Oats at 10 weeks? Pressure

[strawberrycake]

I've posted a lot about my son's feeding issues. He's currently eating about half the recommended amount for his size/ age. His weight gain veers from static to slow. He's gone from 75th centile to below the 25th in around 5 weeks. He screams during feeds and appears very uncomforrable. I'm going back to the gp to ask for a refferral, they've tried gaviscon and soya formula so far which has cleared the diarrhea but he's constipated now (not badly).

MY husband is basically accusing me of being a bad mother as I won't give him oats (boil oats for a long time then feed the liquid after seiving the lumps). This is his mother's idea that it's the solution to everything and her kids thrived on it. I won't do it, I want to know what's wrong, not just keep guessing. Also it just doesn't feel right.

Who's wrong, me or him. We've had a row over it and he's left because I won't let him feed ds the oat milk.

Hi strawberry cake

Just read your thread. How's it going now? Just wanted to post because I felt so sorry for you worrying about your baby, and with the added pressure of this dubious oat remedy nonsense.

Does his mum have no common sense? Breast milk is a babies natural food, how can oats be better?

Oats have gluten - not as babd for digestive problems but still a type of gluten. If your baby has digestive issues, then oats will possibly only aggravate it.

Please resist your MIL, bt get medical help quickly!

Second Bikerunski on gluten. I have started weaning early but am obsessed with gluten! The right time to give it seems to be between 6 and 7 months (too early and they can't cope with it, too late and you risk their first taste of it being in too big a portion. Choosing porridge is tricky as they all say from 4 months but some have gluten in them from the oats . Mentioning no names HEINZ.
Coeliac disease and gluten in babies seem to be linked and my dh and his brother both have gut problems and were weaned at 6 weeks on rusks...

I'm not expert, but my DD (14 months) is intolerant to oats and it causes sickness and constipation. 10 weeks is incredibly young to be giving anything other than milk. A small amount of diluted OJ would probably be fine. We did this, when she was a little older, but it didn't seem to help.

I'm confused from your OP as to what milk he is having. Breast milk? Soy formula? If breast, call an NCT breastfeeding counsellor, they might put your mind at rest.

I agree that an appointment at the GP with DH, asking for clarification on the oat/OJ thing, and a referral to paediatrician is the best idea.

Have you tried baby massage? This can help his digestive system, and also help him to feel more at ease, so perhaps might encourage him to feed more?

Good luck :)

He has actually crossed three centiles. The guidelines for failure to thrive says to refer if baby crosses two centiles. Anyway, he is screaming and upset with feeding, so needs to see dr for ranitidine/omeprazole no matter how many centiles he dropped!

75 to 25 is two centiles (75 -50 - 25). I agree that this is irrelevant, really, except (as I said) the drop was over a short time, in a baby who screams and is uncomfortable. Deffo a medical opinion needed.

To update:

He has constipation now.

He had jabs yesterday and has a fever/ pain

The water supply has been shut off because of a leak so nothing to make milk with, cool him.

He's practically refusing to eat at all, silly 0.5-1 oz feeds.

ARGHHHH

Oh and nearly at the 9th centile now as no gain....

shoot me.

Strawberry - if he's 10 weeks, you can give him the recommended dose of calpol for the fever. It's not really recommended to sponge babies down when they're hot any more, but by all means strip him to his nappy or short vest if he seems to be burning. Sorry about your situation.

This will pass. Have you been to a GP and got a referral yet? He really needs to be seen.

Oh I forgot to say in my general rant. Got a referral for pediatrician in 2 weeks.

Given Calpol, the sponging was more to do with the diarrhea tbh.

Strawberry cake, please trust your instincts and don't give oat milk or orange juice. At 10 weeks, it's just not appropriate, whatever the advice may have been in the past. I know from experience that it is particularly hard when your DH is agreeing with his mother that you should do something that you know is wrong... Really glad you have got an appointment with a paediatrician.

The family skin conditions you describe are often linked with allergy. Just going by what you are describing, allergy is a distinct possibility.

Of course, it's not a certainty and there may well be a far simpler explanation, but if your DS does turn out to be allergic to something, it is not the end of the world. My DS has quite a few allergies and is a happy little boy who is otherwise quite ridiculously healthy... but I had to ignore a lot of bad advice from relatives to keep him thay way.

Good luck with it all...

If you are really worried about him make a fuss. Go to A and E and don't worry about 'wasting their time'. They will listen and they will take you seriously. You will get help or be reassured.

If you search for my name, back in 2007 I was given some AMAZING massage movements to relieve my small daughter's constipation. Please try it, it really did (and still does) help.

Agree with pomme diarrhoea/dehydration can get really dangerous for little babies really really quickly. Get to A&E and make a damned fuss until someone helps you.

It sounds like his tummy is already a mess, please don't give him oats on top of that. PLEASE.

yes, I totally agree with that. If you are really concerned and can't wait 2 weeks for the paediatrician, go to A&E and be prepared to sit there a for while. They will take you seriously and can refer you to whoever you need to see. It was following a trip to A&E in an ambulance that my DS finally got diagnosed.

Glad you got the paeds referral - your baby has "failure to thrive" if he has gone from the 75th to the 9th centile. There are loads and loads of potential causes of this and you need the paediatrician to assess him fully.

It sounds like your DH is probably just frustrated at being unable to do much to improve what must be a difficult situation for you all - I would smile sweetly at the oat milk suggestion and agree to discuss it with the paediatrician when you see them.

Agree with Tiktok - absolutely pointless giving your baby anything LESS calorie dense than formula - whether oatmilk or juice.

Psoriasis is linked with inflammatory bowel disorders, although things like crohns and ulcerative colitis are really really unusual in infants. They can cause bloody diarrhoea though. You definately need DS investigating by a paediatrician. I wouldn't bother with A&E for this - you are unlikely to see an expert any quicker, unless your DS gets dehydrated or unwell in the meantime.

I am a bit that your DH isn't supporting you, actually!

sorry, I mean I think that unless you think your DS is poorly enough to get admitted through A&E, you are unlikely to get seen quicker by a paediatrician this way. If he is acutely poorly though, then I would go rather than wait.

He's doing as well as can be really. He's smilely and alert, eating enough to remain hydrated/ static weight. Apart from eating times he's a very happy chilled baby, the kind that will occupy himself on a mat or chair and smile when you walk in. He's just mainly refusing any more than 2oz now, he's developing all sort of tricks to avoid eating beyond just poking his tongue out. Now he just goes suck-spit-suck-spit after 2 oz. Bowels are more ok now, just the odd funny nappy.

Why not just aim for 2oz each feed and feed him more often? Perhaps he just has an extra small stomach and would prefer to snack?

Morlorth-Because he refuses the bottle completely between feeds. Believe me I offer it a lot! Sometimes he'll take 0.5-1oz then just eat that much less than normal when he feeds properly. It takes AGES to persuade him to take the bottle. My latest trick is to insert the dummy then quickly swap it for the bottle. I even tried waking him up at night for a sleepy feed but he just ate the same amount for the night spread out.
I've tried all the different bottles/ teats/ feeding on demand/ offering the bottle every 1/2 hours/ feeding to a schedule...all sorts. He just does what he wants, which means eating bugger all. HE screams blue murder if you try to push a bottle on him or prolong a feed. He's clearly uncomfortable after 2-3oz.

Maybe I'm a bit fixated on dairy allergy / intolerance but it does sound like a possibility. Two weeks is a long time to wait to see the paediatrician if your baby is hardly eating. Would it be worth buying some hypo-allergenic formula?

If you decide to go for that idea, go for something like Nutrimagen or Neocate (ask a pharmacist?) I've heard that you can get it over the counter although it's very, very expensive. If it makes a difference, you can get it on prescription.

I really wouldn't change the formula to something else before you see the paediatrician - they should make that sort of decision, imo (am a doc - but not a paed - so tend to think of neocate etc as almost equivalent to prescription meds).

If he is alert and smiley, but uncomfortable after feeds and not thriving, I think a 2 week paediatrician appointment is probably about right, isn't it? You can always take him to A&E if he becomes acutely dehydrated/unwell/in pain (at the end of the day, if he is really not eating at all he would seem listless and sleepy due to dehydration as much as anything else) - unless they would admit him to hospital, you aren't going to get assessed any quicker (by a paed) going through A&E if he is happy and smiley unless feeding.

Hope you get to the bottom of things quickly.

temper-that's how I feel.

Each time we've changed formula it's been a rocky few days of runny nappies etc. so I don't want to chop and change more than I need to as it can mean a week with actual weight loss while he gets used to it.

I will take him to A&E if the situation becomes worse, but at the moment he's a happy child. It's just something that he can't keep up long term.

Interestingly he is growing well length ways despite it all, now above 98th centile for length. What to make of that? Is it good, or bad he's at 98th for length and 9th for weight? He's strecthing the length of his 3-6 month sleepsuits at 11 weeks.

"at the moment he's a happy child, its just something that he can't keep up long term"

Totally agree with that - sounds very sensible to me. I would want to know that someone has dealt with any reflux issues and that there is no problem with how he is absorbing his feeds. There is a pretty standard "work-up" for failure to thrive. I think its unlikely that he's thriving if his weight has dropped 3 centiles, even if his height is preserved (although probably indicates he is actually getting relatively ok nutrition to keep growing in length). Try not to worry too much - infants are mostly very resiliant, evolution made sure of that! A few weeks of less than ideal growth will almost certainly be easily be made up for once you resolve whatever the issue is. Just keep an eye that he doesn't seem suddenly miserable or listless whilst you are waiting for your appointment. Let us know how you get on

thanks temper, amazingly he just ate 5oz. He does this every now and then which confuses me more! He's had today

6am: 2.5oz
10am:2oz
1pm:1oz
4pm:1oz
7.30: 5.5oz!

I am confused. (Btw the way I obviously tried to feed him more than that, it's actually a GOOD days intake for him). He really is a lovely happy baby who sleeps like a dream. Spent an hour happily sitting watching me cook, as long as I chat to him he's happy chilling.