Positive for "opiates" at birth - questions

My son, now 5, was diagnosed with FAS at 3 yrs of age. He has several issues due to alcohol, including: cleft lip/palate, learning issues, hearing loss, global developmental delays (read - just now potty training; no bowel training yet), receptive/expressive language issues, GERD, just to name some of them. Overall though, he is doing pretty well considering all his issues.

My understanding is you wean off of methadone over the course of several years.

We feed him almost no packaged food because it's too hard to determine what in all of the many ingredients might be upsetting him. He is extra sensitive to everything and even any medicine seems to have adverse effects on his sleep. Specifically, we don't feed him anything artificial, no corn syrup, very little sugar or wheat, and he eats a lot of protein. Any time we go to a birthday party or some gathering where I allow him to eat like the other kids, we know we are in for a sleepless night or two. We also supplement his diet with fish oil (supposed to help brain development) and vitamin d3 (drastically reduced his recurring colds/chronic congestion).

That is supposed to be the plan for heroin addicts but most of them will stay on methadone for LIFE. A lot of methadone users are prescribed the drug due to chronic pain (severe accidents etc) so they have no time frame to wean off the methadone. The drug addicts see no reason to wean off if the other patients do not have to. Even thought these are 2 completely different reasons as to why the drug is needed. Why does a newborn baby HAVE to suffer through withdrawals at birth while his mother gets to walk to the clinic every morning and get her methadone? Doesn't seem remotely fair or ethical. God Bless American....We need it!

Lil Miss's mom was on some HEAVY duty pain meds for a 'medical condition':rolleyes: before she became pregnant. The Dr said methadone was safer than the meds she was on and safer than stopping altogether.

Is the congestion a symptom of the drug exposure? My 3 year old has the worst congestion I've ever seen!!! I figured it was just a cold or virus bc of new germs from moving - but it's been a long time!!!

Two of my kiddos tested positive for opiates at birth -- methadone and heroin. They are now 4 and 5 years old and have cold-induced asthma, trouble with impulsiveness and one has trouble sleeping, sensory issues and is still not potty trained (despite trying just about every training program known to man!) More problems may arise once they are in school. But so far they've been manageable. Get your kiddo evaluated by Early Intervention ASAP. The prenatal exposure should qualify him for services and they were great with my kiddos.

According to our naturopath, it can be...that and the prematurity. It all affects the immune system and respiratory function. But my sisters kids are the same and they weren't drug exposed. Two were preemie though. But let me tell you...1600 milligrams of d3 a day and they hardly ever get sick now. If they do it is so mild an lasts a day or two. Actually we all used to get sick a lot and the whole family takes it and now colds and flus are very rare in our house. It's been great!

I strongly recommend consulting a pediatrician prior to adding vitamin supplements to an infant's diet. >>1600 milligrams << Do you mean 1600 IU?

Yes, I meant 1600 IU, and of course I work closely with all of my children's health care providers before I supplement their diets. None of my children are on any medication, and I take pride in the fact that we have been able to find natural ways to work with their needs thus far. :)

That's good to hear -- not sure how well you'd be typing if it was 1600 mg. ;)

My dd was exposed to rx painkillers all throughout bm's pregnancy. Benzos and opiates. She came to me at 4 months old. She just turned 4, and is super smart, no concerns. Very active, but overall, pretty normal. She is a drama queen, but I think that has more to do with her age than anything else. She walked late and talked late, then caught up quickly with both. Rarely sick, no congestion issues.

lol I don't eve know if they sell it in mg form.

LemonPie, are you a doctor? I wonder why you would phrase that reply as you did.

I am not a doctor. I'm not clear what you thought was off about the phrasing?