babies born with methadone addiction

phyllis horton · Guest

we adopted 2 babies born addicted to methadone. long term what should we expect or watch for ?

medhelpman85 · Newbie Joined: 09 Apr 2007 Posts: 2

are you sure its methadone and not "meth"? I am no doc but I have never heard of a child born into withdrawals from mehadone. however if it is methadone than given my exp with methadone (been on for 4 years and today coincidentally is my first day off) than your child will be miserable 24/7 not eat or sleep at all. normally I would say look for loose stools but its a baby! if they are in fact addicted get help for them froma professional asap because addiction withdrawal in adults can kill! not to scare yu but be careful if these baby's are addicted keep in mind they had no choice in the matter and I hope you have alot of patience. please keep me posted because I have 2 kids and never want them to go through what I have. I will prey for them and you!!!

Knowledge is power...isn't that why we're here?

Guest · Guest

Yes of course babies are born addicted to Methadone. Previous users of heroin are taking methadone to help with their addiction to that drug. Without methadone you want your heroin back. So of course a baby is born to a woman who has done heroin or taken methadone during her pregnancy is going to go through withdrawal symptoms just as an adult would. This baby is no longer getting her dose of heroin or methadone like she was when she was in the womb.

These poor babies are born terribly irritable, unconsolable crying for hours on end the first several weeks. Poor feeders, poor suck, digestive problems. It is bad.

Guest · Guest

they should have evaluated inthe hospital and not have let babies leave nicu till they have detox which the do with either tincture of opium or phenobarb.. my daughter and son were both born on it my son had no problem was out in 5 days and had no symtoms besides a litlle bit cranky mydaughter was out in 2 weeks and was giving tincture for 10 days and detox calmly just with some loose stools .. all babies are diffrent ,but remember methadone is a perscrption drug it is not heroin it is diffrent.. much better for the baby and there aren't any long term problems with it just some crankyness it depends if the mom was using drugs along wiht the meth...

kat1124 · Newbie Joined: 13 Nov 2007 Posts: 1

I actually was in a methadone maintence program for 2 years when I found out that I was pregnant.The program made me sign a paper saying that if I came off the methadone while I was pregnant could kill my baby and if I decided to detox from it I could be criminally charged if the baby died so I had to sign a paper saying that i would not come off the methadone while pregnant.Anyways I was on 187mg of liquid methadone while pregnant and the problems I noticed were: My baby was born at 35 weeks of pregnancy he weighed 4lb 15oz and was very small.He did have withdrawl from the methadone and had uncontrollable gerks he also cried a lot and had jaundice i think it was from the effects of being so small.He had some developmental problems to.He was slower to crawl and walk and I had to have homehealthcare come and work with him but he was all caught up by the age of 2 and he is very smart actually he is testing out to be as smart as a 4 year old. He has no side effects from the methadone now but it was rough for the first few weeks.But now he has no problems at all.

Guest · Guest

ROB MOL · Newbie Joined: 08 Jan 2008 Posts: 2

CAN SOME ONE PLEASE TELL ME IF MY SON WILL HAVE PROBLEMS FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE BECAUSE HE WAS BORN ADDICTED TO METHADONE

Guest · Guest

Babies born addicted to Methadone go through withdraws just like any person would. They Have to be slowly taken off the drug. They cry constatnly, dont sleep, eat, have muscle spasms. Is is really bad, however there are no long term affects your children should be fine.

Guest · Guest

I am raising a grandson that was born addicted to methadone. He has nystagmus and has required 2 eye surgeries. He is catching up developmentally and has tested average and above average intellectually. However, he does not deal well with stress. His mother died when he was 17 months old and his father is in military. He is in preschool and does well, but is working more on social issues. He has more problems at home and has gone through periods of stuttering. If he gets upset he goes from calm to out of control, screaming and running and is difficult to calm. He has even taken a nap and woke up in the very same mood. Has anyone else raised a child with this type of problem? When out in public he is very well mannered, easy to care for, but most problems occur in the home.

Guest · Guest

My son is still in the hospital right now as we speak.
but no they will not have any long term effects on the babies, unless they were born with something wrong, and if that was the case i highly doubt that the methadone cause it. Babies going through methadone withdrawal are treated with morphine, as contradicting as that sounds.
They don't cry all the time thats not true. If that shows up later on its probably colic. My sons doing great, hes gone through the worst which was some crying and wakefulness. don't worry your children will do fine.

babies born with methadone addiction

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