17 day old, feeding/reflux issue

[c79s]

Hi All,

Im new here and looking for some advce and support from those who have been through/going through this!

Our ds is now 17days old and all had been progressing well until the last couple of days.

He now feeds every 2 hours and usully at about 3oz a time. Is content at the end of this, however he seems to have a bit of a wheeze or gurgle, despite quite long period of winding. Is this 'normal' and have others had simliar experiance? We are concerned that its a slient relfux as he doesnt vomit his feeds, but after an hour begins to get very fussy and upset

Also, he now will only seem to sleep when he lays on mine or my partners chest, when laid in the moses basket, car seat etc he gets quite fussy and then starts screaming. last night we had to take it in shifts to sit with him while he slept and i cant see us doing this for months. Once hes asleep we lay him down and it lasts for about 40mins before he wakes

The pharmacist has given us infacol to have before the feeds, but we understand it will take time to work through. Spoke to our health visitor who advised we try raising his basket or speak with the GP, but we cant see them till Monday

Any thoughts or help would be appriciated, we are both new parents and are getting quite upset that we cant seem to settle him down and help him get good sleeps and feeds

[capecath]

Hey, congrats on your new little one! Feeds every two hours at this early stage sounds pretty normal. Is he getting any longer stretches at all or 40 mins max through the night? Sounds like he just wants to be close to you. We had to feed both boys to sleep for quite a while... Sometimes late at night would take them ages to settle, just put them down, then they suddenly realise and wake up! You could try a swaddle for comfort, comforter little blanket or toy, dummy, rocking, although realise still early days... Not sure that sounds like reflux to me, but gp advise prob your best bet x

[c79s]

Hi Capecath,

Thanks for the reply, he sleeps for longer then 40 mins, only 2hrs of it is on our chests!

Im going to look up swaddling and we do have a dummy, although stupidly we feel that by giving him a dummy we have failed?! We wasnt expecting the guilt your feel with all the decisions you make so early on, and for that guilt to be so self inflicted!

he polishes the bottles off, and we are feeding on demand usually, his body clock is set for every 2 hours it seems

We love his cuddles, it makes you forget the rough days and nights. Only problem is that he want to use us as a bed!

[stargirl1701]

If it is silent reflux, a dummy may help. Our GP advised one with DD1 after feeds to help produce saliva and reduce the acid in the oesophagus. We only saw improvement in her sleep with medication. Initially, Ranitidine did work (up until 5 months). The dosage is weight dependent and there seem to be 3 dosage levels.

We filmed a post feed screaming episode on a phone to show the GP.

[c79s]

Hi Stargirl,

Thanks also, funnily enough we had spoken about fliming it for the GP, will definetly do that now.

We are going to try and get through this weekend using the tips you and cath have given and see if it improves. Otherwise we will have a film for the GP on Monday!

[capecath]

Yeah it is weird all those guilt feelings... You probably always thought you didn't want to use a dummy before baby, right?! You would have to wean them off it later, but it does really help some babies. Mine never really took to them... but both love their soft toys and blankets. One enjoyed being rocked, the other liked having his forehead stroked. One never liked being put down and fed endlessly, the other was a little easier.... I would just throw any expectations you had pre-baby out the window and try different things until you find something that works for you :) An emotional, learning rollercoaster! But it really will get easier, slowly but surely xx They can also get a bit attached to feeding to sleep, rocking, etc. although I wouldn't worry too much about that right now. Good point to put them down is while they are dozy but not fully asleep. If they cry, then try comforter, dummy, rock or little cuddle, then repeat. At night, in the dark. Oh and useful tip we found, babies that young prob shouldn't be up for much more than 60-90 mins at a time. Putting them down for nap before they get overtired really worked wonders for us.

[Anyolename]

Our dd started having similar problems at the same age. I suspected silent reflux or some kind of gut problem but our gps we're not very helpful at all. I guess it's difficult because it's the nature of many newborns to 'fuss' and often to sleep best on their parents. If you think there is something more going on then keep going back to them and insist on further help. Dd was my first and I didn't have the confidence to trust my instincts. It turned out that dd had cows milk protein allergy.

Anyway, dd would only sleep on our chests (ie upright) and would cry very soon afterwards if we tried putting her down. I think being upright helps the pressure on their tummies. But even when we kept her upright she would often become fussy and upset an hour or so later. She also wheezed after feeding.

Perhaps lots of babies do these things - I'm sure there will be some much wiser and more experienced mners along with helpful advice soon - but it might be worth discussing possibility of CMPI or reflux with your GP.

[stargirl1701]

Have you tilted the crib/cot? We eventually used a sleeping wedge under the mattress. A sling helped loads - stretchy wrap in the early days and then an Ergo. DH and I slept in shifts to get a rest. One night a week we each got a sleep in the spare room drugged up on Night Nurse. One night a month we each got a night away at friends/family. I also rode the bus in a circular route as DD1 would sleep if moving. She was in the pram and I took a pillow. I got to the driver well! I had to stop driving as I was so tired it was dangerous.

There is a good forum - littlerefluxers.co.uk

Lots of good advice from experienced parents!

To get help for DD1, I had to attend 6 GP appointments over 8 consecutive days. The video was key in the end!

And for you!

[stargirl1701]

Oh, and we only used the dummy after feeds. Not constantly. Once the meds were sorted, we tied an Olly & Belle muslin to the dummy. After a month, we removed the dummy and left the muslin. DD1 still sleeps with the muslin at 23 months.

I was concerned about jaw development and speech delay with prolonged dummy use. I see all too often in my job as a teacher.

[lisaloulou84]

Swaddling could help as he'll feel more comforted and if he falls asleep on you he should be less disturbed when you put him down. Tiny babies tend to jerk their arms in their sleep at about 40 mins into their sleep cycle and wake themselves up, so swaddling helps.

Have you got a swing or a vibrating chair? I have the M&P's wave rocker and it saved my life during those first few weeks with a colicky baby that I wasn't allowed to give infacol too as it interferes with his thyroid medication!

Also, if he's draining his bottles, he might need a little bit more. My DS was having 4oz every 3 hrs at that point, and he slept a little longer at each nap. I think his fussiness before I upped to 4oz was because he wanted more and when I gave him 4oz he slept better on a fuller stomach. He upped again to 6oz every 3 hrs at a month old and dropped to only 1 night feed.

[Jellyandjam]

My DS had silent reflux as a baby. We used a dummy/swaddling too.
Have you also tried tilting the end of the cot/misses basket up so that his head is higher, this can help as it stops the acid coming back up as much.
Vibrating/rucking chairs etc were not good with my DS , he preferred to be kept still and upright. I used slow, gentle rubbing on his back whilst holding him up against a shoulder.
To be honest though the only thing that really helped my DS was getting him on the right medication so if you are still worried after trying some of these things talk to you'd gp.

[c79s]

Hi Everyone,

thanks so much for your replies and reassurance, its good to know others have come out the other side.

hes just had a good 3hr nap (in arms) and we just readying for the next feed and night. hopefully we wont end up sleeping in the living room tonight!

fingers crossed!!

[c79s]

Hi All,

Wanted to drop an update, last night we were at the out of hours surgery with ds, after several more incidents of screaming and discomfort we wanted him seen by a pediatriction.

They belive it to be reflux and has given us baby gavisocon to try and settle him, we need to give it time to work by are hopefully it will bring him some relief. might not fix the reflux but reduce the burning he must feel

He was absolutly hungry at the surgery and had his biggest feed ever, and hes now having 4oz every 2 hours or so. Does this seem excessive or about right?

Hes putting on weight and so far at 1oz a day which we understand is good and almost exactly what he should be

Maybe hes just a really hungry baby? Poor little guy is his own worst enemy as he wants a big feed and then the reflux gives him a kick for it.

Anyone here had simliar level feeds? Hes 3 week tommorow (cant believe where that time has gone!)

[StepDoor]

My DS was like this and was put on lansoparazole for silent reflux, and it really helped. However the underlying problem was really allergies, and this wasn't discovered until he was weaned.

Are you ff or bf? If ff, then I would recommend you ask your GP for a trial of neocate (hypoallergenic formula), and use it for 1-2 weeks and see if it makes a difference.

[StepDoor]

I read on MN that infacol makes silent reflux worse.

[capecath]

Well ds1 was mostly bf with occasional formula top up from start since he was premmie. Felt like he ate continuously!! 4 years later he still eats continuously!!:P ds2 was more regular, like 2-3 hours for about half hour. He was bf tho so not sure how much. 4oz doesn't sound too much I don't think... Useful guideline is baby's weight in kg x 150ml divide by number of feeds in 24 hours.