Reflux and ranitidine help!

[shezzle]

I have just got back from the doctors as our 3 week old DD3 has reflux, she is a silent refluxer and in complete agony. Our DD2 also had it but with the projectile vomiting. Doctor has given us ranitidine same as for DD2 five years ago but the when i went to collect the medicine from the chemist they asked me if the dosage was correct. i am not a doctor!!! Apparently they think its very low, 0.015mls twice a day. baby is 3 weeks old and weighs 8lb 14oz. Can anyone offer an opinion or anything regarding this?It is virtually impossible to even measure it out correctly with the syringe as such a tiny dose. Obviously i know every case is different but i want o know if it's right! DD2 was 3 months when prescribed it and dosage different due to her being older, incidentally it worked a treat for her. Thanks!

That does seem low,dd had 0.45mls at a week old and about 7.5 pounds.Just ring the gp and ask what he meant to prescribe.

Good luck with the reflux.

Sadly I have a lot of experience in ranitidine dosage

They usually start off at 2mg of ranitidine per kilo of baby weight, your baby is 4 kilos in weight, so that would be a dose in ml of 0.5ml twice a day..

Which is exactly what DS1 was started off on at around that weight if not a bit lighter. I think they must have meant to say 0.5ml twice a day but do double check.

Make sure the chemist gives you a 1ml syringe if poss, it's a very tiny thing but allows you to do the dose properly.

Hope it works.

Many Thanks for your advice and replies, it really did seem so low. Have tried to call doctor but no joy as yet. I can't imagine that minute dose doing anything! Our poor chiddlers having to go throiugh bloody reflux, I hate it on their behalf, hope all your little ones are ok too x

combinearvester- this may seem a daft question but does ranitidine come in different strengths? for example on the bottle i got today it says 100ml ranitidine 75mg per 5ml I can't get hold of my elusive doctor so will have to go with what he has told us for today and try again tomorrow.

Ill look on dd's bottle hang on

I was told today at the chemist that it does!

Can I gatecrash your thread and ask a question please?
Dd2 is 12 weeks old and has been taking it since monday afternoon. It's worked really well shes no longer screaming and in pain and no longer projectile vometing but since yesterday evening she is being sick throughout the day in small ish amounts. (enough to soak through a bib, babygro. and vest. We are on outfit number 5 today!) Is this normal do I need to take her back or is this ok?

Mine is 150mg per 10ml btw

Is it normal to take with gaviscon? when i asked the dr he said 'you can carry on with the gavoscon if you want to'
That's not an answer! I'm completely new to this sorry for asking so many questions on your thread

hello addictediam i think thats perfectly normal but am no expert by any means! my DD2 used to projectile vomit until she was prescribed ranitidine and it did take away her pain and stop the massive sick episodes but she was still what i would call a sicky baby right up to a year old really.

yes you can still give gaviscon but i found it didnt work anyway, each bubba is different though! glad you gatecrashed, i felt completely isolated first time round dealing with this awful thing.

addictediam- my turn! whats your dd2's daily dosage? thats the strength of ranitidine we have been given too.

Ok my bottle is also 150 in 10mls so the same as yours. The dose was 0.43 so yours does seem too little.

addicted DD had ranatidine gaviscon and omeprazole in the end,poor thing. Im not sure re the vomiting,maybe check with gp it could be just a coincidence.Is the sick smelly?We could always tell if dd had acid cos we could smell it.
There are some great support threads on here for reflux,helped me loads.And a website called spilt milk.

She's on 1.3ml but she is 13lb and a few oz.
Thank you. I think I'll stop the gaviscon as it doesn't seem to do anything. Dd1 also had reflux but gaviscon sorted it, so I'm feeling alittle out of my depth this time round.

The dosage for treating reflux is 5-10mg/kg/day. Thus, if your baby is 4KG, he should be getting a total of 20-40mg/day. I think most preparations are 150mg/10ml (same as 75mg/10ml). Thus, in a day he should be getting 20-40/15ml or 1.3-2.6ml. If you divide that into three doses, that makes around 0.4-0.8ml/dose.

And, yes, you can give infant Gaviscon as well as that has no active ingredients. It is just a long chain polymer which basically makes the food thicker and less likely to come up.

thanks for checking, it is so hit and miss with all the medications, the doc made us try milk thickener last time which was just horrible and since then (5 yrs ago) medical advice for babies with reflux suggests thickening feeds isn't really worth it.
ledkr- my dd's dose does seem tiny, i have the little syringe but its ridiculous trying to measure that tiny amount, am sure i have probably given more trying to measure it. dd2 is very calm this afternoon, i seem to remember it working almost within a day with dd1, hope its the same.

whoops getting my children confused- dd3 is very calm heh heh,thanks larrygrylls for explaining so clearly, i can't think straight what with no sleep and all the screaming! my poor dd3 got a breast pad stuck to her nose earlier, was half asleep trying to feed her, heard squeaking thought it was refluxy behaviour then realised this pad was stuck on her nose! terrible parent i am

My son is 6lb 10oz and has 0.4ml, 3 times a day. He has done since birth (31+3 gestation) 11 weeks ago! That dose must be wrong!

yes nennen i really am beginning to think so! is your bottle of ranitidine the same strength as mentioned above?

Finally the doctor called me back today, dd3's dosage was very wrong, supposed to be 0.5 ml 2x daily. Thanks for all your posts!