The November 2023-ish baby club!

[Spareincoming]

A new thread, under a new topic!
Welcome all and please tag anyone I’ve not, because I just copied and pasted from the old thread…

@spareincoming @Pinkplantcase @leeanneD11 @LilmissCa @FlyingHighFlyingLow
@Psqueak87
@spanglesj
@BabyBabyBaby123
@Houseonthehills
@GreenAventurine
@reememberly
@Cegbee
@DollyGx
@38andtrying
@JD90
@travellingislife
@mldn
@sb86
@TMI2000

I'll give that a try thank you , it was horrible xx

@LeeanneD11 did I see LO is on reflux milk? Just that or using carobel or gaviscon usually causes constipation; you could ask the prescribing Dr to add lactulose to the prescription. All my reflux babies have had to have it, including this one, it’s quite gentle and we always been able to start at the maximum dose then work out a maintenance dose.

Just the reflux milk , I will call the dr today and get some stuff to help xx

Funny old day here; admissions rang this morning and cancelled LO’s surgery for 2 weeks on Friday. The bed is no longer available. Fair enough, DH and I do strongly believe that sicker children should always take precedence.
Then at 4pm the specialist’s secretary rang and said there’s a bed on Friday next week at a different hospital.
Fun and games!

@Spareincoming finger's crossed they keep this date, it must be a stressful being messed around (even through the good reasons). Are you ok with the change of plans?

How's everyone getting on? I'm getting a bit lonely now, trying to force myself out to groups.

@Thack I’m ok about the change today, yesterday when I wrote my update I was wobbly about it, panicking about childcare and DH’s work but I know whoever has made the decision to use the bed for another child will feel that child has greater need than us, and as a parent I couldn’t rationalise that child not taking priority - if that makes sense!
And on a positive note, going to Newcastle is somewhat easier than Liverpool.

We’re approaching 16 weeks and I think that’s when the days start to seem longer and lonelier for me so I’m also forcing myself to get out to the baby groups, trying to find my tribe again - making friends is hard!

8 week jabs today and never heard anything like the screams 😭 so sleepy since. Normally only contact naps but so out of it will sleep in moses basket. Going to pump a bit so if hes too tired to breastfeed can give him some expressed. How long were yours off?

@FlyingHighFlyingLow mine had hers on a Thursday morning and was a bit sad and a bit warm until the Saturday, so not long really xx

Ours jabs are tomorrow 😢😢 we had to delay for 2 weeks as both herself and I had covid.
Absolutely dreading tomorrow, I remember one of my twins being off for a week after her 1st round of vaccines 😢

8 week jabs she was unsettled for maybe 24 hours but still feeding well, 12 week one's next week so who knows how it will go.
Have a feeling she might be coming down with something atm though as she's been a super sleepy bean today. Also discovered that though she will take the odd bottle of expressed milk she DID NOT appreciate being with her dad for more than one feed at the weekend. Big sis and I were at a concert in London, apparently around bedtime she was just screaming for about 3 hours pretty much non stop and wouldn't take the bottle. Dad was more than a little frazzled to say the least! She clearly sensed when I got in and got into bed as she normally sleeps through but woke up crying around 3am as I was settling into bed, had a feed and went back to sleep.

@FlyingHighFlyingLow I was dreading jabs to throw off my already slightly grizzly baby but he was fine! No extra sleepiness on the first day but slept well the day after. Slight temperature after 3 doses of calpol (caught only because I checked) so I gave a 4th and it was fine! Good luck!

He's been so sleepy and upset bless him. He just doesn't understand why he feels unwell. Before the jabs he hasn't really felt pain or been unwell 😭😭 Been feeling so guilty but know it was for best.

Hello ladies. A wee question for any mums that have had medication for reflux babies. The health visitor was out this week and I was explaining that baby still seems really unsettled (12 weeks old) and takes a long time to get to sleep and fights sleep a lot, I just feel like
shes uncomfortable a lot of the time. HV observed me feeding her and said there’s definitely still some silent reflux going on (choking/gagging and very noisy breathing whilst taking her bottle). I’ve already tried gaviscon and carobel, neither of which made much difference and just constipated her. HV advised I get back to the GP and sent an email to the surgery backing this up, saying that we should be prescribed either anti acid medication (I’m guessing omeprazole) or prescription milk. I have a GP appointment on Monday, obviously it will depend on what the GP advises, but just wondering if anyone has been down this route with either medication and/or prescription milk? Any advice on what to try first? I’d rather avoid medicating her but I also don’t want her to be uncomfortable anymore, but then they say reflux is a symptom of something else, so should we be trying different milk first?! Thanks if you’ve made it this far!! X

Hi ,

I'm in the same position as you, my 12 week old is still being sick after every feed , choking and gagging too to the point his going red in the face , myGP told me they don't want to medicate my baby due to be so tiny still, we was on cow & gate , then aptimal and nothing is working , he prescribed milk for us but anti reflux but took to long to get it so I went for a different milk and now trying kendamil and stil sick , we have been referred to a dietician cause he dribbles and makes clicking noises when drinks his bottle and won't take his dummy , we have been referred to tongue tie too , I don't know I've made it this far , this is very draining as never experienced this my last 2 , I'm now second guessing is he lactose instead xx

@LeeanneD11 you have my sympathies! Sounds like we’re in a similar situation. I am DRAINED, you have other kids too so I can’t even imagine how exhausted you must be. I really thought things would be better by now and they’re just not. I was wondering about tongue tie too, she’s does dribble quite a lot when feeding but she can stick her tongue right out and it looks ok underneath too so I’m not sure? It’s so hard, I love my baby but there’s not been much of the last 3 months that I’ve enjoyed :( I really can’t leave the GP on Monday without something, my mental health is really suffering!

I feel you too, my GP is useless too, you can ask your HV to do a referral if you feel like it could be , yeah it's not easy , what milk are they currently on? If you don't mind me asking , I must admit I'm the same not enjoyed it as much to the one thing that gets me going is when he wakes up and smiling at me xx

@LeeanneD11 yeah we were pretty much fobbed off the first visit to the GP, I had to push just to get gaviscon, so I’m expecting a bit of push back again on Monday. Yeah tbf my HV is pretty good so I’ll message her if I’m not getting anywhere. We are on Kendamil goat milk atm, have been for probably the last 8 weeks. We switched for normal kendamil to the goat milk as it’s meant to be more gentle on their tummies, I do think it’s better for her than the normal one but it’s obviously still not agreeing with her, and it’s bloody expensive! Yep I’m exactly the same it’s just the smiles that get me through and the (short) periods of time that she’s happy! Find myself just wishing the time away and for her to be older so we’re not going through this anymore :/

I agree so much, we was on Gaviscon but unfortunately my little one came up with a reaction to it so we stopped it straight away and now we aren't using anything as not much can be done for a baby, I'm hoping to get more answers when I see the dietician to which hopefully isn't long wait xx

@DollyGx Ah reflux. My bloody specialist subject! Excuse my ramblings. Hopefully some of it is useful.

Reflux can be a stand alone or linked to having softer tissue in the throat.

Many of the parents and practitioners I’ve spoken to have considered the reflux specific milk to be a stop gap at best.
The thickener in a shop bought reflux milk isn’t that thick as it’s not prescribed. In Prescribed reflux milk it’s stronger but is often less effective because of the temperature of the water it’s added to - gaviscon is meant to be more effective if added last minute before a feed.

Once carobel and gaviscon have been exhausted, it really is medication time.

If you’re going to push for PPI (proton pump inhibitor) such as omeprazole, please be aware
that it takes anywhere between 3 and 6 weeks to make a difference. I read so many threads on here about giving up on omeprazole etc in days and that’s not how they work; our GP didn’t see to know this and it was the paediatrician at the hospital
who clued us in.

The disadvantage of using a PPI is they can be problematic long term and small group case studies have shown they can have an impact on DC’s immune system. One of ours
couldn’t shift any tummy bugs at any speed like the other DCs.

Similarly gaviscon only really works in perfect conditions and should be prescribed hand in hand with a laxative such as lactose.

We have a moderate case of reflux with this Lo and have found the gaviscon is working as is the lactulose. However Lo has surgery next week and it can all change.

One of the DC spent 3.5 years on omeprazole and under specialist care as well as every DC having reflux so I’m well versed in the torture of it all, I can tell
you when 45 minutes is up with absolute accuracy without a watch, because of keeping the various DC upright for that long in the middle of the night.

@LeeanneD11 we are still having pretty much the same issues with our little girl. We’ve been on such a journey with different doctors prescribing different things. She’s had carobel, gaviscon, Omeprazole, SMa Althera allergy milk and Aptam Pepti allergy milk. We finally had our dietician appointment yesterday with a paediatric consultant and they’ve confirmed it’s reflux and basically to just persevere as we have been doing, which at the moment we are just using gaviscon and as she’s starting to hold her head and sit up better (aided), we’ve noticed the projectile vomit is decreasing every so slightly. Consultant told us to wean early at 5 months. I remember we were advised this with my son for his reflux and we never looked back after weaning so I’m hoping it’s the same this time. She’s almost 15 weeks, so 4 months in a couple of weeks.

It's a such long process isn't it , trying to find the right things to works for our babies , I'm
Constantly crying cause his getting frustrated with his bottles and cries cause he can't drink properly and same with the dummy finding it hard to latch on to it 😭😭, I'm hoping this appointment for tongue tie will help us a little and improve after xx

@LeeanneD11 yes, it’s a very upsetting journey to be on for sure. I’ve found it slightly easier this time but only because we went through the same thing with our son four years ago and I remember just crying every night thinking it’ll never end and neither him or myself will ever feel happy and content. Luckily when we started weaning him at just turned 5 months (from the paediatric consultants instruction) we saw such a massive difference and before long reflux was a thing of the past. We are confident that it should be the same this time, especially as it’s now been confirmed as solely reflux. I would definitely push for some Aptamil Pepti milk though and rule out any allergies as reflux can be a symptom from an allergy, so that’s why we were prescribed allergy milk for around 4 to 6 weeks so we could rule it out as if it’s an allergy causing his reflux, weaning won’t make things better, he would need to avoid cows milk all together until the doctor advised he was ready for re-introduction but that doesn’t usually happen till around 12 months old. My little girl has quite a bad tounge tie and also struggles to take a dummy. None of the doctors have ever focused on her tie though which is surprising to me after reading this thread, no medical professional has ever said the tie could be linked to the sickness etc. which annoys me slightly as I feel if it is linked they should have looked at this.. very interesting, but I’m looking at having her tie looked at privately anyway as my son had a tie which they refused to help us with and he’s now having speech therapy and awaiting a ENT referral for his it to be snipped as it’s causing issues with certain letters as he can’t fully lift his tounge.

We was on allergy milk but he came up in a rash and was still sick , so stopped it but I think I'll try the milk you mentioned till we have the app,

My daughter was tongue tie & lactose intolerant but we found it straight away at 2 weeks old , as my daughter was constantly sick and then the allergy milk helped and had to cut out all dairy things for her when we was weaning , but I'm hoping this time it's not lactose intolerant but I'm just waiting for the app to come through , tongue is next month which is pretty quick from nhs as they done the referral last week but it's the just bottle freeing and dummy xx

@Spareincoming Thank you that is so helpful! I don’t really want to bother with the anti reflux milk I feel it will be a waste of time if gaviscon and carobel haven’t cut it.
That’s good to know omeprazole can take a while to work. Yeah I have read a few things about it that have put me off a bit, the long term affects of taking it, that’s a bit scary. I think I would rather avoid medicating my baby but as you’ll know, you’ll just do anything for them not to be screaming for hours on end anymore, for both me and her, it’s torture! She’s not that sicky it’s silent reflux she has, but she’s pretty bloody miserable a lot of the time, and so is her mammy!
All the best for LO’s op next week 🩷

@DollyGx It wasn’t until we met with the paediatrician that I was able to concede that omeprazole was ok! She explained due to the dose the risk of long term effects was low due to the short period of time most children need to take it.

I never thought I’d be one to recommend medication for such little ones but for us it has been like night and day with all the dc prescribed it.
Lo may well still be refluxing but without the associated pain and distress; you still end up doing the sitting up right after food etc but Lo is noticeably more comfortable.