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| First Time Moms |
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| My son is 6 months old. He has had reflux since he was 4 weeks old and has been on Zantac ever since. He has always been a small eater but I started putting cereal in his bottle to thicken the formula (suggested by his gastro specialist) and I changed to Dr. Brown's bottles and he was eating like a champ (5-6 ounces at each feeding). After 6 weeks of this, last Friday, he started going back to only eating 3 ounces at a time and then turning his head away and refusing the bottle or refusing the bottle completely. He only gets 16 or 17 ounces a day now after lots of coaxing and forcing but the doctor insists on 24 ounces a day. We increased his Zantac dose but it hasn't helped. Is this just a phase? I don't see any gum redness, so I doubt it's teething. Any ideas what might be going on? |
| Posted by Elizabeth on 05/23/2007 08:02 AM
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Elizabeth
sounds frustrating ... have you tried the cereal on the spoon yet for him?
my girls were such spitty babies (not reflux though) and we did cereal in bottles at the time of 3 wks old till they started taking cereal from the spoon (4 months), then we took it out of the bottles because they would would be too full and not want their bottles ... my girls like I said were not refluxy so I am not sure how it would be for a reflux baby ... talk to the pedi if it goes on (of course) GOOD LUCK |
| posted by Colleen on 05/23/2007 08:14 AM
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Yes, he has been eating solids (cereal & veggies and recetly baby turkey) off a spoon since he was 4 months. We stopped spoon feeding him cereal on the spoon after we started putting it in his bottles. He seems to want to eat the solids ok, just not the bottle. I tried taking the cereal out of the bottle, but it just made him spit up b/c it wasn't thick enough.
Could constipation be causing this? |
| posted by Elizabeth on 05/23/2007 08:33 AM
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Elizabeth, my son does this. He goes through days when he doesn't want to eat, then other days he seems like he can't get enough. I think if he doesn't eat much for a couple days that is probably ok. We all have days when we don't feel like eating as much as usual.
But if it keeps up longer I would ask his pediatrician what else you can do.
I think a lot of parents share your concern. We all want to make sure they are getting enough nutrition to grow and be healthy. I think that more important than the actual number of ounces he eats is how he feels. If he seems satisfied and is wetting diapers and putting on weight then he is getting enough.
Marcia
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| posted by Marcia on 05/23/2007 08:36 AM
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| It could be teething,I thaught that the gums get white where there teeth are starting to come in and not red. My son has decreased his appite a lilttle and is sleeping alot, my sister told me her child did that when she was teething, not sure though. Good luck |
| posted by Amber on 06/06/2007 05:47 PM
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HI all,
I'm a new member and excited to share stories and suggestions. I wonder if your son is teething. My son is five and a half months and definately teething, although he too does not have red swollen gums. I guess its a long process before the teeth actually come through... I agree about calling the doctor's office. I call mine for everything it seems! Good luck and keep us posted |
| posted by Lori on 06/06/2007 09:13 PM
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My daughter has acid reflux also, diagnosed right after birth. She was on Zantac for quite a while and then switched to Axid. She has always done the same thing and it seemed to be a phase for her. Sometimes she would eat all the jar stuff and take great bottles then she'd start taking 3-4 ounces at a time. She is almost 11 months now and is supposed to get 16 ounces of formula a day and for a while I had to make cereal with her formula to spoon feed her some and also put it in her sippy cup with meals just to get close to the 16 ounces. Then she started eating like a maniac a week or so ago now she's back to 3-4 ounces at a time. Sometimes I would give her cereal with the formula for 2 meals a day, along with a little veggie and fruit just to get it in her. She has also been teething on and off though so I am not sure if that affected it some also. When she was teething for the top 2 front teeth she did NOT want her bottle much, I think it irritated her gums. Anyway, at these ages it's so hard to tell. To me it has always been more important to get the formula in her while she needs it so if we skipped a "meal" to give her another bottle instead then no harm done.
Goos luck, I know the frustration. |
| posted by patty on 06/07/2007 07:06 AM
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| I agree with marcia on just making sure that he's not getting dehydrated (peeing/waste)...all that good stuff. My son is 8 mo. now and he's gone through periods of appetite loss...could be teething and this is his particular side effect from it. Or it could be that his digestive system is going through a change and he's adjusting to it as well. Sometimes I have days where I don't feel like eating much either. Hope you find peace in the frustrating times - and remember, you're a good mom to be concerned. |
| posted by Kelly on 06/07/2007 10:49 AM
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My baby is 9 mo, some days he drinks 6-8 oz every feeding, plus his (gerber) veggies...sometimes I am lucky if he finish 3 or 4 oz every feeding, my mom jokes that he eats every other day...but his weight gain is okay, he is always happy and energetic, and he poop and peep decrease on the days he eats little, which concerns, but I get confort when I see that his energy level doesn't decrease. Here are some of the things that work for me:
-When he doesn't want the bottle is to make cereal with the formula...he will usually eat it all.
-I also space out his feeding (not too long) so he will be hungry and drink all his milk.
-For some reason, he is confortable when I feed him in his car seat, so I will place him there and he will drink the milk.
-If I sing or make silly noises sometimes he will look at me and eat...(I have to keep singing thou...the things we have to do...hehehe).
Of course I don't recomend that you do any of those, I just want you to have an idea of things to watch for, or scenarios that you could set to make him confortable so he'll eat.
I hope I dont' sound to silly. |
| posted by sonia on 06/07/2007 01:08 PM
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Sonia,
I don't think you sound or look funny. All of us moms look a lil funny several times when when interact with our children.If we had a camera set up I bet we would all win a prize on Americas funniest videos...lol |
| posted by Amber on 06/07/2007 03:20 PM
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| Speaking of looking or sounding silly to get them to eat, my daughter eats MUCH better for me than my husband. When he feeds her she makes fussing noises half the time but never when I do because I am always entertaining her. I will sing songs, make faces, do noises, bop my head around, anything that keeps her happy and then I just keep getting the food in there. I think we moms are better at making fools of ourselves to get the job done lol. But it works. |
| posted by patty on 06/07/2007 03:58 PM
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| Hi Elizabeth. My son had acid reflux since he was a month old. His doctor started him on zantac and for three weeks he did much better. Then, he started screaming, crying, and twisting his body with almost every single feeding. His doctor increased his zantac dose again but that didn't seem to help. At two months, his doctor switched him from zantac to prevacid. Once again, he did well for three weeks and everything started again. It's so hard to feed him. It takes one hour and a lot of effort to feed him a bottle. We tried everything. We switched formulas, added cereal, kept him up during and after feedings, fed him smaller amounts every 2 hours, and kept him up during his sleep. Nothing seemed to help. Finally, I changed his formula once again to Enfamil AR. He likes the taste a lot better so he's been eating a little more. His upper GI tests came out normal and the doctor decided to keep him on his prevacid for now. He's 4 months old now and sometimes he'll eat 1-2oz, sometimes he'll eat 6oz at a time. As long as your son is growing and not losing any weight, he should be okay. I know that it's hard to see them suffer so much and be hungry and not be able to eat. |
| posted by Monique on 06/08/2007 11:25 PM
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| Hi Elizabeth, What brand of formula is your son on? My son went through reflux as a little guy and we had to change his formula several times until we got the right one that agreed with him. Emil Notremgin, sorry if the spelling is a little off. It's for reflux and it helped him so much. Now he's 16 months old and no more problems. But then ever child is different. I would ask your dr about it and see what he or she says. |
| posted by Randi on 06/09/2007 11:32 AM
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