2 Months Old Baby - Feeding Trouble

summithunter on 22/08/2020 - 18:48
Last edited 25/08/2020 - 21:09

Out 2 month old baby is exclusively formula fed. He was born underweight and was in NICU due to his body not regulating normal temperature however he has been very good with his weight gradually increasing and feeding 90ml to 120ml every 4 hours.

Since last 10 days, his intake has gradually decreased from 120ml to 30ml every feed. We have seen 2 X GP and followed their advice, changed formula, gave infant friend, Gaviscon infant as they assumed it was due to reflex. He now sleeps only 20 -30 minutes and constantly wants to be held.

Both the GP's have advised that this is a passing phase and we continue to feed him may be every 2 hours and his intake would automatically increase and have asked us to visit their clinic twice a week to monitor his growth . We are not really convinced with this approach and also anxious as his intake has dramatically decreased. We are first time parents with no support and living in Melbourne which has made it difficult as we cannot seek help from our friends.

I am not looking for a medical advise here and will be seeing our pediatrician on Monday and was wondering if anyone here has been in similar situation and what did they do ? Both of us are emotionally and physically exhausted and it breaks out heart to see our little one struggle ! (Sorry for the rant)

Any suggestions from personal experience would be appreciated.

UPDATE - Thanks you to everyone who provided supportive comments and suggestions.

Out little one was screaming his lungs out Saturday night and we couldn't wait to see our paediatrician on Monday, We rushed to Royal children hospital where he was diagnosed with bacterial infection and was admitted for 2 nights. We are back home now and whilst his intake is gradually increasing he is sleeping much better.

All i want to say is for anyone who is looking for help in future please trust your gut/instincts and seek help from specialist or visit a hospital if you are not satisfied with your responses from other professionals (GP,s, midwife etc ) They are there to help us but sometimes we as parents need to rely on our instincts and reach out for specialised help.

Thanks again to your everyone who tried to help :)

Toys & Kids

Comments

    • RM on 22/08/2020 - 19:23
      +65

      This is a bloody stressful time for a first time parent in Melbourne with limit access to help.

      If you don't have anything nice to say… Just don't say… Try it.. Not that hard.

    • djmm on 26/08/2020 - 00:27

      Mate don't be a (profanity)

  • tsunamisurfer on 22/08/2020 - 18:56

    Ozbargain cannot give you more than what your doctors have said.

    It is a passing phase.

    You and your partner will be pushed to your mental limits.

    You will make it through once you establish more of a routine, buit it is very early days for that.

    It is common that babies want to be held, if possible try to express breast milk via a pump, that is far better than any formulae.

    • summithunter on 22/08/2020 - 21:00

      Understand, thanks for your comment .. hopefully its just a passing phase and nothing serious with his health !

      • MechEng on 24/08/2020 - 10:06

        I remember my first one would only sleep on my chest, while the exhausted mum was sleeping besides me.
        It will pass, but it is hard.
        Try keep the feeds every second hour, we did this with our first one too, but we (I mean my wife) breastfed him, and importantly seek medical advice, and see as many professionals as required until you feel comfortable.
        Keep going, and make sure you try and catch up with your friends online, as these can be very difficult times.
        Good luck!

  • djones145 on 22/08/2020 - 19:01
    +4

    My first son was early (4 week) spend 3 weeks and nursery and had feeding tube, we breast feed and also topped up

    Seems like Bub is snacking have you been feeding on demand/crying. Try to stretch it back to 3 ish hour feeds and hopefully Bub feed more, it’s hard cause he underweight and you want it to eat more, mines was underweight before.
    Carrying in hard, mines liked to sleep.

    Try alternate feeding so one gets a good chunk of sleep

    And yeah go see a ped.
    My ped has a facebook page, u can join and pay a yearly subscription (30 bucks I think) and he responds usually within 24 hours. It’s pretty I ask him questions all the time, saves paying 300 bucks a visit

    I’ll pm u when I ask the wife 8f u want

    • summithunter on 22/08/2020 - 21:01

      Yup.. thats exactly what we are doing .

    • legendary-noob on 24/08/2020 - 19:02

      yeah sounds about right too

      Ours was 6 weeks early
      Had all sorts of issues
      But apparently overfeeding may also be a reason why you're facing the issue
      Just be relaxed about him being hungry
      Just monitor the number of wet nappies - if he has 8-10 wet nappies i recall, he is fine from a feeding standpoint

  • BuyoTheCat on 22/08/2020 - 19:08

    I feel djones is right about a facebook page. I would try to find a new parents fb group/page more people with relevant experiance.

  • PissLUR on 22/08/2020 - 19:09
    +4

    Have you asked advice from your local child health nurse?

    • barbarella on 22/08/2020 - 19:34
      +1

      yes…the child health nurse may be more experienced with this problem than a GP would be…see the nurse

      • summithunter on 22/08/2020 - 21:02
        +1

        Yes, we did and have been going round
        in circles as they try to help but dont recommend anything and have been asked to see a doc !

  • sam-1966 on 22/08/2020 - 19:21
    +11

    See your pediatrician! ASAP!

    • Bleach on 24/08/2020 - 07:37

      Please follow this. Ours is now 8 months old exclusively breastfed as she hates bottle.
      lots of feeding issues. Now on solids and drinking has dropped further. you need support from a professional

  • bobbified on 22/08/2020 - 19:39
    +17

    2 Months Old

    Take him back and ask for a refund. It's still within the 90 day period, so you can ask your bank to do a charge back, if necessary.

    • elgrande on 22/08/2020 - 20:35
      +14

      They are not accepting returns due to covid, just like at KFC if you choose the wrong drink..

      • bobbified on 22/08/2020 - 20:45

        ..just like at KFC if you choose the wrong drink..

        What's this? I've never actually complained about food, but I used to hear that the fast food chains never argue and just change or replace whatever someone's not happy with!

    • bigbadboogieman on 25/08/2020 - 22:40

      Probably tried.. off shore customer services team so no one's answering the phone.

  • whooah1979 on 22/08/2020 - 20:00
    -1

    Ozbargain is the wrong place to be asking about medical (, legal or financial ) advice.

    A suggestion is to make an appointment with a pedestrian.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 22/08/2020 - 20:01
      +12

      I agree with you but honestly some people here give better general financial advice then some financial advisors imo

      • whooah1979 on 22/08/2020 - 20:03
        +1

        Sorry. Damn spellchecker.

        • pediatrician.
        • [Deactivated] on 22/08/2020 - 22:09
          +13

          I liked it better as pedestrian.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 22/08/2020 - 20:01

    Im no expert but maybe talk to your paediatrician or maternal child health nurse?

  • Muzeeb on 22/08/2020 - 20:06
    +2

    Hang in there op.

    Everything will be fine in the end. If it's not fine then it's not the end.

  • ihbh on 22/08/2020 - 20:35

    How is his weight trending?

    • summithunter on 22/08/2020 - 21:03

      We have been checking at home .. has been trending upwards untill last week and has been stable since then .. he has not lost weight even with low intake

      • Laurana on 24/08/2020 - 05:25
        +1

        This is really good news. Being a parent, specially first time and of a newborn, is very scary.

        We never had our kids go that long with reduced food intake, so I don’t have a similar story to share but we have had them reduce their food intake for 3-4 days and then go back to eating normally.

        I know it’s very scary but as long as his weight is not dropping much and he is having some food (even if small amount) I would try to not worry too much and keep doing what you’re doing. Seeking professional help.

        If it were me, I would try changing through all the different brands of formula to see if another one fits better. Or even consider contacting the mothers milk bank or something similar for donated breast milk. The suggestions to change the type of bottle is a good one too. We went through quite a few with our daughter. We found that one was too slow release and she’d get frustrated and not want to eat and another one was too fast and kept spilling.

        Lastly, the being held thing i would not worry about much. The poster above was right in that newborns are super needy. My youngest needed to be held nearly every hour for almost the first entire year of her life. It was exhausting. Good luck, OP.

  • MeesusEff on 22/08/2020 - 21:36

    I don't have a schedule for bubs, at the early stage of she cries it's either hungry or nappy change. I don't force naps and let her sleep when she's sleepy etc. Between 2-3 months she has this time between 10pm-2am where she would just scream her lungs out no matter what I tried to do, chalked it up to the 4th trimester stage where they cry for no reason. After that she slept alright at night but wouldn't really nap during 4-6 months.

    She also had a bit of reflux, she would randomly be choking on her saliva. The CHN said to not feed her on a totally flat surface and to prop her up a little bit when she feeds and sleeps. I folded a little cloth and put it under the bed so she would be slightly propped up in her sleep.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/08/2020 - 21:48
    +7

    Hang in there - Monday not far away and bub is feeding at least a bit.

    With my first I had to experiment with a few different bottle types before we found one that worked ok, the disposable one in hospital were good but the ones we bought for home (philips avent) were too much work for Bub and she didn’t feed properly until we changed to the closer to nature ones (Tommee Tippee). There’s different flow rates in the same brand but newborns should be on the slowest.

    It might be worth experimenting between HA and standard (gold) formula - HA is easier to digest.

    https://www.huggies.com.au/baby-care/formula/baby-formula-an…

    It’s normal to get smooth sailing for first 2 weeks and then sleeping becoming an issue but definitely trust your gut and investigate anything that seems not normal for your baby.

    Also check environment - room not too hot or cold, dark enough during daytime (blackout curtains may help), no sudden loud noises etc.

    And also the obvious ones check his temperature, body check for anything that could be causing discomfort.

    Sometimes they just want something for comfort - you can also try letting them chew on your (very clean) finger and seeing if that soothes at all maybe a pacifier might help in that case.

    • Laurana on 24/08/2020 - 05:29

      This is all great. Wish I had another up vote.

  • Traveller107 on 22/08/2020 - 21:53
    +8

    Mate I'm sorry for the trouble your little one if facing.
    Having gone through a very rough time recently with our newborn I will tell you that most GPs will be useless. Most midwives will be useless.

    Option 1-You need to find the Governments community midwife and baby care nurse clinic that help with such problem. They specialise in helping new parents with their little ones and are great at baby feeding issues.
    Option 2-Your public hospital will also have a new parent assistance program where the mum and bub will go stay for a few days under observation and will be given appropriate help until issues are sorted.

    If your baby is not gaining weight and not wetting appropriate number of diapers you might need to enroll yourself into one of the above programs asap. They are free and very good.
    Sometimes it might take months of perseverance to get things going on the right track. It can be an extremely scary and vulnerable time but trust yourselves and keep pushing yourselves. Cheers!

  • Melb69 on 22/08/2020 - 22:10
    +1

    The baby crys are primeval and rip into the core of both parents. Hang in there. You don't want to hear my story. Hopefully just a short term thing. We all go though it.

  • godofpizza on 22/08/2020 - 22:26

    Without know much about your family history. If you baby does suffer from reflux, I would get referral to seeing a gastroenterologist and or to find out what the best approach with dealing with reflux or if the child has other issue with cow milk protein intolerances.

    The babies refusal of milk, is it too hot or cold when prepared? Are the teats used have the correct flow? Maybe looking at a lactose free milk power?theres a lot of things that could be the cause, I would try to eliminat one at a time as changing a lot of things will bring too much confusion.

    If your willing,get a referral from your gp. it might be worth going thru the local children’s hospital to get admitted ASAP, it’s a bit of a shortcut but also very stressful environment.

  • Bid Sniper on 22/08/2020 - 22:46
    +3

    Seek professional advice. For us they gave us a number for hospital maternity ward for support, nurses were helpful.

    We had similar stage, it was terrible. Some ideas;

    -formula, change again. As above tested for lactose intolerance?
    -Is the bottles clean and sterile?
    -Is the formula made up to spec and warm?
    -Also we went to a larger flow rate teat, the 0 size just pissed off my daughter.
    -reflux while sleeping? My daughter use to throw up in her sleep, we ended putting cot on incline with books.
    -baby too hot or too cold? they're temperature sensitive and get cranky.

    Hang in there, it is a stage

  • jacross on 23/08/2020 - 08:11

    All i can say is I'm not worried for you at this stage. Seems pretty normal. Good luck with your ped appt.

  • chode on 23/08/2020 - 08:41
    +1

    Man the first 3 months is the worst for most parents.. I feel your pain.

    We had a similar issue as he dropped 15% body weight due to the my partner not producing enough milk and was informed by mid wives to stick breast milk.. Finally ignored the hippies and went on formula after Drs advised us.

    At first he took to the formula but later dropped 120 to 40ml.. so we tried another formulas S20 and Kari gold and he went back up.. some babies are picky than others.

    Keep an eye on how many dumps his doing as some formula can cause constipation.. if no movement we gave him infants friend and boy it's a gift from God.

    Go see the pediatrician on Monday and if you're not happy with the advice get a second opinion.. reason being they misdiagnosed a friend's baby as a phase and after 1 month of screaming, sleepless nights, they got a second opinion and he had reflux.. don't doubt yourself or feel embarrassed about a 2nd opinion, pediatricians are human and humans make mistakes.

    All the best with it and as every parent says, "it gets easier".. pfffttt

    • OzzyOzbourne on 25/08/2020 - 23:32

      It never gets easier, you just have different problems 😂

  • [Deactivated] on 23/08/2020 - 13:13

    Sorry you are dealing with this OP. It is extremely stressful when you are worried about your baby. Just keep an eye on how many poops they are doing in a day and keep a weekly check on their weight gain. You know your baby. If you feel something isn’t right don’t stop until you have the answer. Hopefully your paediatrician will have said answers. In the meantime try to keep stress to a minimum (easier said than done I know) and also keep an eye out for PND with your wife (and yourself) as these extra stresses might just tip her over the edge. All the best.

  • Geekomatic on 23/08/2020 - 15:30
    -2

    Our pediatrician was useless. We reported our 1st baby (boy) screaming, writhing in pain, only sleeping for 10 mins at a time (us, too), vomiting what he drank.

    I switched to soy milk formula (in the can).

    Within one day, he was happy and sleeping. Us, too!

    Switch to soy. I used soy with both of my children and they both can eat/drink dairy today w/o issue (in their 20's now!).

  • brad1-8tsi on 23/08/2020 - 22:30

    My kids are 23 & 19 but when they were babies we went to the baby health centre for advice (as well as the GP). Do they still exist?

    Our eldest was 8 weeks premature. When she stopped gaining weight and the GP had run out of ideas we got a referral to a paediatrician and consequently tests at the hospital for acid reflux, which she had quite severely. Gaviscon is for amatuers - she got Zantac and something else. No more screaming for no reason and the weight started improving.

    PS; stress, tiredness, etc are pretty normal with babies. Life does improve

    • Geekomatic on 23/08/2020 - 22:46

      I think reflux is brought about by an extreme, early, & temporary milk allergy for some infants, hence why I believe soy milk ended our issues. Once they were older, they were fine with dairy— but that soy formula saved us!

      • brad1-8tsi on 24/08/2020 - 08:55

        Our child was on mothers milk and no formula so I would dispute that theory but if you sorted out the problem with soy based products then that's great.

        As far as I'm concerned, the only correct method is the one that fixes the problem and works for you.

  • BuzzzLightyear on 23/08/2020 - 23:55

    One advise from first time parent. Not sure if you are already doing it. Try to give a bath to baby during the night before putting on bed.

  • lainey13 on 24/08/2020 - 00:22
    +1

    Please call the free 24hr maternal and baby health advice line see your state here: https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Maternal_and_Chi…

  • McFly on 24/08/2020 - 01:28

    When you say 'wants to be held' do you mean upright?
    All my three kids had reflux to a greater or lesser extent.
    As brad1-8tsi says at https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/9183949/redir you may need Zantac. Tastes awful (we used a syringe to administer) but worked beautifully.

  • KingJuf on 24/08/2020 - 01:39

    If your feeding him formula that seems like you might be trying to feed him too often as he is not hungry when you are giving him his next feed , especially at 2 months feeding every 2hours. Formula is more filling than breast milk generally speaking.

    During the day we had success spreading out his feeds 3-4 hours and overall our son still fed more in a 24 hour period.

    Babies will change their habits though so this may or may not be contributing to the situation. Try playing some calm white noise in the background when putting him to sleep, soft/gentle massages after baths can also help them relax and swaddle him up if possible.

    Again like others have suggested see your pediatrician and hang in there doing what you feel is best for your child. It is not easy but it definitely does get easier.

    Not qualified by any means, just another parent.

  • greatlamp on 24/08/2020 - 08:08
    +3

    Although baby formula contains the nutrients your baby needs, it isn't a 1:1 identical replacement for breast milk.

    Since the baby does not have any source of breast milk, they are missing out on the bacteria found in breast milk which would aid digestion. You can supplement this yourself - Qiara is a probiotic strain extracted from human breast milk. It is expensive and they have a patent on it, but it does have good evidence behind it. Bioceuticals babybiotic is also a very good formula which contains multiple probiotic strains including one which is similar to Qiara. There are many other products available but I would only suggest these 2. The pediatrician should hopefully be familiar and be able to recommend one.

  • uedamasaki on 24/08/2020 - 08:11

    didn't have time to read all the comments, but if your baby isn't thriving (growing well), needs another opinion. If there was a suspicion of reflux, I wonder if there's value in asking about trialling an suppressant medication (proton pump inhibitor).

  • Oofy Doofy on 24/08/2020 - 08:19

    I was born with an underdeveloped esophagus (not all that unusual with babies), I never slept for long and screamed all the time…this lasted about 1 year. I was put on a regime of antacids and my mother was told to feed me smaller amounts more regularly. Eventually everything sorted itself out.

    Good luck to you both during this difficult time.

  • vroomkroom on 24/08/2020 - 08:47

    I hope your visit to paediatrician gives you the answers and relief to the little one. Hang in there, it will get better with time.

  • try2bhelpful on 24/08/2020 - 08:51

    I wish you the best. It must be a very trying time.

  • masadav on 24/08/2020 - 09:58

    For what it's worth, both of my kids were awful feeders at that age (and beyond!), both had silent reflux, wouldn't take to breast milk, bad sleeping.

    Prescription for Nexium helped with the reflux, and so did changing the formula to A2 Platinum (literally the only formula our would keep down).

    Took a while to get to this conclusion, trial and error of different things. You will get a million different opinions from nurses, GP's, family, people you know and everyone on here - you just need to find what works for you. Just keep at it!

  • mickyd on 24/08/2020 - 10:07

    Have you looked at an NG tube?

    Ours has feeding issues and we were told many times it wasn’t silent reflux and it was. We then had ours on the NG tube for 2-3 months. She was barely drinking milk, but on the tube we were slowly able to increase the feed amounts which helped stretch her stomach.

    We also had her top lip tie cut as well.

  • Mackeg02 on 24/08/2020 - 10:14
    +1

    Find a lactation consultant to see if lip & tongue ties are an issue, this was part of the solution for us.Our 15 month old had obvious tongue ties which was released via laser at Dentist surgery Some doctors don't believe so it can be issue though so you may be facing an uphill battle if its not diagnosed by the right people. it will pass but there is a lot of hard work ahead but you.

  • Powlie85 on 24/08/2020 - 11:17

    Have you tried the formula? I remember we once bought an anticolic one and it tasted bitter.

    Routines are good - also check that babies head is in the right position to enable a comfy flow of the formula - chin in your chest for example makes it difficult to drink properly.

    Also try helping baby burp and see if after that baby will drink more - sometimes baby will swallow air (make sure bottle is positioned so that baby isn't sucking air from bottle).

    We used to give baby exercise by very gently moving babies arms and legs to some gentle music - 15mins at a time. Maybe that will get baby hungry.

    Good luck and be nice to each other during this hard time!

  • pformag on 24/08/2020 - 11:27

    Change your bottle or the size of the teat. They may be sucking too hard for too long, and are getting tired.

  • Lord Fart Bucket on 24/08/2020 - 12:08
    +1

    Sorry to hear OP. Being a first time parent is already stressful, not having an ideal experience makes it worse.

    He now sleeps only 20 -30 minutes and constantly wants to be held.

    This is hard. Don't do anything once that you don't want to keep doing. If you give in now, be prepared to hold him continuously. I know, it's hard, my daughter would only sleep in the car. Horrible. They do grow out of this.
    If you have a car, i suggest going for a drive. No music on, make it as boring as you can. Make sure you're rested, don't want any accidents. Sometimes the movement of the car helps, and he'll be on an incline in the car, so reflux will be less likely.

  • SmartCover on 24/08/2020 - 12:47

    OP suggest you join various facebook groups for new mums/parents. youll get heaps of support there also!

  • AddNinja on 24/08/2020 - 12:49

    So long as your baby is not losing weight, you can take some time to sort this - it is not an emergency.

  • rlay3 on 24/08/2020 - 12:59

    Hi OP, father of 3 here, have you tried a different bottle? Some of our kids preferred different teats.

  • le3lee on 24/08/2020 - 13:37
    +1

    Hi OP,

    Sorry to hear about juggling your new born along with sleep deprivation. Although my bub (now 18 months) was BF, I can offer my experience/lessons learnt (perhaps some have been mentioned above). Hopefully you got good information from seeing the pediatrician today.

    • Join some support groups on Facbook such as Melbourne Mums Group (larger parent community) or sleep school (you need to buy their guide to join but there are free ones too like Baby Sleep movement)
    • Have Nurse on call 1300 606 024 or Maternal Child Health Services line 13 22 29 to call when in need. They are both 24/7
    • Check with a professional of tongue tie issues (no experience to offer here)
    • Change the bottle teat as the flow might be too quick (he can't catch up) or slow (using too much muscels to get milk out and feeling tired). I used Pigeon Slim Neck and it worked after trying many other brands. Aslo from memory at this age they may take lesser mL's but require more of it aka Cluster Feeding, also there are some thickening products to add to formular to help keep milk down.
    • For reflux you can try to put some towels under his mattress to elevate it so he's sleeping on a angle (head on the higher end) to help keep fluids down.
    • Sleep issues, ensure dark room, white noise app (for us it was rain and waves on an old mobile phone on airplane mode that plays continiously), ensure room is good temperature and dressed for it, you can use the Ergobaby temp/clothing guide. They will always want to be held to sleep, but it's good to get the foundations right as mentioned above to help with them to self settle which is 12 weeks onwards. While cuddling, once they are nodding off, place in cot and continue to site pat/shhhhh/ headstroke etc etc (whatever works) till they sleep. However at this age they can be seriel cat nappers.. so keep trying to pattt/shhh untill they have slept a good few cycles (tiring, I know, but it will get better). Also i learn that a 2mo, on a 7am-7pm schedule they will need approx 5/6 hours of sleep over 3-4 naps a day. Their awake time is 1.5hours (from the time you get them out of the cot for feed, play, sleep).

    All the best :)

  • Herbse on 24/08/2020 - 13:47
    +1

    OP looking for support. Nothing wrong with that.

    Being a first time parent under a stressful situation like feeding issues, sleep deprivation and during a pandemic is not easy. So I am not surprised people are seeking advice or help.

    Best thing I can say is to listen to the experts, take online advice with a grain of salt and most importantly, don't be too hard on yourself. The problems you're having are extremely common so don't feel alone or worried that you're doing something wrong. Most people just don't know about it or hear about it until it happens to them.

    One thing I've learned is that the nurses and doctors have specific numbers, weights and amounts that they are told that babies need to be at at certain points and they aim to get these numbers to comply with regulation. But these numbers don't take into account the parent's unique backgrounds, weights and genetics. So bear that in mind when you're told that "baby needs to be at this weight" etc.

    Just do your best at looking after each other and as long as you're doing that, you're doing a good job.

  • holdfestron on 24/08/2020 - 14:58

    Sorry to hear about your situation.
    Is he burping ok after every feed?
    any sign of weight loss or allergy?
    How's their pee and poo, are they regular? if nothing abnormal, then it's not that bad as long the baby is hydrated.
    try different brand formula? Our boys was on aptamil, then switch to bellamy then switched back to aptamil when they were older. Belamy seems to be gentler and i see less solid fat in their poo. each brand taste slightly different, so you just have to try which one goes down easier.

    hang in there. As the hospital nurse told me, it's a tremendous change in environment for newborn (from the warmth of mother's belly to this cold hard world), and they are doing their best to adapt too. the first 3-6 months are usually the toughest, and the sleepless night will make you question your sanity, but it will be all worth it in 2 -3 years time.
    all the best mate.

  • TrendyTim on 24/08/2020 - 15:43

    We went through something kinda similar, though she was breastfed for the first 3 months then my wife got appendicitis and the stuff they gave her at hospital made her milk go blue, and we didn't feel comfortable feeding that to a 3month old.

    We didn't pump enough and she lost her milk supply so we used boobie bikkies and copious amounts of pumping eventually got the milk back, but baby wasn't drinking much of the formula or pumped milk, this was over 4 years ago now so the details are a little fuzzy.

    We got past it with lots of persistence and more frequent feeds but she too was waking up every 30 to 120mins and screaming so i got max of 4 hours of broken sleep a night for over a year, i was a very broken person by the time at 18months I eventually discovered via a 'differential diagnosis' with lots of googling that she had lactose issues and FODMAP issues. We gave her Lactose free cows milk (and eventually Rice milk due to hives and eczema which we attributed to stuff and she improved 300% within a few days also a low FODMAP diet for her solids a few years later now she can happily drink dairy and eat anything with no issues.

    So as others have mentioned id try a Lactose free/cows milk free formula as your bub, one other thing to look at is the bottles, some babies don't like some styles of bottles, we had Philips Avent bottles for our 2 girls, and we had troubles with other styles. ALso the size of the hole in the bottle nipple, if its not big enough they dont like it as its too much work for them, or if the holes is too big they dont like it because they nearly choke on too much milk.

    I hope the paediatrician was helpful, i really feel for you esp with no family support and the lockdown, i hope you can resolve it or bub gets over it soon and you can stop worrying and start enjoying.

    • redslert on 25/08/2020 - 00:55

      Very good point!
      For a tiny baby make sure to get small hole bottle nipples! If the hole is too large and the flow too much then it may cause reflux.
      I recommend NUK products https://www.nuk.com.au/.

  • superveggies on 24/08/2020 - 16:42

    Ask in mother's groups (facebook pages) for recommended pediatricians within reach. You may be able to find one with a high reputation - instead of a generic GP who may not be highly experienced in cases like yours.

    If one more very good pediatrician gives you the same advice, at least you'll have peace of mind.

  • G4life on 24/08/2020 - 17:24

    Our girl is 2 months old. This video helped a lot with sleeping and reflux. Instant Relief through farting. Maybe something to consider.

    https://youtu.be/OAe1C-kAliU

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 24/08/2020 - 18:56

    You aren't without support. There will be free government and non-profit organisations near you that can offer practically unlimited and valuable advice. There will also be free mental health support services available if things get really tough. Highly recommend you check them all out and utilize them.

  • LXE3 on 24/08/2020 - 19:18

    I know your Bub is not breast fed but the Australian Breastfeeding Association has a 24/7 phone hotline and these ladies know more than most about feeding. I’m sure they’d at least talk it through with you.

  • MoonlapseVertigo on 24/08/2020 - 21:38

    We have a 1 year old kid..our 1st…but have just gone through what you’re experiencing. After much trial and error with different formulas we were convinced something was up. Found an allergy specialist paediatrician in castle hill after 12 weeks of uncomfort and knowing something is up with our baby. Most GP and other paediatrician said it’s a phase and he will grow out of it

    Turns out baby has silent reflux (like heartburn) and was in pain. We were prescribed losec to administer orally via liquid and this changed our life. Tastes nice too (like juicy fruit flavour)

    Baby is now 1 and off the meds and thriving

    Try novalac allergy (rice based formula) and see if you notice a difference as it could also be cows milk protein allergy

    Best of luck, and keep going…it will get better and easier

  • fruxo on 24/08/2020 - 22:22

    Just wanted to wish you luck. Don't be afraid to reach out to various support groups, it can be an extremely stressful time. There are also many free numbers for various things. With our first child we would call that free health line regularly, which helped calm down my wife's freak outs.

    Try and take shifts sleeping even though you are worried. We have struggled with kids not sleeping for years, and it is no joke. People don't understand what it can do to you, so look after each other and ask for help if possible. Even if it's just having grandparents looking after him at your place so you can get some sleep between feeds.

    It is unfortunately entirely normal that they won't sleep unless you hold them though. And even then when you are doing everything you can, they might still wake up regularly and generally be a nightmare all night. Every night. Basically everything is normal because they are all different. And what worked this week won't work next week. And the week after that, everything has changed again. It's a roller coaster.

    As long as you are keeping an eye on the weight and that he's having wet nappies etc, it should be fine. If you want medical advice, I'd recommend talking to a paediatrician instead of a GP.

    Edit: we had problems with certain formulas. If he is exclusively formula fed you probably know all this, try some different ones and stick with whichever works.

    Edit: we bought stuff for silent reflux, we had someone come over for sleep training etc, but for us nothing worked. I wish you better luck, or if nothing else, you might take comfort that other people has gone through it and (eventually!) come out the other side. The only problem is that when it's finally starting to get easier, it's time for the second one and you are back to square one lol.

  • bmerigan on 24/08/2020 - 22:28

    We paid a 'sleep nanny' after much trouble getting our daughter to sleep. Turns out we would run in and pick her up as soon as she cried when we should have let her go back to sleep. Go in, tuck in blanket and then leave without interaction. No idea if that info helps but it certainly changed our lives.

    I 100% think you should speak to professionals though.

    My opinion is that I think 2 hours isn't long enough sleeping, thus the baby is having a snack instead of a full meal.
    Oh also, definitely take turns. Don't both be up at the same time during the night - you need sleep. We did: before 2AM = my turn and after 2AM = my wife. Then I got up first in the morning.

  • wildmx on 24/08/2020 - 23:23

    Sorry to hear your child is having trouble with feeding. I hope you can seek help from pediatricians or feeding clinics like others have suggested.

    It could also be something to do with the formula…

    I had a similar experience with my first son, who is now 13, suddenly didn't want anymore formula after about 30ml-40ml. It lasted for about over 1 week. We were admitted to a feeding clinic promptly due to my wife was having post natal depression. But the nurse couldn't work out why he refused the milk after 30-40ml.

    Then I noticed it all started with the new can of formula (same brand). I tried to taste the formula and found out that it was bitter. The company said that the new batch they made had a slight change in formula to help babies' digestion and immune system so it tasted slightly bitter, but babies should not have the taste buds for bitterness. My son could surely taste it and would only have 30ml because he was so hungry.

    We changed the formula and the problem was gone immediately.

    Different babies have different problems, but it thought I share my unique experience and it could be something as simple as that. I hope you find the solution soon

  • bbyfeel on 25/08/2020 - 00:00

    I don't normally comment but I want to share my experience. My baby (2mo at that tume) feeding decreased from 120ml/3hr to 30ml/3hour.

    For my baby, I met several paeds (from ER) and they suggested silent reflux (because baby was arching his back during his feeds. He took a lot of air during feeding). Perscribed with daily Losec (5mg) and we also changed formula to Aptamil AR at the same time.

    Since the second day, his feeding instantly increased to 100ml and noticed feeding became so much quieter (no air). Now its been 1 months and we are trying to reduce medicine (once every 2 days but we started to include galviscon because I can see he is struggling with reduced medicine).

    Although he takes 100-130ml/3hrs which is less than recommended 150ml, we are happy that he is gaining weight.

    Please keep a close eye on baby's hydration (pressing hard on skin and check if blood comes back in 3-5 seconds. Also recording number of wet nappies)

    I would strongly suggest to visit paediatrician to discuss if the baby may require any medication. (If you havent tried already, try Aptamil AR first; you need one size bigger nipple because it is so much thicker)

    I wish you all the best! It is hard time now but it will get better and better each day.

  • redslert on 25/08/2020 - 00:49

    I had 7-week premie, you need to get the number to the NICU hospital ward and speak with the experienced nurses. The GPs don't have the board range of experience unless they had previously worked at a hospital for NICU.

  • feesie on 25/08/2020 - 04:37

    Hi,
    hope this has settled and you no longer need this, but if not try midwife Cath. She is currently offering phone consultations to those in lockdown.
    https://midwifecathsvillage.com.au/

    That would be a good way to get some extra advise from a maternal child health nurse with decades of experience rather than a gp

    All the best. No one ever really explains how hard this time is.

  • Almond9 on 25/08/2020 - 07:53

    Started reading your post and realised you were describing symptoms our son had exactly. The only thing that worked for him was Losec prescribed by ER. Good luck.

  • frostman on 25/08/2020 - 09:07

    Your baby may have Colic, which is very common with premmy babies.
    It will pass on its own, sometimes when they turn 3months, others when it they turn 5months and they start light solids.

    For now, change the formula and try the Nestle NAN (HA Hydrolysed) Baby Formula which is easier on the stomach than the S20, standard NAN and other products.

  • summithunter on 25/08/2020 - 10:10
    +12

    UPDATE - Thanks you to everyone who provided supportive comments and suggestions.

    Out little one was screaming his lungs out Saturday night and we couldn't wait to see our paediatrician on Monday, We rushed to Royal children hospital where he was diagnosed with bacterial infection and admitted for 2 nights. We are back home now and whilst his intake is gradually increasing he is sleeping much better.

    All i want to say is for anyone who is looking for help in future is please trust your gut and seek help from specialist or visit a hospital if you are not satisfied with your responses from other professionals (GP,s, midwife etc ) They are there to help us but sometimes we as parents need to rely on our instincts and reach out for more help.

    Thanks again to your everyone who tried to help :)

    • MrKnowItAll on 25/08/2020 - 13:04

      Glad to hear it worked out in the end, dangerous advice from the GP to call it a 'phase', especially in a baby who has previously visited NICU!
      Our 2nd youngest had RSV and the only indicator was fatigue and lack of feeding, otherwise he looked well.. Visiting midwife said all is fine and not to worry at all, next day my wife took him to the hospital and he had a partially collapsed lung and ended up in the NICU for 5 days.
      As you said, always trust your parental instincts and stand your ground even if you have to argue with them to be heard - sad it has to get to that point though.

    • redslert on 25/08/2020 - 16:29

      So glad you took action and went to the hospital.
      All the best for quick recovery.

  • macrocephalic on 25/08/2020 - 10:22

    Our oldest (now 18 months) has had reflux all his life. Because of this he has a very strong gag reflex and can vomit any time he gets anything on his throat that he doesn't like the texture of. We have thought that he had food allergies, but I now think it was entirely reflux and gag related - he doesn't seem to have allergies now.

    If the doctor thinks it's actually reflux then they should be able to prescribe a PPI like Omeprazol which will be more effective than Gaviscon.

    Follow the doctor's advice. Keep persevering. Some kids are just difficult, but they almost always grow out of it after a year or two.

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