Need advice on feeding along with " vomiting problems&q

[Carol]

Our new grandson, age 7 weeks old was doing very well taking his bottle, up until about two weeks ago. Let me explain first - he has a cleft palate that went unnoticed by the doctor and was sent home with hardly any info. That's another story - He was doing very well feeding from his little premie bottle, but my daughter has switched to a softer squezzable bottle with the premie nipple on it. Little Jared weighed 8 lb 6 oz at birth and now at 7 weeks is almost up to 10 lb. He is a very congested child and sounds like he has a non stop cold. He is suctioned out quite a few times a day but when he is taking his bottle he starts to cough and has projectile vomiting. The whole 6 onces come right back out. Is this a very common thing, and if so what causes it? He was doing very well at first. This vomiting only happens once a day. It is amost like this uncontrolable cough gags the poor honey. Grandma is worried along with Mom and Dad. His ped. says he has a cold. A cold at 7 weeks? He has already had one ear infection and is being tested for hearing loss this week. What are we doing wrong? Please help us, it has become a heart ache for the whole family. GGran (me) will be watching him when Mom goes back to teaching and I don't want him to chock to death with this cough or asperate his vomit. After he vomits he will take another 5 or so ounces. Thank you for your help.

[mazimono]

Dear Carol,
My son's story is posted on this site (Theodoros) & he was born with Pierre Robin Sequence which caused his airway to be smaller than normal so he could not eat & breathe simultaneously. From your description of your grandson's problem, it sounds like he has reflux but I'm not sure since Theo never had reflux. Can your grandson eat & breathe well at the same time? Pierre Robin Sequence children vary greatly so if he has a small lower jaw & a cleft palate he may have PRS. You can read our story to see if there is any similarity. I wish your grandson the very best.


Mary Ann Zimonopoulos

[Angie]

We have had similar problems with my daughter. My daughter has Pierre-Robin Syndrome and a cleft palet. At 7 weeks old she started throwing up all of her formula. We took her to the University of Michigan and diagnosed her with reflux. The reflux didn't start until about 5 weeks of age. She is on medication to control the reflux and it is working wonderfully. You might want to suggest that they check for reflux in your grandson.
If I can be of any help, please e-mail me at kailadawn@yahoo.com.


Angie

[angela]

Well, I have a son who is 18 months old with a bilateral incomplete cleft lip and palate. It seems like a long time ago...but he came home only drinking about 10cc at each feeding, and was still only taking 1 1/2 to 2 ounces by the 4th week. But I do remember well, that he pretty much spit it up every time. A few suggestions are...do everything you can to get a really good burp after he eats, then keep him upright for 30 minutes after he eats. Those 2 things made the biggest difference for us. To be honest, he still threw up/spit up quite frequently until almost his first birthday. Oh, and I also tried refeeding him after he would throw-up...it seemed like he was a bottomless pit...but then he had so much gas and was so cranky...that I realized I was overdoing it. Oh, and a lot of babies...particularly boys I understand, have a lot of trouble with reflux...and it seems to have nothing to do with having a cleft. Oh, and another suggestion...make sure he's being fed in as much of an upright position as possible. Good luck!!! Just do the best you can...it's all you really can do. Angela

[Katie]

Sounds like your grandson has what my 12 week old son has, acid reflux. He can go on Zantac (same thing adults take) and it will help tremendously. Also you want to burp him often, sit him upright for 30mins to an hour after feeding and you could add a little bit of rice to his formula to make it thicker and easier to stay down. Enfamil AR is a formula with added rice, but my son couldn't use it, it was too thick and he has a bad suction with his cleft lip. You could just add a teaspoon of rice per 2-3 ounces to his formula. This has helped my son out to spit up only about 5% of the time instead of 100% of the time. The acid reflux is common in all babies, and has nothing to do with a craniofacial disorder. The stuffy nose (my son also has) sounds like he is spitting up through his nose, like my son is, even if you can't see it, he still may be doing it. Keep suctioning out his nose, but you will see improvement once he is treated for reflux. Other signs of reflux are gagging while eating, arching their back, gassy baby, spitting up after meals, and general fussiness. It hurts them to throw up, it is acidy coming back up! Good luck and feel free to email me if you need to katieinlow@home.com


Katie