6 week ago "snacker"

[Canadian_Mom]

Just looking for some tips...
After a few admissions to the hospital and pyloric stenosis surgery I think we are finally on the road to having our little refluxer man happy and healthy.  Unfortunately I think that in the process I may have created a "snacker", as he was only eating 1-2oz before screaming unconsolably, so he was eating constantly.  Now that I think his meds are working, it seems more like he is snacking (almost eating through out his entire A time).  Though there still could be some reflux issues I am wondering if there are any tips to "fixing" the snacking issue (if that is what it is!!)?  I looked to see if there was a sticky but I couldn't find one...

Today I am trying to extend the time between his feeds with a pacifier (the only time he takes it is when he is hungry...)
Thanks!!!

[Lolly]

How is the reflux being treated? What flow teats are you using and which formula?

The way to deal with snacking is to do what you are doing - hold them off as long as possible and then make sure the interval is at least the same for the next feed. The should start taking more and then you can increase again. It may be that you can only hold him off for 5-10 mins at first, but if it isn't the reflux causing smaller feeds he should adapt.

Laura

[Canadian_Mom]

Thanks for your thoughts Lolly.  I tried this for a couple days, but I no longer think that he is snacking.  It has come back to an issue that we have been dealing with for a while now.  He eats a few ozs then starts to wiggle a little bit, then his legs move and his body goes straight as a board and he cries all the while he is trying to still eat but he eventually can’t because of pain.  After a few weeks of this I have now noticed that if I change up formula or the temperature of the formula I can get maybe a day without this reaction.  Or if we are out somewhere with tons of distraction he will eat a lot more.   He is obviously hungry, and if he eats a “good” bottle (5-6oz) then he naps well, if he eats only 2-3 oz he will only do short naps.  Wondering if anyone has any ideas?  I don’t think that it is his reflux as it is a different cry, but maybe the reflux just isn't as bad as once he stops eating he usually stops crying fairly quickly...

[Lolly]

That behaviour is really typical of uncontrolled reflux I'm afraid - it's exactly what my children did before we strated reflux formula and meds. How is the reflux being treated?

Laura

[Canadian_Mom]

Sigh, I was afraid of that we were just in the hospital for a few days because of his screaming. We saw a ped GI and she said he was on a high dose of Prevacid and he was gaining weight ao other than thickened formula that isn't much more they are willing to do. He is on Prevacid 5 mg twice a day (increased from 5 mg once a day a few weeks ago), which has definitely helped as he doesn't spit up any more and does sleep a little bit better. I tried thickened formula but he screamed with tummy pain for an hour afterwards, so I am trying to slowly transition him to thickened one oz a a time to see if that works. As well I am using Dr Brown bottles now as he seems to eat better with them and level one nipples. I tried him with faster flow nipples with the playtex bottles I used before and he leaked a lot from them. I just ordered the level 2 nipples in the dr brown bottles as maybe they might help.

[Lolly]

Poor boy. What are you thickening the formula with and which formula is he on? I'm not sure about the PPI dose, my two were on ranitidine - but some babies have needed both meds.

Laura

[Canadian_Mom]

I currently have him on Enfamil Thickened, and just upped him to half of the bottle with it today.  Do you know if a thickener can be more effective than the thickened formula?

And sorry, I think I must have accidently deleted that he is also on ranitidine 5mg twice a day (I was trying to type on my phone).

I will try phoning the clinic tomorrow, but I doubt they can do anything

[maggie2]

Don't have much to offer except some {{hugs}}!  Poor little guy (and poor mama!!!)...     I can't imagine having to deal with all of that with such a young little baby!!!

One thing actually that I will offer though - we've been dealing with reflux ourselves - I finally tried addressing it from the food intolerance standpoint and eliminated most of the common things like dairy, gluten, soy from my diet since I'm BF'ing.  It really seems to have helped immensely!!!  I don't know if I'm just convincing myself or what but it really doesn't seem like he has reflux anymore (he's not medicated)

Anyway, maybe try a formula free of dairy and soy?

[Canadian_Mom]

Thanks for the hugs I do appreciate it! I did try nutramigen (for milk protein allergies) for 4 days in the hospital (and one day before at home) and it made no difference. His poops are pretty much normal with just a few mucous shreds and his skin is actually super good.

[~Lori~]

I am off of dairy right now for my refluxer.  I have heard that it takes about 3 weeks to get out of your system (and the baby's system).  DS's poops were normal, but I did find that he would have way more fussy feeds when I was having a lot of dairy.

These reflux babies can be soooo hard to figure out...hope things start improving soon!

[Lolly]

As PP said, it can take a good couple of weeks for all the milk protiens to leave their systems and healing take place so you wouldn't have seen much, if any difference in just a couple of days.

How much does he weigh - the normal dosing for ranitidine is 2-4mg per kg x 2 per day or 1-3mg per kg for under 6 months. It's quite common for babies to need the full dose for it to be effective.

I would go back to the dairy free formula - mucous in stools is a sign of intolerance and with the reflux I would be very suspicious you are dealing with milk protien intolerance. If the nutramigen isn't helping after a couple of weeks you make need an elemntal formula like neocate - some babies react to nutramigen. You could also discuss the zantac dose and see if the Dr will increase it and see if it helps, you may need to switch to a PPI like omeprazole.

Laura

[maggie2]

Was giong to say the same thing about it taking several weeks sometimes for dairy proteins to clear the system

And YES - mucous in the stools would be a sign of an intolerance.  That's what clued me in with our ds - he also has great skin, but his reflux was pretty bad and I would notice an occasional bit of mucous in his stool.

You might want to at least have his stool tested for occult blood.  But if it were me I would definitely switch back to nutramigin or alimentum and give it at least a few weeks.  I know it's expensive stuff which is annoying but you really might find that it helps!

Our poor little refluxers    They're like a puzzle 

[Canadian_Mom]

So spoke with the nurse at the ped clinic and she told me to use rice cereal to thicken the nutramigen for today (my ped wasn't in) and if I want I can bring him in tomorrow and he can check him out and possibly give me a prescription for a thickener.

I am pretty sure that they tested his stools for occult blood while we were in the hospital, and there was none, so who knows!!

He weighs 5.2 kg, so he is getting a decent dose of the rantidine (10mg) as well as the Prevacid (10mg), so I doubt that he will increase his dose.

Fingers crossed that this will help my poor little refluxer!!

Thanks to all of you for your support and suggestions