feeding / crying issues

This is my first post on this forum. I desperately need some advice... My son was due on 1/11/13 but came just over 5 weeks early on 12/6/12. He spent the first 2 weeks of his life in the NICU with issues swallowing. Now, he is a big eater but he throws up just about every time he eats, it is not a little throw up, it can be anywhere from a spit up to projectile to heaving 3 or 4 times soaking through his big and burb cloth. I was pumping and giving him my milk, but I thought it was upsetting his tummy, so I started adding in formula. Well, it kept happening, so I took him to the Dr and he said that I was over feeding my son and to put him on a strict diet of 3 to 4 oz every 3 to 4 hours. (I was just feeding him on demand). Well, I have tried that and he is still throwing up constantly. Also, it is hell trying to keep him on a 3 hour schedule, he gets himself so angry when I try to delay his eating. I am convinced he is allergic to something, but the pediatrician seems to think otherwise since he is gaining weight. Sometimes he cries through the whole feeding like he is frustrated because he keeps spitting up or his belly hurts. Does this sound normal to you?
Another issue I am having is that he will not tolerate being put down for more than maybe an hour or two a day. He will fall asleep in my arms and when I put him down he will wake up and start screaming. He won't tolerate his swing for more than a couple of minutes so I can take a quick shower. I have been forced to sleep with him beside me in my bed, even tho they recommend against it. It is the only way I get any sleep what-so-ever. I cannot sleep otherwise. I even have a cosleeper and he will not lay in that either.
Every day at 5 PM, like clock work, he will cry for 2 to 3 hours straight and then I get a break... I think he just wears himself out. I feel so awful because I don't know what to do for him to help him. I feel like this is all caused by his food and I just don't feel like the Dr is listening to me. I have to give him gas drops at almost every feeding and now colic calm 3 or 4 times a day on top of it. The Dr wants him on gas drops 4x/day but that doesn't seem to be cutting it. I feel like he is always in pain and I don't know what to do.
I swear when he is "sleeping" in my arms he is actually awake. He has this look on his face like "don't you even think about putting me down"! I know that sounds crazy, but my little one has a million faces! lol I am just sooo sleepy.... any advice would be greatly appreciated!

- Bree
"Friendship does not depend on conversation. Sometimes the most important communication is not mouth to ear, but heart to heart."

The only advice I have is feed him when he shows signs of hunger. No schedule for a baby so young.

And maybe he is lactose intolerant. Tell your doctor that you know something is wrong. Mothers instinct is far greater than a doctor who only sees your baby for a few minutes and isn't experiencing what you are. Oh, and I'm all for co sleeping. Don't stop if you are getting sleep that way b

Your baby sounds colicky & like he has reflux . :/ The rest sounds normal. Not every baby is that attached, but one of mine was. The other was not.

My daughter was also born 5 weeks early and spent 2 weeks in the nicu working on body temp and eating. Everything you're saying sounds pretty normal, just maybe hes colicky.
Breastmilk is the best! I wouldn't add in formula incase he is lactose intolerant. My daughter had reflux bad as well and hardly kept any of her feedings down. The doc prescribed her some zantac that seemed to help.
With him crying and being clingy- its just how some babies are. My son wouldn't let me put him down for anything...I even had to pee a few times while holding him cuz he would just scream.
Good luck! It will get better!

Thank you for the advice. I am going to look into cosleeping alittle more. I am just nervous about it, but I am the type of sleeper that wakes up in the same position I laid down in! He likes to snuggle in close!
I just got off the phone with the pediatrician and they are switching him to soy formula FINALLY! I asked about baby zantac and the Dr said to give it another week before he will prescribe anything. I stopped pumping a little over a week ago. It was so tiring to pump, it was hard to keep up. He wouldn't breastfeed, he only liked the bottle. They wouldn't let me breastfeed in the hospital until a day or two before he came home and by that time he had no interest. He was actually worse with his spit up / throw up when I gave him my milk. My Mom told me she couldn't breastfeed me either because it made me sick. Weird? I was down to absolutely no dairy and other restrictions and he was still sick. It is frustrating to see him and the Dr keep telling me to wait another week and another week. Hopefully the soy formula will cut it, but I read that some babies are allergic to that too  
Thanks for the help. It feels a bit better knowing that him being so clingy is completely normal. I was carrying him in a carrier but he got circumcised 2 weeks ago and I haven't carried him like that since because I am nervous about hurting him (it is healed now but still nervous)... I am waiting for the Dr to check him down there before I carry him like that again... I can't wait because then I will have my arms back! I am a lucky girl today, he gave me 2 hours already and is back to sleep tolerating his swing at the moment! :-)
Thanks Mommies

Holding your baby won't hurt his circumcision! Newborns need tons and tons of holding and skin to skin.

I hold him 24/7 I was just saying I don't want to put him in a carrier on my body because of the way he has to sit in it.

Quoting brianne715:" Thank you for the advice. I am going to look into cosleeping alittle more. I am just nervous about it, ... [snip!] ... am a lucky girl today, he gave me 2 hours already and is back to sleep tolerating his swing at the moment! :-) Thanks Mommies"

FYI - if it is a milk protein allergy, the soy formula may not help. Soy protein is very close to milk, so typically you get the same reaction. You might need Nutramigen or Alimentum, which breaks down those proteins to be more easily digested by baby. We went through this with one of my daughters and Nutramigen improved things. Our symptoms were a little more obvious though because there were blood smears in her stool. She would also do the flailing and crying while eating.

Quoting brianne715:" This is my first post on this forum. I desperately need some advice... My son was due on 1/11/13 but ... [snip!] ... does not depend on conversation. Sometimes the most important communication is not mouth to ear, but heart to heart.""

OP
everything you're describing sounds totally normal.
i wouldn't change formula, as long as your baby is gaining weight.
spit-up is very very normal. especially in premies. the only cure is to grow out of it.
lactose intolerance is VERY rare.
personally, i wouldn't go changing the formula as long as he's gaining weight.
the colic will also go away on its own by around 12 weeks.

both of mine were hurling every single meal, it sometimes looked like more than they even ate! but my dr refused to change anything, saying it was normal.
i almost switched doctors
glad i didn't
because by around 12 weeks adjusted, the spitting up totally stopped.

<blockquote><b>Quoting brianne715:</b>" I hold him 24/7 I was just saying I don't want to put him in a carrier on my body because of the way he has to sit in it."</blockquote>




I'm so sorry! Read wrong. You made sense v