[sisteen]

I had twins (Estin and Keelen 6 lbs 6 oz birth weight) 5 months ago tomorrow. I am BF them. At 2 month they both started sleeping through the night. They both have had a lot of spit up. I wasn't concerned because my other 2 girl were major spitter uppers. Well at there 2 month appointment they wanted to see Keelen back in a month instead of 2 like his brother. I took him back 2 week before because the twins had an upper resp. infection. They put Keelen on acid reflux meds. I took him to the one month appointment and they wanted him to go on soy formula. I was to nurse him and then feed him the formula. I did that for a week and he gained a pound that put him up to 8 lbs 14 oz at 3 months. They wanted to see him back at 4 months we was 10 lbs 14 oz. Estin was 14 lbs 3 oz. The doctor is not happy. They change him to an Acid Reflux formula and wants to see him back in 2 weeks which is this Wednesday. I am getting so mad. I just want to enjoy my baby. I want to know if there is something more wrong. Did any of you press your doctors to do anything? I guess I will see on Wednesday.

[RickandJess]

So...how often is Keelen spitting up? Do you think he has a reflux issue? Also, what formula did they put him on??

Seems like the docs are doing a bit too much too soon...if that makes sense. Is Keelen on any reflux meds and if so, which one and is it working? Sorry for all of the questions, but I'm just trying to figure out exactly wht is going one here....hang in there.

[~~*Missi*~~]

I am lost. Are they concerned with reflux or weight gain issues? Is he spitting up that much?

If its a weight issue - the formula you can mix 3-4 scoops to 4oz of water to get extra calories in him

If its a reflux issue I would recommend seeing a GI they are more informed on medications, testing etc.

I always say this (it may sound harsh but its really true) : If you broke your leg would you see a primary care doctor or a Ortho? You'd see the ortho because he is specialized in bone and bone injury...

If your doctor won't refer you call the local childrens hospital and ask them for a name of a Pediatric GI and then call your insurance if you need a referral.

[sisteen]

Sorry not a very detailed person. Yes it is more of a spit up issue. He spits up all the time. I wasn't really concerned because all my other kids spit up all. I just BF him and then 1 oz of Enfamil AR and he spit it up all over me. UGH!! We have seen 2 doctors over the issue. The first on said it was GERD and to put him on Ranitidine .27 ml twice a day. I don't think that it helps. The second which is his family doctor had him put on soy formula. I think that he thought it was more of a allergy thing. 2 weeks ago he put him on Enfamil AR, so I guess he is thinking not that it is a reflux issue. This has been going on for 2 months and it is not getting better. Do any of you BF? Do you think that I will have to stop that? Sorry for the confusion.

[~~*Missi*~~]

I breastfed all the my girls. Crystal is 2 and Calleigh is 16weeks. Crystal we breastfed right to the 12m mark, Calleigh I was forced to stop because she has a complete milk protein allergy and soy allergy.
Unless I put her on formula for 1 week and eliminated everything under the sun (literally fresh meat and fruits/vegs only no seasonings etc) then placed her back on breastmilk I couldn't do it. I didn't want to shock her system by going off the BM then on formula then back on breastmilk to be taking off again on a opps. So we went to Alimentum and have been there. Calleigh is 10weeks early and its extremely common for preemies to have milk allergies

A GI tested her.... I GI is a wealth of information.
None of the drugs for reflux wil help with spitting up amounts. They are to reduce the acid content so that it doesn't harm the child and hurt them.
Calleigh is on prevacid and still spits up constantly.

Im no doctor but it just sounds like a weight issue.
Try mixing 3/4 scoops of the formula with 2 ounces of water, it will give them extra calories. It could be that your BM is lacking the fat content he needs, maybe big brother is scuking it all away you never know. I would nurse then give him at least 2/4ounces of formula and see how he does with the weight issue.

If he is spitting up you can do rice in the bottles but unless he is spitting up ounces upon ounces I never found it to do anything but make a mess when it came back up

[sisteen]

Missi can I just tell you what I want to say and then you can say it? What you said at the last part is what I am doing. Just mad because nothing seems to be changing. UGH!! I guess I will see tomorrow. Yes I tandem BF my twin, so they eat at the same time. It is not like I am giving one more that the other. I guess I think that they would gain the same weight but I think that Keelen spits more out. Thank you for giving me someone to bounce it off of

[~~*Missi*~~]

KUP on what the doctors say. I wonder if its a suck thing... like one sucks harder to get to the fatter stuff quicker. So wierd....

KUP if you need anything PM
Calleigh is going the opposite in growth right now but she is sick as a dog ... so I can give you more ideas for fatting them up that they are giving me.

[RickandJess]

I think it's weird that the doc put Keelan on soy without doing any allergy testing. Has any allergy testing been done? Some refluxers cant tolerate the rice in the formula, and alot of reflux babies have to use Allimentum or Nutramigen...

Remember - no medicine is going to stop Keelan from spitting up necessarily - most of those meds are made to neutrilize the acid in the spit up - that way the babies are more comfortable.

You asked if any of us breast fed - I pumped for the first 5-6months of Noah's life and this was because of some health issues - but Noah seemed ok with the BF, yet I still would have to add rice to my breast milk. Eventually I even had to take away rice because it can cause constipation and use oatmeal instead.

KUP - Missi is right though...seek a GI because they are way more specialized in this feild and know what is best. Good Luck - I'm praying!

[~~*Missi*~~]

In the NICU they will tell you (i dunno if the twins were in there but calleigh was 7weeks) to do Oatmeal. That rice is to harsh for the lil tummies.

I hope you got good news

[sisteen]

I have an update. I went to a ped doctor yesterday and they are going to do a bunch of test on him. It really made me think what has my family doctor miss. They want to do a chest x-ray, upper GI, and an echo and then he will go see a ped GI doctor, so I hope that we find out something. I am nervous and ok at the same time. They haven't done any testing on him up until this point so I am alittle scared for my little one. The doctor also wanted me to do a 3 day calorie count and I would have to put him on a bottle and I said that I didn't want to stop breastfeeding. She said that was ok. I just need to journal for 3 days what he does. I was ok with that. It is not that I am opposed to feeding him a bottle of formula but I don't want to give up something when they have not answers for me. I hope that I get answers soon.

[~~*Missi*~~]

How is it going now? What was his weight at the check?
Calleigh had UGI xrays (everyday in the nicu) and a bunch of ultrasounds, they do a whole lot better with them then we do
Kup

[sisteen]

We just went to the doctor today and his weght was 12 lbs 7 oz. It is ok. I don't really want to supplement for the rest of his life. UGH!! He has been gaining at least a pound a month. He was 6 lbs 6 oz when he was born so... he has double his weight. I guess that isn't bad, but then I think of what he looking like when I wasn't doing anything and he looked BAD!! He need something done.