Not sure what is wrong with my baby

[Samart]

Hello all

Sorry I m going to write a long post but I am in desperate need of some advice. My son who is now 12 weeks old and bottle fed (normal SMA from birth milk) doesn’t like to drink milk. We been struggling with milk intake and weight gain since 4 weeks of age. At first I thought it is just colic but when it became almost impossible to make him drink milk then I took him to the gp and he suggested reflux and gave him gaviscon but that didn’t do much. I went to the main hospital and after keeping us for three days in the hospital, they prescribed him omeperazole tablets. I thought now he will drink his milk without a battle but no I was wrong after few days he started refusing feed again and dropped two percentile. They then gave him SMA high energy milk, which made his potty really smelly and green. Again it was really hard to make him drink milk. After three week then they put him on to infertini high energy milk which is a cow milk protein allergy milk. I am giving this milk from last one week and I m yet to see a difference. I am so done with this all now. I really don’t know what is wrong with him. I mean even with this special milk he cries a lot while drinking and gets really unsettled. I mean i know he is hungry and crying bcoz he wants milk but as soon as I give him a bottle he refuses or after taking few sips he starts crying. He is been like this since weeks 4. I mean whatever doctors are giving us not making any difference. What should I do now. I am feeling really depress as I am not enjoying this time. I dread feed times. Please help

Thank you all so much for replying.

Could it be teat size? Is it too slow and he can't get the milk quick enough which is causing frustration. My three all had strong sucks and we didn't get past the smallest teat flow or they'd be choking. Yours could have the opposite problem? What about trying a couple of different brands of bottles. Teats vary in texture and size. The avent ones are very hard but suited 2 of my children but one of them got on much better with Dr Browns (if they still do them! I'm going back 15 years!). It's so hard to know and very frustrating and upsetting for you.

Just to add that none of mine were big milk drinkers. The girls were 16-20oz a day and my son never took more than about 25oz in a day. How much does he take in one day?

Peptisorb is a whey based formula- so still has some milk proteins. If he’s following a curve they’ll be unconcerned- but if you still think it’s not right, keep on pushing. It’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil unfortunately. Have his other symptoms improved- so no mucous/blood in stools/ skin condition?

What is he like taking a couple of ounces of water?

Have you tried keeping the baby upright in a sling after feeding? Gravity helps the milk go down and reduces acid reflux. Good luck sounds very difficult.

He Normally takes 17 to 18 oz a day which is obviously very less for his age but even this much of milk is a struggle. He cries for atleast an hr before goes to sleep every night . I sleep feed him normally bcoz I know he won’t drink if he is wide awake.
I feel he cries and doesn’t settle no matter what I do because he is hungry and not feeding. I will go to boots tomoro to buy dr brown bottle. He is on avent so I don’t know if he will take the other bottle but atleast I will try.
Omaperazole doesn’t do anything so sometimes I don’t even bother with that. I am just waiting for him to be six months so I can start solid. Hopefully then things will get a bit easier. Atm I am just extremely tired and worried for him.
Thank you all for all the lovely suggestions

No I don’t see any mucus or blood in his stool but his poo is bright green and runny and he gets very gassy.
HV told me not to give him water because that will make his milk intake even more less.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. My baby was the same and it's so exhausting.

My DS had CMPA, which he had grown out of at 7 months, and he had Similac Alimentum formula prescribed by the doctor and 5ml omeprazole oral suspension for the reflux. I used Dr Brown bottles too.
I know I might get flamed for this but I also gave him Neuners Baby Tea- not loads as after all it's not to replace feeds, just to soothe his tummy and it worked wonders! You can buy it from Amazon.
He's great now. He can have all all kinds of dairy so if it is CMPA, it does pass and will get better. I hope this helps

Get the cross bottles come out wuicker and cow and gate feed in bouncer my daughter hated milk xx

We swapped to the mam bottles when we were struggling to get our little girl to feed and they made such a difference! They have a cross top year which apparently helps ease these kids of problems. Also try a faster flow teat? It could be that he's not getting milk quick enough

Give the new bottles/teats a try. I hope it works!
Have you tried distracting him while you fees him? Show him a toy, read a book, tv (i know limit screen time and all that but at that age it's just moving colours!!). Might make him forget he's drinking milk.

Can you start solids before 6 months?

I would suggest keeping a diary of milk intake and your baby's symptoms so you can show them to your GP if symptoms do not improve.
Symptoms of CMPA are crying constantly, excema, excessive wind, unusual bowel movements, vomiting, irritability and difficulty feeding.
Often the symptoms of CMPA present very similarly to reflux so drs will often prescribe anti reflux medication along with a prescription formula.
It sounds like your baby is on a hydrolysed formula meaning that the proteins are broken down but for some babies this is not enough and they require a formula like Neocate. With DD1 I must have bought every bottle and teat I could think of in desperation.
With DD2 my concerns were taken much more seriously and addressed much sooner.
Neocate is expensive so dr's only prescribe this as a last result which is why I think keeping a diary will help you if your baby does eventually need this type of formula.
Your comments about struggling to feed 60mls really resonated with me because I remember that so well.

*last resort!

My DS had Nutramigen and Damira formula prescribed for cow’s milk allergy. They both tasted absolutely repulsive (bitter) and it was a struggle to get the milk down him - basically I was force feeding him. Have you tasted the milk, OP, to see if the taste is the problem?

Haven’t had time to read all replies so not sure if it’s already been suggested, but my son was EXACTLY the same. Turned out to be a very tight posterior tongue tie.

Pointless going to your GP/HV about this, they are bloody useless with infant feeding issues. You need an IBCLC or Infant feeding nurse to properly diagnose.

Not sure where you are in the Country, but i’d HIGHLY recommend Milk Matters in Huddersfield. If that’s not possible then Google tongue tie clinics local to you. I would say he definitely needs checking out by someone who knows what they are doing in that field.

CMPA symptoms are very similar to TT symptoms. My son was diagnosed with CMPA but as soon as his TT was cut, he could magically handle formula. Of course, he was never CMPA.

Just a word of warning that once the tie is cut, it often tries to stick back together, so a fair few sessions of cranial osteopathy are needed and it massively helps.

Best thing I ever done getting my son’s sorted. He is now absolutely thriving.

Best of luck I know how tough this can be, but you’ll come out the other side. X

Just wanted to say that the cmpa milk is disgusting, my son was on neocate and even the smell was unbearable. For some reason he never had any issue with it.
I’d try a faster flowing teat as well and I’d say not all babies have issues with different bottles, again my son was never bothered.

Also wanted to say the green and smelly poo is also normal for babies on that sort of prescription milk. And I’d also try the omeprozale and keep it regular as you might only notice an effect with it with regular use.

Good luck nothing more soul destroying then Feeding issues, you are doing everything you can and you should take pride in that you are trying to do what is best for baby xx

You need to keep giving the omeprazole OP. It doesn't work immediately and if you don't dose him consistently, it won't ever work at all. It takes weeks to build up in the bloodstream, before you see an effect.

So sorry you're going through this, my prem DS was the same and it was awful. He suddenly came right around 14 weeks adjusted.

All the best x

Just want to echo what pp have said and recommend mam bottles. DD is breastfed but takes these bottles really well and gets no wind (she's very sicky after breastfeeding).

I hope you managed to get some dr brown bottles today OP, I think the bottle could be the issue.

My son was CMPA and had to be on Neocate for 6 weeks before he got all the dairy out of his system. He refused all food being tube-fed due to the amount of vomit.
I think you need to give the new milk time to work.

Sounds like baby has a feeding aversion already. Fighting feeds, being obviously starving, but screaming at the bottle or feeding position. Mine did too, a result of the pain of reflux and severe cmpa apparently (digestive problems and projectile vomiting stopped once we got amnio acid milk and omeprazole, but it does take a little while to kick in). We had to retrain him at 7 months when his allergy and reflux came under control - theres a programme, book and Facebook group you can check out if you're interested.

We found nuk bottles the best (I think anything other than tommy tippee would have been ok though). The weight loss/falling percentiles is so hard, people who have not been through it and the constant battles dont really get the physical stress of it all (although I know some people have much worse issues ofc). We dream fed from 4 weeks through 7 months, it only gets harder as they age and you have to be ever more sneaky :(

Push for a thorough tongue tie assessment and a referral to speech and feeding therapy team. We're with them now as almost 14 month old doesn't eat solids... Keep making as much noise as possible with everyone and anyone, no matter what the think of you.

Good luck, you WILL come through it and one day wont have to be terrified of every feed x

@Samart i know it’s been a couple of years but how did you end up getting on? I’m in the same position with my 12 week old!

Have you had any allergy testing recommended? My son was similar and we found he was dairy intolerant. No dairy free alternative at the time so we were recommended Soya milk. Not ideal but it worked.