reflux/colic. some questions and advice needed please

[firststeps]

Know there have been loads of threads on this, but anyway; DS2 is 8 weeks old, he has had issues with wind and colic since he was born, on reading through the archives couple of things mentioned in refluxy babies are what my son does and wondered if anyone else agreed:

he gets violent hiccups which sometimes make his distressed

is very congested in his nose especially at night when lying down

gags/coughs a lot even when asleep and when there is nothing in his mouth

sometimes brings up a clear liquid a couple of hours after feeding, not just water though as it smells acidy

He doesn't get distressed for the first part of his feed; usually takes 3-4 ozs really slowly and comfortably, but after that you can tell he wants more feed but as soon as he starts to suck on the bottle again he pushes away. Has taken between 3-4 oz at a feed since he was born - the amount hasn't increased at all

Has very short catnaps during the day as if something is waking him up, 15-20 minutes at a time is normal

Passes wind from his bottom with loads of force and sometimes cries when he does it

His pooh is green tinged, definitely not the yellow mustard nappies I remember my son having and they really smell like rotten egs (sorry if tmi!) - not just average newborn nappy smell!

However

He isn't projectile vomiting or bringing up whole feeds.

When he was first diagnosed with colic wewere given infant gaviscon which made no difference whatsoever, and even made his wind problems worse as it made him constipated

If anyone has any advice I would be very grateful.

[squinny101]

It could be silent reflux which means he does not projectile vomit - he could be producing too much acid.

If his poo is greenish though it usually points to the baby being unwell so I would take him to the doctors. Also if you are giving him formula that can change the colour/smell of the poo as well.

You can get a particular medicine for reflux called Dom Peridone that you give about twenty mins before a feed, its supposed to ease the pain.

I've got a six month old dd - and have been managing reflux since week one! It does get better.

[firststeps]

bump

[kittypower]

My DS has pretty much all the symptoms you describe and a few more, he will happily start the feed and then to get him to take more than half is a nightmare, he screams and squirms etc My ds seems to be able to sleep ok during his day naps, doesn't wake up too much then but night he wakes alot. My DS is now on Ranitidine and domperidone which seems to be helping quite a lot, although now he is constipated so that is a whole new problem to deal with. My DS is 6 months and I am finding just in the last week the reflux is really beginning to get me down, everyone says they grow out of it by 8 months so hopefully it will get better soon!

[Fizzylemonade]

I'm going to say it's reflux. We saw paediatrician as Gp put our son on Gaviscon and it didn't work, he should have been having 6oz bottle of milk and would have 3oz, be very distressed whilst feeding, arching back and crying, I would have to feed him 10-12 times in 24 hours when he was 10 weeks old. He drank enormous amounts of water to ease his throat and he found that was better to sick up than milk. Sometimes he just seemed to swallow when he wasn't feeding to so we knew he had sicked up into his throat but not as far as his mouth.

I was exhausted but because he was putting on weight HV didn't seem to care.

Paed doc was great, DS2 even threw up clear liquid with flecks of milk in it 2 hours after feeding on the consulting table, we were given Emfamil AR prescription formula to see if that would help first rather than the drug route. He was on it from 17 weeks till he was 14 months (although they can get better much quicker than that)

SMA staydown is the same kind of thing but obviously we didn't pay for the Enfamil AR.

It is a thickened formula BUT you can use a normal teat as it thickens on contact with stomach acid. You have to mix it with cold water and then warm it after. We used to get 10 tins at a time and it transformed my son.

DS1 grew out of his when he was standing a lot (7-8 months) but although he threw up for England it never bothered him, DS2 still threw up a bit on the Enfamil but it didn't distress him so every now and again I tried normal formula from when he was about 10 months and he would throw up loads so always went back to the Enfamil.

It's hell and distressing to watch your child go through it. Ds2 slept on me in the day in a propped position until he was 12 months old & I called it quits! We propped his cot on those blocks you can get to help at night which they did.

Go back to the docs and if they are unhelpful ask to be referred to a paediatrician. If it helps mine would have cost £200 for the appointment to go private but we had health insurance.

[mad4mybaby]

sorry to jump in guys. My ds now 19 mnths was v v ill with reflux and projectiled every feed and constantly in pain/barely slept...you know the score

He was on medication for 1 year. Somehting paed and gp dont like to mention is intolerances. My son has soya intollerance AND dairy ALLERGY. They kept changing his milk when he was little to know improvement. He was put on nanny goat milk and is still on it and is so much better. They may mention a dairy intollerance and may try LFmilk and wysoy etc but dont forget there are soya intollerances too... dont rule it out if you dont see an improvement. Also cranial sacrium therapy really helped my ds. they DO grow out of it and i know that feels like forever away but i assure you, you WILL get there!

[Hopeysgirlwasntbig]

Sorry I've only read the original post. This very much sounds like silent reflux. My DD (now 20 weeks) was very miserable with this the first 6 weeks or so of her life. She would get very agitated during a feed, was v windy, would struggle to settle and stay settled, but what was most obvious was the smell on her breath when she burped, it was very acidic. She started on infant Gaviscon and we noticed the difference in her immediately, she is also on Ranitidine. She still brings up acidy milk but it doesn't bother anywhere near as much as it did.

HTH

good luck and congrats

[ib]

Agree on reflux and possible allergies/intolerances. The paed told us they very often go together. Ds did eventually grow out of his intolerances but only well after he was cured of his reflux (through drugs).

[firststeps]

thanks for all the advice and comments, one thing I have read is that reflux babies hate to lie flat one their backs - my son doesn't really have any issues with this, would his other symptoms still possibly point toward reflux? Also, what would my next step be? the GP has disgnosed colic and seems reluctant to look at anything else.

[mad4mybaby]

first steps, if that is the case it sounds to me like more of an allergy/intollerance. Worth trying change of milk if you are prepared to try to sort it out? If he on a dairy one change to lactose free or soya. If no better i would say soya intollerance and the only other thing left is goat (nanny goat my son is on) health food shops and waitrose sell it. Although gp would prob try put you off it saying it no nutitious enough. Well they wouldnt be able to sell it if that was the case and also my ds thrived on it. Wish i had given him from day one and couldve prevented alot of pain...

[Eimz90]

@firststeps hi I know this is an old thread but you have described everything my daughter goes through. Could you please tell me if anything that helped your little one.

thanks so much