DS is 15 weeks, ebf and appears to be dairy intolerant.
From about 3 weeks he started to display classic signs of silent reflux - reducing his feeds, arching his back and stiffening his legs after feeds, restlessness and writhing at night, coughing, crying in pain, comfort feeding and that face (with the tongue which says "that tastes yukky") . He was sick on occasions but not often and his weight gain is brilliant.
I raised this with the GP at the 6 weeks check who agreed it was reflux but wasn't prepared to medicate.
We raised his cot which solved the night time cough and reduced his writhing and I gave up eating dairy and within 48 hours DS was much more comfortable. The crying stopped, he fed for longer although we still got that face.
I went back to (another) GP and was prescribed infant gaviscon which has eliminated most of the symptoms. He possets a little more often (but he's eating more) but we felt home and dry.
Last week I tried a little bit of goats cheese. That night he was mightily uncomfortable and I was back to wandering about the house with him between midnight and three; the next day his feeds dropped in number and length and he started arching away from me again during feeds. A week later and we're pretty much back to where we were before (although he's now constipated so I'm juggling the frequency of gavisgon to try and find a happy compromise).
I'll try some more dairy in a couple of weeks to check whether it was the dairy or just a coincidence.
He doesn't have eczema although he has some ery dry patches of skin just aboe his wrists and ankles.
Assuming DS has a similar response to dairy next time, do I need professional involvement or a diagnosis or anything?
Am I likely to be doing him (or me) any harm by just continuing to go it alone? I'm taking calcium supplements.
How on earth do I wean him? I'm happy to keep breast feeding him - I fed dd until she was 17 months (by which time I was pregnant) but after 8 months she refused breast milk during the day and just fed from me morning and evening. I will ask the hv when I see her next month but I'd value the experience of anyone who has actually done this!