11wo, drooling, hands in mouth, vomiting and sniffly... What's going on?!?

[Tanja87]

Hi all!
I'm a little worried about my little girl but wanted to hear if anyone else has experienced this before running to the docs... She is just over 11 weeks old now and for the past 3 days has been pretty much completely off her food! She is formula fed (please no one moan about that - I feel terrible enough for not being able to bf already...) and usually took about 150-180 ml every 4h! Now she will take the bottle when offered, drink 30-50ml quite happily and then it becomes a real struggle to get the other 100ml down her (it can take around 2h spread across 3 gos). She is also very dribbly and throws up A LOT at the moment. She often heaves and coughs, is very sleepy and sniffly and tends to sneeze quite a bit... She does not have a temperature but constantly sucks her hands. She is still smiley and kicking her legs about etc. but does get a bit moany and upset at times... Could it be teething or just a cold? It's probably nothing but I do worry about her not eating much or keeping it down Hope any of this makes sense - I am very tired as I'm sure a lot of you are too... Lol xx

 

[xLaura]

The fussing and sick sounds like it cold be reflux, my LO has reflux and that's how he is. He's also always sneezing, but I duno if that's related or not.
Hands in mouth and dribbling, could be sign of teething but its also is just a stage babies go through, so it could be two unrelated things, or they could all be signs of teething.
If the fussing and sick continues I'd go the docs, or speak to your hv because it might be reflux.

 

[Tanja87]

Thank you for your reply, Laura! Do you do anything to ease the reflux for your little fella? I think the thing that worries me most is the amount that my baby girl is eating or keeping down... You see, 2 days after she was born we had to rush back into hospital and were admitted for a week as she had a little urinary tract infection. We were then also told that she was dehydrated as she wasn't feeding off me properly which might have contributed to the diminished kidney function they detected - this is when we started bottle feeding to keep an eye on what's going in and to be sure she was getting enough... She is still on antibiotics while more tests are being done to check if her "plumbing" is working well but I think the whole experience just made me very paranoid about her eating habits!
I've also noticed that she eats quite well during her night feeds (10pm and 3 am) when she is sleepy but in the day she fusses - it's like she's bored by eating in the day or something... Eyeyey, all this worry, lol! Xx

 

[xLaura]

It does sound like reflux to me, especially with taking the night bottles ok due to being sleepy. I also was concerned about how much he was actually keeping down due to being sick alot.
I first out him on sma stay down milk which is for reflux, this helped slightly but not as much as I'd hoped. Few weeks later (few docs appointments later) I got prescribed gaviscon infant which actually has helped loads, I still use it with the reflux milk tho. He has started being abit sick again but nothing to what he was and he's alot more settled now.
I'd deffo go the docs see what they say especially if she's not eating much, and be abit forceful they kept fobbing me off saying 'babies are sick' ect but I knew something was wrong with him, I'm just sad he was in pain for so long. Goodluck hun x

 

[Tanja87]

Thank you again my lovely! I shall make an appointment with the docs to get her seen. Writing this now with her asleep in my arms again, poor little mite Glad to hear your little boy is better! Motherhood, eh?! Everything is a worry... I'll see what the doc says - thanks for the tip of being forceful with them! I know what they can be like but probably wouldn't have insisted if you hadn't said that! xx

 

[xLaura]

Yeah the joys but I wouldn't change him for the world hehe.
If you can before your docs appointment take her to be weighed at the clinic so that the doc can see exactly how she's doing right now, regarding to her weight because if she's not eating much I'm guessing she won't be gaining what she should, and It gives you 'evidence' so to speak that you want something doing now.
Also after feedings keep her upright for as long as possible, which ano Is easier said than done if she's like anything like my boy and likes to throw himself about lol.
Let me know how you get on Hun xx

 

[Tanja87]

Good idea about getting her weighed! The clinic isn't until Monday and when I got her weighed there last week she was bang on but that was before the trouble started... I started keeping her more upright and finding different feeding positions now, see if that'll help! Got a phone consultation with the docs later today and based on that they may wanna see her. I'll keep you updated. Thanks Hun xx

 

[Tanja87]

Soooo... Been to the docs, he examined her (tummy, chest, throat, ears, temperature...) and said everything seems fine. He did say it might be another UTI so I got a urine sample but that's not it either as their test came back clean... I'm starting to think it really is reflux so might pick up some Infacol for her and see if that settles her tummy a bit. Thanks for your help and advice on this, Laura! I really appreciate it xxp

 

[Tanja87]

Oops, just realised Infacol is not for reflux... D'uh! Will look into it a bit more xx

 

[xLaura]

Glad she checked out fine did the doc suggest it could be reflux?
You could try her on a reflux milk, but obv changing her milk is a big thing for them, and it didn't stop my LO all together but it did help.

 

[Tanja87]

Sorry I'm just replying now! Doc didn't mention reflux at all but I'm pretty sure that's what it is... We're trying to manage it, ie. keeping her upright during and after feeds etc and it's going ok I'd say! She's still not drinking as much as before but definitely getting there and she's throwing up less Hopefully it's just a phase that will pass soon! I'll take her to the clinic for weighing on Monday and speak to the nurses there about it as well! The doc suggested getting a HV round at feeding time to see exactly what happens so they can suggest things! Might do that if things persist... Thank you so much for your help with this, Laura! I'm such a worrier so I really appreciate someone who's experienced the same kind of thing xx

 

[xLaura]

No worries Hun, I was the exact same when my LO started, I think it's our job as mummies is to worry all the time
Glad she's getting there, hope she continues to get better xxx