Gave 5 1/2 month old some cereal, cramps all night

[Dani's mum]

Hi there, I just wonder if anyone had a similar experience...

I gave my dd some rice cereal before bed last week, only three teaspoons, and she was up most of the night crying, seemingly in pain with cramps, kicking her legs etc. I started food two weeks early but didn't think this would happen. What do I do now, and how long must I wait before trying again? 

A quick note, she had sever colic up until 4.5 months. Could her digestive system be still immature?  She is EBF...doesn't even react well with formula. I was hoping shed outgrow this by now?

Any thoughts, anyone?   

[*Kara*]

Absolutely normal... rice cereal is very hard to digest and quite often will cause digestive upset for babies.

Severe colic??  Does she have reflux or MPI/MSPI?  Colic generally subsides by 3 months...

As a general rule, it's best to offer first solids in the AM about an hour after a breastfeed when starting out... any reactions can be monitored over the day and tummy will be at rest when bubs goes to bed.  Once she is about 6/7 months, she may be ready for a second "meal" of solids, do this an hour after her second milk feed (which will be around noonish for most)... the third "meal" generally doesn't really happen until LO is closer to 9 months...   watch her milk intake, too much in terms of solids will fill her and cause her to skip milk feeds - not good.

Might be better to start with gentler foods such as pears, sweet potatoes, avocados etc

[Dani's mum]

Thank you, so much. 

Yes, her doctor said it was straight colic, a bad case, nothing settled her, for about ten hours a day of straight crying.  He ruled out everything , but what is mpi?  He did start her on Zantac at one month old, but we never noticed a difference with it, she still cried. He said she has some reflux, hence the Zantac, but bc colic is hard to diagnose and figure out, that's all that was done. It went away over night one night, and she's happy as can be, bu thavent changed the reflux med bc doctor says to keep her on it until one year.

I will try gentler foods, and at the times you recommended. 

I started pumping to build up a storage bank in my freezer, but that increased my milk production so much that she went from twenty minute feeds to seven minutes and at that she pukes so much. I'm guessing my flow is too fast now? 

Thanks For your help,

Anne

[*Kara*]

I started pumping to build up a storage bank in my freezer, but that increased my milk production so much that she went from twenty minute feeds to seven minutes and at that she pukes so much. I'm guessing my flow is too fast now?

Will get a BFing momma to help you out - I used formula

As for the Zantac - will get a reflux momma for that one... I do know it is very weight sensitive so the dose does need to grow with her... I wouldn't be very happy with that explanation of colic at all... colic can be bad, but that is far worse than I have ever heard!  MPI is milk protein intolerance...

[ZacsMumme]

Is the dr adjusting the Zantac dose with her weight? - did it help at all? I'm a little confused as to what the plan is with it

Agree with kara, colic is really just unexplained discomfort/crying. Often related to the digestive process.
Does you LO display any of these
Reflux 101 - General reflux information
Alternative diagnoses and Reflux mimics.

How are her poops?

[Dani's mum]

Thanks for your help!

Ya I wasn't happy either so we took her to multiple doctors and they all agreed that it was colic, as she was healthy as a horse otherwise, just cried, a lot.  From what I've read colic can last until five months with some.  It was true though, it literally ended over night.  The only thing that used to calm her down was our vacuum, now if she cries due to teething or a physical pain (she has had two bottoms since four months) no white noises  work, with colic, they seem to really help, perhaps it's a distraction thing.

Perhaps her Zantac needs to be upped.  Thx I just hope solids don't aggravate any reflux in her if it is there.

Anne

[Dani's mum]

He just adjusted the dose from 1 ml to 1.5.... But my gut tells me that she doesn't even have reflux or she never did. However I am not messing with anything right now because she is doing fairly well so I will keep her on the medicine up until one years old. Basically her colic began at three weeks of age, his first reaction was to give her Zantac for reflux but it never made a difference in her crying. When colic ended at 4 1/2 months, I did not want to change any doses of her medication for fear that it would get worse.

She does not seem to display any of those items mentioned. She used to in the first four months of life but not anymore. Her poops are green she is exclusively breast-fed which is confusing that they're green now because they were always brown before. But she is getting over pneumonia and was on antibiotics so that could have had something to do with it in the meanwhile I was giving her a probiotic juring antibiotic so that could also be contributing to frequent, green poops, But she has been off of probiotic and antibiotic for four days now so I am waiting for her digestive system to get back on track.

I have a feeling she is teething as well today she was having a nap and she woke up screaming chewing on her hand. She already has two bottom teeth and I am wondering if the two top are close? The first two came up at four months.  I don't know how long it takes for the second two to come?

[*Kara*]

But she has been off of probiotic and antibiotic for four days now so I am waiting for her digestive system to get back on track

I would keep her on the probiotic for a week or two longer hun...

[~inbalance~]

But she is getting over pneumonia and was on antibiotics so that could have had something to do with it in the meanwhile I was giving her a probiotic juring antibiotic so that could also be contributing to frequent, green poops, But she has been off of probiotic and antibiotic for four days now so I am waiting for her digestive system to get back on track.

Keep giving her the probiotic, in fact there is no need to stop.  Antibiotics wreak havoc on the digestive system, this is probably why she had green poops.

Since she is getting over an infection I'd hold off on solids for a bit, then maybe try again in a few weeks but skip cereal altogether and go straight to fruits and veggies.

If she got two teeth at 4 months there's a good chance she's getting more now.  Poor girl, so much going on right now! 

[becj86]

I started pumping to build up a storage bank in my freezer, but that increased my milk production so much that she went from twenty minute feeds to seven minutes and at that she pukes so much. I'm guessing my flow is too fast now? 

It could be overactive letdown - your milk squirts quite hard/fast... or it could be oversupply (and foremilk overload associated with it) or both. BTDT with both and the screaming baby too.

What are her poos like?
Do you feed her from both sides at each feed? If so, how do you know to switch?
Do you pump before or after she feeds?
How often are you feeding?

[Dani's mum]

Thanks ladies!

Yep, she's already been through so much in her life, test after test it seems. At 30 days old she was hospitalized with a uti, and was on antibiotics at a very heavy dose to rule out meningitis. I wondered if the probiotic was making her poop more though, that's why i stopped them when this round of ab's were done.  She literally poops after or during every feed since she was sick with pneumonia since dec 7, stopped her ab seven days later, and still pooping up a storm,and still green.

Ill try probiotic again.  I hope her system goes back to normal soon. I was off dairy for five months thinking that was causing her colic, but started them one week ago, now I'm all confused as to what's causing what    If she had an intolerance to dairy, would her bum bleed, or is that just if its an allergy? I doubt it's a dairy issue since I went off for so long, to no avail. Didn't help her colic at all. First time mum, can u tell??? Lol

Hugs

[Dani's mum]

Becj86...her poops are green and frequent, like 8 times a day, but this could be from her recent dose of antibiotics. I only started pumping few days ago bc I had a blocked milk duct.  Since then, my flow must be faster bc she is done eating within minutes now, and still vomits a lot, 

Since I've had more milk, I've only been feeding from one side.  Before when she was eating for twenty mns, we did ten mins on each breast.  I knew to switch sides just based on timing.  Since she was born, she has never once refused the breast, even through her sicknesses.  Even if she's full, she'll still suck away, she's an eater!

I pumped only three times a day after each feed, only did this for three days, no longer doing this as I was worried I was creating more issues.  She is on a four hour EASY routine, eats every four hours, 4-5 x a day.

I don't need to pump for a while as I have plenty of stored milk now.  Maybe they'll go back to normal once my body readjusts? It is nice however, having her eat so quickly, but I worry its not good for her tummy.

[ENMS]

Hi there . A few more questions for you:

doesn't even react well with formula.

How does she react to formula? have you tried it recently?

If she had an intolerance to dairy, would her bum bleed, or is that just if its an allergy?

not necessarily... there can be lots of symptoms have a read here

Does my LO have food intolerances?

the cereal that you fed her did ithave milk and / or soy in it? I don't think it's a normal reaction to cereal but it's certainly not unheard of - as Kara said cereals are harder to digest, especially for sensitive little tummies. after that night, did you feed her more cereals? did you notice anything else on that day, i.e. vomiting or explosive diarrhea?

So just to clarify the timeline because I'm getting a little confused with the events:

2 weeks ago - abx and green, frequent poop started - before that poop was fine, right?
last week - rice cereal, then had a rough night
last week - you reintroduced dairy in your diet

when did she start feeding much quicker / you startd having more milk?

is that correct?

it could also be that the antibiotic has irritated her gut and she will need some healing to her gut before you can re-introduce solid foods. I agree with pp about keeping up with the probiotic.

[ZacsMumme]

Ok so I've been mulling on your posts Hun, and I think once we know the answers to Becs Qs things may be clearer. A timeline would be good as I'm also a bit confused.

Two things I am concerned about though right now.
1) reflux medication. Honestly I am no sure she should be on it. Being on it unnecessarily is not ideal and till 1 is actually a long time. Some babies with bad reflux are off meds by 6 mths (some 2 yrs but YK)
2) intolerances - am I right in that this all first started to go pear shaped again when you reintroduced milk into your diet? - and the cereal

[Dani's mum]

Hi Elise, thank you for your response.

With formula she used to kick her legs out a lot, but this is hard to describe bc it was a long time ago, around the time her colic was peaking, so could have been general gas, reflux or other digestive issues maybe.  I'm scared to try it again, not only that but I have my milk so I don't need to give her formula.  The reason I did months ago was due to me having emergency surgery, my milk supply shut down, and I had to pump to get it back.

Very informative information re food intolerances. I would have explored this further earlier, but since a month ago her symptoms improved over night. now her issues I feel are stemming from the abx. 

As for the cereal, it was the Heinz rice variety, add water ...so I think it was made up of formula...I did not notice any other odd behaviour that night, just crunching up her legs and tummy, I could tell the cereal was a mistake, but it was too late at that point. By the morning she was good as new. I have not given her anything since that night last week.  Only my milk. 

To clarify: yes, dec 7 she was dx with pneumonia, after having some bizarre virus ( broke out into rash all over, almost looked like roseola,) fever, runny nose, etc. started abx dec 7 and stopped them seven days later, initial dose was to be ten days , but her bum had a horrible rash, yeast based they said, as she was on biaxin, a very strong abx ... So doc bumped dose down to seven days.  As of dec 14, no abx, but still lots of green poop, which started as soon as abx began.one week prior though her diarrhea started , it was part of her virus which led to pneumonia ...frequent watery and green poop has been ongoing pretty well since her virus which began around dec 1

Last week I introduced dairy yes, after being off it for five months. Her stools were already green and frequent at this point. Last week too I had introduced the cereal yes.

She started eating quicker about two days ago. I had a blocked duct so had to pump often to unblock it. Tis created more milk I think. 

I wish I hadn't eaten any milk or of course I wish she hadn't got sick to begin with, bc now I don't know what's causing what, it's a total guessing game.  also when she had two teeth come in, she had diarrhea,mi wonder if two tops are the culprit now?  Maybe everything is happening at once!