Feeding-time Fury

We've regularly mentioned late night fits at feeding time, and thought those were bad, but little did we know what was to come. It turns out those were the first round of appetizers warming us up for a Texas sized main course.

It became pretty obvious that Norah was getting very uncomfortable after meals, but she got progressively worse. When we first talked to the doctor about it she recommended mylicon drops to relieve gas, but that did nothing. Her condition worsened. Her tummy grumbled after each meal and became tighter and tighter. She was hungry, but it hurt to eat. We began to suspect something more was wrong.

The doctor informed us her spitting up and screaming probably came from infection, acid reflux, lactose intolerance or food allergies. The absence of a fever ruled out infection. Acid reflux would explain frequent spitting up, but wouldn't explain the tummy cramps. Lactose intolerance or food allergies, which generally reveal themselves after 2- 6 weeks would seem to fit the bill.

We first tried the Similac Advance Soy formula, then the Hypoallergenic Alimentum Similac. Both looked promising initially, but within 24 hours had worse results than Mother's milk. It further upset Norah and everyone within earshot, and encouraged another call to the pediatrician, whose after-hours number is now programmed into all our phones. She recommended giving her nothing but Pedialite (Baby Gatorade) and soluble Prevacid for the rest of the night to avoid further upsetting her sensitive tummy, then try the regular Lactose Free Similac thickened with rice cereal and topping off with more Pedialite.

Initial returns look good and have produced many little smiles, with the added bonus that the Pedialite turns her little tongue orange.