Reflux and vomiting - cranial osteopathy

[SA28]

I am a FTM (c-sec)and my baby is 7 weeks old and has very bad reflux and vomiting. Tried omiprazole but hasn’t helped with the vomiting. I am interested to know what people have done about this? She also has startled reflux as well and wakes up from sleep very often and struggle to go back to sleep. I have read that cranial osteopathy helps with all of the above? Has anyone tried cranial osteopathy?

This changed my life when DS was a baby. He had a very difficult birth ending in an EMCS and cranio-sacral osteopathy changed everything. He had reflux and couldn’t latch. I tell everyone I can to try it. It was better after the first appointment, took two or three to really settle all his issues. Best thing I ever did.

edited because I just can’t type tonight.

My DD was the same, I took her to cranial osteopath a couple of times.

I think it really relaxed her, she always fell silent during the sessions but I don't think it really helped her reflux, which was awful.

It got better on its own, when she could a) sit up and b) she was on solids having 3 meals a day.

Honestly I know it's awful and it feels like forever but it did pass for us

DD is a twin as well, luckily her brother was fine

I am usually not a fan of alternative medicine. But the difference in my youngest after they had a few sessions was unreal. My sad little baby who cried constantly and couldn't be put down, and had issues feeding became a happy settled child who piled on the pounds and would happily lie down again.

I am so sceptical about this kind of stuff. So it really annoyed me when we took ds for a session on health visitor advice. The lady doing it also gave me a turn the couch. So it really, really, REALLY annoyed me that the difference in both of us after the session (series of sessions in ds'case) was immediately obvious and very dramatic. I hate not being able to have a solid, logical explanation, but that's what happened.

Go for it, and good luck!

Not personally but several friends had great results

Proper osteopathy (not cranial osteopathy) was amazing for my DD2 who was breech and had a bad tongue tie, until we could get the TT sorted. They should be looking at the whole body. I'm a big fan of it now.

However I've also had two reflux babies. If your baby has reflux, omeprazole alone won't fix the vomiting. It takes at least 2 weeks to start working, and sometimes longer so depending on when you started, you might not be seeing results yet. Omeprazole works by neutralising the acid and so stopping the pain. You address the vomiting by using something like infant gaviscon or a thickener if formula feeding, which then stops the vomiting coming up. (Can also cause constipation though so takes a bit of trial and error to get the right level working together). You should have been told all of this when prescribed the omeprazole - we had to go through a detailed paeds review before we could be prescribed and the consultant explained it all to us.

Are you swaddling / using a swaddle bag to help with the nighttime startle?

As a contrasting opinion, i took my baby for several sessions, it made absolutely zero difference and i wish I'd spent the money on nice relaxing massages for myself instead! His reflux eventually got better over time. I do really sympathise though, reflux is awful and i was desperate to try anything that might help even a little bit. But it didn't for us sadly.

Awful reflux and "colic" was a sign of CMPA for us, cutting out dairy and soy from my diet literally sorted it in like a week. So something to consider too.

Thank you! I am desperate to find a solution. Different people have different experience though so not sure what to do. I am inclined to give it a go and see if it’s making any difference.

Thank you! Baby is agitated and unsettled so if at least this can be sorted then would be a big relief. Yes, I understand that it would sort itself over time but difficult to watch her go through it.

That’s great to know 😊

Yes. Difficult birth (induction lasting 2+ days before EMCS). Wouldn't latch. Silent reflux, velcro baby. Cranial osteopathy was a miracle worker for me.

Osteopath was v honest and said it wouldn't work for everyone... it didn't work on his own child! Worth trying though.

This gives me hope 😊

Thank you!

Thank you for taking time to explain this.
yes, we took the medicine for two weeks, have seen slight difference in regurgitation but not a massive change.
We tried Gaviscon but she had very bad constipation hence advised to stop. I am EBF and she wouldn’t take the bottle feed even if it is breast milk so thickener is not an option.
We are swaddling her but she cries and looks very uncomfortable when swaddling - is this normal?

I wanted it to work so badly for us but it didn’t unfortunately. I just had a lot less money afterwards 😬
I then did quite a bit of research and there is no clinical evidence to support cranial osteopathy for reflux (or most other conditions tbh). I’m open to alternative medicine in cases where “normal” doctors don’t fully understand the underlying mechanisms but they agree that it can significantly improve outcomes better than a placebo. But cranial osteopathy doesn’t do that - and because reflux improves with time, and nobody has a “control condition” with their own babies, in many cases where people swear by cranial osteopathy it’s likely that with time the reflux would have improved on its own anyway and the treatment is just a coincidence.

I am glad to hear that his reflux eventually got better 😊.

You're FTM? Like, transgender? Does that have something to do with the baby's reflux?

I've never used cranial osteopathy, but I have several friends who swore by it for reflux.

I removed all dairy products from my diet but hasn’t made any difference.

FTM is First Time Mum

FTM - first time mother 😊

It worked well for us, but like another poster reflux was actually a cows milk allergy for us

All of my 4 children were seen by a cranial osteopath within one week of being born.
The sooner the better.
It seemed to settle and relax them and I know from friends whom brought babys and toddlers much later, it really helped reflux, colic and sleeping issue's.

I understand, thank you for explaining this. I am still inclined to try this as some people have had success stories even after one sitting. It may not work but at least I will have piece of mind that I tried everything possible. I am that desperate to provide her some kind of comfort.

Yes, it looks like it works for some and it doesn’t for others. I will give it a go.