Any dieticians/paediatricians/someone with lots of experience out there! (Long post, sorry!)

[MamaToAron]

I have a gorgeous DS who is 4 mo. For what seems like eternity now we’ve had feeding issues. (Posted on here a few times already…)

He couldn’t latch so we started bottle feeding (I’m expressing so he only gets breast milk at the moment). He used to take absolutely forever to feed (an hour, an hour and a half per feed) and he started screaming at the bottle and refusing feeds/screaming during feeds.

I asked the gp to check TT and she refused, stating that it wouldn’t impact feeding and speech. Took him private, and 10 seconds and £200 later his severe (!) TT was snipped…

We changed bottles, to no avail.

We started using Carobel (he is also quite a sicky baby) which worked magic! I was over the moon, feeding times reduced to 10-15 minutes, no spit ups, happy baby..for a few weeks, then things started to gradually worsen again. Eventually we were back to square one, constant screaming, some feeds being refused…we then tried Gaviscon which did virtually nothing. So we decided to not give him medication in case it gives him tummy ache - he started eating much nicer again, but now he is constantly sick!

I feel like we are in a vicious circle and I just can’t find the solution. I’m often in tears I’m finding it harder and harder to cope with feeding times. I suspect CMPA but again, GPs dismissed me as he has no rashes, and no problems with his bowel movements. (Every GP I speak to advises something different so I find if hard to understand what might be wrong)

Anyone has experienced anything similar, or know what this might be? Would it be worth for me to try hypoallergenic formula and see if that helps? I am now tempted to go back to carobel but I don’t want him becoming upset again, it’s heartbreaking 🥺

I just really need to figure this out, I feel so stuck…

How does he feed overnight when tired or sleeping? Does he feed better? I ask because this is a very good indication of a medical problem or a behavioural problem? I could have written this exact post word for word 5 months ago. Nothing worked and I was so depressed, it wasn’t until I considered the possibility of a behavioural feeding aversion, I read Rowena Bennett’s book on infant feeding aversions and implemented her plan and literally within a week things were so much better. Now my daughter is 8 months and feeds beautifully. Of course it’s important to rule out medical problems and to take medical advice but it’s just something to consider.

@MotherOfDragon20 I am so glad your little one is doing better!!

He started feeding terribly during the night as well - wide awake, fussing and refusing the bottle. Since he only woke once during the night after 8 hours (dinner at 7, he then woke around 3ish) I decided to try and introduce a dream feed at 11. This actually works as he’s much better when he’s sleeping or drowsy, and he doesn’t wake for a feed anymore. It’s almost like the dream feed resets him and the 8 hours start from 11pm.

I was wondering if it could be behaviours but I wasn’t sure if that’s a thing at all given how small they are…what could be the cause? I will definitely check the book out and order it!! Thank you so much ❤️

The fact that he takes a dream feed without fussing would suggest to me that it could be behavioural (although I am certainty not a specialist). If it was truly an allergy or medical problem causing him pain then the symptoms would not just disappear because he was sleeping, the pain would surely wake him up and cause the same distress it does at other times. Now my daughter definitely did have reflux and still does she constantly spits up and is a very “sicky” baby but I can now see that reflux wasn’t causing her difficult feeding she purely have a behavioural feeding aversion caused by my pressure to feed her. I really recommend reading The book. Her plan basically is about removing all pressure to feed, offer the bottle twice and if he refuses stop the feed and don’t try again for a few hours (no matter how much it kills you) the first few days are very hard but very worth it in the end.

@MotherOfDragon20 oh wow, this could literally be us… I am so worried that he won’t take enough and start losing weight (we had a bumpy start, he was born early and tiny), there’s definitely a pressure there! I wouldn’t be surprised if he could also pick up on me feeling anxious during feeding times as a result of this ongoing issue which probably doesn’t help either..

I’ve ordered the book, it’s arriving on Saturday! I can’t wait to read it!

In the book there are provisions for if they truly haven’t eaten enough that day but it is definitely difficult to stick to the plan but I highly recommend it. That’s not to say it’s not worth following up with health professionals as well. If it is a feeding aversion you should see improvements pretty quickly so I suppose there’s no harm in trying! Good luck! I would love to hear how you get on.

@MotherOfDragon20 of course, I’ve already submitted a referral to SLT and will speak to the GP as well, but will definitely read the book and give it a go, as you said there is nothing to lose. Plus what you described sounds pretty much identical to our situation. I will keep you updated ☺️🥰

@Coxobaby maybe something that would be worth checking out for your little one as well? X

How is his weight gain and what are your gaps between feeds?

@LapinR0se he actually caught up very quickly and gaining weight really nicely so no issues with that (touch wood) - I’m probably just overly worried of what might happen because of his current behaviour. I need to learn to relax a bit more I think. He is eating roughly every 3-3.5 hours

I would give it longer between feeds. 4 hrs and then as soon as he stops, you stop and take the bottle away

It takes hours for cows milk proteins to leave your milk. I think it is around 8h. The 3-6 weeks you read about is the time it takes for babies gut to heal from the exposure to the cows milk proteins. You should see improvements quicker than 3-6 weeks but you can't count it as not going to help until you have reached 3-6 weeks without dairy.

Around 50% of babies also respond to soya proteins as they are very similar to cows milk protein. The recommendation is you should be mindful of soya content whilst you initially take out dairy. You don't need to worry about items that have soya as an ingredient for example but you don't want to replace milk and dairy with soya milk/yoghurt etc.

Our gp told us there was no way she was reacting to foods through my milk but within a week of cutting then out she smiled, laughed and responded to sounds for the first time (late at 4.5 months!) and became automatically a much happier baby.

If you see an improvement with removing dairy from your diet you should then test it by having something with a high level of dairy - large glass of milk or adult size yoghurt and see if you get a return of symptoms in the days afterwards. If they return either continue to keep dairy out or you can speak to your gp about formula having positively tested the cmpa.

We get feeding aversions due to reflux but it is made worse by food allergies. We have omperazole which makes the reflux less uncomfortable, gaviscon for thickening feeds but this has stopped working since she has gotten bigger and domperidone which speeds up the empty of the stomach. This helps a lot but it is hard to get prescribed!

@Superscientist that makes so much more sense about his gut healing from the milk protein!

Also thank you for the tip on not replacing dairy with soya products, will definitely keep that in mind :)

As babies get older their guts mature, it could just be coincidental that various "treatments" start having a positive effect
If you are breastfeeding and not having vast quantities of dairy (which is an important food group nutritionally for nursing mothers, after all ..YOU need a good balanced diet) it is likely to be coincidental that your baby appears to be suffering from an allergy to anything in BREASTMILK. It is much much more likely that the difficulties are caused by aesophigal reflux due to immaturity of valves, especially if your baby is a premmie or had a difficult birth, cranial tension can affect feeding swallowing digestion.