Who has experience of treating reflux?

[MrsDoolittle]

For 9 weeks now I have had a miserable, miserable baby. He has literally cried and cried and cried. So much so dh is sleeping in the spare room, my 2 years old dd is sad because I don't seem to have any time for her and I'm on anti depressants. Things have been getting impossible in every direction.
Anyway, having tried everything and had my suggestion of reflux dismissed completely by one GP, another absolutely lovely GP independently suggested it to me yesterday during a follow up appointment.

I gave ds Gavsicon last night. He did cry but maybe not as much. He woke up once during the night for a feed, I gave him gaviscon and shockingly he settled again almost immediately.
This morning he slept til 8 and he's still smiling!!!! He would normally have cried at 2 hourly intervals during the night. I really can't believe it. Is this magic?

May be the gaviscon, may be coincidence, hard to say. Have you tried all the alternatives - raising head of his bed, keeping him upright after feeds and not even changing him for at least half an hour etc. Is he breast or bottle fed, if the former perhaps you didn't eat something which has previously, unknown to you, caused upset ? tbh only time will tell but long may it last for you !

LIZS - I have tried everything. He's breast fed. he's gone back to sleep now, seems exhausted.

Hi - my ten month old had reflux - thankfully it seems to have stopped now that he is older, stronger and more vertical!

All I would say is that in our case the gp decided to try gaviscon, and when he showed some improvement decided that reflux was the cause of his misery, since if it was something I ate or simple 'colic' the gaviscon would not have helped.

Keep going with gaviscon for a week to 10 days - keep a diary of how things are going, then go back to gp. If he's happy with just gaviscon then great, if you feel he needs more help ask to try ranitidine, this neutralises the acid produced in the stomach, so your baby still 'refluxes' but it doesn't hurt so much - it saved my life!

Things got alot better when we started solids at about 5 months. He is now such a happy little boy I can hardly remember those awful first few months. Take care of yourself though - it is hard caring for a baby with reflux.