Giving newborn salt

[Martina Banks]

Hello everyone, my 11 week old daughter has just been diagnosed with c.f.. The doctors told us we need to start giving her 1/8th tsp of salt everyday. The problem is they told me to give it to her straight (wet my finger, dip it in salt then put it in her mouth a few times a day) and not to mix it with any water or my expressed breast milk. I guess they don't want her to associate feedings with a negative taste. I have been following their instructions so far but she absolutely hates it and screams when I give it to her, which usually makes her cough from being so upset. Anyways, I was just wondering if any other parents out there that have had a newborn with c.f. have any advice on possible other administration methods? Or just keep giving it to her straight and hope she gets used to it? Thanks in advance

 

[Ratatosk]

I do have friends whose children have issues drinking milk and juice because their parents mixed vitamins in with their milk; however, an 8th of a tsp of salt isn't that much over a days time. So wonder about adding a nominal amount with each feed, maybe not worry so much about making sure she gets that exact amount. I know we started off giving ds his aqua adeks vitamins in a nipple with a small amount of juice, until we realized he really didn't mind the taste.

We never gave ds additional salt (nor were we advised to do so) until he was older, on solids -- at 6 months -- and I doctored up baby food with salt and butter and oil.

 

[Rebjane]

Do you live in a very hot climate where your baby would be sweating and losing salt? When my daughter was born they also suggested the salt 1/8 tsp mixed in a bottle of expressed breastmilk. My daughter hated the bottle and would throw up the salted breastmilk. I tried a few times and stopped giving it to her (of course) told the nutritionist that I stopped. When my daughter was 6-7 months old we would give her pretzels rods and she licked the salt off and that's how she got her extra salt. We live in a fairly cold climate; but when it does get hot or she exercises she self regulates her salt and will down a salt packet or Gatorade...(she's 12 now)

 

[Martina Banks]

Yes we live in California and even though we keep the house at 72 she still sweats on her head a lot.
Right now I breastfeed and feed her straight from the breast, only giving her expressed milk when I'm not around. So I don't know how I would be able to mix the salt in a little at a time unless I start pumping all her meals. Can't wait til she's old enough for me to mix it in with foods

 

[Aboveallislove]

I frankly forgot about the salt with everything else going on. You might want to call and ask if they would be comfortable with you waiting a few months so long as you aren't out in the hot weather for a long time. I breastfed but supplemented with a bottle and did put salt there when I could. Now it isn't a problem because DS would eat a bowl at a time if I would let him and in fact today in having him swallow a pill for the first time, I gave him a bowl of salt and a wet spoon to lick the salt before he put the pill on his tongue so he'd want to guzzle the water and drink it down. Also, DS coughed with any salt too so don't freak about that.

Also, just a "pointer" I wish I had thought about with all the stuff to do early on: Buy a case of syringes for her Zantac and vitamins so you don't have to wash those. Something like this: http://www.allegromedical.com/syringes-c570/syringe-luer-lok-3cc-23gx1-in-ns-p547237.html (the needle just twists off). hugs and prayers,
Love

 

[Martina Banks]

Thanks for the info.
I was just worried the coughing would irritate her throat. But I guess it's the lungs that are affected by the c.f. not the throat. I just freak out whenever I hear her cough now.
And she probably does need the salt because she seems to sweat excessively, even at normal temperatures. I may try giving her 1ml of water after I put the salt in her mouth, just to wash it down. I'll have to call her dietician on Monday to see if that's ok.

 

[Aboveallislove]

Yes, I know the freak out. The CF center had us give DS salt before his sweat test so he'd sweat. He started having a coughing spell and since all we knew was he was "presumptively positive for CF" and hadn't seen the doctor yet, we rushed him to the ER. I wish they'd tell us that!!!

 

[dearanxiety]

My daughter is now 3 months old (diagnosed at a couple of weeks) and we have always given her her salt via expressed breastmilk in bottles. It has never been a problem. We used to spread it out in small doses in bottles throughout the day, but now she gets most of it all at once and doesn't mind it at all. This is how we were told to administer it, so it is worth a try. If she doesn't mind the taste, I think there would be no issue!

 

[Deryl Sweeney II]

We have been giving our 10 month old son salt since he was first diagnosed. Our clinic told us to mix it with his bottles, so we've always mixed it with expressed milk, and now with formula. We spread it out over the day in the beginning, as it's not very much salt at all. Now, we give him one salt packet (from a fast food restaurant) in the morning and one with his last bottle of the day. He seems to enjoy the bottles without salt just as much as he does the bottles with salt. We really don't notice a difference.

 

[Ratatosk]

Our doctor told us that as ds got older he'd self regulate -- gravitate toward saltier foods -- popcorn, pretzels, crackers. At daycare they'd give him saltine crackers as a toddler, but then he started taking salt directly from the shaker, so we just sent a shaker of salt with him. I still keep one in the car.

 

[Ank]

Jst mix very small amount of salt with milk or any other food .. many times a day there is no harm in if one take less than recommend salt , as she is in quiet cool atmosphere she does not need much salt.. salt is not a medicine and if she is hydrated and temp is 72 F , thn u n give less than 1/8 tblspn

 

[ryanbonin]

Hello Martina. First off, sorry to hear about your daughter. My son (19 months old) was diagnosed at 6 weeks old. Do you give her enzymes before each meal? The reason I ask is because we give my son his enzymes sprinkled on top of a teaspoon of applesauce before each feeding, and we also sprinkle a pinch of salt on the applesauce each time. Over the course of 6-8 (or more) feedings per day, 1/8 tsp of salt should be very easy for her to take.
Ryan

 

[Aboveallislove]

Ryan,

That is such an AWESOME idea! I have no idea how it hadn't come up before...brilliant!! I hope your son is thriving.
Hugs and prayers,
Love

Hello Martina. First off, sorry to hear about your daughter. My son (19 months old) was diagnosed at 6 weeks old. Do you give her enzymes before each meal? The reason I ask is because we give my son his enzymes sprinkled on top of a teaspoon of applesauce before each feeding, and we also sprinkle a pinch of salt on the applesauce each time. Over the course of 6-8 (or more) feedings per day, 1/8 tsp of salt should be very easy for her to take.
Ryan

 

[Helenlight]

Yes we used to sprinkle salt on the apple or pear puree too, it worked fine. Our daughter used to throw up the saline solution they gave us, and fair enough too... it tasted like seawater!

 

[lovemyboy507]

We started giving salt to our 2 month premature Son straight away the pharmacy made a saline solution that we used to add in small amounts over a whole days feeds so it never altered the taste too much, once he was on to formula (4 months old) we switched to using McDonald's salt packets for some reason the very fine salt seemed to dissolve easier and our local McDonald's donates huge bags to us on a regular basis! Good luck, and welcome to the CF community

 

[Adiboo33]

Excellent advice on licking the salt off the pretzels ))) Thank you!