Infant gaviscon? Does it work??

[superblue]

Can anyone help? I have a 7 week old baby who I am convinced has reflux (he has all the symptoms and the HV said he probably was). Does infant gaviscon work? does it have to be prescribed by the doctor and if so, will they only do it if the baby is not putting on weight??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as me and DH seem to spend most of our time trying to catch vomit in a bowl!! Also any other advice about how to try and ease the situation would be greatly appreciated also

[mrsnoah]

YES YES YES! Superblue.
Works like a dream for every baby I have met with reflux.(unless the reflux is very severe then you will be prescribed more effective meds).

I have 3 that have all had reflux but gained weight ok.
Its also very painful for the child just as we can suffer from heartburn.

Get GP to give the Gaviscon and hopefully you will see a massive improvement.
Some helpful hints-
With reflux babies be really gentle just after you have fed the child, keep the baby upright while burping ..getting a burp really can help too I find that mine throw up if they havent managed one, but dont stress about this for ages. If no burp after a few mins just leave it.
Your baby needs to be kept more upright than other babies. Put a wad of towels under the mattress to raise his head while sleeping. Also I find they sleep really well in those bouncy chairs too during the day. The car seat is good too.
Hope this helps.

[superblue]

Mrsnoah

Sounds great and thanks for the hints - anything that will ease the suffering/vomiting.

Does it have to be prescribed by the doctor? I have seen it on sale from behind the counter in chemists so I am bit confused??

X

[noonar]

you do need a prescription for a child that young. my dd2 was just the same, but outgrew it once she was on solids. you also need to rule out any other cause, so please don't self-diagnose!

ditto other comments about being upright etc, made abig difference.

[lusciouslynda]

My ds (17 weeks) was just prescribed infant Gaviscon and it has made a huge difference.

It does need to be prescibed. I took him to baby clinic and spoke to health visitor. She spoke to doctor and arranged for the prescription which I later collected - all much easier than waiting for doctor's appointment etc.

[PanicPants]

Yes it worked well for ds when he had it before he was weaned. It had to build up a bit in his system for a few days before I saw a difference though

[liquidclocks]

Hi superblue - you FF or BF? (links I can give you depends on that )

[CantSleepWontSleep]

Some docs take more convincing than others if baby is still gaining weight well.

My DD has silent reflux, but I'd already had to battle with GP to get him to accept that she is milk intolerant because she was gaining weight fine, so I bought infant gaviscon (had to lie to pharmacist and say GP had advised it else they wouldn't sell), used it for a few days to check it made a difference, and then saw GP (and thankfully got a locum as normal one was on hols) for prescription.

Def keep the basket/crib/cot elevated (books or towels under legs rather than mattress, as putting under mattress stops airflow), and keep baby upright for as long as poss after a feed (we try for an hour, but that might not be so feasible with a 7 week old).

[Nemo1977]

dd had reflux. Bought some infant gaviscon which helped for a couple of days but didnt stop reflux so she had to go onto prescribed formula. I would buy some over the counter and give it a week if no joy go to gp. You can also buy something called Carobel over the counter its another we tried but didnt work.My gp was rubbish and sent me to a+e[?????why????] where pediatrician phoned gp to tell him to prescribe the formula and referred dd to gastro clinic.

Make sure baby is sitting up for a while after feeds in bouncer etc. Raise one end of cot so dont lay flat.

[nearlythree]

And if ffeeding use Dr. Brown's bottles - these are fantastic, I promise.

[adath]

DS is on infant gaviscon and it helps but is not great we are hoping to get something else.
I cannot buy it in this area over the counter at all so it may vary but I would go to the doctor to rule out other things.
DS has always gained weight well but still in terrible pain from reflux.

And as for catching sick in the bowls just buy a huge pile of muslin squares and use them far easier and chuck them in the wash and get out a clean one.

[mrsnoah]

agree with cantsleepwontsleep, difficult to keep 7 week old upright as they are so teeny weeny and curled up. All mine got great comfort after feeds by being curled upright on their fronts on mine or dh's chest. Easy to watch TV while they sleep or even catnap next to dh.

If you have a stubborn GP get another one!! No messing. Some of them (by no means all) are really ignorant about reflux still.
Ask to be referred to a consultant if it doesnt clear up.
My kids are cows milk intolerant varying from severe to mildly between them and there seem to be strong links between this and reflux.
With my 3rd child I was Bf and completely dairy free. But I did this under GP's care and dietician. It certainly helped him. He is now 6 months. But you definately need to find a helpful Doctor for advice first.
Am a bit passionate about this as you might of guessed.

[mrsnoah]

Adath, can you get him referred to Paediatrician?
We saw a respiratory paed with dd2 8 yrs ago and she was on a number of prescriptions as, for her, Gaviscon just was not enough.
What about the possibility of Dairy intolerance?

[lusciouslynda]

Nearlythree, what are Dr Brown's bottles?

[liquidclocks]

Kayzed - yes they can get reflux that appears a bit later but it may be something els too - what are your DD's symptoms, specifically any projectile vomiting?

Will go and get some links now for people interested!

[Peggotty]

Just a word of warning about infant gaviscon - it can give some babies very bad constipation. Also, it is not actually an antacid, it only forms a sort of 'layer' which sits on top of stomach contents, supposedly to keep it down, it does not act in any way to stop the acid production in the stomach. My DD was on it and it gave her constipation and didn't do a damn thing about the puking. Her reflux was pretty severe though and she ended up on other meds. Also, reflux CAN be present from birth, in answer to someone else's question, my DD puked her little guts up from the first night of her life and it carried on from there!! I used Dr Browns bottles which are as fiddly as hell to clean etc - I think they helped a bit but NOTHING and i mean nothing stopped her puking, except time. Most meds will only stop the pain, hopefully, only the actual band of muscle around the top of the stomach (sorry, can you guess i don't know what it's called ), maturing will stop the puking. if your baby's pain can be sorted out, that's the main thing. constant puking is a pain in the arse though!!

[liquidclocks]

Sorry was writing shopping list earlier with DH so no time but hope these are helpful:

General:

infantreflux.org
Symptoms and treatment

If breastfeeding:

breastfeeding and reflux

If formula feeding:

You can get this prescribed by your GP, better than using gaviscon long term because gavison adds to baby's sodium intake and their kidney's aren't really built for it: Enfamil A.R.

[liquidclocks]

Hi Kayzed - watery (rather than milky) burps were a symptom our DS had. Sounds like it could be 'silent reflux' or colic, I'd call your most reliable health professional (HV or GP) and have a chat with them - I'm glad she's not projectil vomiting though. There's a condition which can kick in about 4-6 wks that can be mistaken for reflux but needs urgent treatment called pyloric stenosis, but one of the major signs of it is projectile vomiting - reflux vomiting ime is a bit more gentle (unless there's a burp behind it too!).

[liquidclocks]

Kayzed - you could post something in the breast/bottle feeding section about DD's fussing and maybe one of the more experienced BFers out there could offer some useful tips for you? I'm afraid I FF DS for other reasons and we ended up with the enfamil A.R. milk which thankfully suited him.

[superblue]

Thanks for all the advice

Liquidclocks - unfortunately I cannot open the links - maybe it is my PC.

DS's symptoms are frequent vomiting (once or twice a day) - usually immediately after feeding and it is often 3 or 4 retches (occasionally projectile) and most of the feed comes back up (I am FF by the way - Cow and Gate).
He also sometimes vomits upto an hour later and
spits up lumpy stuff aswell. Does this sound like reflux??

The vomiting has got worse recently so maybe it is true that it develops around 4-6 weeks - it used to be once every 2 or 3 days, then it went to once a day and then tues/Wed this week it was after every single feed - went to the GP who thought it was a stomach bug and advised us to feed him smaller amounts more often (which means we are constantly keeping him upright as by the time an hour has passed, it is nearly feeding time again!!) - which has stopped the vomiting after every feed but I am sure DS must be starving as his daily intake has also reduced. But as he is still doing it at least once a day, I don't think it is a stomach bug.

I will make an appointment with GP on Monday but I am scared that he will be dismissive and we will be sent away (he is not the best GP in the world!)

How long does it take for the muscle to develop?
Is anyone else constantly on edge watching their lo for puking cos that is how I feel - I can't relax!!

[liquidclocks]

Hi superblue, shame about the links - here are the website addresses so you can cut and paste (maybe you need to switch off your pop up blocker temporarily?).

www.medic8.com/digestive-disorders/reflux-infant.htm
www.infantreflux.org/
www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/reflux.html#thickenedfeed
www.enfamil.com/products/formulas/i_1_1.html (important one if FF as this type of milk can be prescribed by GPs)

If the vomiting is getting worse then you really must make a fuss to get a proper check from a paediatritian, it may just be bad case of pssetting, could be reflux, or very rarely could be pyloric stenosis which is serious and needs treatment.

Raising your baby's mattress to up to 25/30 degrees generally doesn't help stop the sicking up but may make your baby more comfortable. If your cot/crib doesn't have a tilt option prop it up on books. Some people suggest putting towles/cushions under the mattress but I found this causesthe mattress to sag. Wearing your baby in a sling/papoose alsoreally helps asit soothes them (reflux is worse when baby is upset) and holds them upright securely so a double whammy! For a cheap sling see www.mamatoto.org (I've made one of their 'cheap' suggestions and it 100 times more comfy than a baby bjorn!).

There is a pattern of vomiting in reflux which may help you cope a bit better in terms of practically 'expecting the sick' (though of course they can be sick any time). The first round of vomiting last from just after the feed for about 30 mins and can be quite forceful as there may be wind as well. The second round of vomiting is around an hour an a half after the feed. This is the point at which their tummy is done digesting the milk and tries to push it through to the next stage in the intestines. Because the top tummy valve isn't working properly it comes out the wrong way - this is when you get the lumpy stuff which is basically semi-digested curdled milk (we found this smelled worse too).

They do grow out of reflux, gets a bit better at three months then again when you start weaning as it's more difficult to sick up solids. DS still vomits more often than his peers at 22 months but it hasn't been a 'problem' since he was about 10/11 months (we just avoid speed bumps when he's in the car!). As long as your baby is putting weight on normally and stays in roughly the same percentile then you don't need to worry about health BUTif weight gain tails off or he begins to lose weight you need to stamp your feet and make your GP refer you to a specialist - and never feel that you're making a fuss or being paranoid - he's your baby and you know what's right for him.

Goodness, this is an essay isn't it! Hope it's of help, good luck with the doc on Monday.