Is this reflux? Lactose Intollerance? Something else?

[ComradeJing]

I'm not sure if this should be in feeding or children's health tbh so forgive me and tell me if you think I should have it moved.

First DD (19weeks and bf) feeds happily, is gaining weight like a trooper, vomits a bit and it stinks of acid when she does, doesn't really arch her back but dislikes being flat on her back for more than say 10 minutes before she starts to call to be picked up. She is generally a happy little thing.

The problem is sleep. She wakes up after less than 10 minutes of going to sleep screaming in pain. Sometimes it's longer 40 minutes, sometimes it's less. When I watch her she is fast asleep and then just starts screaming and it's that horrid high pitched pain cry. It's also getting worse, not better.

I'm at my wits end. Poor DD is getting no sleep and neither am I. She gets x2 doses of mylanta a day and x3 doses of liquid zantac. They are the ONLY things that are available to children in China for reflux. It isn't making a blind bit of difference. DD is also mostly fed to sleep which I know doesn't help but we're working on it. We've tried a hammock, we've tried tilting her up (though she tends to slide to one side) and it doesn't seem to help. There have also been a few days of pink mucous and dots and threads of blood in her nappies. Dr thinks this might be linked to the reflux but isn't worried as she is gaining so much weight.

Is this really reflux or could it be something else? She has had an ultrasound and there is nothing there. Should I try cutting out dairy?

Sorry this is long. I'm way too tired to cope any more.

Sounds more like reflux than something like lactose intolerance, my DS was lactose intolerant from birth until around 20 months, and his symptoms before we knew were vomiting after feeds all the time, gurgling tummy, and then minutes after a feed, he'd "shoot" out poo, runny, grainy poo.
My nephew had reflux and sounds more like your symptoms, he was on baby gaviscon until recently,my SIL took him back and forward to the doctors, and also got referred for an allergy test? May be worth going back to see the GP?!

sounds stressful. Sorry I can't actually help but hate to just click back. I guess trialing cutting out dairy might help - I have and she was less sickly and less colicky but it could be a coincidence because i haven't tried reintroducing it to see.

good luck!

Thank you for the quick replies. I'm seeing my GP (who is a pead, bf consultant and a GP) regularly. She has said our next option is to add cornstarch to expressed milk or to formula. These both sound a bit mad to me.

Will she just grown out of it? Should I introduce solids early?

My DS started solids well porridge made with Nutramigen at 18 weeks, but if it's a lactose thing it can easily be sorted with a special formula Nutramigen, it isn't the best option for you, cause you are BF but i think if it helped i'd be keen, but it is completely upto you, best thing to do is go to docs and see what advice they have?! Good Luck to you x

hmm it does sound more like reflux than a dairy problem

won't be lactose or she would be very ill cos breastmilk is full of it! if it's an intolerance then more liekly to be to the cow's milk proteins
but IME that causes far more severe symptoms (ie, loose, mucousy nappies which smell horrid, skin complaints, inconsolable screaming for most of the day, being sick quite a lot... )

that said, dairy has been known in some cases to make reflux worse, and it would do no harm for you to cut it out and see if it made any difference.

how easy is she for you to settle back down after she has woken?

btw i wouldn't gie solids early. if it's a digestion/gut problem (like an intolernace) then you don't really want to be adding anything else to an immature gut
the best thing for her is breastmilk

i also wouldn't add cornstarch to milk either, although i presume that's to thicken it and create a homemade "staydown" milk??

I agree with tiy, i don't think it sounds like lactose intolerance, as my DS was quite sick and constant runny poos which looked like mustard grains and smelly with, blood etc eventually. And yes Breast milk full of lactose, i think it's more a reflux?!

I agree it sounds like reflux to me rather than an intolerance. My dd who is six months has severe reflux. I also found that when I was full (bf) she would be sick more and yes smelt of acid to the point where relatives commented. She was also very mucusy and rattly (we later found out though she has a floppy larynx) and you could hear her gulping in her sleep.

How long has she been on the zantac/ranitadine and are they adjusting to her weight? I would also check she is on the maximum dose as we found at first it didn't help but when they upped the dose. She was much better.

I think the idea with the cornstarch is to weight the feed down so it stays down. The paed we are under suggested staying away from thicker feeds as it stays around longer in their system, obviously they all have their own opinions though. Bm is the best for them as it goes through the system quicker.

What helped with my dd was the correct dose of meds, we also had domperidone, I expressed a little before the feed, so I wasn't too full. Gaviscon which I syringed down rather than in milk and all the usual stuff, sitting up after feeds and raising the mattress (wedges are brilliant)

If it's any help, I am now weaning dd and she is doing amazingly well, she just has silent reflux now (touch wood) and things do seem better now she is on more solids.