18 week old poor feeder, poor sleeper and generally miserable

[2childrenandout]

Looking for advice and/or experience to help us please. We have a 18 week old DS (2nd child). Always been difficult to feed (ff). He starts to take the milk, you can hear him take in air and then will scream. Difficult to get him to take any more feed. Feeds range from 2oz-8oz but overall about 25oz a day. He's pretty miserable in the day and uncomfortable at night so doesn't sleep well. He's dropped from 75th to 50th percentile on the last month. Over the 18 weeks we've tried comfort milk, reflux milk and back to normal aptamil. Infacol, dentinox and gripe water for wind. Tommee tippee, Dr browns and Mam bottles and different size teats. Nothing seems to work. I was convinced he had a tongue tie which makes him take on lots of air. Doctor disagreed and is now treating him as if he has silent reflux so just started gaviscon. As expected has made little difference! Anyone got any ideas? It feels like I still have a newborn

Sorry to hear this. Gaviscon is evil and constipates children.
My daughter had reflux and ranitidine helped her. She only had it for 4/5 months but they were the longest months ever! Could he be dairy intolerant?

Strangely the gaviscon has had the opposite effect and he's pooing more than ever! When he was 5 weeks old I saw the GP who said he might be irritated by dairy so prescribed aptimal pepti. It made him worse as the milk is so thin he gulped even more air. The next week I saw a different GP for his 6 week check who said he didn't look like a dairy intolerant baby as he wasn't being sick, skin was clear etc.

That sounds really tough. Would you be able to consider a private appointment to see an IBCLC? The one near us consults on all feeding issues, not just breastfeeding, and they may be able to help reduce the amount of air he's taking.

Could you get a second opinion on the tongue tie. I was told repeatedly DS was fine but turned out he had a significant postierior tongue tie. It can be harder to spot but definitely there. Trust your instincts.

My DD was also a terrible feeder resulting in over a week in special care. We use Nuk bottles with a medium flow teat and these work brilliantly. She can gulp a little but the slow flow require far too much effort for her and she becomes tired. I would also suggest trying little and often when you see any feeding cues.

I agree with belle. My daughter had the same type of tongue tie and I had to fight massively for them to check properly! She was the same as your little one and would kind of make a clicking sound whilst drinking her milk, she was miserable the first few months then a completely different baby after it was rectified. Made me quit angry tbh as had said for months it was tongue tie and they didn't believe me, I felt I missed out on the first few months as she was so uncomfortable and unhappy.

Thank you so much for your replies. It’s a relief to know we’re not on our own. I'm sick of thinking about it constantly and trying to find the answer. You’ve all been more help than any medical professional we’ve seen.
bluebunnyblue, I had to google LBCLC! I think it’s a good idea and will do this if he definitely hasn’t got a tongue tie.

BelleEtoile and tasharichford, I think my gut is a tongue tie so I’m going back. GP threw me when she said No tongue tie and part of me thought I was imagining symptoms it has been going on that long.

Blackcat86, thanks for the info on the bottles. Will try those next.

Most gps are not trained to assess tongue tie so don't let them fob you off. Insist on getting a referral. Some IBCLCs are also tongue tie practitioners so that's another reason to go that route if gp not cooperative or there's a long waiting time on NHS - I went straight to an IBCLC with my second and got hers cut as there's a massive waiting time and/or long journey for tongue tie assessments in my area. It's a scandal that, here, only those who can pay privately can get a tongue tie snipped in a decent timeframe!

Private appointment with LBCLC and to the tie practitioner booked for next Thursday.

Meant to say...Tongue tie

That's great Ok! Hopefully you will be able to get some answers. It might be useful to video your LO feeding and any other behaviours you are concerned about so you can show it to your consultant. Also take note of any questions or concerns you have on your phone so you have a list to work off at the appointment. It can be hard to explain and remember things to ask at appointments. Good Luck! x

Thank you Belle. Great ideas x