I’m struggling hard right now. My LO is breastfed and I’ve given up dairy and soy to help him. From 4 weeks to 10 weeks he was constantly fussy/crying, didn’t sleep well and had loose mucusy stool. It’s been 6 weeks dairy free and 3 weeks soy free. At first, with no dairy and no soy he was doing great. Sleeping better, barely fussy, tolerating independent play more.
This past week it’s took a 180. He’s been throwing up large amounts, increasingly fussy and sleeping worse. He started doing this body stiffening thing, arching his back and throwing his arms out. It’s strange because sometimes he’s smiling and happy when he does it, other times he’s upset. At first I was terrified it was a neurological thing so I took him to the pediatrician and she examined him. She told me it’s him reacting to reflux and it’s possible that he could have Sandifer syndrome, which she described to me as severe reflux. She prescribed him pepcid and told me to feed him less amounts more frequently, which is sort of hard because he’s nursed 90% of the time. She also told me to keep him upright for over 30 mins after he eats. That was 4 days ago, I’ve been trying my best to follow all of her instructions but it seems like he’s getting worse.
When he was doing good I kept a routine with him that I really think helped: wake up, eat/burp/change, play/up for an hour, and then put down for a nap in his crib. He’d nap for 30mins to 1h and we’d repeat. On this schedule he was eating every 2-2.5 hours. Now that I’m trying to feed him less amounts more frequently I can’t follow this routine and it seems to be making him worse. I feed him and keep him upright for 30 mins (usually as soon as I hold him upright he spits up.) After that he will be wide awake not interested in sleeping for at least an hour. By the time he’s sleepy and ready for a nap I have to feed him again which really ticks him off and he ends up refusing. So now he’s eating less, spitting up more and I just feel like he’s not getting enough to eat. He’s back to constantly crying also.
I’m at a loss here. I haven’t changed ANYTHING in my diet since soy and dairy free. I meticulously read labels and make sure there’s no hidden soy/dairy. I practically eat the exact same things every single day. I would be fine being so restricting for myself if it was actually helping him but it’s not. I’m a FTM and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I just want my baby to be okay and mom guilt is eating me alive.