Gaviscon Infant Powder...how long does it take to work?

[Patchybob]

Hi, some advice needed if possoble! My 8 week old son was prescribed Gaviscon on friday for reflux and has been taking it since then. He seems alot more fractious and is crying more than usual. He isn't being as sick, but is still throwing up quite alot although not after every feed.

Have any of you given it to your babies, if so, did it stop the reflux altogether and did they seem in more pain than usual? Also he doesn't seem to be feeding as much as before. He is breastfed apart from one bottle of formula in the evening.

Can you give them infacol as well as the gaviscon? Any tips would be much appreciated as this is all new to me! Sorry for all of the questions.

Thanks

[justaboutsmiling]

My daughter was diagnosed with reflux at 6 weeks, like your son she was breastfed apart from the evening bottle. I found the gaviscon worked a treat but with my daughter it took about a week of giving it to her before it really started to work although it did ease the sickness within a few days

I did give infacol as well as gaviscon on the advice of my HV as my daughter was projectile vomiting due to the trapped wind

Hope this helps

[trixie123]

our 5 week old has just had a horrible 24 hours being very sicky and I think getting reflux, has barely slept as can't keep enough food down so now he's so tired he doesn't know what to do with himself. Am seeing HV tomorrow but are infacol and gaviscon the best remedies as the 24 hour supermarket is looking good just now!

[mcflumpy]

we also use infacol with Gaviscon. Infacol definitely helps with our DD.
Infant Gaviscon available by prescription only where we are.

[Babymakes4]

We used Infant gaviscon too on our secoind daughter from about 14 weeks onwards. It was a miracle worker and did change her constant sickiness overnight. However, she was a bit older (and 12 weeks onwards is meant to be a change point for refluxy // colicy babies) and we changed her formula at the same time. She was BF for 12 weeks and then FF. I have alwasy found Infacol useless and think dosing a BF baby with Gaviscon must be very tricky as we just put it in the bottle?

[bethylou]

Hi, Our DS had reflux but the type where he wasn't actually very sick and therefore gained weight well. He used to choke at least twice in the night (terrifying) and could never sleep lying flat on his back within two hours of a feed (great when on 3 hourly feeds..). The screaming in the middle of feeds was the worst bit - I was BF and just used to end up crying too. It would last for 30 mins at a time. At 4 months he totally refused to BF anymore.

At this point, he was referred to a speech therapist (who specialises in sucking and swallowing) who immediately said reflux. We tried Gaviscon and it made no difference, except to make him constipated. We then tried rinitidine (sp?) and it changed everything, if only too late to save the breastfeeding. He was like a different child within about three days but had to learn how to enjoy feeding, having become resistant. He's 17 months now and still needs the rinitidine (as we tried to withdraw it recently and he started being sick and choking in the car seat).

Sorry this is long, but what I'd like to say is a) definitely go back to the doc after a week if things aren't better; b) do take action as it can be very hard work all round if it goes undiagnosed; c) there is a train of thought that weaning should be done earlier and finger food should be introduced earlier than usual as there is a link between reflux and gagging on lumps in food. Let me know if you want to know more. I've become a bit of an expert and wish there was more info out there - I'm convinced it's much more prevalent than people realise. There is a support website if you google it-not sure of the specific address.

Good luck!

[bethylou]

p.s. I found Gaviscon very difficult to administer as it needed 5 mls which seemed like a lot for a tiny tot. With rinitidine DS has only ever had 0.4ml which we give through a tiny syringe. It smells vile (strong mint) but he has never been bothered by it. I have always given a tiny bit of cooled boiled water after it (now just tap water obviously) as rinsing out mint with milk seemed wrong to me!

[poorbuthappy]

And watch out for constipation...we actually stopped giving it after 3 days because the crying/pain of the constipation was worse than the original problem...which by the way I don't think was reflux anyway...

[Patchybob]

Hi everyone, thanks so much for your messages and advice, it is very good to find out a bit more. Like you have all said, he is getting a bit constipated, the poos seem a different texture now. I do think the gaviscon is kicking in though, he is much more settled and definatly not being as sick. What does come up is slightly thicker as well.

bethylou i also find the gaviscon hard to administer, I tried it with a syringe after a feed at first and it made him retch. Its a nightmare as it has to be after a feed and he just isn't intertested. I now give it in a bottle of ebm during the day and a formula feed at night and that seems to be working.

Thanks for the advice on infacol. I am still giving it and think it is quite good. He does some cracking burps!

[MrFlibble]

Just wondering what formula it is that you are using?
Because the infant gaviscon and the "easy digest" formula dont mix well at all, so that might be causing a few stomach pains

[Patchybob]

MrFlibble using SMA. Was using Aptimal but changed off that as was convinced it made him worse. Thanks for the tip though

[EmmaLouise1982]

My little boy suffered terribly with reflux from day one, but because he was gaining weight nobody wanted to listen to me!

He was prescribed infant gaviscon at about 4 weeks but I found it just made him constipated and it was very difficult to administer with BF - he spat it out! (in answer to you question, you can use it alongside infacol according to my GP).

At one point the poor child was bringing up every feed and he would terrify himself with the force of it! He didn't sleep, screamed all day, had trouble with feeding etc. My next step was going to be going to hospital and demanding to see a paed. Out of sheer desperation and as a last resort I went to see an osteopath at the british school of osteopathy (SE London) as it is a teaching school I only had to pay £10 per session but got one of the top blokes - he wrote this book www.amazon.co.uk/Osteopathic-Medicine-Philosophy-Principles-Practice/dp/0632052635?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 and several others.

Well all I can say is WOW - I had a different child after the first session, he went 4 times in total until I was told I no longer needed to bring him and I actually feel like hugging the man - he has changed our lives! My young man is 15 weeks now, sleeps through the night, rarely gets sick (and when I say he was bad, he was AWFUL) no longer requires any medication at all, no longer has his mattress raised at an angle (have you tried that?).

Anyway, it may not work for everyone but it definitely did for us!

Good luck x

[GillianLovesMarmite]

We 'thought' ds1 had reflux and we persevered with Gaviscon for it to no avail, BUT it turned our I had too much milk - forcible let down - and expressing milk from each side before feeding him solved the problem! If you're b-feeding it may be worth contacting the La Leche League for some info on this as this is where I got mine from. Obviously checking that the symptoms match your child - compared with the reflux symptoms (as if you have definately got reflux then this wont work...).

[Clairrie86]

Omg bethhylou I'm new on here but my baby girl is 14weeks and I have been having the most terrible time just how you explained it, she is bottled fed just been diagnosed with silent reflux only on day 3 of gaviscon but like you the crying in pain is awful now 3 days now poop I would love to hear more from you