[mom2GRLC]

My sons younger brother was just born pre-mature yesterday and tested positve for Meth. So he automatically came into fostercare. We are bringing him home on Monday(he is with an emergency placement right now..since we had already accepted two boys for the weekend and no longer have room in our home until monday when we drop the boys off and pick him up (believe me it SUCKS...to have to wait...and miss out on his first couple of days...but I'm trying to keep my mind off that and just prepare for him to come). But in my eagerness to BEG for him, I forgot to ask some KEY questions.

I have no idea what special needs this baby has if any. They said he was born pre-mature?????I was also told he was born addicted to Meth. or tested positive for meth in his system (can't remember how he worded it). I'm assuming he must be doing well, if he was born yesterday and placed in a foster home earlier today.

What kinds of things should I expect? My son had been exposed to Meth in the womb but not at birth....and we got him at 8 weeks. My daughter was exposed in the womb and through breastmilk and her environment all the way up until she came to us at 14 months. But I've never cared for a pre-mature newborn baby....let alone a meth addicted newborn. Is there anythign different I should know about? Or any signs I should watch for?

My younger daughter came to us as a 5day old healthy newborn. So I do know how to care for a newborn....but that was 2 1/2 years ago. Please any advice is welcome!!!

[shy_bear]

I fostered a premature meth baby a couple of years ago. She was VERY lethargic, slept all the time. She would not wake up to feed like a healthy baby. She also had a really hard time sucking. We were later told that we needed to be feeding her every two hours round the clock. Due to her being so small she was on a very high calorie formula that was expensive, but WIC covered it. I don't know if all meth baby's are that way she was my one and only.

[Kelly Rae]

As previous poster said he will more then likely sleep a lot. He will be difficult to feed because of this. He may have sensory issues to light and sound. After a few months of sleeping all the time he may go through a period of screaming a lot. All of my 4 children that came through foster care went through these problems and they are all doing pretty well today. Wear this child in a sling it will help with attachment as well as brain development. Give him a sensory rich diet and pray he does well.

Our youngest was born really small 4 1/2 lbs. 16 1/2 in long and was in the NICU for 12 days. He has taken a lot of work, but he is worth every minute that is put into him. Your son sounds like he is probably doing well our he would still be in the hospital. Ask lots of questions when you pick him up. If he has a bottle preference get it. He may be on a special diet our son was. Let us know how it is going.

[mom2GRLC]

I am so excited, like a little kid going crazy waiting for christmas to come.

[AmahMama]

We have had several meth babies as well as the premies. A lot of meth babies are premie. (my own thought is that using the drug may cause early labor,but I'm not a dr) He must be doing really well to be out of the hospital already - so he really may not have many premie issues. You didn't say how premie or how much he weighs - so being early may not be an issue.

Meth babies: I took a training in CA called OPTIONS and they gave me several ideas which I found works. Meth seems to affect the nervous system. The amount of acutal use more determines the extent of damage. Meth actually leaves the system within a few hours - unlike heroin and pot babies. The baby is not actually addicted. The meth high is the addictive point for many of the users. So he probably didn't go thru actual physical withdrawals.

Baby does need to be fed on a schedule even if you have to waken him to do so. If he is on a high calorie formula - don't substitute!! WIC will cover the formula with a DR script.automatically qualified as a foster child. And he is If he has a problem keeping it down (a huge number of drug babies have reflux or GERD) put a small amount rice cereal (rice is the most allergy proof) in the bottle. If that dosent stop the reflux - thicken until baby is keeping most of it down. At one point our carpet looked like it was white polka dotted. I quit using "burp rags" and went straight to receiving blankets. I got some real soft receiving blankets to wrap baby in. My husband calls it a burrito (or taco, depending on how silly he wants to be) wrap because I wrap baby just like I wrap a burrito. Most people call it swaddling. Meth babies are very "jumpy" and wrapping seems to help them to feel safe and secure. Another thing that we do is: after feeding my husband puts a cotton receiving blanket on his belly and watches news kicked back - with baby on his belly. Baby settles well and will usually nod off for a good sleep. I also keep a cd palyer in baby's room and play low lullaby's and very soft music so that sudden sounds - like one of the other kids yelling, slamming doors, screeching - normal sounds around my house - doesn't startle baby as easily.

That's all I can think of right off the top of my head - I'm sure there are others. I just do whatever seems to work for the baby. It doesn't hurt to "spoil" them at this point.

[mlbsands]

Our son was also born meth addicted (went thru withdrawls).. As the other have said, feeding may be an issue (our son still has some issues with that at 2 1/2 (sucking on a straw for example). Swaddling is KEY with most of these babies and loud noises should be kept to a minimum and "suprise sounds even as he gets older may be an issue.

Our son slept the 1st few months in a swing/swaddled.. the baby home he was in does this with all the drug exposed babies and it really works.. it keeps them from having as much reflux, it is very soothing to swing softly and all swaddled up is comforting..

over time our son was a little delayed with walking and crawling but he caught up by 16 months. He contiunes to have some "shakyiness" when he gets really upset and doing "boo!!!!" kinds of things like we do with our other son is not something he likes.. ) but otherwise he is perfect!!!!

Mandy

[musemoon]

My little one was meth and crack addicted at birth but a normal birth weight which was actually still kinda small. I wore her in a sling all day VERY IMPORTANT and swadled at night. But she was most responsive to being worn. They have a very sensitive startle reflex and any loud sound will set them off. However, I didn't avoid sounds, only wore her in a sling and comforted her through them. Also strong smells affected her as well.

I am happy to say that today she is a bright beautiful amazing little baby.

[twinflana]

Okay i have a question here about drug addicted newborns. I was told that my 4 month old who I received as a 6 week old was not drug exposed (as far as they knew) ever since i have had him he is very jerky, the only way to explain it is if you were startled and jumped, he still does this sometimes when being fed for the past 2 days it has been very hard to feed him because he is constantly moving and is only drinking half the bottle, now we did start him on cereal but he gets very little as he pushes most of it out with his tongue. Normally he will drink 30-40 ozs a day and that is why we started the cereal. But some days it will take forever to feed him because he is always jerking around. Sudden noises scare the daylights out of him. He wasnt really a premie born only one week early and weighed 5lbs 5oz's at birth. Now at 4 months weighs 13.6 lbs. He still will not put weight on his legs, doesnt hold his head up straight--it actually curves backwards most of the time. He just started grabbing things but lets go pretty quickly. Is it possible that he was drug exposed is there a way to find out?

[AmahMama]

There are many other issues a baby could have and have the symptoms that you describe. Is his pediatrician concerned? Have you tried swaddling him to feed him? We had a child with issues like you describe that was eventually diagnosed as ms. One thing that many people don't think of is that "drug exposed" usually doesn't include bioM taking prescription meds during pregnancy that she didn't list or no longer was taking at the time of the child's birth. My PRIDE class showed us the damage that antidepressants could do to a fetus' nervous system.

I would ask the Dr and request an eval from a neuro. Many times baby massage and/or therapy started early can really help these neuro damaged children get a great start in life.

Bless you for caring.

[sgtfirstwife]

We picked up our daughter two weeks ago and she was exposed to meth, as well as being a preemie. She just reached the five pound mark. She was allowed home a couple of days after she was born also. So far we have had very few issues, though she is jumpy. She is also on soy, advanced formula, very expensive, but wic will cover it. She went to the doctor last week and was given a clean bill of health. That being said, I was told that sometimes the crying issues don't appear until about a month old. I will say she sleeps better in a sling.

[lakin11]

WELL? How is the baby doing?! We are all waiting for details!!

[mom2GRLC]

He is so amazing!!! I don't see any sings of problems/issues yet. He is a wonderful , beautiful baby!!!!

He was born at 38.4 weeks so he wasn't too early(though he was almost born a month ago), But for a premmie he was pretty big 6lbs 9ounces. I'm sure he is less than that now... because babies generally loose a little weight after they are born.

He is eating well and not having any trouble sucking or spitting up. they just have him on normal enfamil W?Iron Lipil and so far is doing really well on it.

He only woke up once last night to eat at 5:00am(so he happily went for 6 hours without waking up). During the day he eats about every 3-4 hours (1 3/4 - 2 oz).

He is wetting regularly and had a ** last night so he seems real healthy.

He has his wakeful moments and sleeps a lot but nothing really out of the ordinary for a newborn. He doesn't seem sensitive to touch or sound or movement, he even did really well when we brougth him outside and the sun got in his eyes...he didn't scream or anythign just kinda made a funny face (my daughter had very senstive eyes to the sun).

I believe he has been truly blessed and shielded from the effects of the drugs (and there is NO DOUBT he was exposed to a lot during all his time in the womb).

He is amazing and we are so blessed to have him in our lives and home for as long as he needs us.

All the kids just adore him!!! The first thing his big brother did was pet his head and give him a hug....he was so sweet and gentle (this from our rambunctious little boy who will be 2 tomorrow). They look a little a like but both resemble more the features of their dads.

[mj77]

I hadn't thought about the effects of anti-depressants in babies!

I have 2 boys who were meth exposed, both are effected, one was born addicted. I wrote a blog based on research I did on meth exposure on babies. I'm sure you'll find it informative:

Methamphetamine Exposure in Babies - Adoption - Families.com

MJ