I’m sorry, that sounds incredibly tough and exhausting. Are you formula feeding or nursing? If formula, maybe try switching brands or type and if breast feeding maybe try adjusting your diet? A lot of my friends needed to cut dairy while nursing.
Nursing. Cut out dairy now for 2 weeks with no change. Considering trying formula to see if that helps.
It takes 6 weeks for dairy to leave your system, unfortunately.
Post by somersault72 on Aug 25, 2020 10:09:58 GMT -5
Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! Our DD had a lot of gas pain, but it wasn't QUITE as bad as you're describing. Does white noise help? I had a vibrating bouncer seat with both my kids and it soothed them too. I hope you get some relief soon.
Post by lifetaketwo on Aug 25, 2020 18:37:32 GMT -5
I’m so sorry. My first was like this and we also didn’t bond because of it. In the end, there were no food issues. She woke up happy at 16 weeks and has been happy ever since. It was a very dark time for all of us and I mostly have blocked it out now. It’s okay that you aren’t bonding yet. Who could possibly bond while getting screamed at constantly??
You've gotten a lot of good advice, I just want to give you a virtual hug. That sounds really, really hard and I don't blame you for having trouble bonding. I hope it passes soon.
Post by expectantsteelerfan on Aug 25, 2020 19:18:57 GMT -5
My ds was like that. Unfortunately, we never figured out exactly what it was...maybe a combo of colic, dairy allergy and other sensitivities, and reflux. We had to have him on nutrimagen/allimentum for formula and prilosec for reflux (zantac didn't work) and he started allergy meds at like 6 months too. And even with all that, his entire first few months, he would go to sleep after walking/shushing/rocking him (tightly swaddled), and we'd put him down, and like clockwork sometime 30-45 min. later he'd wake up SCREAMING. Every.single.time. And in the middle of the night, it would often take an hour or more to get him back to sleep. I eventually found that if I held him, he would sleep for longer. So even though I didn't want to, I ended up cosleeping with him on my chest overnight and holding him for any naps that weren't car naps until we sleep trained, which we did out of sheer desperation at 4.5 months. Once we resigned ourselves to holding him to sleep, he got better sleep and became a happier baby when he was awake, and by 6 months he was a generally happy baby. I never thought of doing this with him, but when we then had dd (who didn't scream like him, but also woke at the 45 minute mark from sleep if put down), I would hold her for the beginning of naps/night sleep, then rock/shush her when she started to stir, and then keep holding her a bit till she was in a deeper sleep. Then I could put her down and she'd sleep on her own for hours. It still wasn't ideal, but it was much better than what we had to do with ds. But she didn't have the reflux/allergy issues.
I'm so sorry. I could have written this exact thing when DD was little. I wore her in a wrap and walked or bounced with her on a exercise ball 8-10 hours a day and co-'slept' at night. We tried all the reflux meds, gas meds, etc nothing worked. Her only other symptom was really bad smelling gas and poops (I breastfed). In my gut I knew it was allergies but the doctor didn't agree. I tried switching to alimentum but when I didn't see immediate results (I think you need to give it 2-3 weeks) I switched back to breastfeeding. I cut milk and soy out of my diet. Things got better but not great around 9 weeks (she still just seem uncomfortable but wasnt crying all day). At 9 months she was finally diagnosed with allergies to wheat, egg, milk, soy, nuts, oats, avocado, and sesame seeds. I cut everything from my diet and we stopped supplementing with Alimentum (its the first bottle we dropped when we finally understood what solids we could feed her). It made a world of difference. She has since been a much much happier baby. Long story short, try the formula. If that doesn't work ask your doctor for an even more elemental form of it (I can't remember the name)
My youngest was like that. He has MSPI. Cutting dairy alone wasn't enough because soy protein is so similar.
My son was this way too- extremely bad reflux combined with MSPI.
He wasn’t better until: -Gerber soothe drops - 2 weeks after I had been on my “clean” diet for 6 weeks- I went on a strict elimination diet (if I didn’t make it, I didn’t eat it for 16 months- I regimented my eating so I ate the same thing at the same time every day- no dairy or soy- including soybean oil, which meant no prepared foods including things like premade bread) -He was on compounded Prevacid for 10 days (after 2 dose increases of Zantac and a referral to a GI doc) -He decided he liked his car seat- every weekend my H would drive him for 2-3 hours and I would stay home and sleep
This was between 3-4 months old, because I was a FTM and the doctor told me it was colic until he spit up green bile, said he was probably just fussy from gas til we tested his stool and eventually I decided to take things into my own hands and called the GI doctor crying and begging them to see me with a month long food log and the list of doctor visits we’d already had.
Trust your gut here. My son ended up with his lung passages being damaged from inhaling reflux because it was so severe. He did eventually grow out of his intolerances- soy first around 18 months and dairy by 2. He’s 4.5 and still takes reflux meds.
If Nutrimigen/ Alimentium doesn’t work for you, ask for samples of Neocate, it’s the true elemental formula. It’s $$$$$ but our DCP required a days’ worth of formula in case of emergency so we had to buy it a couple of times because it expires pretty quickly.
I’m sorry for how hard this has been for all of you. You’ve gotten great advice. My daughter wasn’t nearly as challenging at that age, but we did use the Gerber soothe drops and cavilon no sting barrier film on her bum due to terrible diaper rash. I ordered it from amazon and the stuff was worth it’s weight in gold.
Sorry you are all having such a difficult time, sending big stranger internet hugs to you all. I just want to add to all the great suggestions so far - reflux can present similarly, so you could try getting a prescription for an antacid (not sure what they prescribe now since ranitidine is off the market). When my son was a newborn he never spit up so it took us a while to figure out why he was screaming in pain all the time - we also thought it was gas/diet issues. I slept upright with him in a chair for over a month and he screamed bloody murder half the time he was awake, it was exhausting.
If Nutrimigen/ Alimentium doesn’t work for you, ask for samples of Neocate, it’s the true elemental formula. It’s $$$$$ but our DCP required a days’ worth of formula in case of emergency so we had to buy it a couple of times because it expires pretty quickly.
This. My dd had dairy allergy and nutra and almintium didn’t work for her. Luckily my insurance covered 70% of the cost of neocate.
Post by lovesherheels on Sept 3, 2020 9:44:29 GMT -5
I'm so sorry your babe isn't feeling well. My DS had a stomach condition -- pyloric stenosis -- that we had to treat with surgery when he was a month old, but I remember how helpless we felt with his constant discomfort in those early weeks. It's so hard to seethem so uncomfortable and not really be able to help -- and it makes bonding so, so hard. I hate to hear you're going through this, and I hope that things turn the corner soon.
On baby acne ... my DS had it as well and I felt like it would never go away. When I mentioned it to a friend with a son about the age of mine, she recommended that we use these cloths a few times a day (with no soap, just warm water on them) on his face. So, I gave them a whirl and they worked like a charm. For whatever that's worth.
(PS: I should clarify. I share about my DS's stomach condition only because I sympathize with how you're feeling, not because I think your DS has it or anything. My DS had a lot of stomach/gas-like pain but it was paired with an increasing amount of spit-up that eventually started to come up with enough force to cover feet of distance and a decrease in weight -- symptoms that you seem to luckily be missing. But I really do hope the little guy gets some relief soon -- and that you do, too. Hang in there, mama.)
marie3246, I'm sorry your baby is feeling so poorly. I know how difficult it is to see your baby in pain and feel helpless. It all sounds very familiar to me. My youngest was allergic to milk protein and had nearly all of the symptoms you describe above. He gained weight well (probably because I was always feeding him to try to soothe him). My pediatrician was reluctant to test his stool, trying various reflux medicines first. But I insisted numerous times and sure enough he had blood around the 6 week mark. We started with a pediatric GI right away who had me work with a lactation consultant to radically modify my diet since I was nursing. The GI also prescribed an elemental formula called Elecare that our insurance covered when we needed to supplement. It takes a good 6 weeks for dairy to leave your GI system, so we didn't see immediate improvement. However, slowly but surely things did improve. I was extremely strict with my diet, and the one time I had a small slip up (I ate a single string bean sauteed in butter before realizing) it affected my son immediately. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat more.
marie3246 , did baby end up feeling better on the hypoallergenic formula?
Unfortunately no. It actually got a good bit worse. We took him back to our doctor and got him on reflux meds which seem to be helping slightly? But he is still having terrible gas pains especially at night. The doctor told us there isn't much we can do and that it's his digestive system being immature. They said to stop the windi because that's not allowing his body to learn to poop on his own.
He's back on breastmilk and is nursing better but I'm supplementing with pumped milk. He gained a lot of weight at his last appointment and its probably from us constantly feeding him because it's one of the only things we can do to keep him calm. He was slightly underweight prior to this so the doctor was happy with his weight gain.
They don't think it's a food allergy because he is gaining weight, no blood in poop or other signs. However he is still so unhappy 99% of the time he's awake and during the day he mostly just takes cat naps of 30-45 min if that. It's exhausting. He will be 6 weeks next week so hopefully he will start to get better then?
My other concern is baby acne. He has a good bit of it that doesn't seem to go away. Not sure if that's related to the food or not?
So my BFF's son has some condition where his digestive system is too slow? I didn't know her when she was going through the diagnostic process so that's all a little fuzzy to me, but it took almost 3 years for them to get him diagnosed because everyone kept dismissing it as colic or reflux. But she kept pushing because she felt like something was wrong. He would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. He now takes erythromycin and she said that was a miracle drug. It helps keep his digestive system moving.
ETA: I know I'm a stranger so my BFF is a TOTAL stranger, but she would be happy to talk with you and compare symptoms/stories/etc. She says she feels like she has PTSD from the whole process because it was so terrible and she doesn't want anyone else to have to go through that.
marie3246, did baby end up feeling better on the hypoallergenic formula?
Unfortunately no. It actually got a good bit worse. We took him back to our doctor and got him on reflux meds which seem to be helping slightly? But he is still having terrible gas pains especially at night. The doctor told us there isn't much we can do and that it's his digestive system being immature. They said to stop the windi because that's not allowing his body to learn to poop on his own.
He's back on breastmilk and is nursing better but I'm supplementing with pumped milk. He gained a lot of weight at his last appointment and its probably from us constantly feeding him because it's one of the only things we can do to keep him calm. He was slightly underweight prior to this so the doctor was happy with his weight gain.
They don't think it's a food allergy because he is gaining weight, no blood in poop or other signs. However he is still so unhappy 99% of the time he's awake and during the day he mostly just takes cat naps of 30-45 min if that. It's exhausting. He will be 6 weeks next week so hopefully he will start to get better then?
My other concern is baby acne. He has a good bit of it that doesn't seem to go away. Not sure if that's related to the food or not?
Hi. So my kiddo has a CMPA. And looking back knowing what I know now, some of his initial signs were baby acne, cradle cap, and the crying. Ugh. I can’t even think back now about it. I’m heading to bed right now but I’d love to chat more so please feel free to PM me and I’ll read through this in the AM and respond more.
Ugh that it so hard. I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this.
My DD was such a difficult baby. We tried so many different things to help. We bounced so much, we ended up wearing down part of our couch so much we had to replace it 🙈 She ended up having silent reflux, and once we got a prescription for that and switched to Gerber Soothe, things started getting better. When my youngest had similar issues, we went straight to Gerber Soothe, and it worked for him as well.
I hope you find what works for your LO and you all get some rest soon.