Reflux and Screaming at Night.

Hi,
If you take your baby to a cranial osteopath this problem will be cured, at its source, very easily and gently.
Medicine from your doctor is most probably only treating the symptoms not the cause of the screaming and vomiting.
Feed her until she needs no more milk. That's the best way of ensuring she has enough milk. Don't starve her to reduce reflux. I have NEVER heard of a breast fed baby 'eating too much'. I strongly suspect your doctor really does not know why she is screaming and vomiting.

Breastfeeding is balanced between mother and baby, we produce exactly what and how much they need. If we have too much, babies just drink less making us produce less. Its a feedback loop.

My son screamed and projectile vomited. The cranial osteopath fixed it within 3 weeks and saved my sanity!
Good luck!

I have never heard of a breastfed baby overeating! It sounds like you didn't see your own doctor....maybe you should take her back and see him/her. My son also had reflux and at some point, the medicine also seemed to stop working and they said it was because he had gained enough weight that they had to increase the dose of his medication (the smaller amount wasn't enough anymore since he weighed more). I doubt this would be the case at 2 months old, but if she has gained a decent amount of weight since she was diagnosed, you might just want to check that out.

Also, be sure you're keeping her upright for a bit (at least 15-30 minutes) after a feeding so that she can digest some before laying her down. I'm guessing that because it's the last feeding that you feed her and then lay her down for bed. This may be causing her some pain. I would also either get an incline wedge for her to sleep on or raise one end of her mattress so that she is not sleeping flat. This seemed to help a little with my son too.

My advice would be to call and speak to your own doctor about this because I don't agree with the overeating diagnosis. Breastfed babies just don't do that, especially at 2 months old. I'm sorry you're going through this. I know how emotional I was when my little guy was so sick and screaming all of the time. I'll say a prayer for you and your family.

I wholeheartedly agree with the other mothers who said that overeating is ridiculous! Definitely talk to your regular doctor. My baby had acid reflux and colic. The thing that was most helpful was holding her upright for 15 - 20 minutes after she ate, every time. This allows the food to digest so it doesn't back up on her. We also had her sleep in an infant seat so she was at an incline. Gripe water also provided some temporary relief. We used colic calm (available at www.coliccalm.com). It coated her tummy and provided immediate relief if only for a little bit. The most helpful thing was the upright time, though. You have good instincts; keep pushing the doctors or get new doctors till you get some actual help. We know how you feel.

Birth is the first trauma to our spine and nervous system. The brain stem controls all autonomic function in the body. The brain stem extends down into the first vertebra of the neck. Think what is happening to baby's brain stem during delivery when the doctor "helps" the birth by grabbing the baby's head and twisting and pulling?

Read this: even the MDs know that their causing damage during delivery -- but they don't know how to fix it. http://archotol.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/2/193

By her symptoms, I would say that this is birth-related trauma. Symptoms of birth trauma can include everything from extreme allergies, to Bell's Palsy, to reflux, colic, and insomnia. Try chiropractic. Chiropractic has been proven safe and effective for treating infants to seniors. This video is an incredible story how chiropractic saved a baby from injuries caused during childbirth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo1nzDnbcUU&feature=re...

With a proper functioning spine and nervous system, no one should get reflux - whether very young or very old. Although I am a grandma, I do not get any symptoms of "growing old" - because I've been getting regular chiropractic care for 20 years.

My son had the same issue. It sounds like your baby may be colic. My son was put on prevacid and xantac at 4 weeks because of the severity of the reflux and it did nothing. We tried the milicon drops- nothing, gripe water- nothing. I went to the health food store in Pearland, Natural Rewards, and found some drops by Wish Garden Herbs for colic. It worked amazingly!!! He started sleeping and was much less irritable. You give it to them before they eat. I think the doctor is being ridiculous saying that your baby is overeating. I don't know where you are located but it will be worth the drive to Pearland to get the drops. They have a website www.naturalrewards.com. Hope that helps!

I have no experience with reflux, but it was my understanding that breast fed babies rarely (if ever) over eat. It's more work than eating from a bottle, therefore they don't overeat. And when they nurse for comfort they know how to not take in milk, KWIM? That doctor sounds like he doesn't know a lot about breastfeeding to me.

Talk to your own doctor. See what she/he says.

**ETA The other ladies on here seem to have some great advice for you. I know I personally would try to find a way to avoid the medication if possible.

My son was also diagnosed to have reflux right after delivery, but it wasn't that at all. It turned out to be a hernia in his groin. Although the doctors continued to say it wasnt , I had an older son that I went through this with as a baby. It seemed he was crying all the time and burped all his milk out very often , just like those with reflux. Just keep an eye out. Deep down i knew it wasnt reflux and i was right. After bugging my doctor about the issue they finally got tired of me and sent me to a surgyen who found that he truly had hernias that weren't protruding like many do.

Hi E.,

There is infant probiotics, calcium, and mineral supplements on this website

www.natren.com

You should see a new baby, there are new borns taking these, so please do consider this.

www.creeksideherbhouse.com

That is our free teaching website, the theory page is where to start.

Hope this helps

Blessings
J. M

babies don't over eat! Also, some babies just may be more gassy than others or need to burp more often to prevent spit up. I would try letting her sleep in a swing, carseat or elevate her crib mattress on one end..something where she could sit up somemore. Elevating her helps her from spitting up so much. Also, Mylicon drops or Gripe water help with gas too. It could just be gas as well. Hope amoe of this helps.

Breastfed babies (in general) don't overeat, but you may be in a state of over-production. Excessive foremilk (which is high in carbs/sugar) can lead to gassiness, spitting up, etc. Hindmilk has all the nice fats.

Try nursing one side only per session. After she pulls off to rest and burp, put her right back on the same breast. You can go to the second breast if she needs it...just devise something to help you keep track of where you need to start the next time.

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't reflux at all...but a combination or overproduction and a possible dairy sensitivity. Consider cutting dairy from your diet--I was able to just eliminate the enormous amount of milk that I was drinking until she was 6 months old.

In an ideal world, your body DOES produce exactly what your baby needs. I, however, was like a dairy cow. I started pumping around six weeks in order to stock up for going back to work. Within 6-9 months, I had pumped FOUR extra gallons of milk. She was exclusively breastfed for 9 months and was a year before she significantly replaced milk with solids.

As an example, at one point, I used to get up and pump first thing in the morning...about four hours since the last night nursing and could pump EIGHT ounces out of each breast. Then I would immediatly nurse my daughter--I know she was getting what she needed as she would go her regular interval until the next nursing.

Good luck! I know this can be frustrating.

I breastfed all three of my children and have never had a doctor say they were overeating. Consider getting a second opinion or contacting Le Leche League directly. Our first baby spit up quite a bit the first three months and eventually it resolved itself without medication. Also, be sure and get a printout from the pharmacist on the side effects to the meds she is on in case she has a reaction. Sometimes the docs don't even know the side effects. It was recommended that we keep our baby slightly reclined for about 30 minutes after she ate to avoid spitting up. It seemed to help a little. Good Luck.

No, I have never heard of a doctor saying a 2 month old was overeating. I don't know if that is possible. What medicine did they put her on? My little boy was on prevacid and that did the trick, I know there are several different kinds of medicines and maybe she needs another kind. Also, there is a condition called pyloric stenosis where the top of the stomach isn't closing all the way and it just requires a minor surgical procedure to fix, so you may want to ask your doctor to check for that as well. I am so sorry you are going through this, I know it can make you feel so frazzled! I would keep pushing, something is not quite right and getting the eating thing lined out is near and dear to a mom's heart:) Best wishes!!

How long do you usually keep your daughter up after her evening feed? Doctors like you to keep the baby as upright as possible for at least 1/2 hour after feeding. She may need more then that possibly. Also try putting a folded blanket under the mattress at the top end of her crib so that she is more upright. Anything that will help gravity work is great.

When the reflux was diagnosed, did the doctor order an Upper GI series? We went through this with my first and I'm SO glad we didn't have to do it with the other two! I bottle fed him and I had to split the nipple open all the way across so he could get the formula/cereal mixture out. If I didn't thicken his formula up, I'd wear the entire contents of the bottle within 5 minutes of him finishing it!

We did an Upper GI Series that came back showing nothing (6 months old) so the doctor ordered an MRI to see if it was something brain related. He said that if the fontanel on top of the head was still soft that an ultrasound would have worked but my son had a hard head (still does). Anyway, the MRI came back negative so the doctor took a chance and ordered 1 more Upper GI Series to be done at a different hospital. We went to have that done and the Radiologist could not see anything wrong. He did, however, have a hunch and asked us to come back about an hour later. This gave the Barium a chance to start through the intestines. He wanted to see the intestines working because many people have issues in that area and never know why. Well, it turned out that his intestines were turned differently then they should have been. It's called a Mal-rotation of the Intestines. Somewhere between the Duodenum and the Jejunum there was an extra turn upward and it was causing food to back up. This may explain why your daughter is crying mainly at night when she should be sleeping.

I was scared to death when the pedi nurse called to tell me they were waiting to hear back on a time for the surgeon buts the surgeon did not feel the need to operate. We treated him with medication until he turned one and then he had grown out of the reflux. The mal-rotation is still there, and always will until there is some sort of need for surgery. The Radiologist told us that almost 70% of the people walking around have some sort of problems like that but if they are not bothersome enough to have checked out, people just don't know.

Sounds like your doctor doesn't know what's wrong with your baby and is just getting "creative". Infants don't "over-eat", particularly at the breast. I agree with the advice on craniosacral therapy, which can be done by either an osteopath, chiropractor or a craniosacral therapist. If you need help finding one, I'd be happy to help.

It is impossible to overfeed an elusively breast fed infant. You just can not over breast feed. Your boobies only make enough milk for your baby. Are you supplementing with formula? Giving her formula after you breast feed could cause her to over eat and could make the reflux worse. Don't stop nursing or pull her off while she is nursing except to burp if you know it is time.

You may want to get a second opinion or a new pediatrician.

Remember - the breast is the best! Good job for breastfeeding! Keep it up!

my son use to spit up alot when he was around two months old and he took TriViSol Vitamins is your baby taking those you might want to try another type of vitamin I too breast fed for 2 1/2 years when i stopped giving him that he stopped spitting up

Hope this helps
www.shaklee.net/healthydesire

E.,
My second child had horrible reflux. I thought it was allergies at first because he was so congested at night. Turned out the acid was coming up and you know, it's all connected up there, so it was "backing up". After reading your post, my first thought was to tell you to try to keep her head elevated, and not let her lie down completely flat. Sounds terrible, but my son slept in a "bouncy seat" for his first 3-4 months of life (after we found out that he had reflux). That made a HUGE difference for him. Don't get me wrong, it is still awful and you can tell they are in pain with the burning, etc. Try not letting anyone hold her "flat" in their arms, keep her at an upright angle and see if that helps also. We went thru different medications, did the upper GI thing and watched it go up and down on the monitor. Our son gained weight at a normal rate as well. I got the impression that some people/nurses/doctors judge how bad the reflux is depending on how much they spit up - that can keep them from gaining weight. I don't completely agree with that theory. Our son had terrible reflux, but still kept enough down to gain weight normally. Hang in there, our son outgrew it and I know many of them do. Good luck and know that you are not alone. Keep trying different things and you will figure out what helps her the most. I would not hold back her food, but that's just my humble opinion. Hang in there and God bless!