Dr. put him on Zantac which he hates & doesn't seem to do much. Tried all kinds of gas drops/gripe waters that don't seem to help much. Daughter is pumping breastmilk into anticolic bottles. He wants a pacifier but we can't seem to find one to stay in his mouth. What pacifier is BEST for him? And what can she do to help him? PLEASE advise.
THANKS!!!!!
Zantac often isn't enough. Perhaps she could request a change to Prevacid? I've found, both with my kiddo, and the kiddos I treat, that Prevacid is often way more effective.
find a lactation consultant in your area, talk to them about babyss issues and she should be able to assist with cutting things out of moms diest that are causing baby pain. you can also check out kelly mom. com for more information about breast feeding and how to help baby be happy.and mom too.
My first thought was a dairy intolerance as well. Does his gas stink...like really bad, grown man stink? Does he have bad cradle cap? Those are two symptoms that go along with a dairy issue.
I do agree to make sure your daughter has spoken with a lactation consultant. They are very helpful and she can usually meet with one from the hospital where she gave birth for free. They probably have some lactation support groups once a week that she can attend with the baby.
Many many reflux babies also have food intolerances, such as dairy.
My reflux baby was like this. When a mom breastfeeds, her baby gets what she eats. So, in my case, I had to avoid all dairy. When I avoided all dairy, it wasn't in my breastmilk and my baby's gassiness went away. He still had reflux, but no more gas. It helped a lot. I hope your daughter tries it.
On a slightly different topic - I hope she isn't pumping instead of nursing due to the reflux. Babies usually get less air in their tummy when they nurse directly from mom. I admire her dedication to giving her baby breastmilk, but it might be easier for her and better for the baby's tummy to nurse than pump and give bottles.
My Mom says I screamed non stop for the first 6 months of my life - and then I stopped - no one knows why.
Our son cried a lot the first 8 weeks - and then things settled down quite a bit.
I'd say I was definitely a colicky baby - our son, not so much - he was just regular fussy baby for a bit.
Just hang in there - make sure Mom gets breaks to sleep/rest up.
His thumb might be better than a pacifier - our son only wanted his thumb - nothing else would do.
A vibrating bouncy seat might help (or a swing) - our son was soothed by car rides (he slept EVERY TIME and woke up and resumed crying right after we parked and turned the engine off).
It's hard when you're going through it but this will pass sooner or later.
There are no pacifiers that will stay in his mouth. He pushes it out with his tongue. His tongue his moving as a reflex needed to find milk. My daughter found a pacifier holder that she attaches to baby's clothes so it's always available to put back in the mouth. It's a ribbon that attaches to the pacifier on one end. It has a clip on the other end. She has also used a pacifier attached to a small stuffed animal that does keep the pacifier in place some of the time. Once baby starts moving around, the animal doesn't stay in place.
Eventually, like in several months, he will move his mouth less and be able to put it back in himself.
My 4 month old granddaughter has gas but has not been diagnosed with GERD. However, GERD and gas often go together. My daughter has 5 kids. All of them had gas for several weeks. One was diagnosed WITH GERD. Medication didn't help. Another was diagnosed with colic.
In my years of experience, I've seen many colicky babies. Many years ago,.babies uncomfortable with gas were always thought to have colic. GERD was not available as a diagnosis. GERD is a new diagnosis. Anyway, babies eventually have less gas.
One baby was soothed when he lay face down on Dad's chest. Dad was laying down. My granddaughter is soothed when her Dad, as he walks around, holds her, facing forward, against his stomach with his hand on top of her stomach. He can do dishes, prepare food to be cooked, watch TV, etc, while holding her.
Her older siblings. Her oldest sibling slept, buckled in her car seat placed in her crib, for the first few months. The seat held her more upright so that acid stayed down.
With the last 3 babies, my daughter found that homeopathic tiny pills helped reduce gas. The brand she uses is Hyland. The pills are very tiny and desolve in babies mouth.
I don't remember ever seeing a young baby who didn't have gas at least some of the time. When I was a baby and when my brothers were babies, some gas was expected and the focus was on finding ways to make baby more comfortable. If baby had chronic gas it was called colic. Parents didn't worry about it because they knew babies would outgrow it.
Sometimes it helps to wear baby in a front pack with baby facing the holder. Your granddaughter's digestive system will mature and be mostly free of gas. I know it's hard to let go of worry and wait it out. We want the baby to be comfortable and ourselves less involved. However, I suggest that it's a matter of waiting it out.
Consider that GERD medications have been found to be counter productive in some studies wit adults. The medicine upsets the balance of various things in our stomach which does need some acid to digest food. It's been recommended for adults to swallow a teaspoon/tablespoon of apple cider vinegar stirred into water or another luquid, daily instead. I'm thinking of trying that. I have less acid reflux with Prilosec but I till have a lot of gas.
Make sure the baby is being burped plenty. My son had many issues breastfeeding and bottlefeeding and I had no clue why until he was 3 years old. I had taken him to an ENT because of enlarged tonsils and sleep apnea. Lo and behold he was tongue tied. I was shocked. He had seen many doctors, specialists, and even 2 dentists before this and not one mentioned this to me. Neither of my kids would take a pacifier. My son sucked his thumb and my daughter sucked two of her fingers. My son had colic, my daughter did not. Leave no stone unturned;)
For starters, all kids have horrible gas at 4 weeks. By 5 weeks, the digestive system is more developed and he should be in less pain. Lots of hugs and cuddles is what I do during that weird development phase. I tried to get two babies to use a pacifier. I tried 8 different brands, they spit them all out.
