Can anyone offer any magic tricks to calm chronic abdominal kids that cry all the time? I know that fussiness tends to come with the territory for a lot of these guys, but we currently have a ~65 day old gastroschisis kid that is about to drive the whole unit to drink. For the most part it's a frequent cry that ranges from mildly colicky to utterly frantic.
We've tried a few different things. Here are some of the things that seemed to work at least for a little bit, but there has been no lasting success with any of these:
** Lots of holding, rocking, burping, singing, the basics...
** Holding in the prone position across the nurse's lap
** Placing her in her vibrating bouncer seat
** Using our foot to rock the bouncer with a little bit of force
** Placing her in her car seat/stroller and letting her watch Dr. Seuss
** Tight swaddling with an extra blanket roll that encircles her head
** We're on Mylicon and Reglan
I know that there are more things that we've tried, but those are the ones that come to mind. Any additional suggestions?
We use sucrose all the time for fussy babies - not just procedural pain. It's great for those kids whose livers are shot from TPN and can't have Tylenol. Check with someone about giving it to gut babies, though. I know here we don't give it to kids who are NPO or have short-gut issues. I haven't had a gastro in so long I can't quite remember.
Sweetease and illegal binky maneuvers. Also, get a swing if you have to take up a collection. I had two gastro babies the other night and they both had swings.
"...I think the only thing worse is a methadone baby."
They're really neck and neck. We've had one of these lately. It takes for--ever to w/draw from. Bleech.
We have one right now going on 30 days old and he stays miserable. Sweetease, regular pooping (the baby, I mean), and a swing are our lifesavers right now.
They've got him on 22-cal formula and it's NOT nice to his tummy. Hoo boy, do we wish for some earplugs sometimes.
Specializes in pedi, pedi psych,dd, school ,home health.
not a nicu nurse but have dealt with these kiddos on the "outside".. warmed sucrose bottles, a warmed towel on the belly and the snugggly or "kangarooing" all help ...and then the swing when they are calmed. sometimes works with the methadone kiddos who cant seem to calm either... we used to put these babies on their bellies to sleep:nono:which is a no no now.
Who else thinks these are always the MOST precious kids on the unit (when not crying)?
Thanks for the continued suggestions. Hoping to put some of them to use, but I haven't had our pt since I last posted. (When my hairline is visibly receding by mid-shift and I am gnawing on the inside of my lip by 7 am, I think the charge nurses sense that I can't take it for more than one shift in a row.)
We were talking about how cute gastro babies were at work the other day. Most of them are born with a lot of hair. Then we started talking about how cute IUGR babies are, they are so tiny but so smart. Then the conversation turned to withdrawl babies and how they can be a handful but they are always gorgeous. Finally, we decided that we are lucky, we have the best job in the world.
Our methadone baby is, @ this moment, over in L&D w/one of their nurses in the vibrating massage chair their anesthesia group bought for them. Apparently, she loves it!
There are baby bouncers that have a vibrator feature. I'm going over to Amazon to try and find it.
Our methadone baby is, @ this moment, over in L&D w/one of their nurses in the vibrating massage chair their anesthesia group bought for them. Apparently, she loves it!
There are baby bouncers that have a vibrator feature. I'm going over to Amazon to try and find it.
We do have some of those bouncy chairs that also vibrate... they love it!
This is one of the ones we have, but we use it w/o the toys... our babies usually aren't ready for those!
Our most recent methadone graduate (not to be confused with the one still there, both of whom were/are the CUTEST boys!) spent 3/4 of his time in a bouncy seat with a little zip-up cover that was half cloth and half see-thru mesh, like a little cocoon. He would sleep for hours in that thing. I miss him; he was sooooo stinkin' cute. All of us fell in love with him and cried when he left!
elizabells, BSN, RN
2,094 Posts
We use sucrose all the time for fussy babies - not just procedural pain. It's great for those kids whose livers are shot from TPN and can't have Tylenol. Check with someone about giving it to gut babies, though. I know here we don't give it to kids who are NPO or have short-gut issues. I haven't had a gastro in so long I can't quite remember.