Breathing difficulties when feeding

[kittykitchn]

I put it down to bubba just guzzling too quickly for herself, but I think it's becoming more frequent.
She stiffens her body, turns red/purple and doesn't breath for what seems like a long time and then screams once she's caught her breath.

She's on newborn teats (MAM bottles), but the flow does seem quite quick.

I told the HV, who just put it down to her guzzling too quick aswell. It probably is that, but I thought it would have calmed down after 3 weeks of bottle feeding (she's now 6 weeks old).
It doesn't happen at every feed, but I would say most. Not much about it on Google, a couple of pages saying it might be a premature baby thing.

Can anyone relate?

 

[Holi]

My little girl (12w) still splutters a lot and when she takes a big gulp I can tell it hurts her. I just take the bottle away from her and get her to calm down with a dummy before starting again. The best feeds are always when she's half asleep ha ha

When she's getting carried away I would make her take little breaks and hopefully by the middle of the feed she will be calmer and drink more steadily x

 

[kittykitchn]

Today has been pretty bad... coupled with a LOT of crying this evening. She's starving, but cries as soon as she starts sucking on the bottle. She's drank about 1-2oz at a time today, if that.

I found this on a forum which sounds pretty similar


"MY 7 WEEK BABY HAS BEEN CRYING DURING SOME FEEDINGS. WE RECENTLY FOUND OUT THAT SHE HAS A MILK PROTIEN ALLERGY AND HER PEDI PUT HER ON ALIMENTUM. IT HASNT BEEN 24HRS YET. SHE HAS BAD GAS AND IS FUSSY. SHE STARTS DRINKING HER BOTTLE AND THEN STOPS CRYING, OCCASIONAL CHOKING..THEN I HAVE TO BURP HER..SHE CALMS DOWN BUT STARTS TO DRINK AGAIN THE CRYS. THE FEEDING ALMOST ALWAYS INVOLVES HER MOVING AROUND ALOT ND WHEN SHE HAS GAS AGAIN SHE CRIES AND STRAIGHTENS HER BODY OUT. SHE DOES FINISH HER BOTTLE OR MOST OF IT, BUT IT TAKES SO LONG."

"I sympathize with you and your story brings back very vivid memories of my now 1 year old. He did the exact same thing and it started around 7 weeks. I went to numerous pediatricians, tried the entire list of formulas and even took him to the chiropractor before finally getting some answers. I went to a specialist who informed me that it was indeed silent refux (and a severe case at that). He would act like he was starving, yet take about 1/2 oz, then do the whole sputter/choking routine

 

[Browneyed Girl]

Has she been checked by an IBCLC for tongue tie? x

 

[Glitter2707]

I was just about to say, crying after an ounce or so but fine before/after feeds suggests reflux to me. One of my friends babies had this & the anti reflux milk sorted it out for them. I wouldn't give it to her without checking with HV/doc first though x

 

[Browneyed Girl]

The reason I ask about tongue tie is that in a lot of cases it causes severe reflux and colic symptoms and if you just treat the symptoms the real problem is never dealt with. This would be my first thought as my lo had terrible problems feeding for the first 3 months and could only take really small amounts when he was clearly hungry - he would cry during and after feeding and was very unsettled most of the time. We used mam teats and I don't they're particularly fast flowing. The NHS is notoriously bad at diagnosing tongue tie and actually doesn't believe it can cause feeding problems for bottle fed babies which is absolute nonsense. Push for your baby to be assessed by an IBCLC, they will observe her feeding and are trained to diagnose tongue tie (GPs and midwives are not sufficiently trained). If I hadn't reached the end of my tether when my baby was 13 weeks because he was feeding small amounts every hour and crying constantly around feeds I'd never have taken him private and got a diagnosis. The NHS had no clue and were happy to leave him as he was gaining weight (even though he had been very slow to regain his birth weight and had struggled ever since). He also had several apnoea episodes - struggling to breathe/turning blue also caused by tongue tie. As far as I'm aware milk protein allergy can't cause this as its affects the immune system so it's eczema, bad tummy, vomiting, diarrhoea etc. It sounds very much like tongue tie so well worth getting it checked by an expert, my lo would have been on all kinds of reflux meds if I hadn't taken it into my own hands xx

 

[Lols82]

I can sympathise, my babies would often seem to choke taking their bottles and I had to constantly get them upright and pat their backs. The first time at 2 weeks old, I got such a fright I took my baby to a&e.

It sounds like possible silent reflux. My both babies have reflux but the anti reflux milk didn't help st all it made their tummies hurt. They both now are on infant gaviscone and it helps.

 

[kittykitchn]

She actually did have mild tongue tie, but it was snipped a couple of weeks ago now.

It's still continuing today, I've been in tears this morning. It's just like she's forgotten how to breathe through her nose! She's managed a single bottle so far today because it's such a slow process.

I'm not sure about reflux? Only because it seems she's only choking because she's not breathing, rather than "just choking" on the milk.

Ahh, I don't know. Carry on and hope she snaps out of it I guess - I have GP next week, but would be tempted to take her somewhere if it persists.

She also snored very heavily - I wonder if she has small nostrils or a problem with her airways?

 

[scaredmummy]

Kitty I'm having the same issue with my 5+4 week old girl. After trying different bottles she took to mam but seems to guzzle too fast and gets lots of air in to her, she pulls her legs up, screams and holds her breath, goes red, we were told she has colic and after trying everything you can buy i.e. infocol, gripe water etc nowt works. She screams during a feed, after a feed, infact all the bloody time. I have moved her onto comfort milk today but after a bit of googling I think she has slilent reflux.

I went to the gp last week to get her checked out as I though she may have tongue tie but none found. I'm giving it a few days on the comfort milk then going to gp if she doesn't improve.

Her screaming is really getting me down and am often in tears with it, I can't do anything for her, I should be able to play with her and not have her scream all the time.

Hope you get on ok x

 

[kittykitchn]

Kitty I'm having the same issue with my 5+4 week old girl. After trying different bottles she took to mam but seems to guzzle too fast and gets lots of air in to her, she pulls her legs up, screams and holds her breath, goes red, we were told she has colic and after trying everything you can buy i.e. infocol, gripe water etc nowt works. She screams during a feed, after a feed, infact all the bloody time. I have moved her onto comfort milk today but after a bit of googling I think she has slilent reflux.

I went to the gp last week to get her checked out as I though she may have tongue tie but none found. I'm giving it a few days on the comfort milk then going to gp if she doesn't improve.

Her screaming is really getting me down and am often in tears with it, I can't do anything for her, I should be able to play with her and not have her scream all the time.

Hope you get on ok x

Let me know how you get on with the comfort milk? Looks like we're in the same boat. Do you think it has something to do with the bottles? My little girl seems to be fine with some bottles but not others - I wonder if I have a faulty batch or something? I don't know...

 

[jenni16]

Sounds like my 6wk old. She seems to gulp so much that she ends up choking and it takes ages (at least that's how it feels!) to catch her breath and calm down. We're currently trying to figure out if it's reflux or a milk intolerance.
She was projectile vomiting around twice a day so not every day, constipated (going 3-4+ days between poos but not struggling to go at all), almost constant hiccups, unsettled after feeds, especially at night, lots of grunting sounds especially when lay down, eczema/dry skin on forehead and cheeks.
Our HV advised comfort milk to ease the constipation. We tried it for a week, her poos were the right consistency and she was going every two days instead of four, but she was in real pain each time she went. And the smell.....it was awful! She was passing so much wind it was unbelievable.
I spoke to the doctor who said to go back to the regular milk and prescribed gaviscon for the reflux symptoms. She's been on this since Monday and seems slightly better again but her poos aren't right again. She went on Tuesday and it was quite fitm, HV wants it loose. The eczema on her head is also getting worse So she's sending me to the docs tomorrow to request a trial of a different formula for milk sensitivity/intolerance.
My son ended up on a dairy free formula and diet until recently so it's very likely that Belle is the same.
I know that's all quite long and babbly but just wanted to try and explain what's happening with us to see if any relates? I hope you manage to get something sorted, may be worth speaking to HV or gp if you haven't already (I haven't read all the relies so sorry if I've missed anything!). I'll try and let you know how we get on at the doctors tomorrow.
Xxx

 

[jenni16]

Just thought I'd update you.....took Belle to the docs today and got a prescription for dairy free milk no problem at all. One bottle in so far and she seems to be taking it much better. Just waiting to see what effect it has on her skin and nappies. Really hoping it works for her. Xxx

 

[scaredmummy]

Hi Kitty,

Just to update you, we tried the comfort milk but it made no difference at feeding time, she was still the same, but it did help in a sense that I was able to play with her later on and we have been having playmat time which has been great. I took her to see the gp on Friday and I described the last 4 weeks and immediately she said she's suffering from reflux which was great to hear.

We are trying reflux milk and am currently on cow and gate reflux, if that doesn't work we have to go back to the gp and be prescribed infant gaviscon. I have a visit from the health visitor on Wednesday too so am going to get my little lady weighed to see if she has put on more weight.

 

[kittykitchn]

Thank you for the updates!
We visited the doctor on Friday and were prescribed Gaviscon which unfortunately hasn't made any difference. I've been told to go back in a couple of weeks if no change - I'm really not willing to wait that long

 

[jenni16]

If it's not working by now, go back and push for something else. A few weeks is far too long to wait. The gaviscon worked almost immediately with Belle, then stopped working after a few days. Since she's been on the new milk they prescribed, she's been so much better.
Good luck xxx

 

[Kay Kay]

Kitty this sounds like silent reflux as this is what my lo had. We tried gaviscon, then renitidine then finally omeprezole which sorted it. He was very fussy on the bottle and it was a struggle to get him to drink from it. It was a very stressful time. Just to say we only got the omeprezole after pushing the GP and admitting I was finding it hard to cope and was worried my baby wasn't feedjng enough. They did an emergency referral that day for the childrens hospital where we got the omeprezole (our GP is not allowed to prescribe it). If we had waited the waiting list was ten weeks in my area. No way we could wait that long. Hope things get better for you and bubs, I know how hard and frustrating it can be xxx

 

[CharlotteH24]

Sounds like silent reflux and/or colic. My daughter had both, constantly had hiccups all day from the reflux so she was put on Gaviscon every other bottle plus we bought her a anti-reflux wedge pillow which we put under her fitted sheet to raise her head a bit. That seemed to help a bit.
For the colic we gave her Dentinox in all 6 of her bottles, she had Dr Browns bottles (they're not cheap but we found they worked) and we also gave her Hipp Organic from birth which some people say was the only formula they could give their colicky/refluxy/constipated babies without their symptoms getting worse. Other than that we had to be shown all different types of winding techniques, including lying them down on their backs until they start to look uncomfortable and then sitting them up and winding like normal.
My daughter also had tongue tie and it effected her weight but when my HV looked at it and confirmed it she told me that because my daughter was bottle fed, the NHS trust wouldn't do anything about it.