Feeding

[Katielou2103892]

My baby is 4 weeks old and has problems feeding since birth. She was never able to breastfeed effectively. She would latch on (after much battling) feed for 3-5 minutes, then fall asleep. We struggled to wake her and she started to loose quite a bit of weight. We received a lot of help and were in and out of hospital, but in the end switched to bottle feeding (EBM and formula).
However, over the last few weeks bottle feeding her has also become a real battle.
She takes 30-50ml quite well but then refuses to take anymore. I change her nappy, wind her, strip her off and do anything else I can to wake her and get her interested again, but it is so difficult. Eventually I will get 70-90ml into her.
I think she is suffering from reflux which may be contributing to the problem. She is sometimes quite sick after feeding (but not always). However she is very distressed when feeding, arches her back constantly, is extremely windy, has lots of wet burps etc.
The gp prescribed infant gaviscon a few days ago but I have taken her off it after it made her extremely constipated. She didn't poo for over 36 hours and when she did she screamed and her poo was hard like an adults.
I am going to take her back to the gp in the morning and ask for a paediatric gastro referral.
I am hoping they may prescribe something else but am very concerned that she will become more constipated (we haven't had a 'normal' poo yet.
Has anybody else experienced anything like this?

It definitely sounds like reflux. I've heard quite a few people comment that Gaviscon hasn't helped and my son was the same. Among other things Gaviscon thickens the milk, the idea being that the thicker it is, the harder it is for it to come back up the oesophagus. You can get, without prescription, formula especially for reflux which is thicker and we found, didn't constipate our son half as much as Gaviscon. You shouldn't change babies milk too much because of tummy irritation but it can be a lifesaver in helping the issue a little whilst you're waiting for appointments etc.

Luckily, the thicker milk (along with infacol and gripe water for colic) was enough for our little man but some of my friends who's little ones had bad reflux swear that Ranitidine was the best thing they could have had and their babies fed normally after receiving it.

Good luck!

Thank you for you advice. I have a gp appointment in a couple of hours so hopefully we will start getting somewhere.
It's exhausting fighting with her to feed every 3 hours.

Katie yiur baby does seem to have a few symptoms of Cow's Milk Protein Allergy. Obviously, I'm not a doctor but it might be worth reading from Allergy Uk.

How did you get on with the doctors OP?

We have been investigating cows milk protein allergy this evening after a friend sent some information over. My husband had this when he was a baby- I definitely think it could be a possibility.
I saw a different doctor today who was lovely. He prescribed some ratidine and lactulose. The lactulose definitely worked (dirtiest nappy ever!) but made her extremely sick so he advised to hold off any more medication until tomorrow.
I think I'm going to take her back tomorrow to discuss cows milk protein intolerance. I've just fed her and she is almost wheezing again, was distressed during the feed and all the usual.
I'm sure the gp is going to be sick of me soon!

If she is wheezing as well then it does sound like a cow's milk allergy could be playing a part. Some babies can have this as well as reflux or some have one or the other. It really is so common in babies though so rest assured there is plenty of knowledge and help out there for you!

If she's wheezing I'd definitely go back to the GP and insist on a referral to a Paed. Don't worry about making a nuisance of yourself, it's your job as a Mum to get them the treatment they deserve

If you think it may help, take someone with you to the GP. It's sad but they may listen more if Dad goes too. Also, film her and insist they write everything in the red book.