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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

very sickly 7-week old please help!

30 replies

LoopyLouLisa · 22/10/2007 13:59

Ok so I'm not really sure which topic to put this thread in but i had some great help here before when getting ds1 from his cot into a bed and i'm hoping that you'll be able to help me again.

from birth dd has posseted (sp?) but lately she seems to be bringing up pretty much all of her milk. the doc's are concerned that she's not putting on enough weight (she was 6lb 14oz at birth and 9lb on friday but apparently that's still not enough) yet they're not being very helpful about solving this. she has always had a small appetite and doesn't sleep very much and i'm thinking that this could all be connected. i think she does suffer from colic as she has green poo a lot and trouble bringing up her wind. infacol, dentinox and gripe water haven't helped though, and i did try the 'sensitive/easy digest' version of her aptamil formula without any improvement.

i really don't know what to do and i'm getting desperate now. ds (20 months) is being aggressive now to get attention as i'm pretty much chained to the sofa all day with dd trying to settle her. i am suffering from pnd and crying loads through feeling guilty about not being able to comfort dd and neglecting ds. i am on my own all week as dp works away and i need to improve the situation asap.

please help xx

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Domesticgodless · 22/10/2007 14:03

oh lll it sounds awful.

You need help. Preferably a nice caring mother, but is there anyone around who can just take her for a while and walk her around?

Is she bottle or bfed? If bottle you could try a change of type of formula? If bf you could try the elimination of colic causing foods from your diet (sorry, I know this may seem either obvious or too bloody difficult when you have another child to look after).

If you can afford a mother's help I really think you should get one. Can dh take any holiday to help you out?

Original poster

LoopyLouLisa · 22/10/2007 14:09

she's formula fed on milupa/aptamil and dp took every last bit of his holiday and some unpaid leave to help me out post cs. it just about crippled us financially so taking more leave is impossible.

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lilospell · 22/10/2007 14:15

Would suggest going to the GP (or back, if you've been there already and they weren't much help) and tell them you are concerned. Do you have a health visitor? They are also there to help you (in theory!) Would also investigate post-natal/babyt & toddler groups to get you some time away from the house. Hopefully you'll get some good advice on here too, but if you have a sickly 7 week old, you really do need real-life professional help.

Domesticgodless · 22/10/2007 14:18

oh noooo. I have been where you are, but didn't have an older child to deal with too. The constant crying and being without adult help really drive you insane.

Are there any other infant feeding experts there who can advise LLL? I have heard that dairy allergies et al can cause excessive vomiting but do know you should only try to switch to soy formula under medical supervision. Also had one friend whose baby was throwing up all the time due to a urine infection. It doesn't sound as if your GP/HV are giving you much information or support here- perhaps raise this with the HV or at baby clinic?

For yourself- are you getting treated for PND in terms of antidepressants etc? I really wish I had done so with ds1 in the early months, I punished myself unnecessarily thinking I had to get through 'by myself'.

Original poster

LoopyLouLisa · 22/10/2007 14:33

I'm getting all the help i can with the pnd. i'm on anti-d's and i had it with ds too so i asked for help straight away this time. about a year ago we started going to toddler groups regularly and still do except this week and next they are closed for the school holidays. advice from hv/gp has basically been 'some babies are just sickly' although i do have to phone gp again tomorrow with an update. same gp is treating my pnd so i'm trying to explain to her that this is just making me worse as i'm only getting 3/4 hours sleep per night while dd is like this.

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Twitsthatgobumpinthenight · 22/10/2007 14:45

is she sick after every feed? my dd was sick quite a bit in the evening, prime colic time as well.
i used weak fennel tea with all mine to help ease colic.
does she like baths? or perhaps lying on her tummy for a little while? they seem to like pressure on their tummies if its sore.
I hope you solve this soon, I'll see you over on the sept thread.

Hubblebubbletoilandjaffacakes · 22/10/2007 14:57

lll, My dd2 was very similar to this, we would just wait for it at the end of each feed poised with a muslin. (bucket would have been better)

For us it was simple in the end, it was just the teat we were using. I had the Avent vari flow teats, using on the one line it was still way too fast for her therefore she was drinking the bottles so fast she couldn't hold it down, as soon as we sat her up, out it all came.

I changed her on to the normal number 2 teats for after 1mth old and she was fine, slow, but no sick. She's nearly 6mths now and has been back on the vari flow teats for about 2 mths with no problems.

Just a thought?

ccpink · 22/10/2007 15:00

loopy - don't think I can help much but sending hugs to you. Emilia is quite sickly and we find if we use a little bottle - flow not as fast - and make her stop for lots of rests it helps. also someone showed me a good way to ease wind by sitting them and holding under chin[like you would to pat] but then you rotate the whole top half of there body in circles. Is really effective - though we still have some spillages

Twitsthatgobumpinthenight · 22/10/2007 15:25

oh yes, i had to give dd a slow flowing avent as well, and it did help.

Twitsthatgobumpinthenight · 22/10/2007 15:33

try sitting her up more for the feed as well

Moomalicious · 22/10/2007 15:56

Not too much help from experience but friends of mine swore by colief, which is expensive (£10) but you can get it prescribed by the docs for free. My nephew had reflux disorder which was only diagnosed after he started losing weight and he had to have various medicines before feeds to help stop everything coming back up again. You could always ask the docs if they think it might be that?

Original poster

LoopyLouLisa · 23/10/2007 15:11

ok, so been back to the doc this morning and she insists it's acid reflux, has prescribed baby gaviscon, told me to feed upright (as i already do) and wants weekly weigh-ins to ensure she's gaining.

i am currently using avent 3 month teats/number 3's (as mw advised a faster teat in the early days as lo was only drinking half an ounce a time) i have done one 3oz feed with the gaviscon and she was still sick 4 times. would anyone advise going back to the 1 month/number 2 teats? i've still got them as they were only used for a few days. i can't afford to kit out a whole different set of bottles but i am will to try a thread in the wanted section if the bottles are maybe to blame.

OP posts:

Twitsthatgobumpinthenight · 23/10/2007 15:13

yes, do try the slower flowing ones before you buy anything. my dd was sick a bit as a baby and could only really cope with the slow flowing ones, number 1 I think.

YOMO · 23/10/2007 15:28

I really do sympathise with you I have been through all this my self with my dd. She had severe reflux and didn't put on any weight for 8 weeks before anyone did anything about it. Until that point I was told by my hv that it was just a washing problem. Washing problem my arse.. My dd is now 7 months and she is still being sick after every feed (even worse as now she is on solids and the sick smells of sick..) The gaviscon doesn't help with the sickness but it really changed dd quality of life as it stopped all her heartburn and indigestion she got due to her sickness. I used to feed her and then put her straight in an upright chair for 1/2 hour and I never winded her at all. I also put a pillow under the mattress of the mosses basket so she laid with her head above her tummy.. DD is as I say 7 months old now and has still not doubled her birth weight yet she was born 8lb 4 and is 11lb 14 now. The paediatrician at the hospital is thinking of taking her off the gaviscon as she doesn't need it now??? I don?t think so....... They say it will stop when she starts walking so I am holding them to that...

YOMO · 23/10/2007 15:32

Forgot to say that i would drop down one size on the teats, also you could try the "staydown" milk by SMA. You can use this with the Gaviscon. My dd didn't like it but there were lots of people on it at my baby clinic...

jacobandTheMummylysette · 23/10/2007 15:47

colief really helped us with a variety of things with ds, and baby gaviscon too. also i would suggest going down a teat level - ds is still only on the number 3 teats and he is 15 months (milk at bed time). the teat can make all the difference even if it is something like acid reflux, and if it is acid reflux the gaviscon should help.

i think there are also other formulas you can try as well that can be prescribed - certainly cow and gate do one called nutriprem 2 which is primarily for preemies but does help pile on the weight if that is still a worry. or there are low lactose ones (sma do one) that might help.

Original poster

LoopyLouLisa · 23/10/2007 15:53

i am thinking of changing formula (currently aptamil/milupa) as ds1 had absolutely no problems on cow & gate except he was greedy and i had to put him on hungry baby at 3/4 weeks old. i don't really want to change though unless i have to as a couple of people have told me it can really upset their stomachs for a couple of weeks each time.

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Jackaroo · 23/10/2007 16:08

I know it won't fix it for everyone, but definitely worth going to the GP and asking to try Nutrimigen 1 (for babies under 6 months) which is a formula prescription. DS was miserable with breastfeeding until I stopped drinking dairy myself, made such a difference...

Nutrimigen is still cow's milk, but they do something to the proteins so that they're so small the body doesn't recognise them as cow's milk.

Got to be worth a go. It's expensive stuff, but that shouldn't worry them........If necessary, you can just buy it from the pharmacist (they may have to order it in), and then if it works, you can present the GP with a solution as it were. It's about £12 a tin, but you should see results well before you're through the first one!

Good luck

PS You might find the allergy/health boards useful here, and the Depression board for the PND stuff. Do you have a proper clinical plan for how to deal with that? Medication, therapy etc etc?? You could easily start taking something, which frankly could make everything look a damn sight better.

Jackaroo · 23/10/2007 16:10

Sorry, wrote that ages ago, and didn't see your new post re: anti-d's etc

Original poster

LoopyLouLisa · 23/10/2007 19:31

update - settled from about 2pm til second gaviscon feed at 5pm: she took 4oz from number 2/1 month teat in 20mins including being winded halfway thru by rotating her upper body, without her posseting, but wouldn't wind at the end, and then she settled in her chair, dozing on and off for 1hr15, spent half an hour grunting and grizzling trying to strain out a poo and has now dozed off again.

i know not to get my hopes up too soon but i think that is a vast improvement. ds1 slept from 12 til 4 too so i had 2 hours to myself, catching up on bottles/washing/mn , had a long hot shower and managed to eat before nightfall for a change! got everything crossed that this is not a one-off.

OP posts:

Twitsthatgobumpinthenight · 23/10/2007 19:35

that's really good news, fingers crossed for you

lilospell · 25/10/2007 12:43

Hope things are continuing to get better. My DS was a sicky baby. A HV said to me that what they bring back always looks like a lot, but isn't as much as you think (tho seems like tons when you're cleaning it up!) Let us know how things are going when (if!) you get a minute.

YOMO · 25/10/2007 13:49

So glad things are looking up for you..

Hubblebubbletoilandjaffacakes · 25/10/2007 14:28

Wooo Hooooo

How's things now? I'm so pleased the slower teat could be helping it certainly was the problem for us.

I'm shocked your HV suggested using a fast teat.

Doesn't it take ages though to feed now?

Original poster

LoopyLouLisa · 25/10/2007 16:20

Hiya,

the gaviscon is helping loads but it does take ages to feed. usuall in the hour that the bottle is okay for, she manages 2-3 oz but she's still really unsettled.

i didn't manage to get her weighed yesterday as planned so i'm gonna be in trouble with the doc. and today she's extra grizzly as she just had the 8-week jabs and is too little for more than 1ml of calpol.

the last 2 nights she has been awake from 3 til 6/7am after not settling til after midnight and being up at 8ish for ds is a killer. she's awake most of the day too and just cat naps. trying out a swing to see if that helps but it's not making much difference atm

OP posts:

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