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Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Unsure about whether to give Infant Gaviscon

13 replies

KnitsBakesAndReads · 24/05/2016 15:17

My DS is seven weeks old. He brings up milk several times each day, sometimes it's straight after a feed and looks like normal watery milk, sometimes it's sort of curdled like it's been partially digested. He's breastfed only and feeds every hour or two during the day, almost constantly for a few hours in the evening and every two to three hours at night. He often wants to feed again right after vomiting as I assume he feels hungry again.

I talked to the GP at our six week check and he said they'd consider prescribing infant Gaviscon if we felt the bringing up milk was becoming a problem. However he did say they advise only using it if really necessary due to the salt content and possible side effects.

DS is gaining weight well, has lots of wet nappies and, although he seems a little upset each time he's sick, overall he doesn't seem too distressed by it, other than about once a day when he seems like he almost chokes on the milk then gasps for breath. He doesn't arch his back or cry when lying down which I know are signs that they're in pain from reflux.

I feel reluctant to give the Gaviscon if he isn't distressed by the vomiting as it feels like it would almost be more for my benefit (ie less cleaning up!) than his. However, I'm worried that the vomiting might actually be causing DS pain, in which case I'd feel awful about not giving him medicine that might help. Is it possible for the vomiting to be causing him discomfort but this not be obvious to me, or if he seems generally happy is it safe for me to assume it doesn't bother him and just wait for him to grow out of it naturally?

Thanks for any advice!

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JiltedJohnsJulie · 24/05/2016 21:21

Sorry, have no experience of vomiting, but hopefully this will bump for you.

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pippistrelle · 24/05/2016 21:37

I think some babies are just a lot more sicky than others. Mine was that sort and was also what felt like a perma-feeder too - so she sounds very similar to your baby. I came to regard it not so much as being sick as more like overflowing. It never seemed to bother her so I just waited for it to pass. And it did. Took a while to stop completely but it did diminish quite quickly. And I very quickly learned the value of having a LARGE stash of muslin cloths.

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Writerwannabe83 · 25/05/2016 07:55

In your situation I probably wouldn't give it.

My DS was prescribed it at 8 weeks but only because he was having lots of vomits, screamed every time he was lain on his back and was constantly arching after feeds.

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SunnyL · 25/05/2016 08:01

My first DD was like this. I just assumed the puking was normal baby behaviour. It was only later it was apparent that she'd stopped putting on weight. At that point we put her on gaviscon and she started to maintain her percentile for weight.

With DD2 (8 weeks) I've decided to be pre-emptive as she's also a major puker and I've had some tough evenings where she's in pain. She's been on gaviscon for a week now and evenings are much easier and there is barely any puking.

My suggestion would be if you're happy to go without gaviscon just keep an eye on their weight

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GraceGrape · 25/05/2016 08:05

I wouldn't if he doesn't seem in pain and is gaining weight ok. I've heard some babies with reflux are described as "happy chuckers". My Dd1 had terrible reflux that left her screaming. We had ranitidine, which left her just as sicky but it didn't hurt anymore so she was happy. If you are in doubt, you could always try it for a few days to see if there is any difference? Be warned though, it's a hassle to administer to breastfed babies....

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KnitsBakesAndReads · 25/05/2016 16:39

Thank you very much for the advice everyone.

pippi, the 'overflow' thing sounds very familiar. He often feeds almost non-stop for hours and I'm sure just being overfull must explain some of the sickness. I'm definitely learning the value of muslins too!

I think I'm going to wait a while and see if things get better gradually. I will keep a close eye on his weight gain though. He's put on weight really well so far (moved up from his birth weight centile) so I think if he suddenly stopped gaining that would probably convince me to give the Gaviscon a try (if GP agreed of course).

Thanks again!

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jennywest224 · 27/05/2016 20:08

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Pollaidh · 27/05/2016 20:16

This choking thing - could you describe it?
What is your baby's breathing like, normally? Any rattling or purring sounds?
Has your baby ever had a cold? If so how was their breathing then?

Most likely this is just reflux, but given you mentioned a sort of choking moment, some babies with reflux also have problems with breathing, and coordinating breathing and eating, which often gets worse around 3 months onwards.

Nothing to worry about if his breathing seems okay, and even then it's not usually a major problem so please don't be worried unnecessarily.

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KP86 · 27/05/2016 20:22

I had a 'happy chucker' (no crying and it didn't bother him in the least) most likely related to BF oversupply, but from 2-6 months he gained the bare minimum weight. Around 100g/week, and dropped two or three centile lines.

Once we discovered Gaviscon, he was a completely different baby. Went from vomiting full feeds every single time (runny milk, not curdled or partially digested) to no vomiting at all.

BUT - I don't know how keen I would have been with such a young baby. By the end I would have tried anything.

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AnnaBegins · 28/05/2016 08:31

In your situation I wouldn't give it, my baby was definitely refluxy, arching back, green poos, and Gaviscon helped us immensely. But a friend whose baby was just sick a lot found it only helped a little and was a lot of hassle. Also in my case baby came to prefer the Gaviscon bottles leading to him refusing the breast.

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Athrawes · 28/05/2016 08:45

I gave mine gaviscon because he was screaming in pain and it stopped him feeling like his innards were burning a hole in his wee chest (I assume, because the look of awe and relief on his 7 week old face basically said "where has this been all my life").
So, unless yours is in obvious pain, if he sleeps and doesn't scream like his throat has been cut, and you can cope with the laundry, I'd leave well alone. You just have a chucker. Save the money and invest in muslins.

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CottonSock · 28/05/2016 08:48

I was in a similar situation and didn't give it as understand it would require expressing, sterilisation of a bottle which seemed a faff

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Ilovenannyplum · 28/05/2016 09:17

DS had gaviscon sachets from 10 days, he was bottle fed and was projecting 90% of feeds back up and it was so bad he sometimes used to stop breathing.
We ended up in a&e with him at 10 days because of the whole stopping breathing thing, they kept us in for 2 nights and he was prescribed gaviscon in 6 bottles per day plus ranatidine to help with the god awful reflux.

It was a god send for us but I wouldn't have given it unless it was completely necessary and we took him off it as soon as the dr said it was ok to do so