i have a 6 wk old who has had really bad yellow and really liquidy diarrhea for approx 10 days. i brought him to the dr and they said he had a stomach virus and to let it run its course. he is on the enfamil newborn formula, i havent changed it since he was born and also breast milk. he was in the er for something unrelated at 3 wks old and the dr told me he had reflux and to give hime a tsp of rice cereal for every ounce but every one told me it was way to much and he couldnt digest it and also to eliminate it and the diarrhea would go away. its still there. i feel so bad for him cuz when i give him a bottle he doesnt want to eat it, but when it comes to breast feeding he eats for a very long time. he also tends to choke and spit up both. also he barely sleeps except for night time. he only sleeps for 20 minutes at a time and then wakes up again. i need help and advice, please. i dont know what to do he is my first child. should i change formulas??? HELP
thank u every one for the answers, they are helpful. anyway i called miller childrens hospital last night and the told me to take him to the er. as far as breast feeding goes, i dont produce enough thats why he is formula fed also. i pump and i still dont get enough and he is almost still always hungry unless its in the middle of the night cuz he is tired. anyway the er ran tests and every thing and while i was therre i was talking to a nurse who said the stuff he goes through is common in new borns. she said the cereal should be given to him at 3 months but if the dr said it was ok, then give it to him. they gave him iv fluids just in case but when the tests came back, he got a clean bill of health. he wasn't even dehydrated. what are the names of things he can get for the reflux? do mylicon drops help?
Call dr about meds for reflux! My 3rd child is on meds for reflux, we started at 7 weeks old.....she became a different baby! Stopped screaming all the time and started to look around more and just seemed more calm.
Aw, your poor little guy...
He's got 2 issues going on. The diarrhea is lasting too long. It could just be that the virus left him lactose intolerant for a time, but I think you should take him back to the pedi to have him checked out. He might recommend switching to lactose-free or Nutramigen for a while.
The choking & spitting up are from the reflux. Tell your son's pedi about that too (in addition to the diarrhea, I mean). There are meds that can be prescribed that will help. He'll feel a lot better once the acid is under control, and will sleep better (been there....4X)
Hope your little one feels better soon!! =o)
He might be having a reaction to the enfamil. Breastfed babies poop is yellow and liquidy. It sounds like your son doesn't like the formula by refusing the bottle and nursing long times at the breast. I hate it when Dr's. recommend rice cereal for a newborn. Were they an older Dr.? Many "older" dr.s still recommend this and I cringe every time I hear a new mom get this advice. Newborns digestive system cannot handle anything but breastmilk/formula and will not help in stopping diarrhea. In fact it will do more harm. If this were my child I would exclusively breast feed for at least a week-your milk is the easiest to digest. You might want to pull dairy out of your diet too-your son could have an allergy. It's starting from scratch to figure out what is causing his diarrhea and spitting up. Although babies do spit up a lot-not sure how much he is spitting. If you do decide to keep formula as a part of his feedings I would suggest Earths Best Organic. I have three daughters and exclusively breast fed (still am with the youngest) but did need formula for the last month of BFing and used Earths Best. And until you get this under control I would hold off on vaxing....it could exacerbate his condition (but that is a whole different conversation) If the hospital you had your baby in has a nurses line I would and ask them as well. Wet diapers are the key-your little man should have one shortly after every feeding. If those are normal you know he's not dehydrated. Please keep us posted.
When did you go to the doctor? If it has been a few days since then and the diarrhea is still continuing now--make an appt. 6 weeks old seems awfully young to let it run its course without another check in and 10 days is a long time to allow this to continue. You don't want dehydration to set in. Is he still wetting diapers appropriately? Is the urine darker than usual? Are you still breastfeeding? If so, nursing him may be a better option that formula right now especially if he seems to prefer it. First thing--go back to the doctor.
They don't know it is a flu without doing some tests first- stools samples, blood tests or whatever. They are just guessing and shooting in the dark!
When my dd was 2, she has a urinary tract infection that traveled up to her kidney-she had bile on her pillow, no appetite, high fever for 8 days,and sleeping all day- they told me TWICE that she had the flu ...without one single test. She ended up going into a mini form of shock/sepsis from the prolonged bacteria being cycled through her kidneys and adrenal glands, and that caused her to have adrenal failure later in life. She is 14 now and cannot live a normal life because THREE, yes, three pediatricians were too lazy to run a very easy test. There is not a day that goes by that I dont wish I could go back in time and hold their feet to the fire and say RUN SOME TESTS and find out what it is. They can test for viral, bacterial and parasitic strains. We pay doctors big bucks to order the tests that by law we cannot get without their signature.
If it is a flu.... ? I have never had a ten day flu in my ENTIRE 47 years of life. The longest I have ever had a viral flu is 2 days. So a ten day flu sounds excessive to me. A newer baby like that with 10 days of that severe of an illness should have ABSOLUTELY been put on an IV drip to ward off not only dehydration, but also to keep the electrolytes like potassium from being depleted. Many times an IV drip will stop the infection and the child will recover. if the pedi won't do it, take him to the hospital emergency. Dehydration is extremely serious and so is electrolyte depletion and both can happen very quickly in loose stools/vomiting (large percentages of potassium are lost from the loss of gastric juices).
A way to check potassum depletion is by runing a 'red blood cell potassium level test' (not just a standard free serum potassium.) But really what they need to do immediately is get him on an IV.
Loss of potassium levels can have serious consequences including cardiac arrest.
Potassium metabolizes food, regulates insulin, keeps heart beat rythm, normal breathing , growth, nerve and muscle function, and oxygen to brain. When oxygen to the brain is cut off, coma and eventually death can result. I know this because my daughter has been near coma a few times because of dehydration (her adrenals cannot keep appropriate salt and potassium electrolyte levels, hence, she can't 'hold" onto water in the kidney.) It is very easy to not realise how serious it is. My husband would have never taken her to the hospital, but I have done 10 years of medical research and know the warning signs. They can seem so slight. She rebounded very quickly once she got on an IV- two bags.
Some signs you might see in low potassium is dry skin, slow reflexes, slow thought, or not responding, limp or weak muscles, sunken eyes, or cheeks.
Darker circles under eyes , bluish hue to lips,or bile coming up can be a sign of sepsis.
Bacterial tests:
Salmonella
E coli
Campypylobacter
h pylori
Viral tests:
Rotavirus
Astrovirus
adenovirus
herpes
Parasitic:
Giardia
Cryptosporidium
Entamoeba histolica
...Im sure there are more......check these for symptoms by doing a search on livestrong.com
Get back to the doc mama! Wishing your baby well and praying for you all....
Gail
For the sleep issues, I would try the Karp book, happiest baby on the block (the 5Ss to help soothe a baby to sleep).
I didn't do it initially and just thought my baby didn't sleep well or was colicky but I needed to help her sleep. Once I started swaddling and doing the rest at about 6-7 weeks, total turn around in the sleep dept.
Good luck!
he might be allergic to milk based formula my daughter was the same way her pedatrician recommended switching her to soy based and good start soy worked wonders for us she wasnt colicky anymore didnt have diarreah and started sleeping for 4 hours at a time at night and now she is 2 years old and she can drink regular cows milk without any problems some babies are lactose intolorant she was also allergic to breast milk too it worked for us it might be worth a try good luck i know what u r going through its rough not knowing what to do now im 19 weeks pregnant with my second starting all over again
Is there a reason you are supplementing? Breast milk is the perfect food for babies. These sites have good info about the shortcomings of formula and how to increase your milk supply.
Are you kidding me?~?~!@?@#! Sorry, I haven't even read anything else after I read that the ER guy told you to give a SIX WEEK OLD food. What are these medical people doing (insert more cuss words). Sorry, this just really gets me.
Breast milk is all you really should be doing right now if you can. Your baby's gut should not be like this and it is VERY important for you to do the research into vaccines as they could make this whole situation worse. Your child's immune system is not working right which is 80% run by the gut. Go to Sprouts/Henrys or Whole Foods and talk with them in the nutrition dept about probiotics, either that you take to pass on through your milk or drops that you give your son.
This reflux stuff and all has got to stop and the way it does is by using common sense that the a majority of the medical community seems to have lost.
Is there anyway that you can mainly nurse? If you need to change formulas, many babies that are allergic /sensitive (stay away from soy products for him) do well with www.neocate.com. If you need help with diet changes, I am a pro having to do it for my family and helping others. It makes a difference.
Sorry. I have a lot of sympathy for you as I have been through most of anything out there. I also have seen too many new moms go through what they shouldn't have too.
Hugs to you.
I thought breast fed babies naturally have a very loose yellow stool. My granddaughter does and she's doing fine.
I suggest calling the advice nurse at your doctor's office and talk with her about all of this. Several things are going on.
I've not heard of feeding rice cereal this young. I have heard, on this site, that some babies, even when older, don't tolerate rice cereal.
For reflux, keep your baby semi-upright for at least 30 minutes after each feeding. Try breast feeding him in a more upright position. Since he does eat more with breast feeding I'd try to do mostly that. Both of my
grandchildren had reflux and slept well in their car seat set inside their crib. Eventually the pediatrician did prescribe an antacid for my grandson.
Could you pump so that he consistently got breast milk? You could try eliminating dairy from your diet and see if that helps.
My 8 week old granddaughter has days during which she only cat naps. If your baby seems comfortable, except for the feeding issue, I wouldn't be concerned about the not sleeping so much in the day time.
Prilosec.... my son had reflux when he was born and we started Prilosec very early. Just like the other mom who responded, my son became a different baby - in a good way. I am surprised the doctors haven't mentioned it because it is not something you can just go to the store and buy for a baby that age. You need a prescription and then they compound it at the pharmacy. Please do something for the reflux besides rice cereal (again those doctors???) and you will notice a big difference. Also, it sounds like he doesn't like that formula. My son didn't want to eat 3 different kinds before we found one he liked. Then you will see that they DO want that bottle. Poor baby... I hope everything gets better. I feel for you because that was me almost 2 years ago.
I'm not sure why they don't allow you to see what other people have posted until you post, so not sure what has been said before. Reflux is very common in small children, and they usually outgrow it before the end of the first year, unless it is severe. As long as he is not uncomfortable (cries when he spits up or arches his head and shouders back) is gaining weight, and growing at a normal pace, and has no respiratory problems like recurrent pneumonias or wheezing from the milk going into the lungs, then it's no big deal. There are antirefux formulas, like enfamil AR and Similac sensitive for reflux, which basically are thickened with rice cereal, to make it easier to hold down the formula. It (the rice cereal) makes many kids constipated, so it should actually help for the watery?? stools yours has. If that doesn't work, there are special formulas like Alimentum from Similac and Neutramigen from enfamil that are already broken down and very easy to digest, and work for different kinds of problems. There are also medications that can be given for reflux, but those are not over the counter, they have to be prescribed by your pediatrician. There are antacids, which help to decrease the pain and irritation caused by the acid coming up, like zantac (ranitidine) or Pepcid, and then there's also reglan, which is supposed to help directly with the reflux by making the "valve" that separates the stomach from the esophagus close tighter, so that the food doesn't go back up. It is widely used in many NICU's in preemies, but most don't get send home on it, and there can be side effects, and some studies have shown it might not be as effective as it was thought, so lately less pediatricians have been using it...mylicon only works for gas and colic.
maybe schedule an appt with your pediatrician and get a referral to a gastroenterologist... not saying something is wrong but little babies with reflux should see the specialists anyways. sometimes the formula shuffle takes a while to figure out, maybe something more already broken down would be better, like nutramigin (sp) ... either way 10 days of diarrhea is too long, esp for a 6 week old. best if luck!!! but make sure to take of care of his little bum too, dont want diaper rash on top of everything else :(
The enfamil didn't work for us. The probiotics were too much for my little guy and he had explosive poops. Also, had reflux. We use the Similac Sensitive for spit up - it has the rice starch and helps to keep the food down.
However, I have always been told to switch to soy during diarrhea... Only for a week or so and then go back to what you usually feed.
Nurse as much as you can. If he would rather nurse than do that. Unfortunately with reflux whatever he has is going to come up to some extent.
There are these new baby chairs out there that are like table height and slightly tilted that look like they would be great for newborns with reflux to sleep in...I can't find them online to provide a link though :( sometimes sleeping semi upright in a bouncy seat or swing helps with the reflux.
Good luck!
EDIT - finally found a link
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Newborn-Rock-Sleeper-Y...
