13.5 week and reflux, EASY help please

[sweetmummy]

hi,

my DS is 13.5 weeks, and has a very rough time with his reflux, we are undera great paediatrician. he is on Omezaprole, and notcied improvement etc....
however feeding is still tough, needs copious amounts of distractions, its more like he associates the bottle with pain now.
i have taken him to a 3.5 hour easy as he really was not showing ANY interest at 3 hours, least with 3.5 hours, i can get some in him.
he is now doing much better day sleeps wiht his med control , tho i'm kinda stuck on bedtiemn and later afternoon feeds as these seem to be the worst, eg just wont feed, then mite wake 2 hours afte bedtime for it, or evern 1 hour after he if point blank refuses.

this is kinda EASY at the mo

wakes 645/7''sh feed (nb feeds are alasy in dribs and drabs afte he takes 2 oz
A 1 hou4 45
S gives 1.5-1 3/4 sleep

E 1045/11
A 2 hour
S can sleep 2-2.5 hour here

E 245/3pm
A 2 hour
S alwasys does 45 min sleep regardless-always wakes happy

E syartf eed 530/6 as this can take over 1 hour to feed 1/2 to 3/4 bottle

s is alwasy donw and stright to sleep at 7pm, but here it is tricky as i mentioned, soemtiem swakes, soemtiems doesnt, al depends on ho much or little he has taken in day.

over nite usually wakes between 230am and 4am, ALWAYS has a huge full bottle, then wakes 630-7am

my qs are, i am really just wingign his last 2 feeds as it's a real battle, but makes bedtime and those feeds afte dificult, it's almost like i am dreamfeeding him sometimes form 7-9am'sh if that makes sensem, as he is drowsy and will alwasy dirnk the last bottle if he has refused before.

any advice? thanks. am v happy wiht thr progress fo his reflux, was very very sever, eg baruim melas, probes, ulcerated thorat, milk refusal for 3 days and 10 min day sleeps for 2-3 weeks at it's worse eg 6-9 week .

thansk in advance

[mimi1017]

Do you think the nipple is too slow flow? It seems like a long time to be drinking the bottle...also have you tried feeding upon awakening when he's still a bit drowsy?

[sweetmummy]

hi thank you for your reply!
he is on fast fkow teat believe it or not! he is tricky, he either sucks on it like it's a dummy , or he just refuses it, and then when he does, it's all gone in a flash, well at elast 2-3 oz. ít kinda on his terms if that makes sense,
but i have never been able to sit him adn down adn finsih a bottle in one go, normally will take 30-50 mls, then just stops, liek a bell has gone off saying 'no more! and the next 30-45 mins is in dribs n bdrabs!

[mimi1017]

just notice you said he takes full bottles in the middle of the night which could be why he's not too hungry in the day...I believe Tracy recommends giving less ounces every 3 days until he starts making up the ounces during the day...so tonight, for instance, 6 oz. when he wakes, then 4 oz. after 3 days and so on....do you do a DF also? if you don't, that might help the middle of the night feeding also..just some thoughts...

[lesliemarie]

DD2 has pretty bad reflux as well and at about this age I had to start feeding her in her room before bed.  That was the only way to get her to drink it.  I know that isn't recommended but it was the only way.  She still won't drink a full bottle unless it's in her room.

[sweetmummy]

hi thanks for your replies.

in regards to in the nite feeding, i think most reflux babies feed well like this as they are more drwosy and relaxed before they realise what is going on  , i dont do a dream feed, so he is goign fomr roughtly 7/730pm to middle of thei nite, i thought that havign a bottle then would be ok?

in regards ot room feeding, we have tried  feels like, eveyrthing, dummy in, pull out trick with teat, walking to feed, wrapping to feed, dark room, justa s he wakes, it really makes not much differnce, its like he has a really bad association wiht the bottle now 

he often wakes at the 45 min makr after bedtime, and will take a whole bottle then if he has refused feeding for most of the day, kinda like he knows its his last chacne, would that make sense?

[Ima shel Alon]

I am going to move this to the Bottle feeding board as I think you will get a better advice there and will also ask for some Reflux eyes as I am not much help with that, I'm afraid.

[Lolly]

What milk is he on? Are you thickening feeds at all? I think the feeding in dribs and drabs isn't helping as he is not really going the full time until the next feeds so it's a bit of a snacking issue as well.

I would move his feeds to 4 hours, formula fed babies often need 4 hours a bit early and try not to let a feed last longer than 20 mins which is about as long as a feed should last really. I would start with the first feed of the day, let him take what he wants burp him and offer again and then stop if he doesn't want anything. He may be hungrier sooner than 3/ 3.5 hours, but distract him for as long as you can so that he is good and hungry for the next feed. If a nap runs to feed time then  that's great as you can get a bottle ready and feed him while he is still drowsy. If you can get him to take as much as he will in one go then you should be able to allow him to get hungry for the next feed and hopefully push the feeds to 4 hours, particularly towards the end of the day. Leave the bedtime feed as long as you can to give a good interval between the afternoon feed and the bed feed, so bath etc then feed and sleep.

{{HUGS}} it is hard with refluxers - I've had 2 of them

What do you think?

Laura

[sweetmummy]

hi,

awsum, thank you so much for your advice, just what i need as all my friends have non refluxers, and my 1st was a silent refluxer too, but was easy solved with gavison/low does of ranitdine.
DS reflux is more intense, thats for sure.

he is on Neocate-hypoallergencic, and aa thickner, we started the thickner at week 9, and that has def helped, he doesnt splutter as much during a feed. he has nEVER ever spilled.

last night last feed was before bed, then he woke 40 mins  ( 740pm)after, i could tell he was still hungry, he took 90 mls, then slpet till 445am! yay. however he NEVER ever wants the first feed of the day, which makes things really tricky, as yesterday i didnt 'push'or try to hard to see what happened, he had a crappy mornign sleep and was suckign on his fists all morning. today i kinda pushed his feed into him and he still asleep, so i def know hif he short naps in the morning if normally hunger related.

re; the 4 hour feeding, it seems to not make a differnce to how much he takes in, eg he always justs stops after 40 mls, regardless eg the other day he went form 230am till 130pm! and still only had 40 mls, aside forma  few dribs n drabs after. to be honest he has never ever really cried for hunger even as a newborn. it;s like he puts up a fight for the bottle then when he finally lets it flow it's ok, if that makes sense??
he is a good size 7kg for 13.5 weeks.
guess i worry that the little durign the day means more nite waking?? what you think?? xx