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Mar
3
I have been playing a festive internet game of Colic, GERD, or Perfectly Normal Baby?, which involves typing up random google strings like “baby spitting up like Linda Blair”, and “infant appears to be attempting to shit a large pinecone” and seeing what kind of results I get. I have of course now diagnosed Dylan with many, many afflictions, including housemaid’s knee, infection of the blowhole, and perhaps most accurately, Mother’s Complaint.
I thought I had the spitting-up thing figured out when we switched to a smaller bottle nipple size, but we’re back to the endless laundry cycles, and now there’s these other things going on, like the writhing, turning-bright-red-and-screaming, stiff-bodied thing/drawn-up-legs he does during a feeding. It’s like he’s horribly gassy, but burping produces little results. It seems like he eats all the time, but only takes an ounce or two at most at each feeding, and every meal involves such an exhausting amount of fussing/spitting up/thrashing around I can’t imagine it’s very pleasant for him. It’s certainly unpleasant for ME, and since I feel like I’m feeding him at least every couple hours around the damn clock (not consistently true, but true enough) — well, I’ve been in cheerier states of mind, I’ll just say that.
He also seems to have a hair-trigger gag reflex, which seems entirely unfair. I mean, who ever heard of a baby who gagged on a binky? If he sort of chokes on his milk, he gags. If his nose is all plugged up and he inhales wrong, he gags. One gag, and it’s all over — I’ve learned to scoop him up and aim him over the sink, because otherwise I’ll just be scrubbing curdled stomach contents out of the couch again (sorry, were you maybe trying to eat lunch?).
I know mothers are supposed to bond with their children during feedings but if there was some sort of Roomba that could take care of this child’s nutritional needs I would buy it in a heartbeat and not feel bad for one hot second.
He’s got a 1-month checkup coming soon so I’ll see what the pediatrician says, although I’m guessing I won’t hear anything like “You have a crabby, fussy baby who’s a pain in the ass to feed? Yes, this is indeed a unique and concerning situation for which I have just the right miracle pill.” Maybe we’ll try switching formulas again. Or maybe this has been part of the famed 3-week growth spurt and he’ll get his shit squared away soon. Or maybe I should just buy equal stock in Tide, Valium, and Red Bull.
Other than the whole draining-Mama’s-will-to-live thing, Dylan’s thriving quite nicely. He’s pudgening up a bit and losing some of that spindly tiny-baby look, he appears to be actually trying to look at things instead of staring blurrily at nothing, he does the funny marching-legs business I remember Riley doing when he was in an active state. Oh, and he’s also started perfecting that sneaky baby technique where they clutch the top of your shirt without you noticing and so when you go to lower them to a carseat or stroller or whatever one of your boobs pops out and says howdy.
I love this kid and I know things are going to improve, we just have to motor through this rough period and eventually we’ll get to some easier days.
(I want to also say that I am so grateful for your presence and comments and support right now, and I cannot tell you how much it helps to be reminded I’m not alone with these parenting struggles. Thank you for listening, and enduring all this baby blather.)
Lastly:
The boy can’t clear a fence yet, but he’s well on his way to following his father’s footsteps.
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113 Responses to “Blog currently set to All Baby Talk All the Time”
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Every time you post that picture of JB, I am freshly impressed. I think of it often. …Probably TOO often.
I hope the intestinal issues resolve themselves soon. You write so honesty and humor; it’s always appreciated!
Ass-vice from Hawaii: I went through something similar with my daughter, and it turned out to be thrush. Once we treated it, she was like a different child. We also switched her to soy formula because she had a terrible time digesting lactose (projectile vomits, knotted legs, painful gas).
It’s simply no.fun with a screaming, unhappy baby and I hope you can find some answers soon.
My son just walked by and saw the pic of Riley and said “whoa, that baby is floating!”
Good luck with the puke-alooza. Hope the ped. does, in fact, have the magic answer.
I spy a mei-tai:) Yay for babywearing and WAHM’s! hehehe
Hi Linda,
I’ve piped in before on this issue. My daughter had pretty much the same issues as Dylan. I read a book by Marc Weissbluth that changed my life. He actually has 2 books I swear by: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, and YOUR FUSSY BABY!!! When I saw the YOUR FUSSY BABY book I nearly peed my pants with glee. I was breastfeeding and he assured me (through his writing) that Lily’s puking and fussiness was not from “bad milk” or “colic”. He actually doesn’t believe there is such a thing called colic. He just says babies are on a scale of easy to difficult. They develop differently and will work themselves out. I just can’t believe babies are “allergic” to milk and need soy, or have GERD. My doc put Lily on an acid reflux medication and it didn’t do diddly. She was just a puker until she could sit up properly and her digestive system had developed. She was also just terribly fussy which I chalked up to the baby scale I mentioned above. She settled down after 4 or 5 months of crankiness. It’s rough, but just know, as we all tell you – it’ll get better and don’t jump through too many hoops to “fix” Dylan. They don’t call the first 3 months the 4th trimester for nothing. They’re still just developing. Hang in there!!!
Oy! I remember those days soooo well. My son is now 7 and still has a hair trigger gag reflex. He was treated for GERD starting at about 6-7 weeks old, and while it helped, wasn’t a cure. ANY improvement over the crankiness and barfage my boy produced was welcome. We tried several different formulas too, and had the best luck with Carnation Good Start. BUT, that was 7 years ago, and I’d imagine there are a lot of newer formulas that are gentle on the kiddo’s tummy. My son did that painful kicking, writhing thing while he ate too. Oh! Also helpful; keeping him tilted in a more upright position while eating. If it is GERD, that acid will burble up if the baby is laying too far back while eating. Good luck!
Thanks for writing so honestly. It’s kind of sickening to read only the happy-go-lucky parenting stories (lies). Kind of makes us normal folk feel like we’re doing something wrong.
I have #2 due in early July and I’m scared witless. Reading your real-life stories (as opposed to those other fairy tales we read elsewhere) makes me feel like ‘if Sundry can feel frustrated and exhausted and overwhelmed, it will be ok when I do too.’ Because I know I will.
Oh, the technique!
JB totally reminds me of a slow mo good-cop-chasing-criminal action shot on an early 1990’s cop show. Very NYPD Blue…..
Good luck! I think asking your ped isn’t a bad idea – and if s/he gives you the “tough luck this is a fussy baby that doesn’t want to eat” then tell him/her you want a 2nd opinion. Your worries and anxiety aren’t because you’re a dithery flake – you’re intelligent, and if you’ve exhausted your own resources, then ask for more help. I hope you can find some peace soon, too.
http://www.opaqueprintproduction.com/jbblog
You’ll probably get loads of assvice, including this:
Has anyone mentioned to you anything about adding prune juice or dark Karo syrup to his bottles? My son was incredibly gassy and a combination of switching him to soy formula and a teaspoon of prune juice in every bottle made a night and day difference in his fussiness and ability to expel gas and poo. He had prune juice in every bottle in graduated amounts until we were able to switch him to regular milk a year later.
My daughter is also of the fussy, squirmy, leaky variety and some feeding times are particularly troublesome with the trying to expel the gas and/or butt mud. Prune juice hasn’t worked as well for her, and we only just switched her to soy formula, but I don’t see much improvement. Sometimes it’s a crapshoot. Geddit? CRAPshoot? Sorry, that was terrible.
The only other thing I’ve found that helped was those Dr. Brown’s bottles. It really made a difference for my son that he wasn’t drinking bubbles because that internal vent was magic and made them disappear. Go to http://www.handi-craft.com if you want to read how the internal venting system works. I won’t take up any more of your comment section.
Solidarity, sistah. I’m right there with you on this since my daughter’s only a month older than Dylan.
I have to echo Sonia’s comments. Good Start also made a difference for us as did Zantac and eventually adding some oatmeal cereal to his bottle (when he was a bit … although not much … older). Feeding in an upright position (and this is even more important)keeping him in an upight position for 30 minutes post feeding was very helpful. Our feedings took forever so this was a pain, believe me. Just to clarify, the bouncy seat and carseat were NOT upright enough.
Good luck!
My daughter developed a horrific allergy to dairy about two weeks after she was born. I couldn’t figure out why she would scream bloody murder after every feeding and then it turned out it was all those post-partum bowls of ice cream I was mowing down. Took us over a month to diagnose it and the pediatrician was clueless. I was nursing, so I had to go on this evil non-dairy diet which involved giving up things like BREAD for months, not to mention ice cream. Anyway, is he on a dairy-free formula? I might try that if I were you. I have this weird theory that over half of all cases of colic are really dairy allergy. My daughter’s allergy magically disappeared at around 4 months, which is exactly how long most colic lasts.
Good luck, man. I feel your pain!
If your doctor had that miracle pill, though? Then you would have to beat him up for withholding it from the tired, spit-up-upon parents of the world. Being the awesome multitasker you are, though, you could probably do that with one hand while taking a picture of JB being silly with the other, holding Dylan and giving Riley a count of 3 to jump off the couch.
I’m not sure if you are looking for advice at all but . . . here it is! One of my girlfriends has a baby who threw up everything and seemed uncomfortable during feedings. She started putting an dosage of gas medicine in every bottle and now he just throws up a normal amount and the tummy trouble has lessened. Just a thought.
I am so sorry. I was pretty lucky with the spitting up thing. We used the Munchkin tri-flow bottles where you can adjust the amount coming out of the nipple to make for an easier feeding. I’ve also heard feeding them upright such as in a car seat helps. Either way this too shall pass.
For the record… all FOUR of my kids gagged on the pacifier. Oh and they hated the swing too.
You are SO not alone. My second baby was WAY more work than my first. She was fussy and grumpy and cranky and I think I held her for the majority of her first year. Hang in there. I’m here. I made it through…though now we’re entering the twos. God help us.
I feel for you, Linda! I remember the first couple months being horrible with the feeding. Because my little guy was preemie, I’d feed him for 20 minutes, then bottlefeed (because for God’s sake I was obsessed with “Did he get enough? I dunno! Maybe? I dunno! Feed him more!”) and THEN I would pump for another 20-30 minutes, then clean up the bottles/pumping equipment. Just in time to start the whole process over again. He didn’t have huge spew-age issues, which I guess now that I’m reading your post, I am so thankful for. But, the first several weeks aren’t the most fun. We all feel for you and if we were there we would help, give hugs, make drinks for you…
I love JB’s expression in that last picture. Its as if he’s making sure that Riley really hit the mark…like they are in a contest and he’s making sure Riley did in fact jump farther than he did. Hysterical.
I’m sure you’re going to have a slew of comments with their personal experiences with fussy/colicky babies, but in my case, it did turn out to be GERD. There was the constant crying, the projectile vomiting (and I mean clear across the room), but what gave it away from me was the gasping and choking DURING a feeding. It was so painful for both me and my tiny baby to have feeding time – which is supposed to be relaxing – to be so stressful. She’d gasp and gasp, turn purple, stop breathing for a second, then begin the screaming. Eventually, about 6 weeks in, she was diagnosed with GERD – the gasping was her throat closing off passageway to her lungs, so that what was coming back up in her reflux would not land in the lungs.
She was put on prevacid and things got a better on that. Then as she got older, and could sit up more, it got even better. It was never perfect and she never ever liked her bottle. She gave it up completely at 12 months.
I felt like no one believed me and all thought I was a crazy new mom. Until I brought her in the pediatricians office during a feeding time, where I made the doctor watch how she ate, and then she proceeded to hit the doctor with her exorcist spew from 4 feet away. That was when they put her on meds. I was getting ready to video tape it and bring it in because I felt that despondent.
Anyway, I know this was long but I hope my story helped. I’m not saying Dylan has GERD but if you suspect it, it’s worth discussing with your pedi. Moms always know best.
I love the picture of JB jumping the fence, that’s CRAZY!
Reading your posts makes me feel so much better. I felt totally overwhelmed when I had my son and I thought something was wrong with me. It’s so good to hear the truth and reality about having a newborn.
assvice here…
don’t wait a week, call and go in now. My son had reflux and he screamed for a good portion of the day, contorted himself, appeared to have heartburn and gas. I was all fired up, with printouts from the internet to back my case and prepared to be pushy if I had to be, but as soon as I said the magic words “I think he has reflux or something…” and they perked up and asked me his symptoms, we were on drugs that fixed the problem almost completely, in about 2 doses. He was an entirely different baby after that.
I’m not saying it’ll be that simple for you, but hey, you might be surprised, and it doesn’t HAVE to be that way.
Oh, and I learned just how to lean so the spew would go over my shoulder on to the floor where the dog would lick it up and I wouldn’t have to change my shirt!
Baby gas x? It worked for us but he still spit up like a little fiend and ewwww but it did go away eventually.
Love that fence clearing photo – it makes me envy his ability… as a child I was a bit of a tom boy and always wanted to jump like the boys could but seriously I am 5′2″ and even with serious vertical I would never be able to clear a fence like that!
heh “pudgening.”
It sounds like what my son went through when he was Dylan’s age. My little boy, Dylan, was first put on Zantac by his ped and then after 5-6 weeks of that not working (talk about frustration), he switched him to Prevacid. It worked…and unfortunately after a period of time after he was off of it (probably from 10 months to 15 months), he had to be put back on it. He’s had issues with textures, and also gagging because of the reflux, but the Prevacid worked wonders for us. I hope you get everything figured out soon. The constant spitting up/laundry/etc gets wayyyy too old when you have other stuff to worry about…
I’m so sorry you’re still going through the yuckiness with Dylan. I hope the doc can help figure out what’s going on.
And I’ve seen that picture of your hubby jumping the fence a few times now, and yet it still amazes me. That man can jump. Gracefully, I might add.
I had a spitty uppity baby too, and I really feel your pain.
My daughters pediatrician would not hand out the GERD meds. Now that I look back I wish I would have pushed for meds… for the poor babies sake!
With our second baby we let her sleep upright in the swing or carseat for a few months and that seemed to help… I’m sure you’ve already thought of that.
My kids def could not tolerate formular with iron….ended up putting them on soy based formular(prosobee i think…..but this was 15 plus years ago)….plus there were these drops(you could get at the pharmacy)over the counter…..give to baby prior to feeding….less gassy….cant think of the name of it….but was an anitgas drop!!!seriously…..these things SAVED my life….and made such a difference ….good luck
Hehehe, that pic of JB reminded me of that part of Hot Fuzz. “Never taken a shortcut before?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVVuUibGjxc
Hilarious!
I think I would look into the dairy allergy thing, too. Maybe soy formula would be better? Or some baby gas medication? I really have no good advice, but I feel for you, really.
Good luck.
Not that you havent gotten enough opinions already… but I’ll add to it. I’m gonna go with a lactose intolerance. Our son was always very gassy (in the gut pain, farting way) and then one day it got horribly worse (the worst gut pain and constipation). We eliminated cow’s milk completely and he was finally normal (though it took about 3 weeks to get it all out of his system, it seemed). I would just recommend making a switch before he gets worse.
I just have to say: the way you feel about your comments section is the way I feel about your blog.
It is so easy for us all to feel like we’re the only ones who have ever felt a certain way, and it’s so great to read your stories and know I’m not alone! I really was looking forward to you having your 2nd child just for that reason! (I have 2 children — one the same age as Riley, and the other was born mid-December — so your stories ring very true in this household.)
Oh man. That just sounds miserable, and I’m sorry you’re going through it.
Incidentally, JB looks SO PROUD of Riley in that photo, like dude, you’re finally making it, grasshopper. Now on to the fences!
So you’ve got eleventy billion comments already regarding this and mine is not going to be any different. Try switching formulas. My pediatrician practically disowned me because I A) dared to quit breastfeeding (I cannot even BEGIN to tell you the horror/guilt/desire to gouge my own eyes out) and B) TRIED DIFFERENT FORMULAS. Soy worked well; Nestle Good Start/Natural Cultures worked best. It doesn’t hurt to try, and when you realize how good it CAN be, you’ll hate yourself for ever putting it off.
You are lurved.
Like others have said, I think it sounds like reflux or GERD. My nephew had similar symptoms to what you’re describing and he was diagnosed with GERD. The docs put him on Zantac (I think) and when he was a few months old, his parents started mixing cereal into his (super-expensive-special) formula. He has mostly grown out of it now (he’s 2), but he might still be on antacids.
No kids here, so no assvice. Just wanted to say keep your head up and OH MY GOD WHAT CUTE KIDS! Gratuitous baby and spousal booty shots! LOL.
Calgon-ly,
Max
Double-ditto Andrea’s comments:
“Has anyone mentioned to you anything about adding prune juice or dark Karo syrup to his bottles? My son was incredibly gassy and a combination of switching him to soy formula and a teaspoon of prune juice in every bottle made a night and day difference in his fussiness and ability to expel gas and poo. He had prune juice in every bottle in graduated amounts until we were able to switch him to regular milk a year later.”
My friend’s son was given Prevacid for his similar issues and the problems really leveled off for him. There is hope !
Janet in Miami
i’m going to vote for reflux. My son also did the eating alllllllll the time (oh, my poor breasts) and the arching during feeding.
The eating all the time is because milk (formula) is a antacid, so it makes it feel better.
According to my dr, the arching and screaming during a feeding is a classic reflux a sign. An allergy makes itself known later with gassiness and poop issues.
I would go in sooner than later. Zantac helped us a lot.
Oh, my first did that too, like every twenty minutes, for the first…well, I won’t tell you how many months it lasted. The pediatrician just told me that, well, some babies just do that, and there’s some…plug or valve or something in their esophagus that doesn’t develop as early in some children. There were days when the entire house was covered in burp rags, and many, many changes of clothing, both mine and his. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I was also sleep-deprived. I barely remember much of that time.
And then one day, it just stopped. Totally stopped. The End.
(Ha, that kid is now 21 and goes to bars, so if he throws up now I’m guessing it’s for an entirely different reason.)
Hang in there. It will get better. Reading some of the other comments, man, it’s a lot different now that it was back then for me.
And like Jen above there said, after a while I wouldn’t wipe it up at all, I just let the dog take care of it.
I had a spitter/squirmy eater too… I’m feeling your pain! I wrote a long comment and then deleted it because other commenters have covered our situation already. I just wanted to say that it gets better finally, but man alive, it *sucks* for the first several months. It sucks in a way that only people who have had fussy babies can understand…
Oh, that sucks. I don’t really have any other advice than the other posters, but you may try surfing around for free samples/coupons to help offset some of the cost of trying ten billion types of different formula. I know we sure used those coupons a lot when Margot was tiny… I found most of them on Ebay.
Good luck!
Mine was always spitting up too much, but also would not sleep lying on her back – only when she was being held, which not coincidentally was always in a more propped position in addition to the other “colic” stuff – fussy, we were always walking her around, etc. First we switched formula – didn’t help, but FINALLY prevacid seemed to help a lot- and almost as importantly – holding her upright helped- like on our shoulder for at least 20 minutes after eating. I also did the Mylicon drops (even though a lot of people say they don’t work…) My #2 is on the way & I have NO idea how I’ll find time to hold the baby up half the day with crazy toddler if we have the same trouble…..Good luck!!
Yet another Zantac user here…I didn’t breastfeed (entirely because I didn’t WANT TO! Take that, internet! I am a selfish whore and I know it! Also, I lend my son out to cosmetics companies for testing purposes just to make extra cash!) and Cameron acted pretty much just how you describe Dylan. Our pediatrician didn’t hesitate to give baby Zantac a whirl and we went from frustrated, seemingly painful feeding times to much more tolerable ones. He didn’t need to stay on it long, a few months at most?
Awww – he really has grown since the last pics. Those cheeks!
I applaud you for being so honest and forthright about your experiences. It’s so refreshing and ultimately hopeful.
I don’t have any advice, but want to send my wishes that all is resolved soon!
I am in the hospital on bed rest with our number two and remembering those newborn days through you is helping me try to “enjoy” the relative relaxation of being stuck here!
Eli was SO fussy for the first month or so. Every time he was the least bit hungry he acted like he was dying, and as soon as he was fed, he acted like he was dying all over again, I assume from gas. It was very taxing, especially after having an unusually easy baby the first time around. Eli gradually got better after a month or so, and we had a good spell, then another bad spell, and right now he seems okay again. I was very worried about there being some kind of allergy problem, but since he was exclusively breastfed, I had to evaluate everything I was eating and start cutting things out one by one. That really sucked. Caffeine seems to be a big trigger, but since that can’t be the issue with your Dylan, all I can offer is my sympathy! Hopefully it’s just some sort of growth spurt and his tummy will catch up with the rest of his body soon!
I just got off the phone with my niece who had to handle the projectile vomiting my great nephew did … it was awesome, I heard it through the phone. It sounded like his blow hole exploded. He’s not quite 3 mths. yet and gets quality distance when he spews! So really, no help, just wanted to let you know it happens all over! (and gives new meaning to “can you hear me now?”)
I had same problems with Alex, like to the point that I seriously a few times thought about throwing the towel in and felt increditably lousy, and even :( laid him in bed to scream the fuck out while i blasted music and tried to ignore it.
Eventually I started putting digestive enzimes in his formula and letting it sit a bit until it was paritally digested already and then give it to him. Cured the fuss fuss and turned him into the sweetest quietest happiest baby ever.
hang in there
I know you’re asked this all the time, but I must know what kind of camera you have — your pictures are PHENOMENAL!
Don’t forget that at about 3 weeks their little digestive tracts kick into high gear (= GAS). Baby mylicon drops (we use the Target generic) are awesome. You can dose them up to 12 times a day, which means you could do it every other hour throughout the day. It doesn’t get absorbed, so use it liberally. Made a big diff for our BabyA who inherited her daddy’s gassy GI system.
hmmm…i had a spitter-upper, but i fear dylan’s sounds a little more dramatic. For the gassy issue (and i know you’re a 2nd time mom so i’m probably stupid for suggesting this) but have you used Mylicon aka the wonder-baby-drug-that-maybe-i-used-too-much-but-never-felt-the-least-bit-guilty-about? I really dont have any good advice so i’ll just say he’s adorable!
OH, I just SKIMMED the comments and there are forty different suggestions, aren’t there? Here’s my experience: my first son, well, he had the COLIC. Oh my god, he was a pain in the ass. But no spitting up. My second son, he had the spitting up AND the colic. He was put on Zantac and it helped with the spitting up but only about half the fussiness. Ask your pediatrician, and if you don’t believe her, ask for a second opinion. I HATE almost all medicines, but would I put that baby on Zantac in a millisecond again? YES. It helped at least with the piece of mind.
I concur with the Zantac suggestions. I quit breastfeeding at 3wks and switched to Enfamil with Nutramigen (thankfully insurance covered this for a full year!) His symptoms sound exactly like what my Middle son went thru. Everything got a bit better at 4 months once I started him on cereal and by the time he was eating solids, Pukefest ‘04 had ceased.
All good advice so far. If you’re appointment isn’t for a week or so, why not call the ped and ask them over the phone if the baby can have infant Mylicon drops. They are usually well-tolerated and effective for breaking up gas. It’s worth a shot. If the baby is going to need Prevacid or anything similar for GERD the doc will need to see the baby. Those kind of treatments are usually short term with kids-they tend to outgrow the problem.
Sort of ironically, I was given a copy of my 2yr old daughter’s medical records from the ped back in Jerz. In addition to office visits, they had documented every phone call from little fevers, the pink eye, the pneumonia, to the possible peanut butter reaction. What I’m getting at is, the doctor and his staff work for you and your family so if it seems intolerable just call. They’ll tell you over the phone if Mylicon is ok.
Well, if that didn’t turn into assvice then I don’t know what…
ohmigod I am so jealous. My hubby could never do that. Not jealous of sir-pukes-alot. #2 had GERD, tiny tummy drops worked for a while, then he was on the prescription stuff. he grew out of it, but I wasn’t sure the hubbo would (sympathy puker…it was almost comical) We had #2 around the time The Incredibles came out and #1 son was very into it. We started calling #2 Baby Yak Yak. Hang in there…..hopefully it will resolve quickly. We had to actually put him through a horrible procdure where they made him drink this bottle of crap, then papoosed him and scanned him while turning him in all kinds of freaky positions….IT WAS NOT FUN. And the wonderful result…your kid pukes a lot! REALLY? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TELLING ME THAT! Hold fast to the this too shall pass thing!
My 2nd grandkid was a puker. My Mom said my brother was and she ended up diluting his formula for a little while (more than usual). Results were he ate more often but puked far far less so I am all for starving the child if you don’t have to deal with puke. (j/k he actually GAINED weight because it was finally staying down).
I was spoiled I had a child that was tolerant of the first formula given to him and never ever spit up. Seriously, never. But when he was 6 we had the bologna incident and, well, we don’t talk about bologna around here anymore.
My baby is 20 now.
Anyway,..I went through all of this to say as long as he is gaining weight and you own stock in carpet cleaner, it should be fine. No. Really.
Sara Moon,
Just so you know, I’m 22 and I’ve been allergic to milk my whole life. Also allergic to soy. AND pretty much everything else that normal people find edible. Trust me, it’s a real thing
Mine had GERD and a milk protein intolerance- very specific symptoms that went away when we found the right combo of medicine and hypoallergenic formula. I won’t go into the whole story here on how we figured it out, but if you’re interested, drop me an e-mail and I’ll be glad to tell you about our experience.
Mariah- Check out Sundry’s milk and cookies for your question
http://workitmom.com/bloggers/milkandcookies/2008/03/01/how-to-take-better-pictures-of-your-kids/
The whole spit-up or puke or what the fuck is that baby doing thing happened here – 3 times with three of the 4 kids. We switched to soy formula and things improved a lot. One had to move to Nutramagen (amazingly expensive) but all of them did much better after.
Your family is massively cool — repetitive puking and all. And have you considered investing in some Mylicon? My son went through pretty much the same thing Dylan’s experiencing, and Mylicon helped immensely. Sometimes all it did was give us pink puke, but even that was a help; pink puke is infinitely more interesting than that silly beige-ish stuff. And when it didn’t give us pink puke, it gave us many puke-free hours. All hail Mylicon.
Commiserations from a long time lurker- I can totally relate to everything you’re going through. I think I googled long into the night with my second child as my daughter would throw up all the damn time. I recall a lovely Christmas day gathering where she was being introduced to my extended family where I ended up changing her half a dozen times in the space of the first hour- by the time the rest of the family was there she was wearing nothing but a nappy and bib (Australian summer, so somewhat appropriate!) and I stunk like vomit. Such a good impression was made. Not. Basically it sucked and her dr diagnosed her as a ‘happy chucker’. Yeah she may have been happy but I was most definitely not. She stopped sometime around the 6 month mark when she started solids. I guess all I can really say is that I know it doesn’t feel like it right now but one day you’ll be past this and things will be much easier. Hey maybe the dr will find some easy cause of the problems Dylan’s having? One can hope! Good luck!!
Soooo as apparently I’m the only non-mom in your comments section, I will say, for the record, Good Luck With That. And: Stain Stick will get that puke off of your shirt.
OOhh…I think that “pudgening up” is a new favorite. I will have to alternate it with “flufferpotamus” which is current old favorite.
I watched an interview with Bode Miller’s parents during the last winter Olympics. They said he would climb up and then jump off everything in the house when he was little. That was totally what I thought of when I saw the pictures of Riley. What with the ninja fence-jumping genetics from his Dad and all.
Dylan is more cutie-pie by the day. Hang in!
Hey there!
I Love reading your blog adn i can relate in so many ways. i just had my daughter via c section on Feb 7 and i go through amny of the issues you are.
My daughter had the same spit up problem and your son, only she would projectile spit it EVERYTIME she ate. the doctor put her on Enfammil A.R. Lipil formula(red can) and its HELPED so so much. she doesnt spit up anymore. Maybe you can switch formulas and try tha tone and see if it helps him. she also had the red face poop issue cause i had been switching her formula to try and figure out what was wrong with her and it has resolved itself!!
Good luck!!
It sounds like your little one may have Reflux. My daughter was the same way and after her doctor put her on Axid she was completely different baby. She didn’t fuss any more and stopped projectile vomiting. After a year we were able to take her off the meds and she is perfectly fine now. Plus we would have been able to take her off sooner had we discovered her milk protein intolerance sooner.
Just wanted to second (third?) the advice about baby Mylicon drops. Expensive but so worth it. Things will get better, I promise!
As someone who had one child with severe GERD and has another one who seems to have it (we see the ped on Wednesday…sigh), I have to completely disagree with whoever said above that GERD doesn’t exist ;) Maybe they can try him on Zantac and see if that helps?
You have my sympathy. I have the same thing going on here (fussy, inconsolable, spitty baby). Hang in there…
Also, the book ‘Colic Solved’ by Bryan Vartabedian was really good, and I’ve had the Fussy Baby book by Dr. Sears recommended to me, but I haven’t read it yet…
My first was fussy for no reason (colic) and my second has reflux (which just means she spits up). She has been taking Zantac for 4 weeks (she’s 7 weeks now). I bf her, so there’s no changing the consistency of her milk, so we’re trying 1 ml of Zantac 2x a day. A good test to see if they’re just fussy or if there’s really something paining them is to run a blow dryer while they’re freaking out, a la Harvey Karp (happiestbaby.com). If they stop crying, it’s just fussiness. It sounds like Dylan is really having some issues – some kids spit up and it doesn’t bother them, but some it does, and as my ped says, the babies aren’t talking so we have to err on the side of caution. I’d call the ped and see if you can get in early. Try the Zantac and it won’t stop the spitting up (which is a pain in the ass, I know) but it should stop the acid and pain.
I had a colicky baby and trust me, everyone wants to blame every damn thing on it, which is maybe why some people say there is no such thing as GERD. Of course there is, some babies aren’t as developed, digestion-wise, as others. Hopefully the Zantac will help but maybe if he is a little fussy too, a swaddle, pacifier, and Babies First Blow Dryer CD blaring (sleeplullabies.com) will help, too.
Linda, I hear every word of this post and the last one, loud and clear. It SUCKS, this beginning part. I tell myself two things – one is that I will NEVER do this again (I don’t know if that’s true but it works for me at 2 in the morning) and two is that I am not pregnant anymore. Hang in there, sister.
Oy!
http://experienec8.com
I hope your doctor’s visit is soon so you can get some relief!
My sister’s baby was diagnosed with acid reflux. He also did the spitting up thing pretty regularly and was pretty fussy non-stop, until he was diagnosed and given some acid reflux medicine. After that, he was much happier!
Keep going! You can do it!
My son Trevor had an iron intolerance that made him do many of the things you describe Dylan doing. I switched him to Low Iron formula and he changed overnight. It only took me 4 months of trial-and-error before I figured out the problem though, poor kiddo.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!
Another minority non-mom here with no advice whatsoever. I have a friend who had a screamy baby and I took care of him once for a couple of hours and nearly lost my mind…you all are amazing and much stronger than I am. Hope things get easier real soon Linda.
I’m not sure which photo I like best.. the wrinly kissable feet, the toddler jump or the MASSIVE air over a fence. What.. the.. he(double hockey sticks)!
OH, and *hugs*
Had enough advice yet? If not, Pyloric Stenosis is my contribution. My son was operated on at 8 weeks… hope it’s not that. Seems as though he’s gaining ok though? You’re a really trooper Linda, hang in there, you’ll clear this hurdle in no time {{hugs}}
Sorry I got nothing. I have no kids. (thanks the gods) Hell I’ve never even had a pet that needed much care. None that survived anyway. but despite my complete lack of understanding, let me assure you I am at least half way trying to muster some empathy. Honestly, I have the flu, so feeling sorry for other people is harder than usual, and I’m gender handicapped anyway, but at least I’m trying.
Tell me Riley jumped off the couch. Cause if he cleared that off the ground, you just sired fucking Spider Man!
Assvice from Pittsburgh, like you don’t have enough already. My daughter was a spitter upper too. When I eventually gathered my cajones to ask the pediatrician, he diagnosed her with reflux. A month of baby zantac, constantly propping her in the bouncy after feeding and wedging her matress and she was a new baby. Also, someone else mentioned Wiessbluth’s book – total freaking lifesaver. Schedule is like the tablets from Mount Sanai with that child.
Good luck. Also, hugs from the Burgh.
Oh Linda…
I just read the “Elimination Communication” comment on your other blog.
I really, really, really had to refrain myself from saying something snarky because 1) eeew have you ever seen those people on tv and 2) I don’t have kids so really, I have no idea – maybe it’s the most amazing idea ever, but no way in hell if I have kids will I be walking around carrying a toilet under one’s butt all day like the freakos I saw on 20/20 or whatever show it was.
I’m such a bitch; it was SO difficult to refrain from the typing of the snark but I didn’t want to start a brawl up in your blog – I think you’re a little too frazzled for that lately, yes?
Get some sleep, woman! And some ice cream!
Dr. Brown’s Bottles!!!
You need them. you will love them.
The colic and spitting up will STOP!!
Yeah, we’ve been using those Dr. Brown’s. Sadly, not a miracle cure.
I scoured the previous posts and nobody mentioned pro-biotics. Here is a link to a study about colicky breastfed infants where one group was given simethicone (Mylicon) and the other pro-bioitcs. The results are convincing enough that I would consider trying pro-biotics even if I had a colicky bottlefed baby. http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=73215-biogaia-probiotic-reuteri-colic
By the way, I know it’s a bit inappropriate and possibly tacky to say, but every time I see the photo of JB and the fence, I think “what a cute butt!”
Firstly, awesome photo comparison.
Secondly, I agree 100% w/everything Sara Moon said above. Exact situation here w/daughter (my son didn’t spit up one single time) and she just kept right on spitting up until she was 14 months old. I lived round the clock in burp rags – very fashionable and does wonders for the self-esteem. Up to that point I had tried everything (thrush treatment, eliminating EVERYTHING from my diet that was a trigger through breastmilk, standing on my head and holding my breath, burping the ABC’s, etc.) and nothing worked except time. The ped wasn’t worried about it because she kept right on growing and gaining weight and was happy except during and immediately after eating.
The hardest thing for me to accept was that SOMETIMES THEY JUST HAVE TO GROW OUT OF IT. Period. The end.
As a non-Mom I have nothing in the way of advice (or at least in the way of advice that hasn’t been said already).
BUT it sounds like a crazy freakin’ time and I guess you can take solace in the fact that while he may puke like Linda Blair, he at least doesn’t look like Linda Blair. He is so cute I can hardly stand it. Hope you get the little Vomitron to give you and your washer a break so you can spend more time squooshing him.
Good luck!
I’m sorry I don’t have any great advice for you – hell, I’m still trying to figure out why my little guy was a fuss-bucket for the first 7 months of his life! And the other thing I wanted to say is that for me, one of the hardest parts of parenthood is 1) wanting to run away from my life and 2)absolutely loving my life all in the same minute. Makes me feel more crazy than I already am!
Oh, I guess I do have one thing to add – my doctor was pretty laid back on most issues and looking back, I wish I would have gone to get a second opinion on Ben’s issues (he had exactly what you are describing with Dylan). Not that the next Dr. would have said anything different, but I would have at least felt better about not “giving up” so easily.
If you haven’t tried massaging the tummy in the direction of the digestive tract, it’s supposed to help the GI development of infants. WIth tips of fingers, up the right side of the bell, across just under the ribcage and down the left side, light pressure, just encouraging. Maybe his digestive tract just hasn’t caught up yet, you know?
belly I meant, not bell.
….sigh: so get where you’re coming from! Sorry no advice to offer…. just support…. :)
Love that pic of Riley jumping. Wow!
It’s a long time ago now, but my younger son had reflux. He needed thickened feeds which took an age to prepare. I remember frequently catching his puke in my hands in an often vain attempt to minimise the collateral damage, and then saying “I never ever thought I would do THAT.” And yet it almost became second nature. We laugh about it now so HANG IN THERE!!
I didn’t read all the other comments, so sorry for if I am being redundant: my now 1yr old had very similar symptoms, except for the spitting up part. He would arch his back after eating, during eating, he wouldn’t settle down while eating at least. He just seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. At 6 weeks he was put on Prilosec and it was like a different kid. Besides the impossible task of giving him the medication (roll baby in blanket burrito and sit on him while shoving medicine syringe in mouth) he really seemed happier and ate better. So def. ask your ped & hang in there! I found that a lot of the message board sites about GERD & intestinal issues made me so freaked out that I had to stop reading them. Good luck!
This has nothing to do with this post specifically, but I just saw this article about a six-legged octopus (”hexapus”!) and, of course, thought of you. Have you seen it?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/04/octopus.uk/index.html
Both of mine had GERD–was worse with my first. Zantac didn’t help but I didn’t push it and I wish I had. Eventually, I had to put them both on soy milk–which made it better but not 100%. Unfortunately, they don’t necessarily grow out of it…well…my son’s almost five and we’re still waiting for the GERD to disappear. I would welcome anyone to take care of a baby who has GERD and then dare to say it wasn’t real. The sour milk stains on their clothing should be enough…
Good luck–as long as he is continuing to fatten up, it isn’t critical…just exhausting.
And who said white men can’t jump?!!!
My daughter had similar problems with the puking – sad to say, she just finally outgrew it. I remember we did change her over to real milk quicker and had to start with 5% and work our way up to whole milk and then back down to 2%. I don’t remember what age this was though – probably 7,8,9 months. And we should have bought stock in Mylicon drops – we used that by the gallons!
None of the baby clothes I saved from her are stain free. Good luck!
Obviously from all these different comments there are 101 possible solutions. I had to use lactose free formula (premixed only!) to stop my rugrat from horking all over the place. At the time it was the most expensive stuff on the market and I just cringed every time we went grocery shopping.
Good luck, Linda!
I know I might have said this before but your situation sounds ALOT like mine—do yourself a MASSIVE favor and cut through all the red tape and go to a gastro specialist (GI)…I am telling you they understand spitting up and have reasons and things that ACTUALLY work. DO NOT listen to the “all babies spit up” blabber—you know your kid–if something is wrong—it is wrong.
I too had to push and advocate for my Rylan who was diagnosed with GERD more then anything else I had ever done as a Social worker or a teacher. People are ignorant about it. We tried 8 formulas (i told you before we ended up on the one from London at $500 a case), and 5 medicines…he is now 20 months old and still battling it and the only thing that worked from him was Dr Brown Bottles, Prilosec, and sleeping on a wedge.
Good luck and if you need any help from the Reflux Queen I would be more then happy to share with you further info. :-) Aimee
Linda! (whine) you’re scaring me! (whine) the second baby is supposed to be easier! (whine)
I just wanted to comment about how you seem to have an ungodly amount of natural light in your house. Your photos are always so perfectly lit. What’s your secret?
I’ll eleventy billion the possibility of GERD. It’s real. It’s not fun. It’s even worse when it’s coupled with a milk allergy. My guy had both. Zantac and soy worked for us. Thank god.
Also, we ended up letting my son sleep in his papason chair every night, so he was propped up. If we didn’t his reflux kept him up and spitting up at night. That wasn’t so fun.
I wish I had some great piece of advice that would totally help you out..but I don’t. My son was a nightmare to be a baby with..colicky had thrush forever didn’t want to be held, wanted to be held blah….
It’s amazing how much we love those little pains in the rumps.
I hope the doc helps you and if not, I hope he gives you some xanax!
My 7-month-old did the whole arching his back, red-faced grunting, crying routine after every feeding, to the point that my husband and I made up a song to sing to him:”I am Captain Poopy Pants, I push and push and push, I push and cry and wonder why it won’t come out of my butt.” (It made us feel better to sing to him, and I swear it made him feel better, too, even if the song is ridiculous.) Turns out that he was allergic to cow’s milk protein, and when I drank milk or ate ice cream, it was hard for him to digest (we found this out when we eventually gave him regular formula and he broke out in hives). He’s on soy now and doing much better.
I didn’t have a colicy baby, but I do have issues with my tummy now. I learned from a massage lady that if you rub your lower tummy (for a baby I guess the area is so small it is his entire belly) in a clockwise motion it helps with the gas and digestion. It really seems to work for me. Make sure it is CLOCKWISE> counter clockwise can make them constipated and back things up. Good luck. I remember how hard newborns are let alone the 6 months it takes you to figure them out!
you’re young dylan really sounds like he has reflux just like my alex did. that whole hair trigger gag reflex sounds soooo familiar! we were pro at whipping him out of his high chair (or car seat) and aiming him over teh sink. coughing too much, laughing, crying, or hiccuping…will all cause barfage. and just WAIT till you take him in for checkups and TRY DESPERATELY to warn the doctor about the whole tongue depressor VS. gag reflex issue. they used to look at me like i was a moron…right up until they were dodging flying vomit. hehehe. good luck. my thoughts are with you.
We are STILL trying to sort out reflux issues with our almost one year old. It has made the past year hell for all of us. We tried zantac, prevacid, and just switched to nexium, which might be our magic bullet (we hope!). Reflux can be made worse if there is a milk protein intolerance, so I’ll just be the 9999th person to say try switching to alimentum or nutramigen (one of the hypoallergenic formulas). Our kid ended up being intolerant to soy too–projectile vomiting on Isomil. Mylicon didn’t help us one iota, but we had a little success with gripe water (Whole Foods has it-) I think we’re the 1% whose kid didn’t outgrow the reflux. Most other babies seem to improve by the time they start sitting up/eating solids. Definitely pursue this now. We waited too long and still aren’t sleeping a year later. Good luck.
P.S. Your boys are adorable. And your blog is one of my favorites!
one thing i’m wondering about is Dylan’s ears – if they are hurting him wouldn’t that (possibly) trigger these issues – when they are so small things aren’t as well developed…all i know is my daughter cried for what seemed like an entire year – eventually she had tubes put in her ears at 18 months – and looking back i wondered if her fussiness issues had more to do with her ears but we were concentrating on the symptoms (crying/spitting up/etc). i’m sure you’ll figure it out just thought i’d add to the mix.
kim
Newborn feeding is HORRIBLE.
Also, I have thought that my love of the internet has at times poisoned my mind. Like the time I was watching my husband walk by a fence and wondered if MY husband could jump that fence *cue mental picture of JB* and then realized that my mind had just crossed the threshold from marginally weird to very weird.
My oldest son(now 19) would also thrash about and cry while eating. He would only drink small amounts of his formula at a time. Turns out after changing the formula several times and going thru bottles of mylicon that he had an ear infection which hurt when he sucked on the bottle.
I have a 3 week old little boy who is having a horrible time eating–spitting up, crying, arching/stiffening up, red-faced screaming, etc. I have felt so frustrated being at home alone with him and trying to deal with it and let me just say that your blog just about made me pee my pants and I have not laughed that hard in a long time! Misery loves company, I suppose. Thanks so much for making me feel less alone and giving me a good laugh!
Hi all,
I read your comments on the blog , I need your help in understanding my baby’s situation. My baby is 1 month old , she has been spitting up since second week of her iefe. Her spit up is however very dffrent .. she spits up one hour after feeding and the spit up comes from her mouth and nose, she raises her hand , becomes stiff and turns red and chokes. My pediatrition says that this is normal… however one day she started vomiting excessively and she used to cry endlessley every evening . She was then hospitalised and Zantac was administered on her. The doctor even changed her formula to Similac Allimentum. Now its 2 weeks since the hospitlisation , and Zantac dosage is over..and my baby is spitting up after every meal again ..and going through the same pains.. please can some one help or provide any suggestions ?
hey prafulla,
my baby was on zantac and it wasn’t strong enough so our ped put him on prevacid. he is doing much better and has more content periods during the day. she also switched his formula as he was having mad amounts of gas and crying every time he had it. he’s on similac advance soy…however i’m not sure it’s helping he’s still really gassy. i may ask about the alimentum…do you like it? anyways, the prevacid seems to really be helping him be happier and sleep better, now he just cries when he has gas or poops lol. we’re getting there! i would ask your ped about prevacid. and i’m not sure why they didn’t give you a continuing prescription for the zantac…they should have bc it will take her a while to outgrow it. good luck!
thanks collen.. for ur reply.. so does your baby still sit and choke on his spitting ? my baby is doing fine with Zantac …however i have started seeing the side effects of zantac on her.. she is now having very low appetite and sleeps all the time. I have decided to stop Zantac and the ped also thinks tht i must stop. I fear the spitting and choking spells will start again.She now sleeps for hours at strech and just doesnt eat much.. iam all concernd
Great post. Very informative! Just thought I’d stop by and let all the parents out there know about a solution I found to calm a fussy baby at night. I know all too well the horror of being awake all night long and living life day to day like a zombie. Hopefully you will find the information I suggest very helpful, because it worked for me and I know it can work for you! Hope you enjoy! Christopher Mason
just a question for anyone who is willing to send me an email in regards to this, my daughter is 18 months, and has started to choke on everything, almost all of the time. Water – chokes. Solids – chokes. Sometimes to the point of turning red in the face. What is going on? Is this a normal stage? What can i do in regards to avoiding this?
Any insight would be great! Thanks guys.
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