Infant Gaviscon for an 8 month old?

[Bartimosaurus]

DS still throws up daily aged 8 months (some days better than others) despite sitting up unaided and being on solids (all those things that I was "promised" would help!)

We've tried a couple of meds but nothing has worked and the DR says there is nothing left to try. We are not in the UK. I've seen that Gaviscon is recommended by lots of people, but according to the manufacturers it shouldn't be given to under 12 month olds without medical supervision...

So, my question, if you gave gaviscon to a baby under 12 months were you strictly followed by the doctor? Or did you just follow the instructions on the packet?

We've used infant Gaviscon for silent reflux since DS was about 3mo. I'm not sure whether you're looking at infant Gaviscon or adult Gaviscon there.

We have bought it over the counter when we've gone out and forgotten to take any but otherwise have it on prescription.

As far as I can tell, infant Gaviscon is usually the first drug tried and if it doesn't make any difference then people get put on more authoritative drugs like domperidone and ranitidine (hope I've got those right, its not something we've had to do) but those drugs have slightly different functions. There are lots of people on here with far more experience than me.

Another possible explanation is dietary intolerance. DS'a reflux improved hugely when I gave up dairy and for a while he was spectacularly sick when I ate soya although that seems better now.

Also DS is now 7 1/2mo and we thought he was over the reflux so we tailed off the Gaviscon after solid feeds but after a few sleepless nights when he woke howling every couple of hours and would only feed back to sleep we put the Gaviscon back in and he's back to waking up once in the night so solid food hasn't been a cure for is either.

Dd is 11 weeks and been on infant gaviscon for 3.5wk for reflux. It's pricey over the counter and the dr was very reluctant to medicate. Luckily (or unluckily depending how u look at it) dd lack of weight gain became an issue so they prescribed it.

However bf and giving gaviscon was a nightmare. She could not keep it down. Turns out that even though the pack says mix with 15ml of water (compared to putting it in a full bottle of formula) according to the paediatrician we've been referred to that is too highly concentrated and that's why dd struggled. In his opinion it should be mixed with 3-4oz water. But as you give it after a feed itl b a struggle to get it all down!

melliebobs - your Paed. recommends giving an 11 week old 3-4 oz (is that three or four ounces or three fourths or 3/4ths of an ounce?) of water 6 times a day?? That's 18-24oz of water a day - a 1 to 6m old bf baby takes an average of 25oz of BM a day (on a range of 19oz-30oz) so theoretically you could be replacing all of a bf baby's BM intake with water? Have you got this in writing so you have written proof if you make a complaint. Giving water is also dangerous as it can cause hyponatreamia where there is to little sodium in the blood and this can cause seizures and other health problems.

DD1 was on gaviscon for a little bit (taken off it as she couldn't poo) and I mixed the powder with cool boiled water (15mls worth) and fed it to her in a tiny bottle (I used a narrow neck teat on a 50ml ebm collection container which made the diddiest bottle going). It worked for her but the gaviscon didn't so we went to domperidone which meant she gained weight properly for the first time (do. speeds up the transit of milk/food through the gut so it spend less time in the stomach to be sicked up and is administered with a syringe). It may be worthwhile asking for another drug if the gaviscon is not having the desired effect on baby.

truthsweet the paediatrician said indeed in "his opinion" for a bf baby mixing gaviscon in 15ml water (as it suggests) is too highly concentrated (hence dd vomiting it back up). He said in an ideal world it should really be mixed in 3 to 4 ounce of water. He said obviously that's totally impractical as baby won't manage that after a feed. Let alone up to 6 times a day!

Subsequently he's told us to stop taking it and given us ranitadine. Only been on it 2 days but already noticing a small difference

Thank goodness for that! I imagined you being told to give 6 lots of 3-4oz of gaviscon/water mix a day and baby either not taking the mix of not being able to bf while stuffed full of mix! Glad you have been put on something else that's started working.

Our gp was reluctant to medicate too. That's why I took matters into my own hands and gave up dairy. It made a huge difference within 48hrs although I do have Ben Gun moments where I miss cheese dreadfully!

The doctor prescribed infant gaviscon for my then 9 week old and since then we have just followed instructions. It has worked really well but she has silent reflux so slightly different to your little one.

My dd 8 months has been on the infant gaviscon for about 4 weeks. Prescribed by the dr. We started on just 1 sachet per feed, then moved up to two. We were first of all guided by gp, and were now just getting on with it. I would say if I can get it over the counter, then it's worth a shot. Were silent reflux (most of the time) here too xx

agree with melliebobs, is nightmare to give with bf and we struggled after feeds. My paed said to give it before feeds.... Not ideal but what he did with his son. Easier to do that way but not great as we are on ranitidine and domperidone as well however have a friend who swears by it

lovemy we tried the before a feed method too. But first burp and she threw it back up