Reflux - how long?

[alitesneeze]

My ds of 11 weeks has reflux and when he was around 6 weeks an hv told me it usually starts to ease off around 12 weeks. Today, however, another hv today told me to expect him to have reflux until he can walk.

I wondered if anyone could tell me their experience?

Thought I would bump this thread up again.

Have the dr tomorrow with DS and wondered if people could give me an idea of what to expect?

DS is sick (more than a mouthful, sometimes alot) after every feed. Gaviscon and ranitidine make next to no difference. DS is uncomfotable after a feed (esp through the night). Last night (fairly typical)I had to change his sleep suit/bag and sheet 3 times and my own pj's twice. Some days his sick is coffee ground (which I think is gastritis from so much puking). He is gaining weight (but has dropped from 98th centile at birth to just below 50th now)

The last GP I spoke to said there isnt really a cure and I pretty much just have to live with it until he grows out of it. I am feeling a bit fobbed off, but does it seem that I am expecting too much, a miracle cure?

Are you seeing a GP or a paediatrician, alite? Because there's no shame in asking to see the paed, or a different paed, if you don't feel the problem is being taken seriously enough.

There isn't a cure, but it's worth trying everything to make DS more comfortable and your life easier.

I saw a paediatrition with DS2 whenn he was a couple of weeks old. He was copiously sick all the time , not just after feeds. It was like feeding twins.
I wasn't worried as DS1 had been the same but the midwife and GP insisted.
The paed suggested I quit breastfeeding and put him on a bottle and introduce solids at 6 weeks.
Needless to say I ignored him.
I already knew from DS1 that solid food made no difference apart from the fact that it was proper sick rather than just milky.

My DD was a regular puker until she was about 7 or 8mths old. Went through several changes of clothes every day and all our pics of her she's wearing grotty looking bibs. We were also robbed of the "gorgeous new baby smell" as she constantly smelled of puke. Nice.

It eased off once she was spending more time sitting up. We used Dr Brown's bottles which I think helped some of the windy pain, but we never used medication as the HV's told us it might unsettle her more than the reflux. In hindsight I think she was actually in more discomfort from reflux than we realised and I do wonder if we should have ignored the HVs and given her some medicine. She was a very grumpy little baby (still is from time to time at 15mths!) which I always put down to teeth as she got them early and seemed to be teething from about 2mths, so I could never separate if grumpiness was due to teething or reflux. But actually she did seem to get a whole world more cheery and easier to deal with around the same time that she stopped chundering everywhere.

I would recommend seeing a paed gastroenterologist. DS (13m) has silent reflux (constant screaming, unable to feed, couldn't lie flat etc etc) which is really effectively managed with a combination of no dairy and meds (losec/omeprazole being the key one). The GP tried to help but we only made real progress after seeing the specialist. Reflux is quite a complex area and getting to the bottom of it can make a huge difference. PM me if you want any more info. Good luck.

Thanks everyone :)

I was going to call the gp friday morning to get an appointment but he seemed so much better thurs night that I thought I would just wait and keep our appointment for next week (thinking that not much will change anyway!)

From reading other people's posts, I think we are quite lucky as ds is only uncomfortable for a minute or two after a fed (sometimes longer at night). Some lo's seem to sufer really badly.

I found a huge thread in the feeding section on this and am wading my way through!

To the pepole who have sen paeds, did you find you had to be pushy with the gp to get referred? I am rubbish at being pushy!

Hello there, each baby is unique and there is no telling if it will be 12 weeks, 6months or a year. Certainly once you have started weaning the introduction of baby rice helps but little one's may still reflux with solid foods and its more like vomit. My little boy had reflux until he could stand and spent more time upright and now has a tiny appetite but is happy and healthy. Each in their own time is my advice and keep stocked up with floor cleaners.

Not wishing to be a harbinger of doom but my dd is now 6 and still needs ranitidine at times to control reflux. She was a very sickly baby, hard to settle etc and ranitidine did help a lot. She is also lactose intolerant and has some mild food allergies which didn't help as it took some working out!

Good luck xx

I would look into the possiblilty of milk protein allergy. dd2 had reflux, which seemed to get better around 4 - 6 months, but once she started solids, had the coffee grounds vomit about every three weeks and was starting to be sick again. She was usually sick not straight away but an hour or two later, or early hours of the morning. I finally had a light bulb moment and realised it was always after having a whole pot of yoghurt, or a dinner with cheese sauce in. She is 10 months now and for the last 8 weeks I have stopped the dairy and she hasn't been sick once. She can tolerate tiny bits of dairy, and luckily soya ( not all can). Ask to see a paediactric dietician. If you are bfing him you will need to change to a dairy free diet, or a dairy free formula if not.
Milk protein allergy is quite usual if your baby has reflux apparently. Your doctor sounds as dopey as mine -he tried to get her tested for lactose intolerence which is entirely different. Push for as paeds appointment. Hope that helps!

Meant to add, they often sound rattley or wheezy with it. You could hear something was going on inside her body as she was settling down for the night and I knew it meant she'd probably be sick soon!

hophop ds is constantly wheezy.

He is ff but was bf for 2 weeks and wasnt sick once so there could be a chance it is the milk. I am confused tho, I thought lactose is milk protein?

Lactose is milk sugar - breastmilk is full of lactose too.

Cow's milk protein is a very common allergy in babies though.

lactose intolerence is an inability to process the sugars, whereas I think milk protein allegy is when the body thinks the protein is harmful and gets rid of it. Also, dd2 was incredibly windy and farty with it! I have found with dd that I have cut out dairy food sources but i am still able to bf her without cutting it out of my diet, though I don't consume a huge amount of dairy on a daily basis. I only realised after six months, so can't tell if it affected her before, she seems luckily to have it fairly mild compared to some.