How to get my 3 month old son feed when he is fully awake?
My son was born wid 8 lbs 6 oz weight and gained weight properly for 2 weeks and from third week onwards his weight gain was very poor. And with demand feeding he started loosing weight, he would refuse breast. We saw the pediatrist who referred us to a lactation consultant. lactation consultant felt that my baby had acid reflux coz he would arch his back while feeding and gets irritated while feeding on the breast. Doctor prescribed Zantac for about 4 weeks but he wasnt doing very great. He started loosing weight with demand feeding. We had to stop bfeeding and started pumping milk, measuring the amount of milk and giving. He would take around 10-12 oz with ondemand. doctor said he has to take atleast 24 ounces a day to gain weight wid bfed milk. We started forcing him to drink milk and we could make him drink about 15 oz somehow that too he would drink just small amount like 0.5 ounces everytime and he would be very reluctant to take milk it got really frustrating. Doctor told us to see a feeding specialist and we saw one who said that he is absolutely fine other than the feeding part. she said it could be acid reflux and told us not to force him to drink milk but to offer him milk every 2hours. We tried this but he wont feel hungry at all, and when he feels hungry he drinks about an ounce.Finnally the pediatrist changed the medication to prevacid and suggested adding some formula to pumped bmilk. 1/2 tsp formula/50ml of milk. We are also feeding him when he is in deep sleep otherwise he doesnt drink at once, in his sleep he takes 3 ounces at once. THis way we are able to give him 19 ounces/day wid formula. So far he is gaining some weight this way. Feeding him when he is asleep is very difficult. I need some tips on what I can do so he can feed when he is awake. How long will this continue, when will my son get better and feed normally? We dont know if the prevacid medication is working, it seems to have reduced the spit up but his feeding is still very poor. He is a perfeclty normal baby otherwise. Very active during the day and is nto very fussy too. He play well but only thing he dosnt want to feed. Should we see a pediatrist who is specialised in GERD? We live in Seattle, WA area and do u know of any specialists in this area? Any help will be appreciated.
Hello!
You have come to the right place. There are many parents here who find that their baby needs to be sleepy to eat. Called Sleep Feeding, it is often caused by GERD or a combination of factors such as a swallowing problem called dysphagia, food allergy/intolerance, constipation, sensory problems and illness. It is important to treat any medical problems. To further complicate matters, the symptoms of these conditions may overlap. For example, you can have pain and discomfort from any of these conditions.
Painful GERD and swalllowing problems seem to top the list of reasons for sleep feeding.
Did the speech language pathologist rule out a swallowing problem? Did the doctor rule out milk soy protein intolerance? Was a swallow study or upper GI test done?
What reflux symptoms are you seeing now?
So assuming he is not in pain and his medical conditions are being addressed, he is experiencing some aversion from eating. It might help to work with a feeding therapist to give you strategies to increase his comfort with eating. It will take time and patience too.
Check out the discussions started by AmyD and Sonja about their sleep feeding babies.
It iis important to let him decide how much he can tolerate per meal. Forcing him to eat will make him more resistant to eating. If he is having problems taking in enough to growth, the doctor and the feeding therapist need to develop an alternate treatment plan. For some babies, it may be necessary to use a nasogastric tube to place the food directly in the stomach.
Jan Gambino
The Reflux Mom
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I have a 4 month old and a 4 yr old. Both were born with silent gerd, which was acid reflux , but not projectional ..it rose and fell in the chest. My little guy squirms when I give him the bottle , and looks very uncomfortable when feeding. What has always worked with both of my children was 1 teaspoon of rice in the bottle to keep the acid down and from rising. Meds were told by their pedi for severe cases, you should look to all options before giving meds....i would make that my last resort. Also, kept my children elevated at all times . Laying flat kept the acid rising. While being elevated the acid stays down. I wish you luck.
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