Please help - first time Mum

[Slink56]

Hi there,
I'm new to these boards but I'm seeking some advice, support, a sound board... anything really.
First time mum here to a 5 week old baby girl who I am besotted with. However since 4 weeks she has been blighted with painful excessive gas and reflux. I've seen my GP who prescribed her baby gaviscon and recommended infacol and various techniques to help... however we had limited success. We have (over the last few days) changed her formula from C&G to Kendamil but after two days on just the new formula she has painful gas, excessive crying and more vomiting. Tonight she has also had diorreha twice resulting in me once again phoning my GP who simply told me to see how she goes over the weekend.

I am just at the end of my tether with stress over this as I just want my baby girl to be happy and well. She is in so much pain daily and no amount of soothing, massage, burping is helping. Worse is the thought that this could go on for another 12 weeks before she "grows out of it" as my midwife said.
I'm really struggling... any advice at all?

I've read many times about cows milk protein allergy. Has the GP considered that? If it was that you would need special formula. Sorry you're struggling. It's hard enough without all that!

Seconding the allergy to cow's milk. Have you got a family history of allergies, eczema, asthma etc.
Alternatively, try a different teat to reduce wind.

Try to give yourself a break I'm sure youre doing a great job. 5 weeks is still in the thick of it, in a few more weeks it will get easier. My son had similar issues and
anti reflux milk was a lifesaver for us. There was pretty much an instant change in him, he stopped being sick and the colic settled down soon after. I've also heard Dr Browns bottles are really good for tummy issues.

My baby is 11 weeks old now and only just got his silent reflux diagnosed. Keep nagging the doctor. Gaviscon didn't work. Currently on ranitidine and it seems to be working.

Colic and reflux are very different, does you baby get hiccups? That is a reflux sign. I was told infacol makes reflux worse as is it citrus, I have stopped that now and just on the ranitidine. Can't have special formula as breastfeeding but my baby wasn't sick much anyway.

Also reflux is not so quick to be grown out of.... just be kind to yourself and keep going back to the doctor.

Sounds like cows milk protein allergy and probably reflux! For some reason, medical professionals do not like to diagnose these things and we had 9 months of it before they gave in and gave us omprezole (LG ended up on an adults dose!!) which worked wonders and she was like a new girl!!

Go in with cows milk protein allergy and reflux rolling off your tongue and don’t leave without a solution !!

God, I have anxiety just remembering back to it!!

Thank you ladies ... I've also been concerned about an allergy having read about it. No family history of allergies on either side. She does get hiccups... almost daily, she did in the womb mind you which is adding to my irrational anxiety that this is somehow my fault!
We have switched from tommee tippee bottles to Mam which suit her better and have much slower flow teats but still the symptoms persist.
I'll be going back to the doctors on Monday for sure.
Thank you ladies... it's just really hard to know what is best for her and I hate to see her in so much pain and distress daily. :-(

Your LO sounds just like mine: hiccups in the womb and then same after she was born, loads of gas and reflux. She is 10 weeks now and I can tell you she has gotten so much better. I have tried changing the milk (formula fed), but she got constipated, so I panicked and went back. Tried Colief as it was recommended in case she has lactose intolerance (which would produce lots of gas), but had no effect and stopped after 2 weeks. I also suspected cow's milk allergy, but I now doubt that was an issue (you would expect hives, eczema, rashes and other symptoms which she didn't have). Tried Infacol, but a word of warning-although it helps bring the gas up, it made my DD's reflux much worse as it brought the gas up violently with loads of vomiting. So stopped that as well. Tried Gripe water, useless. She has been on Gaviscon since she was 5 weeks and the reflux has improved. Still keeping her upright for 30 min after each feed, I use a nursing pillow during the day to keep her head a bit raised, raised the Moses basket mattress etc. The gas has also subsided now and even if she still has some gas, she is not that bothered by it anymore. I was going to insist the GP give her different meds a few weeks ago, but felt like I would just get into a tricky game of more medication and unwanted effects, so just stuck with the Gaviscon.

Sorry to say, but the GP was right in our case, as her digestive system matured it got better...

What helped with the gas: bycicle legs before a nappy change (never after a feed); tummy massage (always clockwise); winding her before, during and after feeds (I stopped patting her back as it made the reflux worse, just held her on my shoulder and rubbed her back from the nappy edge towards her upper back)- winding was not always successful until she got to about 6 weeks maybe; used NUK bottles and latex teats which were amazing as she had a better seal on these than Tommee Tippee (thus less air ingested) and she looked more comfortable when eating. Watch out for how long it takes your LO to finish a feed: 5-10 min too fast, over 30 min too slow. Both these scenarios lead to extra air being swallowed.

Started using saline water nose spray as the reflux kept blocking her nose with regurgitated milk and she would not feed properly, again leading to more air swallowed...man this was tough...

Oh! And if I remember correctly, 5-6 weeks was the height of the uncomfortable symptoms in my DD, so it should get better soon. Remember that these issues are common in babies, they are not serious health problems and get better at some point in time. It helped me to get some perspective tbh...

My youngest was like this, changed Formula several times, Aptamil seemed to work and he took it with out much reflux. Congratulations on your daughter.

I would also get second advice re milk allergy. You could always go to the walk in centre to discuss as they’re likely to have a specialist paediatric nurse or doctor on hand.

My friend’s son has specialist milk prescribed and it took her going to hospital for a diagnosis.

Hope it all works out well.

The problem is that the special formula they prescribe for babies with cmpi costs about £20 a tin. Or it did about 7 years ago when my dd had the same intolerance. The GP was quite open with me that they weren’t just going to prescribe that to the baby unless they absolutely had to. I had to take her to a paediatrician first. They give you gaviscon in the hopes it would cure it or in my over critical thinking, to start you on a merry dance to try and get you to put up with the situation for as long as possible.

I had 2 happy spitters and. Huge amounts of laundry to do, and it’s true that in some babies their digestive system is not fully matured (a valve at the top of the stomach) but when a child is obviously suffering with reflux it’s truly awful. My eldest had it, she didn’t gain weight properly and she was 4 months old before they gave her aptamil pepti. All I can say is go back to your gp and push them for more help.

Could you try dentinox anti colic for wind?
We used anti reflux with my first, the GP prescribed lactulose and we just battled on with the constipation until she was old enough to have prune juice.

Lots of advice here. My dd had colic and 'tiger in the tree' holding position calmed her significantly. Cranial osteopathy really seemed to reduce symptoms too but I have no experience of reflux. Hope it gets better soon.

Thank you all... it's good to hear others stories as I know these are all common symptoms but I guess when you're tired, worried and on hour 4 of a restless, uncomfortable baby crying it's easy to feel alone.
@Olive30 - could I ask what the cranial osteopathy entails please? I've heard of this but dont know much about it.

@ArisaMiura3 - this is all so so similar... and good to know it may not be as serious as an allergy. The gaviscon helps but only short term and doesn't help with her painful gas. I'll try to find more time to massage her etc however her calm periods can be so limited. It's even put me off going to any local groups and classes because I feel she would just scream the place down with discomfort while I was there . I'll see what my doctor suggests but might persist with her current formula rather than chop and change ... so hard to know what's best!

Thanks so much ... it's such a relief just to hear others little ones have improved in time though I admit the thought of more weeks of this is daunting to say the least!

@Slink56 I am definitely not an expert in it but I think the osteopathist gently manipulates/puts light pressure on the bones in the baby's skull as they can be out of alignment as a result of birth. I was very dubious but after the first treatment, my dd slept for five hours for the first time with really reduced signs of colic. It isn't cheap though so we only did about three sessions, then the symptoms seemed to go but they might have done that anyway?? It helped my mental state in any case.

www.baby-magazine.co.uk/what-is-cranial-osteopathy/

This might explain it better! Sorry, clicky link won't work.

Ooh, yes it did! 🤣

@Olive30 Thank you... I'll consider anything at this stage that might help her!

There was a Mum at the P&B groups who had similar issues, you could tell it wasn't anything other than genuine concern/stress, as her baby was really suffering. In the end they saw a paediatrician who gave ranitidine plus special formula.

She did get some success out of those bottles that cost a fortune, but really do help abate some of the issues. I'll try and find a link for you.

If you're baby is genuinely suffering to the point of being really distressed, maybe try 111, as for me, if it is as easy as ranitidine, for your sanity the sooner it's sorted the better.

They're called Dr Browns bottles, they used to do them at Boots, but I can only find them on Amazon. They're the ones a few Mum's swore by.

Thank you... I've heard a lot about the
Dr Browns bottles so I will look into that too. Yes I actually called 111 regarding her diarrhoea and told me to contact my out of hours doctor who spoke to me right away however he said to monitor her over the weekend. She's had another loose stool today although not as bad as yesterday so will definitely be making an appointment monday.

They sell dr browns in boots and mothercare too x

If you can get to a shop tomorrow, maybe buy a couple of bottles, see if it makes a difference.

I think the sooner you can try formulas that are prescribed, the better. Poor DC is suffering, I imagine with repeated loose bowels there's irritation. It's important for your family and yourself, especially yourself as you are being affected by it all.

My DD1 used to constantly cry after a feed and be in pain with gas, being sick etc, infacol and gripe water didn't work. We were using mam bottles and was on normal aptamil milk. We then changed bottles to dr browns and got recommened to use comfort milk (still aptamils version tho) and she was a different child. She was 12 weeks old by this point! She still needed the comfort milk til she was 1 as even trying to change her back at 6 months she was still in pain. Before long this will all be a distant memory! Have DD2 now who's 2 weeks and we're already having to use infacol to help with wind, I think babies need time to develop etc even if it doesn't help out sleep. Have you tried a dummy?

@Squeakybubbles26 yes I keep trying a dummy but with limited success... I think once she realises nothing comes out of it she spits it right out. I'll keep trying though as she will happily suck her hand or my shoulder to soothe herself.