Silent reflux, feeding less, sleeping more - please help!!

[zambooloo]

Hi, I'm really worrying about my 11wk old dd. She has been diagnosed with reflux and is on domperidone and zantac (ratinidine). We only started these on friday evening - they are having an effect but some feeds are still obviously hurting her. How long do these meds take to work?

Since the reflux got really bad and she's been on the meds she has only been taking reduced feeds and just doesn't seem hungry. She was having 5oz every 4hrs. She is now having feeds about every 5-6hrs and will sometimes only have 1/2 the feed but does usually take a bit more than that.

She also seems to be sleeping more. She is happy when awake and doesn't appear to be in pain.

She will take some of the bottle but then won't take anymore and goes red in face, kicking legs and turning her head away.

Sorry for confused post, I'm just really worried about her. Can anyone let me know:

• how long the meds take to work
• if the amount she is taking at each feed is still enough

Also any other advice is v welcome!!

Have you tried raising the head end of her crib/cot a little? We put hardback books under one end of the crib to let gravity help our Ds. You need to be careful that it won't slip off though

Thank you - yes we're doing that, think it helps her re-settle after night feed, thank you for posting.

My ds is 18 months with severe reflux
I remember the early days well.
Right to get the rest of the bottle down her try her in the car?
My ds had his bottle every 4 hours in the pram at one point because he had to be distracted that much!

I would gently rock him while feeding, stand up and dance, sit in front of tv and rock him while feeding.
Its a horrible time and I hope she gets over this soon.
You can buy infant gaviscon sachets or get them on script.
They help some and not others. Reflux is trail and error with meds.
If that doesn't work as your gp for omeperzole.
I'm here for you and sending hugs your way.
My ds still has severe reflux and is currently being fed via syringe into his mouth as he has pain association with spoons and ate very little finger foods. You need to find ways to distract from the pain or start to feed her as she starts to fall asleep x

Thanks - we started on infant gaviscon but she was so constipated we stopped that on friday. She is still really constipated so I hope the new meds aren't making her constipated too.

Do you think I need to be forcing the rest of the bottle down her? She seems to take the first half really well but the rest would mean almost pinning her down and forcing it in. Is it necessary? Do you think she isn't getting enough with just over half the bottle?

There was a time when my dh would cover ds eyes put his dummy into ds mouth while i held him and then quickly take it out and give him
His bottle. That's how bad it got pain wise. Every feed was a nightmare
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Gaviscon really helps my Ds. He us now on 210ml bottles and we just add half a sachet per bottle. He still has lots of small vomits afterwards but without the Gaviscon they are enormous ones. He sometimes gets constipated with it but usually pressing the soles of his feet or cycling his legs helps. If it gets very bad he has a bit of lactulose. Reflux us awful! Big hugs x

I remember the constipation with the gaviscon too.
I do really feel for you
And yes I do think you need to try not for force but encourage her to take the rest of her bottle.
I had to take ds in the pram to the park for him to have half of his dinner once!
He's gone to sleep and I can hear him being sick and then swallowing it.
It's such a horrible thing.
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fazsaeed what medicines are you giving ds? How long did they take to have an affect?

It took about a week to see a difference in my son once on meds, also remember there wee oesophagus will be raw with the acid and it will heal , my son was given carobel to thicken his milk , it made a huge difference, I had to walk around the house on second half of the bottle and distract him, in and out of every room looking out the window and trying to keep really calm myself, he seemed to sense me stressing, the hv told me as long as he was getting around 20oz of milk in 24 hrs he'd b fine, not sure about what amount for your lo, but at his worst he took about 13 a day, he is 1 now and it is still a problem but it's rare for babies to have not grown out of it by now , most people who's baby's had it same time as mine are all fine now, we were also put onto hypo allergenic milk as reflux can b a sign of milk intolerance, as can b constipation, so that may b an option if things don't improve, x

You don't need gaviscon with donperidone.

I'd give it a week.

Try feeding little and often and do not force. Try catching her when drowsy (eg before/end of a nap) and feed holding upright.

Sleepiness might be because she's in less pain or (rarely) I think its a side effect of ranitidine (don't quote me though).

You should also consider switching to a hypo allergenic formula as intolerance to cows milk can cause reflux.

Iggly - do you know which formulas are hypo allergenic? She is having aptimal at the moment. If I bought one to try would one tub be enough to see a difference?

We are on neocate, tried nutramigen too, i asked the health visitor if it could be possible milk intolerance and she sorted it all out over phone with dietician and I had a prescription within a day or so x

You can't buy them in the shop - you get them prescribed by the GP. well I think you can buy them but only from a pharmacy. Neocate or nutramigen are options.

Just thought - if she had an intolerance to cow's milk wouldn't she have had it from birth or is it something that can develop? She was feeding fine with no probs up until about 10days - 2 weeks ago.

My son is on nutramigen in prescription. Allergies/intolerances can develop A friend's son developed a milk allergy at 7 months. My sons paediatrician said it can take up to 3 weeks after switching formula for all the lactose to leave his system but we noticed a difference within 2 days. You want to get a Prescription for it as it is about £40 for a small tub and the first week or so we went through a tub a day as Ds wouldn't drink it properly so we wasted loads. It tastes and smells vile my Ds is still sick a lot but it isn't painful for him now. Just messy

Ds is on omeperzole as gaviscon did nothing
Rantidine made him scream
If you think there's no improvement then take her docs in the morning
Doc will try and fob you off as they aren't really aware of reflux. They class our children as fussy colic baby's.

Dom periodone wiorks differently to gaviscon so you can use both. Domperidone emptys the stomach quickly thus avoiding reflux.
DD had omeprazole.domperidone,gaviscon and still occasionally a dose of ranatidine. Her reflux was severe and she had a cleft too so more inclined to choke.
Id say all the meds take a while to take effect and that ranatidine can indeed cause a little sleepyness.
Feed her upright and keep her upright for about an hour after feeds.
You can buy a wedge for under her matress from a site dedicated to reflux.
It may be crying over spilt milk,im sure someone will know.The wedge helped loads.
Its truly awfull.She was my 5th and i was beside myself.
She is one now and it went off around 10 months so i am very lucky.
I hope it all gets sorted.

They can develop an aversion to feeding over time - so could react from birth then over the weeks realise that feeding = pain.

Also reflux peaks at 3-4 months so will progressively get worse (as in not as bad to start with).

She is still constipated although we stopped the gaviscon on friday evening. She has pooed but they are really hard and she keeps straining but nothing comes out. How long until the constipation eases from when we stopped gavisicon or could the domperidone and zantac/ ranatidine cause constipation?

This is what she has had to eat so far today -
2am 100ml
7.30 130ml
12.15 110ml
4.45 100ml
Do you think this is enough? She is 11 weeks old.

Thank you for all your posts

With ds it didn't ease until a couple of days after giving more feeds (I might have given a teaspoon of cooled boiled water too even though BF). I don't know about formula though! Can you try giving an ounce or two every hour?

I just offered her the rest of the bottle I started at 4.45 and she finished it so she's had 5oz over the last hour. Maybe it helps her to have a 1/2hr break in the middle. Do you think that might be possible?

We were told by the dr to give the domperidone 15-30mins before a feed. I'm finding this really hard as she isn't really feeding in any pattern at the mo. When were you told to give it?

That sounds about right - I stopped it though as it gave ds an upset tummy and just used ranitidine. I think the dose was 3-4 times a day. Domperidone stops the vomit which I could manage, I just wanted the acid neutralised.

If you give her a half hour break between feeds (a good idea I think), could you give the Domperidone in that break?

With reflux it defo helps giving small amounts more frequent so if she has a bottle every 3 hours and has 5oz give her 3 every hour or so?
Something along the lines of that.
I think she's done well with her feeds today. Giving a break does help x

Thank you so much for all your help and advice. I'll try that fazsaeed and giviing her the domperidone in the break during the feed is a great idea iggly so thank you.

Hope she gets over reflux soon.
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