Born 5 weeks premature - mucus problems?

[newbabyinthestow]

My DS was born 5 weeks early and had a 9 day stay in hospital with Jaundice and severe dehydration after feeding problems. He is now doing well at home (and is now 4 weeks old) and is mainly breast feeding with one formula (Nutraprem 2) bottle at night to settle him, as I feel my milk supply is less in the night, and he doesn't seem to get enough from me. He is steadily putting on weight and is well past his birth weight.

He has been making very odd noises after feeding, and it sounds like he is trying to clear mucus. When I try and settle him after a feed, he seems sort of asleep but takes ages to settle down and makes these loud croaking and snoring noises for ages, sometimes up to an hour before dropping off into a deeper, quiet sleep. This makes it so hard for me to sleep as he is next to me and his noises keep me awake! Plus sometimes the develop into crying and he looks so uncomfortable.

During the day he also makes these noises when napping, and screws his face up and goes bright red. He also spits up quite a bit, but assuming that is normal.

Anyone had any experience on this? Is there anything I can do to to help him or will this just pass? I've tried propping up his moses basket at one end so he is not totally flat, and have been burping him lots during and after feeds, as wondered if some of it might be wind. Also giving him Infacol as previously his wind was bad and this seems to have helped him.

Any ideas gratefully received!

Prem babies are notoriously noisy! I had 3 little grunters making these sleepy noises and yes, they grow out of it. I presume that he's still under the care of the neonatal nurse if he's on Nutriprem? Have a chat with her, she'll tell you how noisy SCBU is when all the teeny babies are sleeping and should put your mind at rest.

prem babies are noisy yes - but born at 35 weeks maybe he shouldn't be THAT much noisier....

have you considered it might be silent reflux? particularly if he's worse after a feed. If so, try angling his cot so his head is up - around a 30 degree angle does the trick. Check with your doctors too as they can test for it and give medicine to help the milk stay in the stomach rather than rising up.

Re breastmilk supply - its common for babies to cluster feed in the evenings (take lots of small feeds) - its one of the ways they increase your supply. If you want to continue bf in the medium or long term you could think about expressing whenever he has a bottle - that way at least your boobs are getting the message to make more milk, rather than thinking they're producing more than enough.

Having said that, I have vivid memories of sitting on the sofa doing nothing but feeding my baby for 3 hours at a time and it was very wearing, so I can compeltely understand why you might not want to do that!

Hi

My 2 were born 12 weeks early and were the same! In the end they were diagnosed with reflux. One of them was easy to diagnose as he had projectile vomiting episodes, but the other was just unsettled during and after feeds, sounded like he had a constant cold and phlegm, would get hicups all the time, hated lying flat and was generally very unsettled. They were put on an antacid (omeprazole) and Domperidone and the difference was amazing. It took 2 weeks for the symptoms to settle and the doses had to be increased as they put on weight so they didn't stop working but it was easy to work out.

Other tips are to try keeping him upright during and after feeds.
Try Dr Brown bottles to rule our colic
Tilt the head of his cot up on books to stop him lying flat
We also saw a cranial osteopath. I was desperate and wasn't sure about it but what ever they did it seemed to really settle Sam, my silent refluxer

A good site to read up is www.cryingoverspiltmilk.org.uk and www.babyreflux.co.uk/knowledge/questions/55/What+is+'silent'+reflux%3F

Hope that helps xx

Just to add reflux is really common in orem babies and they grow out if it usually before the age of 2 xx

Bingo! Was just about to search for this very subject after a loooong night of grunts and gurgles and found this post. This is exactly what my 34 weeker is doing. He is full of mucus and frequently vomits after a feed, especially if it is formula. I'm seeing the paediatrician on Thursday and am going to ask about reflux. Thanks and good luck to you as well!

Hi newbabyinthestow

Congratulations for your DS
My DS was also born at 35weeks and we also had to stay in hospital because he was also jaundice.
I think he was around 3 weeks, when he started making the funny noises! He was so noisy, he seemed like a little animal, grunting all the time. Nights were awful, despite little sleep, it was almost impossible to rest because of his noises. DH had to use earplugs and latter he moved to another room. I remember i was even embarrassed to take him to a café or something, because who would imagine such a tine thing could make so much noise!
He was never diagnosed with reflux, although he was very colic and could go up to 10 days without a dirty nappy! I can't really remember when the noises stopped, or maybe they changed into different noises.
It is just a phase, and it will pass. But maybe you should exclude reflux.

All the best
x