9 Mo Old Has to Have CT Scan

Why dont you try waking him at around 1:30 so he can breast feed if the cut off time is 2. Maby he will not even wake for his normal feeding because he will already be full. I had to do this a few times with my little girl. She would wake at 5:30 on days she had appointments where she couldnt eat i would wait till 30 min before the cut off wake her up and feed her but i did have to play with her a little to keep eating, she would sleep right through her normal feeding time. Hope this will help and best of luck.
A.

Hi, K.. I am the mom of a beautiful 23-month-old daughter who has had five surgeries in her short lifetime. We have been in your shoes before with regard to having to cut off meals for a morning procedure. Basically, we just used her favorite toys, music, Baby Einstein DVDs and her pacifier to keep her as entertained and contented as possible. Even with all of that on our side, it made for a rough morning for all of us each time. The truth is that you should just try to get to bed early tonight and be prepared to be exhausted tomorrow from the stress of knowing that your baby is unhappy and wants to be fed. Sorry. I wish I had a better answer from our experiences. The only other suggestion I have is that someone else accompany you, if possible, so that your son doesn't have to constantly be in your arms near the scent of breastmilk. We found that my daughter was less fussy in her dad's arms while I was still breastfeeding on those days when she couldn't have any.

Best wishes all around. It is no fun having to go through medical procedures with your child.

I guess because of what type of test they are scanning is the reason he is unable to eat? Well My son had to have one on his head when our sitter dropped him on his head on cement. Luckily for us he had no permanent damage just a giant baseball size bruise on the back of his head. Anyway what they dod was strap him securely into a back brace and he did very well. The noise didn't bother him he just kinda looked around and wondered what was going on. I think he was about 5 or 6 mths at the time so he really didn't know what was going on but I think your biggest problem is going to be him being hungry. Unfortunatly I don't know if there is anything you can do or give him, like something to suck one possibly, that would take his mind off food. Maybe something like a lollipopish thing. I am surprised they won't let him eat? I am guess the area they are scanning needs to be food free?
Good luck regardless. Just comfort him and carry multiple pacifyers.

Remind them that breast milk is considered a CLEAR liquid, and don't settle for one person's opinion behind the desk, ask a nurse practitioner or doctor, and also remind THEM that it's considered a clear liquid.

I had to do the same thing when my 2.5 month old had heart surgery. And indeed, they had to recant and consider breast milk a CLEAR liquid. (their bodies process breast milk so much faster, that is the main reason)

Here is some info:
http://www.pedsanesthesia.org/newsletters/2003summer/coun...

I clipped the pertinent info:
Breast milk is not considered a complete solid. Depending on the institution, breast milk is treated as a clear liquid (23%), between a clear and formula (36%), a solid (34%), or as formula (7%). Part of the reason is that there is little data examining absorption of breast milk in healthy infants. Some institutions accept a four-hour restriction for breast milk.4 Fortification of breast milk does not appear to delay gastric emptying compared to unfortified breast milk. A blinded crossover study of 22 low-birth weight infants using sonography to measure gastric antral cross-sectional area showed no significant difference in gastric emptying with the presence of a fortifier.10

I have had a cat scan and it's nothing to be afraid of, even for your child. You will just have to patient with him when he gets hungry or thirsty until it's done and over with. I am sure that it will stress you out but if he truly needs the ct then don't put it off.
Good Luck
S.

Hi K.,

What is the baby have a CT scan of?

What does the Doc's say is wrong with your baby?

Contact the La Leche League at

www.lllusa.org/VA/WebTidewaterVA or 1-800-525-3243

Hope this helps. God Bless: D.

K., I am a Mom of 3...1 had surgery at 3 months old
for a lump above his eye..the other one had surgery at 17 months..on his neck for a lump..they told us not to let him move around too much after the surgery...can you imagine...You will get thru it..pray @ know he will only be upset for a little while and it will be over..
I have a coupon on mamasourse with my info if you want to
talk...Warmest Regards! D.

My daughter had a CT scan about that age too. I got her up about 30 minutes or so before the cut off and fed her. I also gave her water until they said that I couldn't. I figured that it was better than not getting anything at all. Good Luck and I hope that everything works out for you and your little guy.

First of all, I am sorry that you are having to deal with this! I took my daughter (when she was less than 3 months old) to the emergency room when she contracted a nasty cold. We were traveling at the time for her first christmas and would not return home for a few weeks, so this is why I took her to the ER to be seen. They did an X-Ray on her to make sure she had no fluid in her chest and it was Terrible! The process involved stripping her nude and placing her into some kind of Chinese torture device for infants that keeps them bound in an awkward positon, long enough to do the X-Ray. My instincts told me that she was going to fine, and did not need the X-Ray. The X-Ray of course, showed everyhting to be just fine. Looking back...I would NEVER do it again.

Second story, my friend's two year old just recently needed dental work. It was a similar senerio where her appt. was at 8 AM and she was not to have anything after 12 midnight. My freind nursed her anyway and everththing was fine. Remember that doctors create rules based on sometimes extreme rare cases, with a medical intervention mind-set (take birth in this country for example!)

If it were me, I would nurse him anyway, if you find that it is unavoidable without traumatizing him. One thing to keep in mind when trying to avoid nursing him, is he is going to be much more willing to except not nursing from someone else. If he is with you/sees you, you know he will expect to nurse-Out of sight, out of mind. On the other hand, I would research to see if the scan is even totally necessary. Good luck!

I would suggest waking him to eat right before 2:00, and possibly again around 4:00 to offer water, unless you think it might upset him more.

I would ask if he could have a popsicle. I was allowed to have them in labor when I wasn't allowed to eat. That might help calm him. I guess it would depend on the reason he can't eat - is he being sedated? Or is it a scan of his digestive system?

Otherwise, I would just plan to get out of the house and to the hospital early, so that they do the procedure on time and he will have a lot to interest him. Maybe he will even sleep in the car on the way there (especialy if you get him up at 4:00 after giving water??). Also, buy a couple new toys to give him.

Good luck.

Is the CT scan with or without contrast? I guess youre going to have to have a whole lot of tricks up your sleeve for distracting him! And just be expecting an upset kid come 6am when he hasnt been fed. Not much you can do if he cant have food. Maybe his favorite video.

my daughter didn't have ct scan at that age but she has hearing tests done for which she was not allowed to have anything pass midnight (test being at 8 am). there was a lot of crying, but best you can do is feed him at the last allowed time period, and then bring lots of stuff to keep him entertained. if possible, see if they can schedule him for 7 am, just to make it easier on you and your son, but like i said it will get very difficult but doable. i promise

Hi K.,

I was surprised how well my son did with his. He was about a year old and we had him eat about 11pm at night before and then when he woke offered water, he wasn't keen on the water and so tossed it, he did really well as in he distracted himself, there were toys at the hospital really only a short gripe in the car on the way there.

Make sure to wear him out before bed time though.

Hopefully you will be lucky like we were, I found I over stressed about the whole event.

Good luck.

S.

Hi K.!

Everyone has given you great advice about waking your son to nurse, and it is true that you should be able to give breast milk up until 4 a.m. The reason this is done is because some people have adverse reactions to the sedation and can vomit if they have anything in their stomachs. Also, depending on your son and what they are scanning, you may want to see if they can do the CT scan without sedating him. If you know he would never hold still for a second, then it obviously would not work, but if you think he might lie still for the short time it takes to do the scan, you might want to consider it. They usually wrap the kiddos up like they're in a cocoon. Other than their very first CT scan when they were 2 months old, my daughters have been able to do CT scan without sedation. It's worth looking into, anyway.