that's new).

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Apart from looking after her wellbeing, DH and I are getting v.tired being up twice in the night for feeds taking over an hour plus the time it takes to get her to stay down !!

Deb 

[* Paula *]

Hugs Deb, I am sorry you are going through a rough time.

My DD was a fantastic feeder for the first 6 weeks or so and then started to get extremely fussy on her bottles.  We changed her teats, and nothing.  She ended up getting chicken pox from her brother, and this caused reflux to flare up.

She ended up going from drinking about 20 oz a day, us battling to get 5-6 oz in her a day.  She did not spit up much, but when I watched her, I noticed, that when she did spit she would swallow it, so knew that the reflux was silent.

I would definitely keep an eye on her, and watch how she reacts when she spits up.

[October]

Thanks Paula (?). The other thing she does is almost apneac...she pulls her head back and doesn't breathe then gasps for air, all with milk in her mouth. Now, we had to watch for apnea with DS so I'm alive to that one too.

Could that be silent reflux ?

Deb

[* Paula *]

It could quite possibly be.  I kept on reading the Reflux 101 and thought my DD does not have reflux.  But after a day of watching her I looked at the board again, and then went straight to the docs.

The gasp for air can also be a sign of reflux.

We were started on gaviscon which did nothing, and then switched to an Anti reflux formula, and DD is doing fantastically.

[October]

Hi Paula,

The other issue we have is a situ with possible paci/nipple confusion. Not sure if it can arise at such an early age... At some point during her feeds she seems to swtich to wanting the paci but it's never obvious so we have the crying, gulping (unexpected ?) mouthfuls of milk (could this be what I'm wondering is the reflux ?) and upset with lots of angry crying.

We usually offer the paci to calm her before sleep and these days it goes in the crib with her. It's probably an issue with sleep already but I don't know if I have the time/energy for sleep training yet !! Should we keep some more separation bt. the feed and the paci to avoid this or is it a sign that she got reflux and wants it to soothe ?

I dunno !
Deb 

[* Paula *]

It does sound like reflux to me.  My DD also takes a dummy, and she would freak out with the bottle gulping down her milk (reflux sign), Arch her back to get the bottle away (another sign), and would take the dummy no problem.  I think that the sucking does help soothe the pain.

I would defintiley pop over to the reflux boards, and pop a post on there.  The ladies there are great and have so much info.

Also remember that a dummy can not become a prop until after 3 months - a lot of babies need the extra sucking, but after 3 months, if they start waking in the night etc for it, then it has become a prop.