I hate reflux!

Rianna won't take the bottle. She is four months old and I just started her on rice cereals once a day. Rest of the time she is breastfed. She always arches her back and latches and unlatches while BFIng.

I want to know why do babies do that? She is getting lots of wet burps, hiccups and has been throwing up at least twice a day since last week.

Just want to know when will this reflux stop and why does my baby struggle?

Well, I think if any of us had a hard and fast answer to when reflux stops, we'd be millionaires. :-(

Has she been arching more since you started feeding cereal? If so, it could be that the cereal is exacerbating her reflux. Babies do tend to arch/pull off constantly when they're uncomfortable. :-(

As for the bottle... My dd would never take a bottle and my son started out taking b'milk from a bottle; however, that ended fairly quickly. :-( Both of my kids pretty much shunned pacifiers, too (although my ds took one for the first two weeks...now he acts as if I'm trying to make him eat glass if I put it anywhere near his mouth.)

Many refluxers have oral aversions/sensitivity. It could be that your daughter just doesn't like the feel of that bottle nipple. It could also be that the milk doesn't flow in the same manner as the breast (breast milk doesn't flow at a steady rate like a bottle nipples does).

If her hiccups/wet burps have been increasing, I'd look at the cereal first...then talk with your doc about possibly tweaking her meds. :hug:

They arch because they are in pain/uncomfortable.

I would suggest two things... get her meds looked at, perhaps she needs them upped, and secondly look at your diet... babies can be sensitive to things that you're eating through your breastmilk which can make reflux worse (namely milk protein and soya protein).

Also reflux can peak between 4 and 6 months old...I hope she settles soon x

Thank you Mary and Renata. Wish I had a magic wand to wipe this bloody reflux away from the world!

I don't think the cereal is causing the problem but then I am not sure. Her pedi seems to have put up his hands as he feels the Prilosec should have helped her now. He feels we should take her to a Gastro Pedi. I am worried what if they ask to repeat the barium xray. I don't want to put her through it again.

I did read that reflux peaks between 4-6 months so just praying and hoping that she gets better soon.

I still don't understand why does she struggle so much during BFIng. Can anyone tell me?

well i wouldnt know cuz hannah wouldnt latch on,, but im assuming they have to suck a little harder to get it out of the breast.. so sucking and reflux just dont mix.. its hurting her i bet. She might be allergic renata said. i'd stay away from milk products and see if it gets any better and stop the cereal a couple days and see if it helps.

Over active let down might also be something to consider...

Have a look at these links...

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/fast-letdown.html

http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVSepOct95p71.html

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/breastfeeding/a/colic_2.htm

The other ladies made really good points about suck/swallow and reflux, overactive letdown and your own diet. (Duh! I am on the soy/egg/dairy free diet with my ds and was dairy/soy free with my dd. How could I have forgotten to mention that?!)

I will also say that going to a pediatric GI is probably a very good idea. They're trained to look for things we wouldn't think of...and they know about the meds they can use to treat this stuff. It's not such a bad idea to get a referral.

It could very well be a combination of reflux (making it uncomfortable for her to suck), your diet (exacerbating her reflux) and meds (she might need something along with the Prilosec to control breakthrough reflux). Also, if you have overactive letdown, she might be overwhelmed at the amount of milk coming at her and unlatch.

A few questions:
1. Does she choke/gag when b'feeding?
2. Is there a time when she b'feeds better than usual? Is there a time when her b'feeding seems to be worse? (for example, does she have a fairly good nursing session in the morning, but she nurses progressively less well as the day goes on?)
3. Are you engorged? When she does nurse, do you feel as if she's taking enough to empty the breast?
4. How long will she stay latched before coming off the breast?

It seems tedious; however, taking a look at all aspects of what she's doing when nursing can help answer your question better. :hug:

Babies often pull off and on the breast for many reasons. Overactive letdown is definately worth conmcidering. I had a very active letdown with both of my kids. The older one had no reflux issues and handled it no problem but Allison had major problems with it. Drowning, vomiting. They also pull off and on the breast if they are not getting enough milk. When you express do you get a fair amount? Does it hit the wall across the room (over active letdown). Babies are also very uncomfortable from overactive letdown because they fill up on more foremilk which makes them gassy. Relux babies also arch their back when they are refluxing. So, it's hard to know. Also something in your diet that is bothering her. I thought I could eat chocolate again and for about a week Allison would refuse to nurse. When I stopped the chocolate she did better. Is she having lots of wet diapers? Do you feel your letdown, feel full after the letdown?

oh, a REALLY helpful book is 'The Nursing Mother's Companion'. It is my breastfeeding bible! Did she just start pulling off? Could also be teething although she's a little young.

Everyone has some good things to consider, and the 4 to 6 month peak held true for us..sigh....
Eric always struggled too :( Bottles, breasts ,solids, cups, etc he acted like it was the hardest thing on earth to do.
I didn't have over active letdown or supply issues, the bottle nipples didn't go too fast or too slow etc. I really don't know why he had such a time, but I have some ideas. His PH Probe showed that he refluxes constantly while he eats, which of course makes it difficult for him to eat. He also had problems with large adenoids and tonsils (because his reflux irritated them?) according to the ENT all his life he had problems with his tonsils and adenoids from what I described to him. GERD BITES!!!!

I say go to the pedi GI that his pedi wants you to see. He/She more than likely won't repeat a UGI(barium xray), because the test (I assume) didn't show any abnormalities, and even if it had, the test has already given what it can give as far as info as long as it was done correctly.
Most likely it will be all about questions and answers and talking to you, and maybe some simple testing to rule things out. Like blood tests and possibly stool or something (it depends on all your child's symptoms). It may just be a matter of a med change or higher dosage or even just timing the med differently.

Honestly I felt the same as you when the pedi mentioned going to a specialist, and I started feeling like they couldn't help him anymore "I don't want to take him to a GI doc. I don't want him to have testing. I just want him to feel better." or "My child doesn't need a pedi GI. He's fine. I'm his Mom and I can help him on my own."

The Pedi GI was the best. Things really did get better after our first visit with one and getting things all straightened out, and he respected my feelings on testing. Now I have different thoughts about testing than I did back then. LOL I think time does that to you ;) but.... You know what I mean. Well actually I hope you NEVER know what I mean!

Give it a try. You're still the Mom and you call the shots. If you don't want another UGI done, and you don't think it's necessary, I'm sure another won't be done.

(((BIG HUG)))

I cannot mention how grateful I am to all of you for patiently answering my questions.

I do have OALD on my right breast but not on my left. I gently unlatch her when this overactive letdown happens on my right side and wait till the milk stops gushing. I then put her back again. In the nights when I nurse her lying down from this side, she continues sucking without any problems.

Rianna nurses well when she's sleeping because in the nights she continues sucking until I unlatch her. It is as the day progresses that her struggling starts. I am worried how will she get adequate nutrition if this continues.

Minnie, I think I know what you mean. I guess going to a GI pedi won't hurt. But as of now I don't want to subject her to unnecessary testing.

Last night was very bad so I gave her some gastrogel. I think I better buy some Maalox instead.

Thank you once again everyone. I don't know what would i have done without you guys. :smt041

Rianna nurses well when she's sleeping because in the nights she continues sucking until I unlatch her. It is as the day progresses that her struggling starts. I am worried how will she get adequate nutrition if this continues.


Eric was the same way (and lot's of other kids here are good sleep eaters) and not only did it puzzle me and make me feel as though I were nuts, it puzzled the doctors too. Eric got most of his cals at night for months and months.

As far as worrying.... There's nothing I can do or say to help with that, I wish there were. :hug:

I really feel for you.
As far as when it ends. Well, that varies from baby to baby. Usually it is 6, 9, or 12 months, but that is not the case for all. Good luck.

Experiencing the same thing with Safi for 11 days now....only truly nurses at night. Before that had worked to down-regulate milk supply, which stopped the popping off, screaming, back arching...then a case of mastitis and b/c of the excessive pumping/nursing...back to square one and need to down regulate again.

I have overactive letdown, which also goes hand in hand with over supply. Have consulted La Leche League as well as lactation consultant. Here's what I'm doing to down regulate (worked last time)...
-feed one one breast for up to 3 feedings (I do 2, but they say 3 is ok)
-btwn feeding NO PUMPING, you'll get engorged on the other side, release a little milk and avoid plugged duct by applying back-pressure. Press with 2 fingers on either side of your nipple, on the areola, for 1 minute if you can stand it. Milk should either spray out of drip...this is very different from expressing milk. Do this 1-2 times every couple of hours. It back flushes milk to avoid plugs as well as relieves some engorgement discomfort.

Hope this helps
:) Sarah