Feeding / Sleeping

[Nessie100]

My DS2 is 11m. He has breathing / choking problems that have not been diagnosed (although being extensively tested) but not affecting him so much these days. I just cannot seem to move him on to next stage foodwise & to me he sleeps too much but is an absolute antichrist if doesn't get sleep.

So here's his 'average' routine:

12.01am approx - 1-6oz bottle.
12.30am - bed
7am - wake
8am - bottle 1-6oz
9am - breakfast
9.30 am - nap 1-2.5hrs
12pm - bottle
1pm - lunch
2pm - nap - 1-2hrs
4pm - bottle
5pm - tea
7.30-8pm - bottle 1-6oz
Bed straight after.

Have tried dropping bottle - no joy - will refuse food if doesnt have bottle hr before.

I leave him sleep however long he wants cos gets screwed up if I wake him.

He drinks what he wants cos more or less will f..k him up for 24hrs.

I should mention he does physio & is on special formula as cannot tolerate a lot of dairy. But he gets it through cheese, yogurt, in cereal etc

He cannot tolerate much jiggling as he ends up choking later in day & up to 48hrs later so buggy, car etc not an option, but I try to bring him outside as often as possible, he's stuck in my arms there though. At least in house he potters around as he likes.

Do I just leave as is & let him figure it out like I did with oldest (who was TOTAL opposite)?

My gut says leave him be, others have dropped snide comments on him, including doc. He is proper weight etc.

My DD turns one this weekend and sleeps a similar amount and has a similar amount of milk. We have just dropped formula as her dietian wants her to go dairy free, previously she was lactose free. She won't take milk from a cup so she has soya milk in a bottle. I asked HV about reducing milk and she said there is no hard and fast rules but suggested I take the bottle she is least interested in and drop in by an oz every week.

Have you spoke to HV or peds about your concerns?

Does he eat well?

What is he choking on? Vomit? Is he on reflux meds?

PHN (HV) is lovely but useless. GP made comment about him having too much milk for age but same 1 told me I was imagining DS1 had allergies - until I almost killed him!!! He now has 4 known ones we carry epipens for. Paeds are trying to figure out what wrong with DS2 but Ive requested diff doc after the last 1 shouted at me , so Im pretty much going by my gut.

3 docs said reflux, the one that saw him straight after 1 of his 'episodes' at 3+ m said def not reflux, admitted him to hosp for 2 nights & sent him for all sorts of tests (brain, heart) etc but all clear (mostly) - and that doc was a locum so he's gone.

It's not reflux, I know that in my heart. Its more that he 'forgets' to breath & then starts choking & goes rigid. He has low muscle tone (hence the physio) but is much improved & episodes less often.

I just wanted others opinion. I followed my gut with oldest, fought day & night & was right. He is wonderful now. I 'feel' I should follow my gut with this 1 too & just let him find his own pace with food / drink, but only medical person that agreed so far was his ENT specialist during the wk.

I cook & freeze all the food so know exactly what he getting. He doesn't feed well for his age, but doesnt eat any more / less regardless of how many oz drank an hr before. And if I try to force the issue he will get an episode sometime in next 0-12 hrs. I dont feed him more now as I don't want him to associate food / milk with the choking. Once he turns the head away that's it, whether its milk or food.

Surely if he is overall healthy, sleeps well, plays well & is in the average - high area for development, weight, height etc, I should just leave him be?

He dropped the 4am feed by himself, just literally refused it 1 night & slept through after that. Thats why I think he will drop them himself

I know lots of people say take medical advice but I with you here with going on your gut as the advice out there is so varried about dropping bottles and if you were breast feeding then nobody would be suggesting you would give that up so he eats more.

Thanks, that's how I feel about it. Guess I just wanted a stranger's opinion .