12 week old having hard time eating

[amandacan]

our little girl doesn`t seem to like to eat
she is 12 weeks old
we started out breastfeeding but after 2 weeks we had lots of troubles like refusing to eat or eating non stop for 4 or 5 ours
so I stopted breastfeeding when she was 4 weeks old it was really hard to do that
but I didn`t get any sleep or time to eat myself and than my milk suplly totaly stoped
so right know she  will take 2ounces and then either start screaming or pus the bottle out and refuse to eat more
it takes me 1.5 to get 3 to 4 ounces in her
she is on gentleease formula
and is on a 4 our easy
i had her on a 3 our easy but then she wouldn`t eat at all
but right now she doesn`t sleep unless she is on her tummy
I don`t dare to let her sleep on her tummy beceause of sids

our easy looks like this

E 5 am 4 ounces
sleep 6 am

E 9 am 4 ounces
a 10:30 am
sleep 11:oo  wake at 11:30 sleep at 12:00 till 1:oo pm

E 1:00 pm
S 2:oo after lots of crying and refusing the bottle 4 ounces

E 5:oo pm lost of crying and kicking will only eat if swaddelt if lucky she will eat 6 ounces sometimes she finishes the bottle after she takes a bath
A bath swaddle cuddle
S around 7 pm

E around 10:00 pm will wake up to eat sometimes not and sleep till 5
but the last couple nights she has been up with lots of tummy troubles
if I dreamfeed her around 10:00 pm she just gets mad and crys and refuses to eat

Ive been to the docters and he tought she had an ear infection
so she is on antibiotics since saterday but things only seems to get worse
she wont sleep unless i put her on her tummy and just fights the bottle
she normaly would take 4 or 5 6 ounce bottle now she wil only take 3 or 4 with losts of screaming
we have an other appointment at the docters tommorrow so we will see what he says
I just feel so bad for my little girl

[amandacan]

update after waking up screaming at 4:00 pm I gave her her pacifier and rolled her on her tummy again
right now 5:10 pm she is still sleeping and looking peacefully so I` will see when se wakes up
I`m so afraid to feed her again and start the feeding nightmare al over again

[Lolly]

The behaviour you describe while feeding is exactly what my refluxers did with feeds. DD in particular started around 9 weeks, she dropped her intake down to about 2 oz then refused, screamed, arched and would not take any more. Does your LO have any other signs of reflux at all because from what you describe I would be asking the Dr about it. Here is a link with some more info http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=654.0.

What do you think?

Laura

[amandacan]

Hi laura

This morning she spit up a lot after taking 1 ounce
she was aslo grunting al night but seemed better on her stomach so she slept next to me in her playpen on her stomach and I checked her every 10 mins
right now she is asleep in her swing its been 4.5 hours since her last feed of 2 ounces and pucking it ou
but I know when i wake her up to eat she wil just scream at the bottle
when she was 9 weeks old she was on reflux meds and thicker formula
later on I just simply thick she sleepts on her nap nanny on a angle or on her reflux pillow
that didn`t seem to help so the doctor said it was probally not reflux and that she was just gassy
But I never believed that
last 2 weeks seem to go super good
and right know it is worst than it has ever been
also beceause of the ear infection I think
anyway I will talk to the doc about putting her on meds again and I will start thicking her formula again with simply thick
I`m also using docter browns bottles since she was 8 weeks and that made a differcence I think
I change her daiper before feeding that seems to help to

any recomendations on formulas for baby`s with reflux

[Lolly]

Formula's for refluxers can depend on the cause of the reflux. Many babies with reflux will have milk/soy protien intolerance so they need a hypoallergenic formula. My two don't have MSPI and did really well on Enfamil AR which is a cow's milk based reflux formula that thickens in the stomach - much easier to use than adding thickener. They had meds to though.

It sounds like the reflux does need treating again although obviously it will be worth seeing if once the ear infection clears up she is still the same first. Ear infections can make it painful to suck, so it could be that stopping her eating. However, depending on what meds she was on and the dose it could have been that she wasn't having enough to make a difference. Was she on ranitidine/ zantac? That's usually the first step but if the dose was less than 2 or 3 mg per kg it may not have been enough to make a difference. What dose was she on and what was her weight at the time?

Laura

[amandacan]

hi laura

she was on losac I`m not sure how to spell it
she didn`t like the taste of it so she spit it out
doctors visit got me worried
she hasn`t gained any weight since her 2 month shots
Doctor was worried to and put her on prevacid
my husband is picking it up as we speek
I hope it helps her from morning till know she only eat 11 ounces in total
her is hoping that she will take some at 10 tonight
I doubt it cause even my trick by first giving her a bath around 6 and then feeding didn`t work tonight
I have tried the enfamil thickend formula she didn`t like it and it made her constipated
So I`m going to thicken her gentle ease formula with simply thick
thanks laura for al your help

[amandacan]

things are still hard over here
the prevacid seems to work
and I switch to similiac advanced lactose free
she must like it beter cause she drinks it a bit beter
she is starting to eat a bit more at each feeding
but she keeps dropping weight
if she is not eating beter by monday I need to go an see the doc again

[Lolly]

I wonder if the next step for you guys would be to try a hypoallergenic formula rather than a cow's milk based formula. A lot of baby refluxers have cow's milk protien intolerance (MPI) and do much better on a hypoallergenic formula.

It would be worth mentioning to your Dr and won't hurt to try for a few weeks. They do taste pretty foul, but younger babies usually adapt better after a period of adjustment. If you do switch you may need to switch gradually by mixing the new formula into the old an oz or 2 at a time for a few bottles then add a bit more. Come back if you get a hypo formula and we can help you switch.

Laura