Could my breast milk be making the reflux worse?

[Spuddybean]

Well just that really. I have had problems feeding 10 week old DS from the beginning. One boob which wont work due to inverted nipple/inability to latch, DS's lazy nipple sucking on the working boob and terrible reflux. Due to this i have combined bfing with a few formula feeds per day.

But recently the reflux has worsened drastically. Poor DS is in agony; i can hear the acid crackling in his throat and he smells vinegary. We are all covered in vomit and i am running the washing machine twice a day to keep up with it.

I was advised to change to Aptimil which seems to have improved it slightly. I use gaviscon too which stops the majority of puking but constipates him terribly. Anyway, i noticed that his sickness was worse after bfing so have stopped and am expressing and freezing my milk to see whether he improves on purely formula.

I don't eat an extreme diet (in my opinion) insofar as i don't have loads of one thing. But i do eat a varied diet which usually includes garlic, onions, spices, milk, fruit, cheese, fish, meat, yogurt, eggs, bread and tea probably everyday.

So does anyone know if it could it be me causing the reflux?

There is a NZ website that I found very useful here www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/.

If it is your milk it is likely to be a reaction to something you have eaten or a fast let-down causing your baby to gulp the milk. If it's food related, dairy, the onions and garlic, high fat and spices foods are all likely suspects- try a few days of very bland foods and see if it makes any difference- though if it is a cow's milk issue that can take up to two weeks to show significant improvement.

If it is let down, then feeding while baby is sitting up slightly as well as letting the first gush of milk drain into a towel may help.

It is a horror show isn't it?

It's unlikely to be your diet and if it is then dairy will be the prime suspect- reactions to spicy foods, onion, garlic etc are very unusual, even though there are a lot of old wives tales about them causing problems.

I would chat to a breastfeeding counsellor before you go restricting your diet. Try one of the phone lines like NCT or LLL and they'll be able to find someone local to you.

LLL- 0845 120 2918
NCT- 0300 330 0771

Here is some LLL info about reflux. Good luck!

Thanks so much for your advice. It really is awful. i feel desperate. i just want to make him better. watching his face contort in pain is dreadful.

Do you know if i can give calpol to ease the pain?

Called the dr's but no apps for a fortnight. I will call in the morning for an emergency app tomo.

He seems to be being less sick but is still in loads of pain. :(

Hi spuddybean, hang in there I really feel for you. I went through this with both my children. I stopped bfing with first dd as thought it was my milk making her ill and went on to formula which made her very sick, ended up with medication to help with the pain and milk thickener to keep it down. I can't say the thickener did anything to be honest but the medication was fantastic and by 14 months she was better.

Second time around I tried bfing again and dd2 had same symptoms, bit less sick but severe reflux and pain. Doc suggested dairy intolerance and offered soya milk which I wasn't keen on as she was under 6 months. So I did try the dairy free diet and it worked,obviously not for everyone. But for dd2 symptoms stopped after about three weeks of trying the diet. She is now 7.5 months and at 6 months I reintroduced dairy slowly and she is completely fine. We saw a specialist after months of waiting and after trying the same meds as dd1 which didn't work on dd2 she prescribed hypoallergenic milk.

The trouble with formula is it all has milk protein in it but you can, as we did, have special hypoallergenic milk, free on prescription it doesn't taste nice but lots of babies have it. Our dd2 refused it so I carried on bfing as normal formula would have continued the vomiting etc. I now would like to stop bfing but dd refuses any formula so will just carry on now. Breast milk is better for babies with reflux as it is thinner than formula and digests faster i didnt know this first time round.Apparently reflux symptoms can often be due to an intolerance and looking back I think this was the same problem dd1 had.

The good news is many babies grow out of it quickly and don't suffer again as has dd2. You could try medication, there are several and not all work the same we tried quite a few. It is also hard to test babies for milk intolerance. I would ask for the special milk myself while your baby is still young enough to get used to it, only if you decide not to continue with bfing. The dairy free diet was fine actually as was only for a few months and there is so much to buy now and info on the web. So don't be disheartened if you want to keep bfing there are ways and means. Hope you and your bubba are okay x

Obviously I ate a dairy free diet whilst carrying on bfing!! Just read my rambling post and it seems to infer that I put the baby on a dairy free diet, oh dear

I don't know what is normal for babies with reflux, as luckily my son doesn't have it. However if you feel the symptoms are very severe then do encourage them to look deeper than just giving you 'a remedy for reflux', a friend of my sister's baby had a problem with the opening to the stomach which required an operation to fix.

Like I said, I don't know how bad the symptoms of 'normal' reflux are but if you think that he is in a lot of pain etc, then try and get them to investigate thoroughly rather than just prescribe gaviscon and send you away. You've already said you are going back to the doctor, I think you're right to trust your instincts.