Permission from the mom to share this info as she has tried all local
resources and is still having issues. It's hard to read because you
can just feel her frustration. She called me to donate her milk but
I'm trying to help her find some answers and a way to continue
breastmilk feeding. It's long but take a moment if you are able to
see if there is anything additional you might suggest. Remember I've
never seen this dyad and have only conversed via email. It seems
like she tried to do everything right..sought help (from good
resources, I know the LC's she been working with) when needed and
still the issues exist :-(
Thanks,
Ilene Fabisch, IBCLC/RLC
Clinical Director MMBNE
My son has had so many issues since birth. It seems like we have
had every breatfeeding issue in the book....bad latch since day 1
that we had trouble correcting, tongue tie that was not diagnosed
until week 5 which we then had clipped, nursing strikes, biting,
blisters, cracked bleeding nipples, blisters and bleeding from
pumping. It wasn't until 4 months that it stopped hurting to nurse,
and I was glad that I did not give up and kept nursing him, I wanted
to give himt he best and I enjoyed our time together even though it
was painful. Anyway, he was very colicky since birth. Cried and
screamed for 4 or 5 hours straight at night. Nothing you did could
soothe him. Then around week 5 he got better and wasn't screaming as
much. At week 11 he started crying a lot again and shoving his
fingers in his mouth all the time as if in pain. I thought he was
teething and brought him to the doc to see if there was anything I
could give him to make him feel more comfy and they said that he was
just colicky. That's when the biting started so I was sure it was
teething. It made sense. As the weeks went by, he was getting worse
though. He started arching his back and pulling away from the breast
as if in pain and would stop nursing after 2 minutes or wouldn't even
want to start nursing at the sight of a breast. Our morning nursing
session was always the best and always the longest and even that one
started to deteriorate so i knew something was wrong. he cut his
feedings from 2 breast to one and it wasn't because he was more
efficient because i was weighing him before and after his feedings
and weighed him weekly at either the pediatrican or lactation group
meetings at the hospital. He used to gain 3-4 oz per week around 3
months old, and then only started to gain 1-2 oz/week. docs said it
was because babies that age start to plateau, which made sense, but
his feedings were cut in half so it made sense that his weight would
also get cut in half as well. then he started to refuse all nursings.
I brought him back from nursing strikes a few times but this time it
was not working. i tried everything the LC's told me. Walk around
bare breasted all day long. lots of skin to skin.....he wasn't
eating. we put him on zantac thinking it was acid reflux. It cured
him for a week! it was amazing! but then it stopped working. so we
tried prilosec, didn't work. then switched to axid, didn't work. i
decided that it was better not to give him any meds any more than to
keep giving him something that wasn't working. so we stopped them
all. had an upper GI done, which was inconclusive. he was now only
drinking pumped milk from bottles and only nursing in the morning for
3 minutes. but he started to refuse the bottle as well. mouth clamped
shut and would not let anything in. He is now not gaining any weight.
if we are lucky, he will gain an ounce a week. but he is very happy
unless you are trying to feed him. Took him to see the feeding team
at XXX and they say he definitely has oral aversion and behavioral
issues with his feedings. we started solids 6 weeks ago and he
doesn't eat those either. he is now 6.5 months old. They said that it
could have been that his oral motor skills were underveloped or maybe
his milk protein allergy went undiagnosed for so long that it caused
him to associate pain with his feedings and that's why he just gave
up on eating and made such bad associations with eating because of
the pain possibly. i have been on a no milk and no soy diet for 2
months now and still pumping hoping to get him back on breastmilk but
the GI doc wants him to drink only formula since he has trouble
thriving and gaining weight. The other reason for the switch to
formula 2 weeks ago was becasue we wanted to see if my BM had any
other allergens in it as well. I don't think it matters what is in
the bottle, the problem is getting the bottle in his mouth. Anyway,
that's the gist of it. we enrolled in Early Intervention to come and
help us. Starts in 2 weeks. I seriously need help feeding my child
because my husband and I are going crazy tryign to feed him. I am so
worried about him becoming lethargic and needing to go to the
hospital to have a feeding tube put in that I feed him when he is
asleep. that is the only time he will eat unless you distract him
enough that miraculously he opens wide enough for you to ge a bottle
in during the day. so sad and frustrating. anyway, that's my story in
a sentence or 2 :>) sorry...i know we don't know each other. but i
figured if i tell my story, maybe someone out there can help :>)
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