Baby Gaviscon

[BabySham4U]

Baby is 5+ weeks old and suffering badly with reflux.

Prescribed baby gaviscon sachets.

Baby is EBF.

Pharmacist said we need to give baby a bottle 6 times a day with the baby gaviscon mixed in.

I don't want to give a bottle and think there must be a different way of doing it...

Sachet mixed with water on a teaspoon? Or would that taste vile for my boy?

Not sure what to do. AIBU for not wanting to give a bottle?

Yanbu, my son was given ranitidine and we just syringed it in his mouth. I can't remember how old he was though, I think about 8/10 weeks. It's worth seeing/googling if that's an option.

It's a long time ago but I think that I used a spoon or calpol syringe to give it before or during a feed.
Ds got constipated with it so we had to move on to other medicine but I did ebf.

It is a pain in the bum to give to bf babies. I mixed with water and syringed in but it was so difficult to get her to take a full dose that way. I would go back and ask to try something else. Ranitidine is the next step up. It doesn't stop the vomiting but eases the pain.

Also, try cutting out dairy if you are breastfeeding. Both my reflux babies had CMPI (cow's milk protein intolerance).

Dd exclusively breastfeed, severe reflux
Gaviscon given on a spoon

Dd wasn't on it for l

I'm still getting used to motherhood. I have a cracking headache and probably shouldn't even be on my phone but my baby is in pain and it actually hurts me to see him scream and arch his back the way he does. He doesn't vomit, but he silently brings up milk in to his mouth. I can see him sort of chewing at it. Poor little thing. I can't believe how emotional I am over him being uncomfortable.

My GP said she couldn’t prescribe DD infant Gaviscon as she is EBF so prescribed ranitidine instead.

At first, I thought this was a baby name thread

For long as it gave her constipation x

Gaviscon with a syringe here too. I used the minimum amount of water possible to get it to dissolve, as giving the whole amount was a nightmare.

I gave with a syringe in the middle of breast feeding - after finished on first breast. Baby hated taking it but worked so well for the reflux it was worth us all suffering getting him to take it. Not sure what all the fuss he made was about - I tried a bit and it just tastes bland and sweet! We used to do such a song and dance to entertain him and distract him while he was taking it that by the time he didn't need it any more when he was about 4 months old he used to love it and guzzle it down! I hope it works well for your baby too - reflux is horrible!

How do they take ranitidine?

Oh, I would hate for him to be constipated! My friends baby was constipated badly and I had to help my friend literally pull solid poo out of her bum. It was awful. (Sorry, TMI).

It's horrible seeing them in pain.

Infacol helped a lot more for us than gaviscon. It's still difficult to give ebf babies and I had to express enough milk to give it with but it made a big difference.

Baby yoga / massage poses can help with trapped wind, and keeping them upright for half an hour or so after a feed can help with the pain of reflux.

DS outgrew the problems by about 5 months and doesn't have any issues at all now.

It works by thickening the milk so it stays in the tummy instead of refluxing but does make the poo thicker too! I think once DS1s reflux was much improved after a few days we reduced to about 3 times a day instead of the max of 6 to find a balance between controlling the reflux and not causing constipation

Both mine were EBF and on gaviscon. I used to mix a sachet with 30ml (check the packet, it was a long time ago) and give with a spoon or syringe as PPs have said. I think I have it in the middle of a feed as well.

It made an incredible difference within a couple of days. It did firm up their poos, but constipation was

...*wasn't an issue.

(Phone is plugged in so the screen's got a mind of its own. Apologies)

Hey OP.

DD had this at 8 weeks old. Shes EBF and i almost cried thinking i needed to mix into milk and bottle feed her (i cant express much so it would have had have been formula)
Turned out the instructions for breastfed babies was hidden under the label the pharmacist had slapped on lol.
Small amount of water and mix into a little bowl. Make a paste. Id used like 3 teaspoons ish of water in total i think. And spoon or syringe. DD hated it. But made difference straight away. I used a spoon most the time as syringes seem to disappear like pens in my house.

And be on the lookout for constipation. DD had to be given lactulose with it too.

I second the cutting out diary. My daughter also turned out to have dairy allergy and the change in her reflux was incredible after I cut it out!! Worth a shot x

If it causes constipation, the GP can prescribe Lactulose. Tbh, I'm mystified as to why they don't do this automatically, as it always does cause constipation.

I was given this and my baby was EBF it was such a faff, didn't work, then we were given ranitidine and it was fab!

Another vote for ranitidine here. It also needs to be syringed in, but no prep and 0.5ml rather than 15ml. And it worked! Total wonder drug in our house. DD was instantly a different baby.

I think I used to mix with a little hand expressed breastmilk when we were trying gaviscon, but I'm not sure we were ever successful in getting any in. So impractical for bf babies.

Everyone told me she would improve at 12 weeks and I didn't believe a word of it, but sure enough she did. to you OP, it's so fucking hard.

Ranitidine worked instantly here too, although there is a range of doses which change as the baby grows so you always have to make sure you are on the most effective dose.

The doses are tiny though so can be easily administered with a small syringe.

Hi there

My DD suffered awful reflux. We were referred for surgery as there was little improvement over a prolonged period. We bottle fed so gaviscon was easy for us (although it didn't help the reflux just made the milk a bit thicker) it did give her constipation though. You should Persist with the GP as others have said ranitidine is good and uses a syringe which my little girl took from 5 weeks old. We also have omperazole and a combination of all of these have helped significantly.

As someone else said you could have an intolerant or allergy to dairy. My DD has CMPA and this made a huge difference to her when we cut it and went onto Althera milk (she is also soya intolerant so not all formulas were ok for her!).

I really feel for you. By 5 months old I was at the end of my tether. It does get better but you just have to be persistent with your GP too if he is still in pain. You could try osteopathy I have also found that helped.