I Need Some Advice!!!!

[wdmmom]

I've been doing this for 3 years and have yet to have a BF baby...until now.

I don't think this poor kid likes the bottle, she is on meds for reflex/reflux, she gags when she's spitting up, and she doesn't sleep!!!

I have no idea how I'm going to get this 3 month old into a routine but I'm on day 3 and I don't see an end in sight. I don't expect it to be overnight but something has got to give! All children 18 months and younger take 1 morning and 1 afternoon nap. That's our schedule.

Most infants I take on at 6-8 weeks follow suite within a month. I don't see it happening with this little one. She doesn't like belly time, she doesn't like being on the floor unless you are right there, DCM says she sleeps in a swing at home (which I know is a HUGE NO, NO and don't do here!) and says the doctor says she's colic and will outgrow within a month. REALLY?! I've never dealt with a colicky baby but I don't see them being able to predict when a child will outgrow it.

Does anyone have some simple advice that will help?

I know I'm going to continue attempting the routine. This morning she cried for an hour straight but I did manage to get her to take an hour and a half nap this afternoon (after she cried for 35 minutes beforehand.)

Suggestions anyone???

[Cat Herder]

First I'd start with requiring a doctors note of babys diagnosis and recomendations.

Second being confined and having constant motion at home IS going to make it harder to acclimate to floor time at your house.

Sadly, repetition, gravity and time are the only cures I know of barring a true medical condition keeping her from NORMAL infant activities. YKWIM?

Typically colic and reflux babies only require 30-60 minutes of upright time (bumbo, johhny jumper, highchair w/toys, etc) following a feeding and a few extra changes of clothing. Everything else is pretty standard with their care. IMHO, the swing would exacerbate it.... think car sickness.

[SilverSabre25]

Every time I hear of a reflux baby my mind goes straight to lactose intolerance/dairy allergy. Have they looked at that possibility?

[wdmmom]

Every time I hear of a reflux baby my mind goes straight to lactose intolerance/dairy allergy. Have they looked at that possibility?

Can babies be allergic to breast milk???

[Cat Herder]

Can babies be allergic to breast milk???

Yes, if Mom eats something that they have a sensitivity to (although I am not sure "allergy" is the correct term).

[Ariana]

My daughter was allergic/intolerant to both dairy and soy from my breastmilk. We didn't figure it out until she was 6 months old! One day while I was off dairy I had a soy latte from Starbucks and breastfed her and within an hour she broke out in hives!

Babies little stomachs can be so sensitive but the hardest part is trying to convince mom to give up dairy.

[SandeeAR]

Yes, if Mom eats something that they have a sensitivity to (although I am not sure "allergy" is the correct term).

They can "react" to what mom eats. I had a first time mom that was eating Sonic Chili dogs at least once a week. Never thought of it causing him BAD gas and he was miserable all the next day.

I also had a reflux baby, a premie with stomach surgery in the first week of life. She cried most of her first 3-6 months. It really helped that I kept her in the upright position most of the day, unless she was sleeping. I even kept her upright, beside me on the couch at bottle time. Not in the usual football hold to bottle feed.

She did out grow it.

[MarinaVanessa]

Can babies be allergic to breast milk???

Yes and although sometimes it's because of the mom's diet I know that it's not always the case. I hope that in ths case it is and then all mom has to do is figure out what's causing it and then not eat whatever that is. Unfortunately however DR's are sometimes quick to say "Oh, it's this" instead of really taking the time to try to figure out what is causing it.

In my case my son was BF and he is actually lactose intolerant. He was 5mo old and all of a sudden he began spitting up all of the time. Dr said it was colic and that he was gassy. Well duh he's gassy, his tummy is hard, he has the runs, he farts all of the time and he spits up constantly. It doesn't take a PHD to tell me what I already know.

I took our baby back a month later after no change and DR said it was something that I was eating. Really? I don't eat the same things every day and this is happening every day. But he was the DR so DH went out and bought formula and guess what? No change.

Finally I went out and just bought soy formula and then guess what? We saw an immediate change almost overnight. Even now that he's 1 we still give him soy formula in a sippy with a straw, not in a bottle (believe it or not buying soy formula is cheaper than buying soy milk) and he's fine. My cousin unknowingly gave him ice-cream and he got the runs.

My DD on the other hand also had colic as a baby and that was rectified simply by switching her to DR Brown's bottles.

To make a long story short, you won't know what the real problem is unless DCM tries a few different things first to see what helps.

[renodeb]

Can babies be allergic to breast milk???

They can have an allergy to something mom is eatting.
Debbie

[renodeb]

What kind of bottle do you use for the baby? I would give it sometime. Infants usually need about a month to really adjust to a new dc. Do you have a trial period built into your contract? If so use it. If things do improve after a month then you can reevaluate. Mom needs to be careful what shes eatting so the baby has the best chance of not having a reaction.
Debbie

[Heidi]

My kids (21,19,14, 11) all had a hard time with high-iron formula. At the time, you could buy low iron, and that did the trick. I don't know if they even make low-iron any more. If available, it would require a doctor's statement for the food program. The parents could try it at home, and if there is a noticible difference, could get the doctor's ok. Same with soy...

I had dc baby who could only drink "pre-digested" formula. Ick! It smelled like old potatoes!

Oddly enough, I had the same problem with prenatals when I was pregnant, and had to take Flinstones chewables instead.

[AmyLeigh]

You say the baby doesn't like the bottle.....My son was the same way. The first time I left him all day with my parents (at 4 mo) he absolutely refused to take the bottle. The next 2 days were the same. This was a baby who nursed every 2 hours for at least 20 minutes each time. I was told about a special breast-bottle nurser that is designed for BF babies. It's pricey, but I needed to get back to work, 2-3 days a week, so I bought it. It did the trick! I also used it for my youngest who needed a formula supplement so I wouldn't have to deal with any nipple confusion. I

http://www.amazon.com/Adiri-Breastbottle-Nurser-Adiri3-3-Stage/dp/B00150NNR6

[SilverSabre25]

Can babies be allergic to breast milk???

like others said, they can be allergic to or sensitice to something mom eats that passes into her milk. Dairy/lactose is a big one, as is soy. Some moms find they need to avoid beans, garlic, or broccoli. Corn, too.

Here's a link to info on allergens and breastfeeding

The top 8 allergens are (in no particular order):
dairy
soy
shellfish
peanuts
tree nuts
wheat
eggs
fish

[SilverSabre25]

This is really interesting, as far as lactose intolerance goes...I didn't know this information.

[AnneCordelia]

My 3rd child had reflux and was exclusively breastfed.

He was extremely sensitive to dairy in my diet. It can take up to two weeks of avoiding dairy for it to be out of your system. You do not have to eat the offending food daily for traces of it to be in your breastmilk. In our case, within 5 days of cutting diary out of my diet he was a different baby. No more crying, no more arching back in pain. By 2 weeks of dairy-free he was no longer spitting up ounces of milk at a time and was keeping his food down.

"Colic" is a catch-all term. Usually it involves some degree of reflux and some degree of normal crying. It used to be called "The Witching Hour"...when babies between 6-12 weeks old do nothing but fuss and cry from 5-9pm or so. I'm not sure if they still call it that.

Anyway, 'colic' and the witching hour seem to peak at about 12 weeks. Most babies outgrow reflux issues by about a year of age.

I would do 3 naps a day for a 3mo.

HTH,
Emily