All new deluxe reflux support thread

[buttonmoon78]

Welcome one and all!

After such an improvement we've had a total backsliding today - mucho vomiting. He's also really mucousy - always rattling and snorting, but that's not a new thing. And the last couple of weeks he's taken to rubbing his nose on anything he can - as soon as you pick him up and put him up to your shoulder he rubs his nose as hard as he can. He looks like I feel when I have that nasty persistent hayfever itch but I don't think it's that!

I'm glad you've both got somewhere. We've got our appointment tomorrow morning so I'm really nervous. Thankfully, DH was due to be at home today but instead has arranged to be here tomorrow so he's coming with me.

BBB ds2 smiled lots and lots at 3 weeks at dh, at dds & ds1, at dh's aunt, at dm, at dmil, the dog, basically at everyone. Except me. The little git darling made me wait until nearly 7 weeks for more than a single solitary smirk he had thrown me like a sop at nearly 4 weeks.

DS not been coping too well with the heat today. I think it's more to do with the humidity than the heat tbf but each time I picked him up after a nap there was a nice wet circle where his head had been on the carrycot/basket mattress. Niiice - a total sweaty betty!

Hi guys don't want to jinx it, like it appears to have happened for done of you but da has just slept from 11-5am . I can't believe it. After lookingonline again last night for some advice I realised that maybe I hadn't raise the end of the Moses basket enough for there the be any effect. It said it needed to be 6-8", I'd only used one book. So two hardbacks lasted and he slept like a baby . I can't believe I had 4 hours of sleep in one go (he slept but dd woke up ). Anyway its probably going to only be tonight so thought I'd share. Going to the gps tomorrow so we'll see if they are a believer!

One question in anticipation what are your top tips for getting ga is on into a ebf 3 week old?

Tia

Oh and after a feed has gone straight back to sleep without a sound [
Shock].

I had a relatively good night too. 7.30 till 12 then till 4.30. Woke again at 6.30 but put him in bed with me for a cuddle and he slept till ten to eight!! Think that might be cheating.....but it's the most sleep I've had in 9 weeks so who cares!! Lol.

Well, we had a good appointment. The dr was very lovely and gave us the option of anything we wanted! In the end we're going to try gaviscon and ranitidine in conjunction with eachother as we've not been allowed to try that yet. Dr has sent a letter to gp saying that if, after a week, we feel there is little or no improvement he is to prescribe domperidone immediately and omeprazole after that.

So I'm feeling a lot more positive as I was half expecting to deal with someone who didn't even think it was a problem!

Funnily enough, I said that we were advised to wean dd early to help with the reflux but that I wasn't keen to do that again. Dr laughed and said 'if you get to 5 months with this bruiser I'll eat my words' When I questioned her over the 6m milk-exclusivity thing she said what the WHO failed to take into account is that larger babies often have maturer guts than smaller babies and lose their gag reflex sooner and therefore genuinely are ready sooner. I've not heard that before so can't comment on its accuracy but I thought it interesting!

However - after all that positivity, it was always going to shatter wasn't it? We've just had the worst night EVER with ds. As in worse than night 3 before my milk came in. Just plain hideous. Of course he's now in his basket sleeping off the stresses of the night. I'm sitting here mning being very busy.

Well yes it was just a one off gp did give me gaviscon so he had that last night for the first time and he's just had his second lot now.

I'm right that it's not something that builds up to work aren't I?

Hi all,

Can I join too please? I have nearly 9 week old identical twin girls born at 31 weeks, they have been home from SCBU for nearly four weeks now. They have been on gaviscon, ranitidine and domperidone from about 3 weeks old. They are currently on 100ml of formula 6 x a day with a sachet of gaviscon per feed, 1ml domperidone 4 x day and 0.25ml ranitidine 3 x day. The meds are keeping on top of it but from what I have read on here that seems like quite high dosages. They have just had the domperidone increased after review with the consultant in line with their weight gain and the sickness is back under control again, posetting a few times a day but nothing I woudn't consider normal. They are more bothered by trapped wind and acid from what I can figure out and they won't settle well if we dont keep them upgright for at least 20 mins after feeding - if not they are arching their backs, sticking their tongues out and writhing about.

I guess I'm just looking for other people's experiences and tips to keep them out of pain as much as possible. They have just got big enough to be able to sit in their bouncy chairs and they seem to be a godsend as keep them upright without me having to hold them up which, with two, is pretty difficult!

(Oh, and they currently weigh 5lb6 and 5lb1 respectivley).

lovebeing my consultant says it does.

silver welcome. I guess the drs are probably thinking that with such early babies there is no room for error. Better to over rather than under medicate maybe?

Blimey today has been a tough day but think it's the heat.

A friend swears by mixing up formula with fennel tea, not water. She also adds gaviscon and a dose of gripe water. Her dd1 had terrible silent reflux, and her dd2 didn't suffer as much due to the above cocktail.
My ds1 had it really badly, gaviscon and ranitidine were a godsend. He grew out of it by 9 months. It was horrible, keep going to the doc (not HV, didnt even bother telling them) until you get proper treatment, and don't let yourself be fobbed off with "oh it is just colic, he'll grow out of it". That is nonsense, and cruel to your child.

I hear you lovebeing. DH and I were saying the same last night!

So my 3 week old, how many does a day do you think will make a difference? I thought maybe I could just give as and when . Feels so wrong to be spooning anything into his mouth.

It depends on your lo's weight I believe. My ds is on about 5 sachets a day. He was 12 lb 13 at last weigh in. Think he could have more according to the box but he only has small feeds often so don't want to OD him. Ask your gp if you're unsure?! Good luck. It's not easy getting the balance right.

Think we're on the omeprazole route. Even with ranitidine ds is not happy at all.

Bloody doctors. GPs have said they'll fit him in at 12.20 as he's a baby despite being chocka - good stuff.

Letter to GP from consultant arrived just now saying they can prescribe domperidone if required but not mentioning omeprazole at all. So when I turn up at GP's what is the chance of them giving me it? Nowt.

Am so cross. I've rung consultant's secretary and she's trying to track her down to see if they can fax something over.

V v

And tired.

All's well that ends well. Consultant is v embarrassed for not putting both meds on the letter.

GP was happy to prescribe omeprazole anyway but had to ring consultant after all to check how to prescribe it!

So... what do others do? Pharmacist said I could mix it with fruit juice but I'm not sure about giving him juice yet

Just wanted to pop in and offer my support to you all. I have two DS who were both refluxers - one silent and one who has ruined my carpet by most definitely not being silent!! Having said that, I was lucky that they only screamed when they were feeding. We've been through every medicine available between the two of them and different things worked for each at different times.

DS1 is now 3 and a 1/2 and still burps a lot during meals. DS2 is 18 months and seems to be over it, although he goes through spells of retching when eating.

I think my two were unlucky not to grow out of it sooner as I read a lot on MN about babies outgrowing it by a year. Even having taken the long route with my two, I have survived the difficult times that you lot are currently going through and I just wanted to offer some reassurance that you will get through too.

Keep going to the doctors (mine all know me personally now ) and make sure you know what you want to achieve - whether you need a referral to a consultant (GPs have to have a good reason to say no) or which medicine you want to try. If your own GP doesn't support you, find one who will (and I second not bothering with your health visitor, unless you have one who really understands reflux and will give you some real support). The understanding of reflux is so crazily varied and our babies have to rely on us as mummies and daddies to get what's needed to keep them comfortable and happy. Just keep going and know that everyone on here understands how you are feeling. One day you will wake up and realise that the puking and/or crying has reduced without you really realising it. Don't be too distressed when you've had a few good days followed by a relapse. Over time, it will improve. Good luck.

Aaaargh!

DS (12wks) is now on omeprazole and gaviscon. I make it up with 10ml apple juice and then give him 5ml. He took it fine from dh on Saturday but has now got wise to it and is simply spitting it out. I put it into a syringe and have tried front of mouth, back of mouth, it makes no difference.

Any ideas? I'm at my wits end. We came off ranitidine as it wasn't working well, and the omeprazole seemed to work well on Sat but if he won't take it anymore then obv it's not going to work. is it?!

Oh bugger...poor you. No advice really just wanted to pop in to say good luck with getting some decent replies...not from me cos I'm useless....but from someone wiser!! Ha. I'll keep my eye out and my fingers crossed. Good luck. Just out of curiosity is you LO still gaining weight? If so is that through comfort feeding do you think?

Well, if I said that he's already had 28oz so far today and he's got another 2/3 bottles to go before 7am tomorrow that might give you and answer! To be honest, that's not typical - he's been really 'in need of comfort' today.

I posted in children's health too and have had a few good tips but more than anything total over the paed telling me to use yoghurt if all else fails and that I should wait to wean. FFS I said it was not weaning - it would be only a means to an end! I've every intention of not weaning for a good long while yet, but I can't deal with another day like today

I guess I'm probably a little oversensitive tonight

As for weight - I don't know. I'll be popping to get him weighed tomorrow - will let you know then!

I am getting really down with this reflux. On Thursday we began the numtramigen. I mixed it with the aptamil and reduced the A and increased the N by one scoop every other bottle so by Friday night we were totally on the N. On the upside, the little bits of eczema he had have disappeared. On the downside, he is even more sick than before. It's pure watery acid that's coming back. It doesn't seem to bother him much during the day but having been a bit more settled during the evening we're back to screaming til he falls asleep exhausted and sobbing.

Also, his nappies are much less wet than they were before. We're using cloth so it's quite easy to tell - whereas after 3-4 hours the whole thing would be wet, now the top, sides and back are bone dry, even after 4-5 hours.

I'm going to ring the paed again this morning because I'm quite worried, esp about the nappies. I feel like a neurotic mum with a pfb though.

I feel like everything I do just makes him worse though. Everything we try seems to have more down than upsides

Hello - I'm new to this group and wondered if anyone had any advice re reflux and teething. My DS2 has silent reflux - he wasn't diagnosed until around 5+ months as were told by several doctors that it was colic, fussiness, etc, etc. We finally got a paed referral and he has been on Ranatidine and Domperidone since 6 months after Gaviscon didn't work. He has been great for last month or so, especially since changing into the bigger car seat but has just started to get really bad again - lots of screaming lying down, not sleeping well during day and general fussiness. He's 8 months now and I think he has a first tooth coming. Could this bring on reflux again? We have also not been advised to increase the dose of either of his meds in line with his weight, which has increased quite a bit since he was prescribed them. He is still EBF and eats well in the day, although been a bit fussier with food and BF last 2 days. Does anyone have any similar experiences/suggestions? My DS1 had reflux and was very sicky but as he was never in pain and gained weight well, the paed didn't want to do anything. He didn't grow out of it until he was gone 1 so we may have some time to go yet!

Devon we found the same with DS2 regarding teething and for us it carried on until he recently finished teething aged 20months. The good news for us was that each time he had a spate of teeth coming through he dealt with the reflux better, until he was only retching, rather than being sick all the time. We did keep upping his dose of his meds with his weight and that helped, but to be honest, time was the best cure in the end. Good luck.

We're constantly unsure of our progress here. DS seems a little better one day and then worse again the next. I've still not seen the second specialist - I'm about to call the hospital now to see where our referral is as the GP has faxed to expedite it.

Fingers x they'll have some news for me...