Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Children's health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Any ideas

4 replies

RedMember · 01/02/2025 16:41

My little one is 12 weeks old and has been a very unsettled baby since about 1 week old. Constant crying, unsettled and pain. He will cry uncontrollably and is rating 8 or 9 out of 10 on the FLACC pain scale every time (severe pain and discomfort). At about 6 weeks old he passed bright red blood in his stools and was put on CMPA formula and omeprazole for silent reflux. He was on Aptimil Pepti 1 for about 1.5 weeks and since then has been on Neocate and the maximum dose of omeprazole.
Last week he was admitted into hospital after passing 2 black tar like stools, they ran bloods , an ultrasound and X-ray and everything seems clear, but alongside the pain they are still wanting to investigate. Over the last 5 days his feeds have reduced dramatically, he was previously taking about 32 oz of milk in a 24 hour period (he is a big boy , born at 9lb6oz and currently over a stone now). He is only taking about 400-500ml a day now and the hospital aren’t overly concerned about this, he is still in an awful lot of pain, not feeding well and if he is awake he can give the occasional smile and be happy for a maximum of 30 minutes, then it’s like he’s in severe pain again and uncomfortable and inconsolable until he falls asleep, he is currently sleeping an awful lot (about 20 hours a day) which I know isn’t right but I know the pain isn’t there whilst he’s sleeping and with his lack of feeding he will be running low on energy. I am emotionally exhausted and am just lost as to what the answer to this is- the doctors are saying colic, CMPA , reflux, but he is on medications and the recent drop in feeding and black stool surely isn’t just colic?
please has anybody some sort of advice or similar situations to shed a little light (the doctors said to us “if you have any ideas from researching let us know”

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
KarenGabrielAnstrutherMarlow · 01/02/2025 17:29

Did the ultrasound check for malrotation (when the intestines are incorrectly positioned)? This can sometimes be checked for and seen on ultrasound (the scan looks at positioning of veins and arteries to check) but the gold standard test is a barium swallow and series of X rays. It can be symptomless but can also cause pain, issues with bowel movements and loss of appetite and can lead to twists in the bowel (volvulus) which are a medical emergency.

It may well already have been ruled out but the symptoms you have listed rang a little bell for me.

Wishing you very much luck.

RedMember · 01/02/2025 17:36

They checked for malrotation but said they couldn’t see it, they said the X-ray was clear and on the ultrasound they could only see 60% of what they needed to see because he was in that much discomfort with them pressing on his belly and a build up of gas. He’s got a barium swallow test on Tuesday so hoping for some more answers but the doctors aren’t sure it’s going to show anything.

OP posts:
KarenGabrielAnstrutherMarlow · 01/02/2025 17:42

That's good that they are getting that test in quickly. The ultrasound was equivocal for my DS for similar reasons and we are waiting for barium results. They will let your baby have a flavoured drink from a bottle (we could choose banana, strawberry or chocolate!), get him to lie in a few positions at intervals and the whole thing took about thirty-five minutes. At least they can have a good look and hopefully rule malrotation out 100%.

Sorry I am unable to help with any other ideas. Hope you get some progress soon.

RedMember · 01/02/2025 17:58

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it. I hope you get your results soon! They have said he needs an NG tube fitted before the test… but haven’t said why

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page