Paige Eating Update

It was 5 o'clock, Thanksgiving Eve and Paige's screeches were ringing through our house. She had barely eaten all day and every time a bottle or breast graced her lips, she would eat frantically for a few seconds and begin her protests anew.

After Reese we consider ourselves pretty used to screaming babies. Reese screamed non-stop most of her first 4 months alive. Colic? Milk issues? We can't be sure now, but we were frazzled to say the least when dealing with a baby who seemed so disturbed so much of the time.

Paige is different--she hasn't been the complainer her sister was. Generally, she cries when hungry, or when over-tired and in need of soothing. But unlike her big sis, she can be soothed with some cuddling in a rocking chair (not the hall-pacing hell of two years ago). Sure, she's not a great sleeper (much like her sister), but I'm hoping that comes with time.

So, when her screams escalated at each feeding Thanksgiving week, we couldn't take it anymore. Kevin called the after hours clinic and he took over toddler-bedtime so I could make a 7:20PM doctor's appointment with Paige.

I saw a doctor from our clinic and explained our situation--was all this feeding trouble the lingering effects of her cold or something else? I had switched to mainly bottles of expressed milk, so flow rate, latch, and other factors could be ruled out, so why were we still struggling so much? The poor kid was obviously hungry, she just wouldn't eat.

When I explained the situation, the doctor said it sounded like a classic case of reflux. He prescribed us some meds and I RACED out the door to HEB before their 9PM closing time (knowing they'd be closed Thanksgiving Day). Our pharmacy didn't have the meds, so I raced to another HEB only to fight the last minute turkey shoppers and BEG for the pharmacist to fill my prescription before close--I couldn't bear the idea of enduring another two days of such feeding hell.

Just two doses of meds later, Paige has been eating without protest. Hallelujah!
Sure, the grape flavored meds aren't her favorite part of the day, and they stain everything in sight if/when she spits it back at me, but I'll take it. If a kid is going to eat 8-10 times a day, they might as well enjoy it.

Now, if only she'd sleep a little longer than 2-3 hours at a time...