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Allergies and intolerances

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Original poster

casein intolerance/ reflux/ or over-worried mum?

12 replies

lostalldignity · 27/10/2006 09:05

On the advice of HV i changed from sma gold to white for hungrier baby. Her suggestion was made to encorage DS to go thro longer between feeds. DS had always been a bit sicky but now its really bad. After feed he sicks up immediately, then developes stomach gripes and continues to sick up 2 hours after feed. DS is in a lot of pain during these times and can never be put down flat in cot/ buggy. The sick is watery with cottage cheese lumps. DS is 13 weeks. I'm making an appointment at GP as my gut feeling is that something is up. He's my 2nd DS, my 1st was a sicky baby, but this is much more severe. Any advice?

OP posts:

Roskva · 27/10/2006 09:29

If your baby was doing well on SMA gold, then as well as seeing the GP, then personally I would put him back on that. Surely feeding more frequently is preferable to him being sick/in pain? It could be that his digestive system is simply not ready to move on to the next stage milk yet.

I would be interested to hear what you are told about your baby continuing to be sick up to 2 hours after a feed. Mine also tends to be bring up watery, curdy milk which smells really acid a couple of hours after a feed, but my HV maintains that she does not have acid reflux because she is gaining weight well. I'm feeding SMA gold with colief.

tatt · 27/10/2006 10:46

I'd put him back on sma gold initially and consider adding some probiotics to his diet. I don't know much about formulas but you could try a different make. I think aptamil has probiotics in it?

Lots of babies get reflux because the valve at the top of the stomach is week in newborns. It gets stronger as they grow so they normally outgrow it.

If the pain persists you could try lactase drops but I wouldn't dash into trying those.

Original poster

lostalldignity · 27/10/2006 12:15

thanks for advice. went to GP. made to feel like i was a time waster. told to talk to HV about feeding problems. oh well- atleast i'm starting the process of investigation. he did however discover thrush at the back of DS's throat, so prescription for that and infacol. I've heard that parents often face a lack of understanding from their GP's about this kind of issue. don't get me wrong, i'm not a complaining old winge bag, my dad is a GP and i have the utmost respect for the medical profession. i would like simply appreciate some respect and lack of insult to my own intelligence.
DS just guzzled bottle of gold sma. will try aptimil next.

OP posts:

littlepiggie · 27/10/2006 21:42

I had the same problems with HV and GP resulting in ds going into hospital.
I first took him when he was 2 weeks old. He too was gaining weight well, was very windy, would cry for hours on end and would go through bib after bib with cottage cheese sick. He is bf and would want to feed all the time for comfort.
Nobody would listen to me at the health centre where gps and hvs are. In the end i said that i had had enough of been fobbed off, and went to my gp and told him what had been going on and that i had been told it was not likely to be feflux (i brought it up).
He agreed that it was reflux, and put him on gaviscon.
Have you tried all the usuall, not lying him flat, not jigging him about, any of the stay down formulas?

Original poster

lostalldignity · 29/10/2006 19:55

After being humilitated by gp spoke to hv, who immediately diagnosed problem as reflux. she recommended stay down which i tried straight away but ds thought it disgusting. had friends to stay this w/end so did not persevere but used sma gold which was a bit better. will try stay down again tomo. do i need to make any alterations to the teat to increase flow?

also ds seems to be teething already! and i know some will say babies get sicky when teething but i know that isn't the cause.

OP posts:

WeaselMum · 29/10/2006 20:23

Surprised to hear that the first hv you spoke to thought you should increase the time between feeds. My ds has reflux and everything I have read suggests that you should feed babies with reflux little and often. Infacol seems to help him bring up wind more easily, which helps with the pain to a large extent, so we haven't needed to use Gaviscon. We also sit him upright for at least half an hour after feeding.

littlepiggie · 30/10/2006 09:51

Still bf so not sure about what bottles to use, you could start a new thread asking just that.
Ds started teething at about this age, only got his first tooth a week before 6 months.

fizzbuzz · 31/10/2006 08:49

Hi Roskva
My dd has reflux, and was gaining weight. My midwife diagnosed it when she was about 11 days old. The point isn't about gaining weight, but about whether they are bringing back almost entire feed straight away. It didn't happen at every feed, and sometimes not for a few days. She was put on Infant Gaviscon by sympathetic GP, worked immediately.....you can buy it over counter. I would go back to GP, as it seems HV know jack in my experience.

jeanini · 31/10/2006 18:56

hi my dd2 5 months now was diagnosed as having reflux at 4 wks old. was projectile sick a few times but it was mostly the screaming whilst trying to feed her and her not wanting to lie flat at all which worried me and i went to doc who referred me to hosp.
i found the best thing that has helped me was changing from sma gold to enfamil a.r. it is a thicker milk which helps the reflux you do have to go up a teat size as it is thicker.

but she used to guzzle sma gold and choke at most feeds and i no longer have that. you can get it on prescription from doc i just went in and said her symptons and mentioned the milk. to be honest they had never heard of it and had to look it up.

my baby also only slept in her pushchair as it hurt her to lie flat i ended up buying an amby hammock its brilliant she sleeps fine in it. it was well worth the money.

good luck but i would change from sma gold. hth x

taylormama · 31/10/2006 19:30

Hi - sounds like classic symptoms of reflux. Reflux babies CAN gain weight but it doesn't mean they don't have reflux - my HV told me continually that my DS had colic but mother's instinct is usually right ... My DS has reflux and gained weight but would have days where he would refuse to feed etc. There are lots of options - the first is infant gaviscon, then Ranitadine (antacid) and Domperidone (helps milk move through the tummy quicker so it is harder for babies to bring it back up). Yes, babies do grow out of it but you can do stuff to minimise the symptoms until this point.

Original poster

lostalldignity · 31/10/2006 21:06

thanks for all the advice.
i'm going thro an action list to find the best option for ds.
hv is really on side now and has offered support in getting gp to prescribe our choice of food/ remedy. it's all so expensive. of course when it comes to our d babies we will pay anything but it's good to get a helping hand.
i've decided to go down the lactose free route first then we'll see.
its certainly been a learning experience. i realise now that my 1st ds did suffer from the same condition but my inexperience and lack of self belief in trusting my own instinct merely led me to believe that it was normal for a baby to cry during and after feeds.
i now feel ready to go back to the surgery and make some demands- so thanks again.

OP posts:

littlenipper · 01/11/2006 14:50

hiya
thought you ight like tohear my experience - as it seems very similar tou yours! my baby now 13wks old but from 6 wks strarted projectile vomiting at least 3 feeds a day! always griped alot and sometimes quite violently esp at night, also very windy! back and forth to drs/hv/hospital all to be told nothing wrong as was putting on weight and very content most times( not when feeding or at night) basically made to feel like nurotic 1st time mum. i was at my wits end last thurs and went to Hv who again kept on saying how lovely and content my baby was - ( i wish she had seen her at 5am that morning when she was screaming house down whilst trying to feed her!!!) we had already tried lots of things : infant gaviscon, infacol, gripe water, chaning to staydown/comfort milk, raising cot at one end, increasing breast feeding, decreasing breast feeding, demand feeding, routine(gina Ford) feeding! i was really frantic! so i got the courage up to tell my hv what i thought and told her i felt it was some sort of allergy/intolerance depsite the hoiptal saying it could not possibly be that as babies do not suddenly develop it! ( thye also blamed me for combine feeding and told me to stop BF!) anyway to cut a longer story short - i tried SMA LF ( lactose free) ( which i got on presription but you can buy from boots - and is more expensive than usual stuff) and i have a completely different baby within hours of changing the milk! leiney slept through for 10hrs the 2nd nite which she has only ever managed 3.5hrs at a time, immediatley stopped proj.vomiting and doesn't gripe at all at nite. we barely need to wind her now! feeding time is now lovely and i have managed to increase BF too! we feed her little and often - about 120-150mls of milk every 3 hrs along with howevwer much Bf she wants!
i can not go on about how changed my gorgeous baby is just froom the milk we had tried everyithing including changing bottles etc - the one i have also done is gone from cold water strerilising to steam sterlising as i tasted one of the teats after i had rinsed and boiled it and it still tasted of milton!
we also Dr browns bottles which are also fab!
hope my exp helps and wish you luck and most importantly go with your instincts - which i wished i had done all those weeks ago! pls keep us updated as would love to know your outcome.

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