I'm still recovering from our long weekend. We had friends visiting us for the whole weekend, and while it was great to see them (we only see them once or twice a year), both DH and I were exhausted by the time they left Monday afternoon. They were our 1st house guest since we had our basement finished (they loved having their own bedroom and bathroom downstairs) and our 1st house guests since Baby arrived. And really, they were ideal house guests because they just made themselves at home while DH and I took care of Baby R. They made their own breakfasts, did dishes, cleaned some of our house, and even washed their sheets and towels this morning before they left and remade the guestbed, so it would be ready for our next guests in 2 weeks. Can you believe it?
Still, it was a long weekend because neither DH nor I got many naps in during the day, which are what have been helping us make it through the night with Baby R. since she still has a rough time some evenings. She is still so unpredictable though. Friday she did so well during the day and slept well in the evening without much fussing. She slept 3 hours, 3 hours, and 2 hours Friday night. Perfect! Our friends thought we had the perfect baby...until the rest of the weekend rolled around.
Baby R. became very spitty and extremely fussy over the weekend, spitting up a lot with every feeding. I've suspected reflux for a few days now, but the weekend really seemed to confirm it in my mind. DH and I have tried a lot of different methods to cut down on her excessive spitting up...burping her every 5-7 minutes while feeding, nursing her while she's at in incline not laying horizontally, elevating the top of her bed a bit, doing gas drops at each feeding, nursing only from one side, and keeping her upright for 30-60 minutes after eating before laying her down in the crib. I've even become really picky with what I eat and drink and cut out dairy, eggs, and caffeine along with watching so I don't eat gassy foods.
It's frustrating for me that nothing seems to really work because she seems like she's so uncomfortable at times. It used to be that I would nurse and she would fall into a "milk coma," so sleepy and content with a full belly, but milk coma girl is no more. Now I nurse and she continues to fuss, grunt, arch her back while eating, and then cry and cry afterwards. Sometimes she really works herself up with the cries and the only thing I can think of is that her little insides are uncomfortable.
This weekend, I would nurse for 5 minutes, stop to burp and she would already be spitting up. I would nurse another 5 minutes, burp, and she'd spit up again. Certainly, that can't be normal? She never has a problem not wanting to nurse, and sometimes (often times?) she nurses too much. I've read babies with reflux can often overeat because the breast milk acts as an antacid and is so soothing to them, they don't stop eating. I've tried to just nurse her for 18-22 minutes and not more to see if that cuts down on the spitting up (results uncertain at the moment).
And we're not just talking about a small amount of spit-up. We are talking about enough to soak through a thick burp cloth, enough to pour all the way down your back from your shoulder and onto the floor...I think it's definitely more than the 2 tablespoons I've read can be normal. Her spit-up varies from watery to mucusy to chunky. The good thing is she's not vomiting and there's no projectile aspect to her spitting up.
Since we started letting her wake herself up and us not waking her, she eats every 3-4 hours for the most part. Some times she'll want to eat 2 or 2 1/2 hours after the last feeding, but typically she nurses and burps for 1/2 an hour and then it takes us another half an hour (or more to put her down) and she'll usually sleep 1-2 or sometimes 3 hour stretches. She's usually very hungry when she wakes up and I feed her almost right way. We've thought about waking her up again to nurse, so she eats smaller meals more frequently, but that's the last resort to try. It's so nice to let her sleep the amount of time she needs to, which is only 13-15 hours a day (yes, I've been keeping track of how much she sleeps, eats, and poops). With so much time between feedings, she only gets 6-7 feedings in a day, but nurses well during those times.
The worst part of all this is when the spitting up wakes her up from sleeping. We'll feed and burp and go through all of the spit-up cleaning business at that time. Then we hold her or rock her for 30-60 minutes until she falls asleep and we can put her in her crib. Then 1-2 hours later she spits up in her crib, which wakes her up from her sleep and she usually won't go back to sleep at that point.
I called her pediatrician's office on Friday, but her doctor was out of town and so I just got a response back from the on-call doctor who said it's not a problem as long as she's eating ok and gaining weight. We are going to do another weight check with her Tuesday or Wednesday to see if she's still gaining an ok amount of weight as she has been the previous 2 weeks, but to me all the spitting up just seems excessive and I hate seeing her cry so violently after I feed her.
So...what do you think? Am I crazy to think she has reflux? Are there other things I need to try? Do I need to get her in to her pediatrician to talk about this or just ride it out? Does stress affect the composition of my breast milk (I was definitely stressed and low on sleep this weekend)? Could it have just been a little stomach bug this weekend?
Still, it was a long weekend because neither DH nor I got many naps in during the day, which are what have been helping us make it through the night with Baby R. since she still has a rough time some evenings. She is still so unpredictable though. Friday she did so well during the day and slept well in the evening without much fussing. She slept 3 hours, 3 hours, and 2 hours Friday night. Perfect! Our friends thought we had the perfect baby...until the rest of the weekend rolled around.
Baby R. became very spitty and extremely fussy over the weekend, spitting up a lot with every feeding. I've suspected reflux for a few days now, but the weekend really seemed to confirm it in my mind. DH and I have tried a lot of different methods to cut down on her excessive spitting up...burping her every 5-7 minutes while feeding, nursing her while she's at in incline not laying horizontally, elevating the top of her bed a bit, doing gas drops at each feeding, nursing only from one side, and keeping her upright for 30-60 minutes after eating before laying her down in the crib. I've even become really picky with what I eat and drink and cut out dairy, eggs, and caffeine along with watching so I don't eat gassy foods.
It's frustrating for me that nothing seems to really work because she seems like she's so uncomfortable at times. It used to be that I would nurse and she would fall into a "milk coma," so sleepy and content with a full belly, but milk coma girl is no more. Now I nurse and she continues to fuss, grunt, arch her back while eating, and then cry and cry afterwards. Sometimes she really works herself up with the cries and the only thing I can think of is that her little insides are uncomfortable.
This weekend, I would nurse for 5 minutes, stop to burp and she would already be spitting up. I would nurse another 5 minutes, burp, and she'd spit up again. Certainly, that can't be normal? She never has a problem not wanting to nurse, and sometimes (often times?) she nurses too much. I've read babies with reflux can often overeat because the breast milk acts as an antacid and is so soothing to them, they don't stop eating. I've tried to just nurse her for 18-22 minutes and not more to see if that cuts down on the spitting up (results uncertain at the moment).
And we're not just talking about a small amount of spit-up. We are talking about enough to soak through a thick burp cloth, enough to pour all the way down your back from your shoulder and onto the floor...I think it's definitely more than the 2 tablespoons I've read can be normal. Her spit-up varies from watery to mucusy to chunky. The good thing is she's not vomiting and there's no projectile aspect to her spitting up.
Since we started letting her wake herself up and us not waking her, she eats every 3-4 hours for the most part. Some times she'll want to eat 2 or 2 1/2 hours after the last feeding, but typically she nurses and burps for 1/2 an hour and then it takes us another half an hour (or more to put her down) and she'll usually sleep 1-2 or sometimes 3 hour stretches. She's usually very hungry when she wakes up and I feed her almost right way. We've thought about waking her up again to nurse, so she eats smaller meals more frequently, but that's the last resort to try. It's so nice to let her sleep the amount of time she needs to, which is only 13-15 hours a day (yes, I've been keeping track of how much she sleeps, eats, and poops). With so much time between feedings, she only gets 6-7 feedings in a day, but nurses well during those times.
The worst part of all this is when the spitting up wakes her up from sleeping. We'll feed and burp and go through all of the spit-up cleaning business at that time. Then we hold her or rock her for 30-60 minutes until she falls asleep and we can put her in her crib. Then 1-2 hours later she spits up in her crib, which wakes her up from her sleep and she usually won't go back to sleep at that point.
I called her pediatrician's office on Friday, but her doctor was out of town and so I just got a response back from the on-call doctor who said it's not a problem as long as she's eating ok and gaining weight. We are going to do another weight check with her Tuesday or Wednesday to see if she's still gaining an ok amount of weight as she has been the previous 2 weeks, but to me all the spitting up just seems excessive and I hate seeing her cry so violently after I feed her.
So...what do you think? Am I crazy to think she has reflux? Are there other things I need to try? Do I need to get her in to her pediatrician to talk about this or just ride it out? Does stress affect the composition of my breast milk (I was definitely stressed and low on sleep this weekend)? Could it have just been a little stomach bug this weekend?
I would give her a probiotic.....And up taking any that you are taking.
ReplyDeleteGood idea...I used to take a probiotic before I got pregnant. Maybe it's time to start again.
DeleteYes double up and put some in some breast milk and syringe into her. :)
DeleteI agree with Sew! Definitely a probiotic for both of you. We had an awful time with reflux. It can be very frustrating. I am going to email you.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to talk to Amazing Life, if I remember correctly her little guy had a tough time with reflux. All babies are prone to reflux because the lower esophageal sphincter remains somewhat patent until age one. However, what you are describing sounds like "more than usual" reflux. Just FYI- if dairy is a contributing factor, it takes 3 weeks of being totally off of it for it to clear your system and another 1-2 for it to clear hers. Is she latching okay? Is too air swallowing while nursing an issue? Just a thought. If your pediatrician ignores the situation, find an Peds GI that specializes in babies.
ReplyDeleteYes, I had heard dairy stays in the system for that long, so we are really in a waiting game until it clears both of our systems. Thanks for the reminder on that though.
DeleteAnd yes...she latches well. I don't think she's swallowing air while nursing. We did just meet with a lactation consultant last week and she seemed to think the nursing aspect was ok.
Ugh, no words of advice but I feel for you. Its hard to watch them suffer and not know what's wrong. Chasing, didn't know that diary takes 3 weeks to clear your system, maybe I should try that for longer...(
ReplyDeletePoor baby, hope she feels better soon!! Prayin for ya!
ReplyDeleteA lot of our NICU babies suffer from reflux and I always feel so bad seeing them arching and crying. You must be so frustrated! I say if the probiotic doesn't seem to help, ask the Dr. about prescribing Zantac or Reglan. I've seen it help a lot of babies improve almost instantly. Hope you find something that works!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, that is tough. I second or third the probiotic. Also, have you tried gripe water? It was very helpful with our Dominic. But he wasn't a big spitter so I bet she does have reflux going on. I've also heard a warm compress on the tummy can help. But I was always afraid of it being too hot! And with Dominic we almost always slept him in his cars eat, swing, or bouncy seat just to keep him upright. For at least 3 months. We were in survival mode! Praying for you during these tough new baby days.
ReplyDeleteSo tough! Poor R ... that reflux is nasty! It sounds like that's what she has. My co-worker mentioned some stories about her son having it that bad, but she didn't breastfeed him, so there was no advice I could gleam from that for you.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can find a fix for this. It is so hard to see the little ones in pain. :-( And I hope you can get more sleep too! Everything is SOOOO much better with sleep! :-)