Reflux and my diet

[MatchsticksForMyEyes]

First time I have posted, sorry will be a long one! Hoping someone can help.
My son has always been quite sick, not always much, but sometimes a full feed. I am breastfeeding and this week ( he is 17 weeks) he has started to arch his back during feeds and kind of screech. He will also only feed for any length of time if he is semi-upright. His weight gain has really slowed down, although he hasn't lost any and he doesn't seem distressed when he vomits.

Have been to the GP who has prescribed infant gaviscon. Is it actually any good? I have been co-sleeping and I am tired enough, but I am dreading the nights now I will have to prepare meds before each feed. Do people think he will maybe go longer between feeds now he's on meds?

Also, should I cut all dairy from my diet?

Thanks for any advice.

Well, you could try cutting out dairy and/or wheat from your diet, but you won't know if it's making any difference if you are also giving him gaviscon. Or you could do the dietary exclusion before you start giving him the gaviscon to see whether you get any improvement, but it could take up to 2 weeks before it is really obvious.

Is he still gaining weight, despite it having slowed down? Do you think you can wait a few more days (up to 14) to see whether the exclusion diet works?

If it were me, I'd try the exclusion diet:
take out wheat AND dairy immediately, see if there's any improvement, then try re-introducing one of them after 2 weeks to see if it all goes wrong again - then do full exclusion for another fortnigh to re-establish comfort and then re-introduce the other food and see what happens. Then you'll have a better idea.

If you go the gaviscon route, I don't know the answer to your questions about feeds, sorry.

Infant Gaviscon does work for some people. It did not work for my DD because she had 'silent reflux' - little vomitting but loads of pain.

Hopefully some one with good experience of using Gaviscon will be able to give you some tips on how to prepare it.

I found the cryingoversplitmilk website useful for information about reflux.

Cutting out dairy can make a difference if your DS is dairy intolerant. The only way to know is to try it. However you need to try it for at least 2 weeks to see if it makes any difference. There is dairy in a surprising variety of food (eg. bread), so be prepared to spend a lot ot time reading labels.

I had a very similar story with my DD2. She would b'feed and then immediately I put her upright, she would projectile vomit pretty much the entire contents of her stomach.

I'd been to the doctors about it (from day 1)- they didn't offer much help (only infant gaviscon which also wouldn't stay down). She'd cry and scream and was obviously uncomfortable, but it became so normal that I didn't even notice it anymore.

It wasn't until I visited family that my aunt (a midwife) said she thought I should pop along to our local breastfeeding cafe (where there were HVs) for some advice. I felt really bad as I felt I'd neglected her in some way - but like I said, it had become the way of life and was 'normal' for her.

As luck would have it, there was a Lactation Consultant visiting from the local hospital that day so I had a chat with her about position/feeding/my diet.

She asked if I drank a lot of coffee (I didn't and still don't) but this triggered something in the depths of my memory. I did (and probably still do) eat quite a bit of chocolate and I seemed to remember that there's theobromine in chocolate which can mimic an excess of caffeine in the diet. (She looked in a La Leche League manual - and the symptoms were spot on - restlessness, arching back, reflux etc). She advised me to stop eating chocolate, or at least to cut right down.

I also had a very fast letdown reflex so the milk pretty much gushed down DD2's throat and she had a job to keep up with it. She advised me to put DD2 in a more upright position for feeding, rather than laying down.

In addition to that, I was also tandem feeding - I was feeding my 2 year old - and I asked if this was a problem (my MIL insisted it was, as she said, my milk was too rich for the baby and this is why she was sick so much). The Lactation Consultant said this wasn't thought to be a problem - and offered some research into this - she said that the thinking was you fed the toddler only from one side, and the baby from the other and never switched - the idea was that your body 'knew' what was needed for each child.

DD2 was about 16 weeks when I saw this lady. Also around that time, I started giving her very small amounts of baby rice and I also began a baby massage course - and I concentrated on the colic routine.

Shortly afterwards, (really, within a week)the projectile vomiting/reflux/screaming and crying stopped. I won't ever know which single thing or combination of things worked.

Does any of that sound familiar to your situation?

I have found that cutting out caffeine has reduced the reflux by 90%. was very sceptical, but it has worked. Also have found gaviscon suprisingly effective too.

HTH.

I have just started giving my dd gaviscon, she has had quite mild reflux compared to others I've read about. I've only been giving it in the evening and night feeds, but she is alot better in the day too. Regarding mixing it up, you initially mix the powder with 5 mls of boiled water, then add another 10mls. For the night doses I have taken up some boiled water in a container and just mixing before feeding
her, you give it to them after feeding, doesn't matter that the water is not hot when mixing, that's just to sterilise it. I would recommend using an oral syringe to give the dose, far easier than a spoon, plus it doubles as a measure when mixing. Your son will probably be on a higher dose as he will be heavier than my 8 week dd, it's more when over 9lbs.