5mo bf baby suddenly developing reflux??

[lizziejo]

My DS2 has been exc bf and generally he's been a good feeder. A couple of weeks ago he started to get very fussy around feeding (although not neccessarily at every feed) with a lot of back arching / crying etc.

This seems to be getting worse and I was going to mention it to the HV next time he gets weighed but now getting worried as last couple of days he seemed to be in a lot of pain / discomfort and I would reckon has taken a lot less milk than usual. Feeds were all over the place today ... tried to position him differently but didn't seem to help. Tried to give him expressed in a bottle but that wasn't great.

Seems like reflux... but does it start this late on? Has anyone else experienced this/ got any tips. If this hot weather continues I'd be concerned he isn't getting enough milk.

Thanks!

I don't think it's likely to be reflux stating so late. Generally it's present from the very early days and resolves with time.

Have his ears been checked for an ear infection? Is there any sign of thrush in his mouth? Both of these can cause fussy feeding.

Alternatively, have you recently introduced any solids or, in particular, any cow's milk-based supplements, yoghurts, etc? If so, then the symptoms you describe could be to do with that.

thanks for your reply... hadn't thought about other possible problems. Think a trip to the clinic / GP is needed!

Haven't started weaning yet so he's had nothing but breast milk. Although was wondering if it could be something I'm eating thats upsetting him (DS1 had lots of allergies so I went dairy free). But again I would have thought I would have noticed something before now if it was an allergy causing the trouble.

Yes, I would have thought you would have noticed before now if it was allergy-related. Hope the HV helpful.