Please help me - 6 week old baby

[Cocobolo]

I'm at my wit's end. My baby doesn't sleep, he constantly wants to breastfeed, and he throws up constantly, to the extent I think that the whole previous feed is gone. Today the sick was a pale yellow and that's got me even more worried. I'm talking sucking up 15 times a day some days. And mouthfuls of it sometimes too. He suffers badly with reflux so he cries when he goes down.

In the last 24 hours he's had about 6 hours sleep, in windows of about 20-45 minutes. He's thrown up milk and curdled stomach contents constantly. I'm close to tears because he must be suffering.

I spend our days just trying to get him to burp and to sleep. Nothing else. I can't enjoy him like this.

I've given up dairy in case he's got cmpa, it's been about two weeks. Thought I saw an improvement but that's gone down the toilet. He's putting weight on well.

Doctor has prescribed omeprazole but I'm reluctant because I'm scared about giving him strong medication, despite knowing it's a common drug. I'm seriously considering formula at this point even though it breaks my heart. Maybe anti reflux, goats milk formula could help him keep his feeds down and get some sleep??

Any advice please send my way. I'm really struggling.

Try the medication. Try it for a week.

If you think your baby has cmpa then goats milk.formula will be no good, but your doctor can prescribe dairy free formula.
I'd try the omeprazole though. If the vomiting is reflux, from my experience your baby will grow out of it. If he is gaining weight well, he is getting some of the feeds.

I'm sorry it's so hard.

How do you burp? I wouldn't pat. Hold baby over your right shoulder with his body on your chest and walk up and down the stairs. Also hold baby upright for fifteen mins after a feed.
Sorry if I'm saying things you have already tried.

https://abm.me.uk/breastfeeding-information/reflux/

It can take many weeks for an allergy to leave breastmilk and often soya is as big a culprit as dairy which is in a lot of things from bread to chocolate as its a binding agent. It's also often in formula too.

A reflux baby is hard work DS1 was like this for months and it is exhausting. Are you holding upright after feeds for about 15/20 mins? Cot on an angle (can be done with books underneath or the widge depending on what set up you have). Using a sling rather then the pram? Sorry if you have tried all these things already.

I would give the medication as well even if just for a few weeks to see if it helps.

No advice as inexperienced in this but sending strength, you're doing an amazing job looking after your baby even if you don't think so, it's all about keeping them alive in the first weeks. Hope you have support. The medication is very safe, may it bring relief. The doctor would never prescribe anything unsafe, please trust in that.

It is so hard at that stage when they just won’t settle. It will pass and you will get your time to enjoy with him more. You have my sympathy as it can feel so hard and thankless at this stage!

Here are a few things to try/consider:

Do you have some support to give you a short break?

Try him taking naps in a sling - bring upright will help his reflux plus you will have hands free/can move around.

Try the medication. It is supposed to really help.

Try expressing milk to see if he’ll take a bottle from someone else, again to give you a break.

Try a dummy. Not all babies take to one but ot can really help with their biological need to suckle.

Although he’s putting on weight, which is great, you could consider seeing a lactation consultant to check you latch. Kathryn Stagg (Facebook /Insta) is excellent for lactation advice too.

i hope things improve for you both!

Oh OP. I had this with my daughter and she was allergic to Dairy and soya oats and egg. Once I cut it from my diet all her vomitting, reflux, bad tummy etc was gone and I was able to continue bf her for 15 months. No omeprasole needed.
If you do that you will need to take a calcium and vitamin D and iron supplement.
I was so ready to formula feed her but tried this and it helped so much.

I hope baby is OK. Please know though that formula feeding is completely fine too. I ff my son and he was on prescription milk as he also had a dairy and soya allergy. Always remember fed is best. Sending hugs 🫂

I had a premature baby with silent reflux. This is what the neonatal team told me to do:
Give the medicine, get a soft sling and keep him upright as much as possible (on other people when you need to rest).
Reduce feed volume (by time on breast or measured formula). Take in turns to let him sleep on you upright while the other watches you to make sure baby is safe. We were feeding every 2 hours day and night. Be cautious with burping/patting it disrupts milk in stomach.
Try infacol for any gas when old enough.
Try milk thickener if you do decide on formula.
It was very very hard but once he reached 11/12 pounds in weight it resolved to a manageable point and the medicine stopped.
You have my full sympathy, try ear plugs while
walking baby around in sling - it helped me when DS used to cry for hours all evening. White noise helped too - mobile machine which I carried around helped him settle which stopped the sickness as he was calmer. Sorry if you’ve tried all that and for the long post

Also we formula fed - ready made is kinder to tummy than powder formula to start with if you decide to mix feed or formula feed

I’m really sorry you’re struggling. I just wanted to pop on here to say I experienced similar and hipp organic anti reflux milk changed my life…! Although admittedly I wasn’t enjoying breastfeeding anyway. Reflux is awful. Hope you can find a solution quickly

Give him the medicine. If you were in pain and unhappy and not able to sleep, you would take the medicine, right? I had bad reflux when pregnant and it is very painful. Omeprazole was a game-changer.

Be careful about getting sucked down the cmoa route.

My child was like yours and I went to gp stating cmoa. He said as there is no rash do not cut dairy as it will be worse for the little one long term, makes the intolerance/allergy worse.

It was hell for the first four months, slightly better for the next two months and then from 6m to 1yr got better and better. The valve in their tummy gets stronger and bigger so they don't have so much reflux.

What I did was breastfeed laying down on my bed so he would fall asleep and then not need to be moved. or finish the feed, burp for a while then my husband would hold him and carry him upright for 30 mins until he was sound asleep. Or sometimes I'd sleep with the baby laying upright on my chest, I'd wedged myself between a v shaped feeding pillow..

Needs must.

My youngest had reflux, projectile vomiting multiple times a day for over a year, please trust me when I say try the medication.
Please try it and give it a week or so.

I experienced similar- tried dairy free milk and god knows what. Every week was something different.
Baby gaviscon
saved our sleep
my mind
an absoloute life saver

I had a similar baby - it might be an allergy.

Try the medication - it might work, from what I remember it does take a bit of time to see results.

If no better this is what I wish I had done earlier - got a private blood allergy test asap (don't bother with skin prick - too hit / miss) - gives you the types of allergens allergic too (if any) and an indication of severity.

If you alter you diet and your baby is still throwing up your breastmilk, etc - then move onto medical formula sooner rather than later. We used Neocate and saw positive improvements within the first week. As a first time mum - the pressure of breast is best can make you feel guilty sometimes, I continued to 14 months (partially due to finding the right medical milk) and wish I had moved to formula sooner.

It could be reflux but worth ruling allergies out. It's a horrible thing to go through as a new mum and baby, and I remember well the pacing and stress of trying to settle a baby going through this. There is help out there and you can also request to see a paediatric consultant at the hospital too.

Try the medicine. My boy had it from month 2 until month 4 and it really helped, then the reflux stopped which was great. Get a sling so he is upright and close to you. This will pass, stay strong, cry when you need to, get some nice chocolate and ask for support if you need it x

My 11 month old had bad colic and threw up after every feed, and cried for about 5 hours every night for months! We formula fed from the start, In hospital when she was born she wouldn’t feed on the Teets they provided (had to use the stuff at the hospital not allowed to bring my own). Once we got home she fed well but threw up loads. Remember it looks a lot more than it actually is!
We gave her infacol which helped but made her trump a lot. Then at around 10 weeks old we started adding 5ml of gripe water to her bottles which really helped.
Also when we burped we would hold or sit her upright and rub her back, not pat.
Worked wonders!

Good luck! It gets better I promise!

Hi OP

My 8 week old was diagnosed with CMPA 3 weeks ago and started Aptamil Pepti 1. I know you're breastfeeding and have cut out dairy. I was told if formula feeding, goats milk won't help CMPA.

She also has reflux and has been on omeprazole since 3 weeks old. It's a godsend. Although she's still stick, it's not as much and she's much more settled.

Hope things improve for you and your baby xx

So sorry you’re struggling so much this this Op, I was in a very similar position a few months ago except doctors didn’t care because my ebf baby gained weight well, I was told it’s a laundry problem. He started vomiting 15-20 times a day from 3 weeks old and we ended up in a&e.

I went dairy free for 8 weeks and it made absolutely no difference at all. The sick was his only symptom, no rash/ green poo etc.

At 11.5 weeks we found out he actually had a bad tongue tie that had never been checked before, which caused a shallow breastfeeding latch and taking in lots of air when feeding. This then brought everything up as sick. His tongue had learnt to move in the wrong direction so we had to relearn feeding again.

it’s such a stressful time to go through and I’m so sad for you, as I do know how it feels, it shadows a lot of those early weeks.

Baby is 4 months now and while he’s still sick a lot (at least after every feed) he’s not unhappy doing so. Also now feeding 12 times a day rather than the 20 before.

Sending you a hug, it’s a really really hard time. If baby hasn’t had a tongue tie check it would be really worth doing 🤍

It sounds hell op, but it will.pass so hang on in there. Try the medicine, try keeping them upright a long time after feeds, try carrying in a sling. Mine was allergic to oats, and citrus fruit made them sicky. Try cutting things out and seeing if improvement.

My first screamed and wanted to comfort suck all the time from 5 weeks to c.9 weeks. There was nothing 'wrong' it was just that babies like to suck to comfort themselves, particularly when they are too young to know how to get to sleep. Letting her feed all the time thought didn't really help because she just ate too much, got sick and had a sore bottom in an endless cycle.
I bought a super soft sling that she could snuggle down into with her head covered and it helped her sleep and got us through to 9 weeks when almost overnight she seemed to change into a calm baby. Dummies also helped - she used them for about a month and then just didn't need them any more.

Try the medication. He needs it.

Also hold him upright when he goes to sleep. Raise the head of his cot. He will probably find it much easier to sleep upright.

All your hv for more help too.