Support thread for all parents with reflux babies...

[PosieParker]

Just thought a pooling of ideas would be useful. Any ideas about meds, symptoms, coping strategies, things to make a baby quiet!!


Symptoms:

Arched back and crying/screaming after feeding
Fussy on/off breast or bottle
Frequent feeding
Little sleep
Constant crying/screaming

(please add)

Meds:

My memory is a little rose on this and I can't remember

Coping

SWING,
pushchair walks
accepting help
Sometimes putting your baby somewhere you can't hear them whilst you have a large gin cup of tea.

[Hazeyjane]

oh helen, sorry you had such terrible night. hope you are managing to get some rest now, and you ds is no longer in pain

ds was up most of the night, but dh was doing the 2-5 shift, otherwise i'd have posted.

dd1 only liked babyrice with pear (it is pretty rank stuff), so maybe worth a go. Sounds like maybe better to wait until the omeprazole has kicked in though.

I really enjoyed doing blw with dd2, i guess that is a no no with refluxy babies, if they are weaned early.

[hildathebuilder]

My DS only likes baby rice mixed with something sweet - pear is proving better than apple. He also won't eat it with formula only with EBM. But then he is not willing to have any formula with anything at the moment!

[Hazeyjane]

sorry, hilda, I forgot to say how frightening that must have been with your ds. Nothing like that has happened with ds, so I guess his grun ting is a hangover from his breathing difficulties when he was born.

have you tried Hipp organic with him, i have tasted most of the formulas, and thought this was the nicest

[fiveisanawfullybignumber]

helenwombat Keep going with the omeprazole, it does take a few days for the effects to build up. what dose are you on? Max dose is 3mg/kg of body weight. However they will only increase when she puts on 2kg at our hospital. Also you don't have to fuss disolving tablets etc, we get it in liquid form, must go in the fridge & has 2-3 week shelf life.
My DD (16wks) was up from 4am to 7.15am this morning, foaming like a rabid child and vomiting profusely. Slept for 2hrs on me then awake from 9.30am till 20mins ago. passed out from sheer exhaustion from screaming in the sling. Dare not move her now.
I blame asda for todays outbursts, can you believe they put milk protein in bloody chicken breast slices? Also in their own label tomato ketchup, but avoid that now. Why, for gods sake?????

[fiveisanawfullybignumber]

Forgot to say, started Domperidone yesterday, so now on the big 3 for her. Domperidone, Omeprazole & Gaviscon. Please let it work for more than 2 weeks.

[Jacanne]

We've just started dissolving the omeprazole in a small amount of apple juice - dd seems to take it better (we were struggling to get it in) and it does seem to be working better.

I've noticed that on her sicky days the acid is less of a problem - she's more likely to scream in pain on her dry days.

DD has a white tongue too.

I am dreading tomorrow night - we have to go out to celebrate my parents 50th WA and my MIL is looking after dd. She is really worried about it and has good reason to be as dd is an evening screamer and the only one with a hope in hell of settling her is me :(

[Jacanne]

Omprazole took a few days with us too - the first few days of taking it were dd's worst to date.

[Hazeyjane]

how the hell does anyone with a refluxy baby get things done?!

Ds is at his screamiest and most uncomfortable at night and in the morning. Which means no sleep for anyone, followed by a frantic morning of trying to get ready wih me either dangling ds from my arm/slinging him or leaving him screaming in a bouncy chair.

from tomorrow i've got to get dds ready for school run at 8.30 - I feel sick thinking about it!

[PosieParker]

Hazey....Get a swing, really gives handsfree time. Either get one on ebay, cheap, or buy a brand new one and sell it on ebay....

[Athrawes]

Hi
mine is eight weeks old and a random lady at breastfeeding group took one look and said she thought he has reflux...cue investigation of symptoms and horror that he has them all. Gaviscon worked ok but is such a nightmare to get down that we have switched to rinitidine. My question is, how long does it take to kick in? The gaviscon worked so well and I am dreading a night without it!

[Jacanne]

Helenwombat - some people say that omeprazole can take a couple of weeks to work. I think I'd be wary about the rice milk simply because at his age it might mean that he cuts out real milk and he still needs that to grow - I'm not sure how much goodness is in rice milk. I wondered, as you mentioned the drooling, if he could be teething because dd is drooling loads at the moment - it can exacerbate reflux.

Also, if he seems worse and you have just started the solids it might be worth cutting them out for a bit and seeing what difference that makes? I have often wondered why introducing solids should help with reflux as surely more solid food would need more acid to digest it - I can see that it might help with the vomiting because the food is thicker and therefore less likely to come up but with the actual acid that comes up.....does anybody know?

[Athrawes]

Hello again. I realise my horror is minor in comparison but still need some advice. I am doubling up the gaviscon during the day and rinitidine at the beginning and end, with the idea of weaning off the gaviscon once the rinitidine kicks in ... But when might that be? My GP can't tell me because he thinks the baby has colic and will grow out of it at 12 weeks - not sure why he agreed to give me the rinitidine in that case, but anyway - I am sure it is reflux as has responded to gaviscon.

[Jacanne]

Helenwombat - the cranial osteopath I saw recommended a dummy so don't listen - I think there is a lot of evidence that dummies help reflux babies.

If you're going to switch to the bottle it might be worth asking for a prescription for Neocate - ordinary formula might make the reflux worse as it takes longer to digest than breast milk. Neocate is dairy and soya free - it might be worth investigating wether it makes a difference.

[Hazeyjane]

Oh helenwombat, that sounds like hell indeed. We are getting about 4 hours sleep each a night, and if I eat/drink enough cake and coffee i just about get through the day!

Ds has seemed a little more settled during the day, but night is awful, he will only take a couple of oz milk at a time, then grunts for the next 2 hours.

Does Gaviscon make your lo's constipated? Ds's poos look like the poo of a fully weaned baby, I'm not sure if this is normal.

I'm also confused by the dosage, ds has maximum 4 oz at a feed, but is over 10lb so should be on a higher dosage, however the packet says to mix 2 pkts in no less than 8oz milk? If I mix up 8oz and store half in the fridge it gets really thick, is this ok?

I think sleep deprivation is stopping my brain working properly!

[Athrawes]

Gaviscon makes mines poos like playdoh - not constipated just a darn sight tidier in the nappy. I was told and checked with pharmacy, not to store made up Gaviscon, to make it fresh every time.
If rinitidine does not work I may stick with gaviscon. I have been mixing it up with 5ml rather than 15 and that is a lot less hassle to get in.
Is hiccupping after every feed a reflux feature?
Have finally gotten mine to take a dummy and keeping that stuffed in for the evenings really helps-when he wants to be awake but needs distracting - he sucks so hard and with such concentration it is funny!

[tooloudhere]

hi, I am on my third refluxer, my who is now 3 weeks old. Doc just prescribed ranitidine for him. Can I ask what dose ranitidine people have had prescribed for their little ones as the doc has gone straight in with what I think is quite a large dose for a teeny weeny one.

[organiccarrotcake]

DS2 is 11 weeks almost and my second refluxer. First was a happy chucker - chucking 4' regularly. I weened him at 4 months from EBM and really regret it as at 5 yrs he has bad eczema and cow's milk intolerance. I early weaned on the advice of the HV as she said it would likely help the reflux, which it did, but as it wasn't bothering him (just creating lots of washing for me!) I should have just waited :(

DS2 doesn't do the PV thing but does throw up a lot. He's very unhappy with it though. IG is helping a lot, as is a dairy-free diet for me. He's EBF and I can't risk formula even if I wanted to, which I don't, because of the history of allergies (many people in my family not just DS1).

Can someone tell me what causes the white tongue? DS2 has that.

Any tips for dealing with the constipation caused by IG?

[JoandMax]

Just seen this thread, what a great idea!

My DS2 has severe silent reflux which started about 5 weeks and has got progressively worse since then, he's now nearly 6 months. He has also started vomitting in the last few weeks so we're pretty desperate and knackered!

He is on Ranitadine, Gavison, Omeprazole, Domperidone and also Erythromycin (similar to domperidone in effect). He stopped feeding a few months ago so after numerous hospital trips and stays he now has an NG tube which has at least made us able to ensure he is hydrated and maintaining his weight, even gaining a tiny bit some weeks.

He is very skinny, ribs and hip bones on show and sleeps very badly - lots of groaning/writhing so I am exhausted, also have an active 2 year old so things are hard.

We are seeing the dietician on Monday to discuss weaning and also a high calorie supplement to add to his Neocate. Also seeing paed to discuss surgery as nothing else is working.........

I am so so sad by it all, I remember the first 6 months of DS1s life and it couldn't have been more different. I hate not knowing what to do, how to help. Most of the time I try and be positive and have as normal a life as possible but it sometimes gets too much and I have a major cry!

I'm very sorry so many others have to suffer with this - my top tips would be:

Cans of full fat coke and kitkats!
Having a good cry
Asking and accepting help - I found this hard but am so glad I did, even just asking my mum to come over for a few hours to help makes it so much better
Keep repeating 'this will get better'
Realising it's not your fault and reminding myself that my lovely baby won't remember this

[Hazeyjane]

is it possible for gaviscon to suddenly stop working?

ds suddenly screaming alot, not feeding well, not sleeping at all, poos are a lot softer than usual.

i thought the gaviscon was starting to make a difference, but now he seems worse than before.

[emmylou157]

hi,
currently sat here with dd over my shoulder both of us covered in sick, but she is falling asleep so can't risk moving her to change our clothes.
She is 6 1/2 weeks old and has the following;

• vomits regularly fresh and curdled milk
  
• writhes in pain during and after feeding
  
• constant dribbling
  
• white tongue - which is always sticking out
  
• when lying down makes retching/barking sounds
  
• hiccups a few times a day - she has these most days while I was pregnant too.
  

GP has prescribed gaviscon but im not sure that it makes any difference - also very difficult to get it into her after feeds as she is full and tends to just spit it out (I am bf).

Just wondering if anyone could help me out with the following questions;

• how do you raise the head of moses basket matresses?
  
• what baby swings do you recommend?
  

thanks