Son over Nursing Any Ideas to Help

I think teething may be causing the biting on fist and grunting...try teething toys and I use Baby ORajel which outstanding!! He is at that age where the teeth might be trying to push through. Just a suggestion..let meknow if it works!

No advice to the over nursing part; however, I had a premie daughter in the NICU for 56 days. She had acid reflux as well. We tried everything and nothing seemed to work. She would spit up everything. Until we found a different pediatrician that put her on AXID instead of Prevacid. The Prevacid just did not work for her. It stopped the spit up after the first couple of doses. I would ask for it if I were you. It is worth a try. As for the over nursing ~ try a stricter schedule and see if he responds. Try other objects, like his blanket, and see if it pacifies him. Then you will know if he is truly hungry. Also, babies will make a na na sound when they are hungry. It is sort of hard to distinguish but it is there ~ it is a natural thing. Good luck.

Hello,

I have a 4 month old son as well, and I would recommend the E.A.S.Y. plan outlined in "The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer," by Tracy Hogg. It is a great book and she has created a routine of Eat Activity Sleep and You. The baby basically eats every 3-4 hours. I breastfeed as well, and it has worked out great. I put him in his Bumbo chair (you really need that chair)right after he eats every time, and it sits him up straight, and helps with any reflux or spit up. He has been sleeping through the night for about two weeks, so if he does wake, its not for hunger, so I do not pick him up or nurse him, and goes back to sleep in about 5 min. I think this book would really help. Thanks,
A.

I understand! My now 22 month old was the same way. His Dr. put him on Zantac twice a day and that worked miracles. I swear from the minute he took it he didn't look like he was in pain and he rarely spit up. If he did spit up it was like pea size and that was great. He started gaining weight again and everythin! Ask your Dr. about Zantac and see what he thinks. Good luck! Everything will be fine at least when he starts walking and sitting up by himself. But, zantac may help in the meantime.

My son went through something very similar to this. Turned out he had a milk protein allergy. Try cutting ALL milk and dairy from your diet. If the spitting up and crankiness stop you may have your answer.What are his bowel movements like?

Have you tried putting rice cereal in his formula? It will help him keep the food down. That is what I had to do with both of my daughters. They were both born with that acid reflux. THat was the thought of the pediatrician and it helped alot.
A.

A great book for scheduling is "On Becoming Babywise" by Garry Ezzo. I love it and I know some people say its too harsh but you can be flexible with the schedule. It really helps put the baby on a great schedule and helps them start sleeping through the night. My daughter slept 8 hours at 6 weeks and now at 8 months sleeps 12 hours a night. Just see what you think. It is an easy read, you can probably finish it in a day. :) Good luck. One of the benefits of a good schedule is that you know when they are hungry and what their crys are and you won't feed them when they don't need to eat. Which in your sons case sounds like would help him not to feed him when already full.

V. -

Yes, I went through this and it really is taxing. My son wanted to nurse constantly and so we did - it comforted him, and just about drained everything out of me, literally (lol) but we got through it. Here is what is going on often. When they keep spitting up, their esophagus gets irritated and feeding is what calms it, only to be spat up again and go through the whole process again. The milk soothes them when they are in this discomfort. Also sometimes their stomach spasms and so the milk helps that too, and nursing always comforts them pretty much for anything. So, it is more for comfort. And given they are going through this time temporarily, we did whatever possible to help our baby feel more comfortable. He got better eventually. It is hard but you get through it and on to other things.

Hope this explains some for you -

Alli

V.,
Have you checked with your pediatrician?
As a lay person, spitting up after every meal is not a good sign and not healthy for a new born.
My daughter was an NICU baby also, born 3 months premie at 1lb 80z. They had to change her formula several times. I know breast milk is suppose to be best, but your child may need to switch. Check with your pediatrican.

Not crying from what you are saying seems to be okay, he may have gotten use to comforting himself in the NICU with his fist. (They hear so many sounds in there from crying, to parents, to alarms, etc.) I would just stay on my pediatrician about everything and if need be, get a second opinion!

R.

Is your son gaining weight appropriately? If not, and if he's spitting up every time he eats, he might have either an esophageal stricture or pyloric stenosis. They are different conditions, but they both result in food being unable to enter the stomach from the esophagus (the tube from your mouth to your stomach). Since the food can't go down, and it can't stay there, it has to go somewhere, so the result is spitting up/vomiting. My boyfriend had pyloric stenosis as an infant, and it's not uncommon in preemies. So if he is not gaining weight, vomiting every time he eats, and constantly acts hungry, you might ask your pedi about those conditions. Or even ask your caretaker what she thinks about it. Her nursing specialty is kids, and mine is not, so she might know something I don't. Hope this helps!

My 1yr old had reflux and was on prevacid too. She was breastfed until 6 months. I couln't even get her up to burp her before she was spitting everything right back at me. She was always a "happy spitter" though. The one thing I do recomend is to take him off of the prevacid. My doctor has the theory that if she's spitting up anyway, why have her on the medication if it is not helping. My daughter was only on it for about 3 weeks. I suggest seeing how he reacts w/o the prevacid- probably the same. By the way, the reflux slowly got better, and as she started sitting up and being more "upright" it was even better. Still to this day though, if she eats a lot at once or too much milk with her food her little stomach can't always hold it down.

Good luck,
K.

Have you tried baby probiotics? Or perhaps some gripe water before he eats. You can get both at your local health food store.

Hi V. - If you are looking to understand his schedule you might want to try out our web software for free that helps you track sleeping, medicine, and feeding schedules for baby at www.babblesoft.com. In fact, one of our parents used it to help her identify reflux in her baby: http://www.babblesoft.com/parent-story-elises-family.php.

When I was transitioning from night feedings with our daughter we used a pacifier. Our son we had to pat back to sleep or hold him quite often.

Good luck!

A.

I'm an RN and my 1st son also had acid reflux. He was on Zantac for the 1st 10 months of his life. Acid reflux causes a painful burning sensation in your chest and throat. My son had to suck on something constantly to relieve his pain. Mylicon drops also seemed to help him. Does your son take a pacifier? You COULD be over-feeding him...try to nurse him frequently, but only for a short time (or just one boob at a feeding, not both). :) And the KEY is to hold him UPRIGHT after EVERY feeding...for 20-30 minutes! It's hard to do...especially at 3am, but it's a MUST. He will outgrow it in a few months....don't worry.

I will keep him (and you) in my prayers.
~K. :)

P.S. Try not to get too much DAIRY in your diet! This will cause excess gas/stomach pain for him. Continue taking your PNV (prenatal vitamins), but you may need a calcium supplement as well...ask your doc.

If your son is having reflux probs, breastmilk is definitely best and formula would only make the problem worse. Also, babies nurse not just for food. It isn't a mechanical thing like a bottle. They get the warmth of your body, hear your heart beat, smell your scent, feel your hands cuddling them, ... Babies go through growing spurts where they want to nurse more often to get your milk supply up and then they slow back down again. Schedules may not account for this. My sister tried the babywise advice and had the most UNHAPPY baby I've ever seen. He cried so much from being hungry that his tummy button became herniated. He also had reflux.

I have nursed 5 children and am still nursing my 19 mos old. He usually sleeps through the night, but occassionally he will nurse too. Nursing is such a brief part of their life. Enjoy it while you can. It won't last long!!!! Get help from La Leche League not your nurse. La League has more experience.

Blessings,
M.
Mom to 5 Wonderful Kids
www.4MyChildrenSake.com
Helping others Work From Home

Reflux can be caused by lots of different things. Sometimes it's just an immature system. It may also be a food allergy. One way to find out if it's something in your diet (that he's getting via your breastmilk) is to keep a food diary. Record everything you eat and drink, and also record every time he spits up (though it sounds like more than spit up). You may be able to find a correlation. Common problem foods are dairy, eggs, wheat, and soy. The good news is that if that's the problem, controlling your diet will calm the problems for him. He may well outgrow it, too.

My babies have all had reflux to some extent, but haven't had a clear food allergy. For my 2nd son, especially, he had tremendous improvement after chiropractic adjustments. He was spitting up 2-6 times per day, every day, before taking him to my chiropractor (who also specializes in working with kids). After his first adjustment, he didn't spit up for SIX days! We took him in on the 7th day, and he was fine for another six days. After a few weeks, he wasn't spitting up at all, and by six months old, we stopped regular visits, and he was fine. (Though some kids outgrow it by 6 months, anyway.) You can find a chiropractor who works with kids at http://www.icpa4kids.com/

As for when to nurse, feeding on demand is excellent. He may well be nursing for comfort if he's got acid burning his throat/esophagus. Of course, I recognize that the hard line to find is when it's causing more trouble than good. You may think of a few things that he enjoys for comfort (such as his blanket), and try those first to see if he is really hungry. If he's hungry, though, don't feel badly about feeding him as often as he needs it. Even if he seems to throw up quite a lot, he will still get SOME nutrition from what he consumes. Just the fact that he's losing most of his feedings may necessitate his feeding more frequently.

Also, have his medicines been adjusted recently? The doses need to be tweaked as he grows, so it's possible he's "outgrown" it and that's why he's having more trouble suddenly.

I hope you find just the right solution and are able to enjoy your breastfeeding relationship with him!

My son was born at 30 wks and he was in the NICU for 7 wks. He had a hard time too. Hang in there it will get easier. La Leche really helped me...

LLLI | Home
An international, nonprofit, nonsectarian organization dedicated to providing education, information, support, and encouragement to women who want to breastfeed.

www.llli.org

Our baby is 6 months old now and doing great, but was a nicu preemie. She developed acid reflux by the time she was 6 weeks old and feeding became a battle. She went on Zantac and that helped alot, but we had to carefully monitor her dosage and have it increased as she gained weight. Right about the time she was 4 months, all kinds of developmental changes started happening. I think she had a growth spurt which required a dosage change, plus her stomach muscles got a lot stronger so she actually started spitting up. A lot! She never spit up before. The spitting up seemed to be more frequent at night and it was less of a spit up and more of a projectile vomit. UGH! We just stuck with it. She has reached 6 months now and I don't even remember the last time she did that. She is now off the Zantac, woo hoo! I would make sure you keep in touch with your pediatrician and let her know what is going on. She might want to switch medicines or change the dose, but it really sounds like your baby is just right on track.

Is he fussy when he spits up? My little guy still does this and is 5mths old. I asked my doc about it. He asked if he was fussy when he spit up. He isnt, it just all comes back at you. He said that as long as he is gaining and isnt upset by it he may be a "happy spitter". He is gaining very well, so i have left it at that until his 6mth checkup. I am interested in reading your responses. Sorry, I'm sure I wasnt much help. Just know that you're not alone!

Hi V.,
I am a first time mom with a 4 month old. At 3 months she started waking up a lot more at night - from once at 4am to 2 to 4 times throughout the night. I was exhausted! And I was feeding her every time because previously, she only woke at night to eat. I recently read The Baby Whisperer, and the techniques in the book really worked for us. It's not a "cry it out" method, but rather a teach your baby how to soothe himself book. It is a bit of work at first, but much easier on the nerves than crying it out. We had tried crying it out per our ped's suggestion, but my daughter can cry for 2 hours, so that didn't help. The Baby Whisperer is about seeing your child's natural schedule coupled with what a child at this age needs, and being able to anticipate the day. A four month old only needs to eat every 3 &1/2 to 4 hours during the day, and like your son, our daughter doesn't need to eat during the night. We quickly got her back to sleeping all night by not feeding her in the middle of the night but rather patting her until she calmed down, then walking away. If she cried again, we went back in and patted her until she calmed down and went out again, repeating as necessary. She has now become pretty good at soothing herself, and we put her down semi awake at night to go to sleep and when she wakes up during the night, she falls back to sleep on her own most of the time. Good luck!

My son was born at 27 weeks and had some similar issues. Oddly enough a dermatology nurse suggested we try Baby Bliss Grip Water. We put it in one bottle a day and it worked wonders, we were even able to take him off the medication. And this week he turned sick, and he is a perfectly heathly, happy little guy. I have told many mom's about Gripe Water and they all say it worked. I highly recommend it.