So this is what I'm pretty sure happened, but as I've said before I'm not a medical professional this is just a mum, her intuition and advice from medical professionals. Jeremy had a tongue tie, which we didn't know about, so he wasn't getting enough milk. Jeremy had his 6 week vaccinations. It was after him getting the Rotovirus vaccine he stopped pooing every day.
Not enough good bacteria in the gut from breast milk + rotovirus vaccine = a change in the lining of his gut.
I came to this conclusion by joining dots, because I'm pretty much a detective and also because the lactation consultant told me that she's seen a few babies this has happened to! FYI I'm totally still pro-vaccinations, it's just interesting at what an important role good feeding and breast milk plays in all of this.
Anyway, it's been an interesting three months with good days, bad days and four days of a vomiting bug that set us back by a month. So how is he doing? GOOD! We have seen a huge change, that is partially from the plan and partially from his gut developing and getting more mature. But the big thing in all of this is that his gut is healing itself! He generally poos every day now, most of the time by himself and sometimes with some help (I push his legs back into a squat position, he's putting on weight and is generally a lot happier. From where he came from and only pooing once a week, being gassy, uncomfortable and having really hard poos, I couldn't be happier with where we are now.
My plan has slightly changed since the beginning so I thought I would update you all as to how it is going
1. Breastmilk
In my last post I talked quite a bit about breast milk and I have been going super strong with the breast milk. He still feeds 3-4 times a day but just in the last three weeks I've occasionally started introducing 1/2 a bottle of formula at night. If you know me, you will know this was a huge decision for me but with him having quite a few teeth sometimes he would get so overtired and irritated on the breast he would just keep biting me and I wasn't handling. So yes we did it, he would maybe have a 100ml at night once a week and it has actually been fine for him
2. Water
The dr advised me that fluid was super crucial in helping to lubricate the gut to prevent constipation. But with Jeremy's high arched palate, he didn't know how to suck so sippy cups or bottles with straws were out of the question which is why I was so excited to find out about Doidy Cup. Doidy Cup's slanted design was perfect for Jeremy, to help him learn how to drink straight from a cup without needing to suck. It also helps aid hand eye co-ordination and I have seen this myself as in the last month he has become an absolute champ at feeding himself. My favourite part about the doidy cup is there are no little fiddly bits to clean or worry about food getting stuck in. If you are keen to give it a go, make sure to keep an eye out on my instagram as I will be doing a give away soon!
3. KiwiHerb Kids Calm
I talked about this product in my last post. But this has been my lifesaver as when we started this journey Jeremy was on quite a limited bone broth based diet, but he has his parents taste buds and therefore loves food. I've had been apprehensive about letting him try different things as I have no idea how he would react. For example the other night we had falafels with hummus and all the chickpeas I ate made him so sore and gassy he screamed for ages!
This is where Kids Calm comes in! You can use Kids Calm for a whole range of things but with Jeremy how I find it works, is that it takes all the little wind bubbles and makes it come out as one (from either end) it just completely settles his tummy. This has been amazing to have whenever we are introducing something new.
4. Diet
As mentioned above Jeremy is no longer on a limited diet. He generally eats what we eat now, just a salt and sugar free, whole grain version. He doesn't have bone broth every day now, but still often. Generally, we avoid giving him white bread, white flour, white pasta- anything that's been quite processed. One thing the lactation consultant recommended giving him was slippery elm. The powder form is quite inexpensive and just adding half a teaspoon of that to his meals just helps line his gut and aid his digestion. It's also fairly tasteless so if I have forgotten to add it to his food he will have it via syringe diluted in a bit of warm water
5. Peppermint Oil
It just so happens my mum has made trips back to Singapore before both my births. And she comes back with all sorts of Asian goodies some I roll my eyes at and some I swear by. She always brings back this oil called Yu Ie oil and I honestly didn't believe her when she said it helped with wind. That was until the lactation consultant told me Peppermint oil really helps with digestion and guess what's the primary ingredient in this random asian oil? Needless to say its now part of our bedtime routine
6. Kiwi Herb Baby Balm
When chatting with the doctor about times Jeremy has had quite solid poos, he mentioned something interesting. Apparently, if a child has done a poo that has made their bottom quite sore, they can sometimes hold their poos in, in fear of the pain. So although their tummy is now functioning well, the fear of the pain can prohibit them from releasing a bowel motion. He advised to smother the area with a nappy cream every nappy change. He recommended a popular brand but the thought of putting something so full of chemicals on Jeremy every nappy change made me cringe. I loveeee Kiwi Herb's baby balm, its all natural, its soothing and it really has been a game changer for us enabling Jeremy to actually do a bowel motion by himself. This balm is also super versatile. I keep some in a separate little jar put on my nips if Jeremy has bitten me and it works really well as a barrier cream for Shyra's ezcema before she eats something acidic like oranges.
So that's us for now! I'm so encouraged by the progress he's made so thank you all so much for thinking about us and praying for Jeremy I know that his gut is going to be fully restored to what it needs to be!
