To be exhausted with being puked on?

[Pyjamaramadrama]

Ds has reflux and it's exhausting.

He's sick all day everyday, it took me a while to figure out that's why he was so miserable as he was in pain. He started refusing his feeds. Poor baby we try to make him as comfortable as possible.

I took him to the doctors and got him gaviscon, which seems to help with the discomfort, but then it makes him constipated so I cut it out for a couple of days. He's seems happier.

What it doesn't stop is the constant stream of sick all day everyday, it's not just straight after a feed, it's constant, he has to wear a bib all the time as milk is continuously dribbling out. I have to change his babygro several times and my own clothes. I get covered, he gets covered, we must both stink. I try to be prepared but there's no warning. He can feed sleep for an hour then wak up and be sick.

They tell me he will grow out of it, I'm worried when he starts eating solids, will he be sIcking up the food too?

I feel for you, mine did until 7 or 8 month, solids as well as milk. It disappeared almost overnight. It feels like forever, but will just clear up for most children. Lots of old style flat cloth nappies draped over everything and everyone helped.

My baby has exactly the same thing, I actually felt pretty depressed as it was just a non stop cycle of cleaning and dressing, felt like my hair was permanently matted with sick! He would shower me when I was least suspecting it. He will get over it, it is just a stage, and soon it will just feel like a blur. Hope he settles soon x

My first child had this and it went on until he was about 1 year old. They told me it would get better when he started solids, it didn't - it just stank more (yogurt sick stinks worse than milk) and stained more (why is baby food always so orange?)

After he was in bed at night I would get down on my hands and knees and spot clean the carpet. I couldn't keep him on a mat all the time once he started crawling.

I would pick up toys like stacking cups and things and sick would pour out of them!

It was hideous. My house must have stank but i did my best to keep it nice, and would wet vax it once a week as well using the pet odour removal stuff and my friends assured me it didn't stink but I can't help thinking it must sometimes.

We tried Gaviscon, but it did nothing in terms of sick - we were lucky in that he didn't seem to suffer pain from it.

We tried something called Motilium - which is Domperizone - which seemed to improve things for a few weeks but then we were back to as bad as ever so we stopped it.

Literally nothing worked.

People would say how they would only bath their baby every few days because "they don't need it and it dries their skin out" - both true, but he needed it. Sometimes twice a day! I would scrape the sick remains out of his neck folds and bung him in the bath.

It was exhausting and depressing, but a year is a year and the year came and went and it stopped.

He had no allergies, he simply has a hiatus hernia and even now at 8 years old if he's jeffing around too much after a meal he will do a "sicky burp' as he calls it.

I don't have any real advice other than "this too shall pass", I'm afraid. But you have my sympathies!

For what its worth, my 2nd child didn't have it, and it was liberating just being able to pick her up and sling her over my shoulder without bracing myself for the sticky hot sick!

It will pass. It's only a phase. The gaviscon is a thickener and food will act the same way and help him keep stuff down.

My son was like this. I felt so sorry for him. Being sick is a horrible sensation

Pajama, it will get better. We found that as soon as DS started weaning, the volume and frequency of sick really did reduce. And like a pp has said, it seemed to stop overnight when he was about 8 months old.

Unless you've experienced it, I don't think you can ever appreciate how debilitating and restricting having a baby with reflux is. When it stopped, it was like a huge black cloud had lifted from us.

In the meantime, lots and lots and lots of muslin cloths, and old towels on the floor where DS is playing and on the sofa (if it's cloth rather than leather).

Oh just to add I used to have a little bottle of perfume by a brand called "Clean" (which specialise in those clean lineny smelling fragrances) called "Baby Girl" which I used to spray on him (well on his clothes actually) which really freshened him up and made him smell more like a clean baby than a stinking sick-bag. Lol. That will out me to people who know me in real life because I was famous for this bloody bottle of perfume but whatever.

I feel your pain. DS is 5 and without medication is still sick 3 or 4 times a week but luckily the medication keeps it mostly under control. My best tip, gleaned from Mumsnet of course, was bicarb of soda to get rid of the smell from carpets, beds etc. Clean with any detergent, fairy liquid, laundry liquid, multi surface spray, whatever, then while it's wet tip bicarb of soda on, let it dry then hoover up. Oh and one I learnt the hard way, once he is using a normal seat belt in the car, if he's sick on the seat belt, do NOT let it wind back in until you have cleaned it thoroughly! Keep it plugged in or keep some pegs in the car to stop it winding back otherwise you'll never get rid of the smell.

Thanks so much all, it's good to know I'm not alone. It hadn't even occurred to me what I'll do when he's crawling.

Ds also needs a bath every night too, I think it helps him relax for bed but he needs it anyway, his tiny bit of hair it usually smelly and as you say it's all in his neck.

He actually seems to be more comfortable when he's bringing the milk up, it's when it stays down that the pain seems to gets worse, he'll be screaming and arching his back.

Ds1 didn't have this, so it's come as a shock.

DS has reflux too and at 4 months I have seen a bit of an improvement.
I really feel for you, you are doing great

Dd is almost 11 months and gaviscon did nothing for her reflux.

In the end we stopped using it as I could deal with the milky puke but once the solids started, I couldn't cope.

Dr eventually prescribed Omeprazole, and god it's amazing!!! She's been on it for 4 months and the difference is so noticeable. We are just about to wean her off it but I thinks it's time.

My ds was the same.

Some things which helped us were...

Put more in his bottle than he needed, so not taking air (ok, won't help if breast fed)

Prop him up for 20 minutes after his feed. Either sling/cuddles or carseat. Gravity helps.

Give him smaller, more frequent feeds.

When he starts sitting/standing on his own, things should improve. Gravity again!

Also, solids are likely to help, as they are heavier!

He might need to be checked by the doc for a leaky valve?

There are a few types of reflux I think. One is caused primarily from an allergy to milk protein (as opposed to lactose, I think), and can go if you change the formula (that's a doctor/prescription job I think). Then there is the type that causes pain and puking, these can respond well to gaviscon or omeprozole (which is a proton pump inhibitor so stops the production of acid, though you can end up b vitamin deficient on these if they are used for lengthy periods - that goes for adults as well btw but worth it if the problem is worse than a b-vit deficiency otherwise would be!) and there is the type where there is no particular pain or discomfort but the valve is so weak it just comes up / hiatus hernia type situation.

This is the sort my son had (the latter sort) and there is an operation that sorts it but that tends to get reserved for children who aren't thriving well (or putting on weight basically) and my son was still thriving well. In fact very well, so of course I got them asking if I was overfeeding him, which I wasnt!

Sorry if you have already heard of them, but Tommee Tippee milk feeding bibs are meant to be good for catching milk before it gets in the neck folds.

Both my DS's had ranitidine as Gaviscon just made them constipated. I think you should go back to your GP, it's not fair on anyone to live like this. It's not much help, right now, saying they'll grow out of it. You need help now, not in a year.

If ranitidine doesn't work then the next step is Omeprazole.

It sounds like he needs more than Gaviscon, ask the DR about ranitidine - it took about a week to work properly and it was much better. I'd also ask for a dairy intolerance / allergy test if he is vomiting that much. My DS's reflux was down to dairy allergy (via my breastmilk).

Don't leave it as is, push for more help!

What I've found that has worked wonders is to express an oz or 2 from the breast before each feed. I find that when DS has this thin foremilk he is more sick than if he gets more hind milk.

I haven't tried them Japanese thanks.

I was a bit reluctant to see the gp again as he's otherwise well, gaining weight nicely.

I struggled to get an appointment the first time. It's policy for the receptionists to ask the problem. I explained I suspected reflux, how he was constantly sick, very uncomfortable after feeds and refusing to eat (at the time), the receptionist told me to speak to a health visitor, I asked if the health visitor would be able to give me a prescription, she said no, so I said well I need an appointment then.

The in laws looked at us as though we were crazy when we told them he was having gaviscon.

Generally it does get better with solid foods, sitting upright and the length and shape of the oesophagus plus the control of the top of the stomach strengthening...hence being told he will 'grow out of it'

But it is pants in the meantime..as well as several changes of clothes I always had a spare coat with me when DS was little.

DS was admitted twice to hospital with bloody vomiting which they were convinced was coming from me (my boobs). When they did a scope they discovered he had damaged his stomach and oesaphagus due to the severity of his vomiting and it was bleeding. He ended up on Omeprazole for a few years

If it looks like the Gaviscon isnt doing anythingf for your DS, do go back as he might need something else. Also be aware that a high percentage of Reflux sufferers also have Cows Milk Protein Intolerance which can also cause vomiting

DS was a happy chucker so while he didn't suffer and wasn't uncomfortable, he would vomit all the time. I used to wish I could use a muslin to dab up dribbles of milk as I did with his big sister. No. I used to have to put a bath towel next to me for the first post-feed vomit and I'd sometimes catch most of it and then have to wash the sodden towel. You didn't even get two uses out of it. Every day I insisted on having a bath on my own, in a room with scented candles to mask the smell of milk vomit. I needed that break from it. While I was on my own in the bath, DH would walk up and down with DS on his shoulder and he would end up with a soaked shoulder and back and would leave a trail behind him. I was SO fed up with it.

Then suddenly over night it stopped. He was 7 months or so. He is 4 now and has been sick once since then when he had gastroenteritis. No allergies, no sensitivities, never struggled with weight gain or digestive issues.

Gaviscon constipated DD2, so after a bit of research, I asked our doctor to prescribe carobel -you can buy it from pharmacies but it's quite expensive. It looks a bit like baby rice -you mix it with some milk and spoon feed it (even as a quite small baby DD2 got the hang if it nicely). It thickens the milk as it goes into the tummy so it doesn't come back up.

Dd1 was also a happy chucker (great phrase showofhands!). At her peak she was sick 10-15 times a day and would need to changed multiple times. I got given a huge stack of babygros from a mum of twins and she lived in these until she weaned. We covered all soft furnishings in those cheap fleece blankets from ikea and just got used to it. I accepted the fact that she was not going to be one of those beautiful spotless babies (there was always a spot of sick on her somewhere). It got a lot better when she weaned (and she only ever brought up solids when she was ill). She still used to bring up all her morning milk though, normally into my bra before I headed off for work I do not miss the days of standing over the sink, pouring puke out of my bra.

It does get better, as pp said, it's just a phase. And a least milk sick doesn't smell offensive (unlike toddler sick ).

As he is in pain when he has his milk I'm wondering whether he has a cows milk protein allergy rather than just plain reflux. It's a bugger to get it diagnosed though so I would ask for a referral to a paediatrician who would be able to say whether it's an allergy or reflux. Unluckily for my daughter she had both (although her reflux was silent and she just screamed blue murder for months!). Prescription milk and omeprazole has sorted her out though. I would definitely go back to the gp if your Ds is in pain, there are meds and formula (if needed) that will help rather than just waiting for him to grow out of it.

My 14 month old is still very occasionally refluxy...

We bought some of those alphabet foam mats for his playroom to try and save the carpet; we have loads of muslins; and we both became resigned to the fact that the faint smell of baby sick was now normal!

Oh god the vomit! I still have nightmares! A cleavage full when you've just put your fresh undies on after stepping out the shower is especially depressing.

Seriously, try cutting out dairy and soya from his diet. Cut them out from your diet if you're breastfeeding, or you'll need prescription formula if bottle feeding. We finally got to see a consultant paediatrician at 14 months who told us that most reflux is cause by dairy and soya. Unfortunately by this point we'd missed our chance to spot all the other food DD was reacting to as she was on really strong meds all through weaning and still vomming all over the place because of the dairy formula she was on. She's five now and has actually grown out of all the other allergies and will even tolerate traces of dairy and soya.

It will get better, honest. I thought I was going to go insane when DD was a baby. In the meantime, sending big hugs and lots of sympathy. Poor you!

You can buy the prescription formula online if the doctor won't give it to you. If it then solves your problem the doctor is obliged to prescribe it for you. We didn't have much experience but I remember Aptamil Pepti tastes better than Nutramagen (they're all disgusting), and Neocate is the one to go to if the others don't work as that's the most hypo-allergenic but also the most disgusting.