Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Feeding Issues and Diaper Sores



So this go around I decided to breast feed and set my self up to give it a real good effort. We are 5 weeks into it and here is what we have.

He latches no problem and I have plenty of milk for him.

He has runny, watery (like pee), mucus poops about 25+ times per day.. So much so that the skin on his bottom is being eaten away by all the acid in his poop and the wiping from changing his diapers so often. There is no seediness or texture at all. He is extremely gassy, fussy and sleeps little.

His doctor suspected problems with milk. I cut out milk for 3 full days and nada. he showed no improvement.

My friend (Lauren) offered another suggestion. She said he probably was getting too much fore milk. It causes fast growth, gas, abdominal pain, runny stool, and all over colick. This happens when moms breasts produce too much milk. My boobs are overly enthusiastic (so I am told). For the moms it causes painful swollen breasts often, painful let downs through out the day, leaking, and milk squirts out so forcefully and quickly in the beginning that baby has difficulty eating with out choking and gagging. That explains all of our symptoms and troubles.

For the past two weeks I have been battling with trying to slow my production of milk. landons bum is all open sores (this will be his second round of a prescription salve). I have also been slowly adding formula to his bottles in hopes of thickening up his poops a bit. No real luck. As of yesterday I started giving him full formula bottles alternating with expressed breast milk bottles. I am pumping from one side every 4-5 hours. This afternoon for the first time EVER, I changed Landons diaper and found no poop at all. :) I called Rob to come see. he also took two naps today and went down for bed after his bath at 7:30. This has been the best day we have had with him. He has another dr. appointment tomorrow. I am going to continue with the formula and breast milk till I am told otherwise or unless I don't continue to see improvement.

Just wanted to share. It has been a bit stressful and having two under 2 is harder then I thought!!! Plus trying to keep up with an on-line business and deal with the house and chores and other daily things. Yikes my hands are full LOL!! I keep wishing I had more time on here to read up and update! Oh well this is the life I chose and I love it! :)

BePe Baby ~~ Click here to see what we have

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Chrissy! Have you tried pumping before Landon nurses? It could be a fore-milk thing, but it could also be a dairy thing. Did you cut out all dairy, or just milk? I hope the nursing issues get easier. I am an over-producer as well, so I understand how difficult it can be with a newborn. Keep up the good work!!

Jill Brochard said...

Poor little guy! I hope you are able to figure it out! I can only imagine the work 2 under 2 must be! Hang in there!

BePe Baby said...

Thanks ladies!!
I did cut out all dairy. I was eating basically meats, fruits and veggies.. I can't believe how much has some form of dairy in it.. I tried pumping a bit before but was told it was only a quick fix.. I even tried only feeding him expressed milk so he got the heavier fatty stuff too and nothing seemed to help improve anything. The formula seems to be working, so I am guessing it is nopt the dairy, so I am just going to alternate breast milk and formula feedings. Thanks for thinking of us :)

Brenda said...

Ugh, that doesn't sound like fun at all! I hope you figure something out...his poor bum! :(

Leah said...

Happy New Year & Yay for a no-poop diaper & for a 7:30 bedtime! Both of your boys are adorable;I can't believe how grown up Landon looks already!

Melissa said...

Good for you for BF'ing!

I had the same problem that you described. Pumping helped Kieran a lot ..BUT it can make things worse. I was at one point needing to pump 1 and a 1/2 bottles before latching him on...it was crazy. All I can suggest is to keep at it. Things will evenyually work themselves out and will be worth it. In the meantime...watch your diet and try taking all dairy out of your diet for a few weeks, instead of just 3 days.

Also, try using a gentle cloth wipe with just water on it... instead of regular baby wipes. It will be easier on his sore bottom. Poor baby!

GL with everything!!

Your boys are just too cute!

SarahRachel said...

Ahhh!! That sounds so difficult! I'm glad things are beginning to get easier and I hope it only get easier from here on out! =)