Weaning a 15 week old

[Ipp3]

My 15 week old has a lot of pain and trouble around eating. The paediatrician suspects either food intolerance or bad reflux. She has given him meds for reflux and disgusting formula milk, which is bitter and yeasty tasting. He hates it. He will only drink between 10 or 40 mls at a time and no more than around 300 in a day. He should be drinking about 900 mls. Because of this I am supplementing with breast milk ( I have stopped eating the foods the paed. Said might be the prob), but he is now refusing to eat by breast too. Anyway, he still only gained 30grams in 8 days of being on the formula. I know it is well before recommended weaning age but I am desperate to get some substinence into him. What are your views on weaning now? My mil did, and I know someone who weaned her daughter at 18 weeks on hospitals advice due to the same problem.
And has anyone else experience of baby with same problem. He arches or straightens when I try to feed him, and throws his head around and refuses food. I think he is scared to eat due to the pain.

He's very very young, way below the recommended weaning age ( things have changed quite a lot since your MIL weaned!). You need to go back to your paed and ask for help and advice. They may say introduce food, but you really should only do that with their say so, and under their close supervision

15 weeks is very, very young. What makes you think weaning a young baby with possible intolerances is the answer? I understand you're worried about him not getting many calories right now, but potentially you're going to create more problems than you fix.

Has the paed recommended weaning? It doesn't sound like they have.

The paed did recommend weaning early, though not this early. She said early weaning is better for kids with allergies. I thought it might help as I could mix food with the disgusting formula so that he will actually eat the disgusting formula. The thickness of the food also helps with reflux as the weight helps to stop regurgitation. There are lots of pluses. So what are he negatives.?

I 'ver left message after messag with paed but no reply and it's a long time till next appt.

I was told by some really supportive reflux mums that you can try a tiny drop of pure vanilla extract in his bottle if it's a taste thing. it brings its own issues, and I'd definitely speak to your gp if the paed isn't responding. good luck

Thanks cuddly!

I know how hard it is to watch your baby in that pain yet refusing to eat, so lots of for you as I sympathise.

Based on our experience, how long has he been on the meds for? We have found with DS that it took a few weeks for the back arching and bottle refusing to settle. It's a couple months on and he's been generally fine, although a recent virus plus major teething seems to have 'flared' the reflux as he's started bringing up regularly again (hadn't done so for about two months) and bottle refusing. His dosage has been increased and we are having to readopt the methods we used to use to help him feed - we found that holding him firmly (but gentle), rocking and hushing would calm him a bit, we'd keep doing that and then find an 'open' to get the bottle in his mouth, keep hushing/rocking and within about a minute he would calm fully and start drinking. I'd have to hush or rock again whenever he'd start to arch but he would calm straight away and keep drinking. It wasn't as severe for DS as it is for your son, but just to say he is now nearly 7mo and we started weaning (BLW) at 25wo. The paed. said it was likely to calm by 6mo with age and weaning but obviously that isn't the case at current as it settled and has now flared again.

It's a real shame that you can't get through to your paed. and not very fair on you to not be able to access them right now, I second the recommendation to see your GP, also is there a different number at the hospital that you can call? (Eg, paed. ward general line, or appointments, or helpdesk) Perhaps you can get through to someone and state that the appointment is now urgent and must be sooner - this was done in our case, but admittedly by the registrar so we had help.

Thanks miaow. I think part of prob is that paed told us not to gradually get him used to it but just to start using in full. He had been exclusively breast fed so then had to try to learn bottle and to take disgusting formula. It was too much.
I can't describe how awful it is to watch him hysterically hungry yet too fearful to eat.

Thanks delasi, he has been on meds for a week and a half. Paed did say it would take two weeks but he has been just awful in last 24hours. He won't eat! I am trying to keep mealtimes calm and to gently keep presenting the bottle for him to choose to take. I don't want him to develop a feeding aversion and end up being fed by tubes. I spoke to another mum whose daughter the same probs and was hospitalised for help with feeding. All that help turned out to be was starving her into submission! She lost 5 ounces in three days. She came in one day to find her daughter screaming and two nurses pinning her own trying to force a bottle into her. There is no way I am letting that happen!

Try mixing your breast milk with the formula hope things get easier remember babies are resilient little things xx sending hugs

I weaned my ds at 16 weeks 12 years ago but I'm not sure this would be your answer and pretty sure I wouldn't wean so early these days. Hope you find a solution x

I weaned Ds at 12 weeks because he had problems and the prescribed milk was only helping a little, I started very slowly with baby rice then fruit and veg until 4mo before giving any meat. He was much happier once he was eating actual food he just seemed to cope with it better and he's very healthy and a good weight.

I know they advised against it but i'd rather have a happy pain free baby when the risks are quite small and non life threatening, it's a very touchy subject but I believe I done what was best for my son in his circumstances. I should add DS could sit up in his high chair and swallow properly as well as most of the other signs he was ready for weaning if he wasn't showing all the signs I may have waited a few weeks or more.

Can he not continue being exclusively breastfed? That's surely the best thing for a baby with allergies?

Mama, no he can't be. The breast milk is causing the pain as , if this is caused by an intolerance, this is coming through the milk and we don't know what the trigger food is. I have cut the most likely foods from my diet but as a veggie these are all my protein sources and I am sodding starving all the time. Also prob means my breast milk is not that great a quality. Exclusive breast feeding has turned out to be a bad choice for him.
Lola thanks for this. I agree that I would rather have a pain free baby than slavishly follow the latest trend in advice which is, after all, aimed at the general population rather than the particularities of my baby.

Ps I went to gp today who said she couldn't give me any advice as I was seeing the paed! She did agree though to try to speak to the paed and put my ques, but said shevwasn't any more likely to get a response than me.

If reflux is the problem then it will make little difference whether you feed breast milk or formula - your baby will most likely need meds to sooth the discomfort.

Have you been prescribed infant gaviscon, ranitidine or omeprazole? If not, push for a prescription.

My friends baby had terrible reflux, but the paeds kept messing around with different formulas to no avail. It wasn't until the poor mite was screaming 24-7 they bothered to prescribe and it was an almost instant fix.

Yes, he is omeprazole and ranitidine.

My dd is suspected cmp and soy intolerant and i'm ebf still as she won't take a bottle, let alone take foul tasting prescription formula! The diet changes for me havent been too bad but it did take a while to get used to reading packets and checking every food that I buy. I cook a lot so I know exactly what I'm eating, it would be hard if I were I eat a lot of processed or 'bought' food as they often contain soya or milk in some form. It must be hard if you are veggie but can you not get protein sources from pulses/lentils etc. I've found i eat a lot more food than before and have also lost a bit of weight but have been dairy and soy free now for about 2 months and it's really helped my dd in conjunction with ranitidine and domperidone. If you are still breast feeding even a little surely you are having to cut these food out of your diet anyway?. Could you ask for a dietician referral, this has helped with my diet but it'll also be worthwhile if you do decide to wean early as it can be a challenge to get enough calcium into them. Also supermarkets have lists of which of their own brand foods are free from the major allergens which is useful

It's very difficult to do anything against the guidelines people are so quick to judge when they don't know the ins and outs, at the end of the day you need to deal with the problem your having now not make problems that might not occur

I struggled to get my DS to take a bottle of expressed milk. It must be so frustrating for you trying to encourage him to take unpleasant formula.

I'm sure I've seen support threads for reflux babies here before. Maybe you can get some more ideas there?

Have you seen a breastfeeding specialist? Sometimes digestive problems can be caused by tongue or lip tie?

If you're struggling to get support, please complain to PALS - your paed doesn't seem very helpful at all.

I wish I could be of more help. My friends baby with severe reflux is 2 now and absolutely thriving. It doesn't last forever x

If you have access to facebook there is a brilliant brilliant support group Living with reflux - UK national charity - the parents on there will give you as much advice and support on this as they can, there is a wealth of hard learned knowledge!

Most dieticians would advise against very early weaning in these circumstances as there are so few calories in solid foods, generally the solids are difficult to digest and fill the baby up so they take in fewer calories which obviously affects weight gain. I would definitely discuss this with a dietician.

If he really isn't feeding, hospital admission should involve an NG tube and working with the paediatric team and dietician to find a way to ensure he gets sufficient nutrition. Some babies prefer certain extensively hydrolysed formulas. It should definitely not involve force feeding bottles.

Can you mix the formula with expressed breastmilk until he will take the formula straight?

Thanks everyone! Monster I did start eating lots of pulses but they gave ds ( and me for that matter!) really painful trapped wind so I stopped. I have left message with paed asking for dietician referral, but.........!
Nance I did go to our nhs breastfeeding clinic but they said they had never seen a baby behave like that and didn't know what to suggest!
Cuddly ( great name by the way!) thanks so much for recommending the reflux Facebook site. I will look this up. Everyone I know seems to have content babies who are getting easier and easier so it does feel a little isolating ( especially as I have stopped going out as he is so unsettled and I think needs my full attention for the time being. ANSI can't hear anyone speak over the screaming...) sand, I have mixed breast and formula but it doesn't seem to help. I have wondered if he just hates feeding from a bottle as well as the taste of formula. I am really reluctant to have him in the hospital after the other wonan's experience.

Thanks sco much to everyone for your advice and comments. I really appreciate it.

My SIL swore by cranial osteopathy. Perhaps you could give that a go? It can't do any harm and all conventional treatments aren't working for you yet.

Don't isolate yourself - you need the support more than anyone.