Baby Health Clinic

Today we walked down to the Baby Health Clinic for a weigh-in.
Nothing makes me more proud than people stopping in the street to look in the pram at my baby and exclaiming how gorgeous he is and what lovely hair and face he has.

 My gorgeous boy is now 10lbs,13oz ! He's putting on weight really well, I'm so pleased especially after my concerns about him spitting up milk.
I asked about the reflux symptoms and the health advisor confirmed everything I said suggests Lincolns suffering from colic and that even in breast fed babies, its common. She recommended using the colic drops regularly and assured me there's nothing wrong with giving him this every other feed and not just when he's kicking off. I had explained its only really an issue on the evening, and she thinks this is because leaving it until he's really upset means the acid has built up all day and peaking at its worse in the evening. So today I've given him some of this DENTINOX before a feed but he clearly hates the taste and screams when I am giving it to him. 2.5ml looks like a lot when your baby doesn't like it. I cant say I blame him, obviously I was never giving my child something I hadn't tried myself, so I tasted it first and it was disgusting- sort of Minty, but strong and bitter. I slowly pump tiny bits into his mouth coaxing him to swallow it as best I can. Half way through I offered him the boob to calm him down and then afterwards when I tried to give him the rest of the drops he wouldn't have any of it and kept his lips clamped shut. I wont force the syringe into his mouth so I settled with giving him as much as I could and then let him be. Its been a few hours since and he's been much better settled this evening, he was happy enough when feeding and has been sleeping nicely in the Moses basket next to me as I sit on the sofa.

In a few days he will be four weeks old and that's considered old enough to have gripe water, I've got to try it myself first but I'm hoping it will taste better and be as successful in relieving the acid as the Dentinox has been. Time will tell.

Colic?

The last few days Lincoln's been extremely uncomfortable after feeds, spitting up his milk, scrunching his face, crying until he's red and drawing his legs up, tensing his body. I've found a few times holding him high up on my shoulder has helped a little to settle him but its not a feasible method to use continuously. Friends have advised it sounds like he's suffering from acid reflux.

I'm surprised because its less common for breast-fed babies to have this problem, and we've tried burping him after feeds to help but whether or not he does burp it's not made much difference. I absolutely hate seeing Lincoln screaming in discomfort, I know how awful heartburn feels from being pregnant with him and it's not fair that such a small little human should suffer from that pain.

I've bought some infant colic drops, DENTINOX, which are suitable to give from birth but I've not been 100% sure on giving them to him. Natural methods like burping, massage and rocking haven't been helping at all and I'm worried about it getting worse because its putting him off his feeds, making latching him on harder.

I'm concerned he will lose weight if he keeps spitting up milk, even though the internet says baby spit-up looks more than it actually is, I can't help thinking it still seems a lot when his tummy is so small. Hopefully it wont last, they say it would be much worse if he was bottle feeding, so I've definitely found a renewed dedication to breast feeding. Even at times when I'm irritable and feeling a bit like he's never off my boob, I know I'm doing the best thing for him and it makes me happy to know I have it in me to not give it up.