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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Reflux experiences

27 replies

PeggyO · 01/03/2019 14:54

Anyone else out there with a little one with reflux? My DS (3 weeks old) has just been diagnosed. We started infant gaviscon yesterday, but no improvement in his symptoms yet - and it's a bit of a pain giving it as he is EBF. Has anyone found that it takes a while to work or am I clutching at straws in hoping it might still work? The GP said if there's no improvement in a week they will prescribe ranitidine, but a week feel a such a long time to wait if there's no improvement.

I'm finding it really hard seeing him in so much pain and being unable to help. My first DS was such a calm and smiley baby and it breaks my heart that things are so much harder for DS2 Sad

Any advice or wisdom would be very much appreciated right now.

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guiltynetter · 01/03/2019 15:00

my DS is 22 weeks and has awful reflux. he's been on gaviscon, ranitidine and we've just started omeprazole. I would give the gaviscon a chance to work, at least 5 days, I thought it would work instantly like taking a Rennies Grin but apparently it takes a while to build up. it can make them. really constipated though which is the reason we stopped it.

guiltynetter · 01/03/2019 15:01

and my sympathies, it's awful seeing them like that. my DS is a nightmare to feed and I feel constantly stressed about it. it's very tough.

E20mom · 01/03/2019 15:15

They always prescribe Gaviscon first. Never really known it to do much good. If you notice no improvement go back to the GP and ask for Ranitidine. It worked pretty much right away for us

Original poster
PeggyO · 01/03/2019 15:19

Thanks @guiltynetter , that's good to know it can take time to build up- I think I expected it to be like the adult gaviscon and start to have at least some impact straight away! I've noticed DS's poos look a little thicker today so we'll need to keep an eye on that.

Sorry to hear your DS has had it tough too. You've done amazingly to get this far, and you're getting closer to sitting/ weaning which will hopefully help?

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Original poster
PeggyO · 01/03/2019 15:23

@E20mom that's amazing to hear ranitidine worked so quickly. Must have been such a relief!

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guiltynetter · 01/03/2019 15:41

thanks Peggy that's really nice 😊 everybody keeps saying hopefully he will grow out of it with weaning and sitting up. I've actually been attempting weaning since 20 weeks (under a dieticians advice) but it's not very successful, he's not interested. we found ranitidine did absolutely nothing but I hope its good for your little one if you graduate from gaviscon.

E20mom · 01/03/2019 18:17

It's great stuff

Samind · 01/03/2019 18:19

Gaviscon is terrible for constipating them!!! And ranitidine does not work as well when their weight goes up. If you end up having to use ranitidine make sure they get weighed regularly as it is a weight based medicine. The dose needs upped as they gain weight.

VforVienetta · 01/03/2019 18:23

My son didn't respond to Gaviscon at all, but improvement came with Ranitidine.
If you don't feel it's soothing him at all, I'd go back sooner than a week and ask to try Ranitidine. It's only sensible to prescribe Gaviscon first, but if it's not helping then move on.

One note tho - he was initially prescribed an infant formulation which was a nightmare to give by syringe. It's far better (and far more usual) to have a tiny dose of the adult formulation, so it's a 0.4ml dose instead of 5ml (IIRC).

Original poster
PeggyO · 01/03/2019 20:11

@samind that's really useful thank you - a friend of a friend said ranitidine worked amazingly but only for a couple of weeks. Maybe weight gain was the reason...

@VforVienetta thank you for your advice. I think I'll call the GP on Monday if there's no improvement over the weekend.

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Original poster
PeggyO · 02/03/2019 07:27

We didn't have a good night - DS has now started spluttering, coughing and choking particularly when lying down but also when held upright. I spent most of the night sitting up with him against my chest, which made me anxious as I know it's against all the safe sleeping advice. I guess the gaviscon isn't working for us. Back to the GP next week then...

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Samind · 02/03/2019 09:44

I'm sorry to hear that. Keep with it for the weekend. We have to keep baby upright for 30 minutes and wind her every few ounces as trapped wind can make her acid worse. Have you tried standing/ sitting upright with his head over your shoulder? It's sometimes hard for them when their heads aren't above body level? Propping something under Moses basket mattress may help (against SIDS advice too) but theres wedges you can buy.
It's so horrible and j bet you're knackered. I'm so grateful theres a big difference in our bubs. You know your baby and if it settles him, it settles him.

Samind · 02/03/2019 09:52

For 30mins after a feed* sorry lol also forgot to mention obvious but definitely call out of hours if you're concerned and he's not feeding as well or seems more distressed etc hope today is a better day for you.

Original poster
PeggyO · 02/03/2019 14:34

Thanks @samind, we're actually waiting at out of hours now! The gagging/ choking is worrying me and I'd rather get him checked for peace of mind. We've been keeping him upright for 30 mins after feeds and winding regularly during feeds too, just didn't seem to do the trick last night. I think maybe he's been crying a little less today though so don't quite know what to make of that...

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Gingermammy · 02/03/2019 14:45

Didn't want to read & run but our 10 week old has suffered with reflux since 3 weeks old . He would vomit after every feed , we could lie him in his Moses basket to sleep he would only sleep upright and like yours would gag . We could see the pain he was in whilst feeding the back arching and thrashing of legs . He would only cat nap to 45-60 minutes at a time Confused
When we went to gp he said there are 4 steps that they follow
First is to try gaviscon
Second is ranitidine
Third is omeprazole
And the fourth is pepti milk

We tried the gaviscon and found that made ds extremely constipated.
Ranitidine has no effect

But the omeprazole did have a effect you could see him changing into a happier baby that slept longer however he was still vomiting after feeds and not fishing as much weight as he should . So now he is on omeprazole and the pepti milk and the improvement is amazing !
We found that stopping frequently through feeds to wind him aswell helped! Swaddling to comfpeted him a lot. I know how exhausting it is to have a baby with reflux but it does get easier when you find what medication and balance Works for baby .
Best of luck ! Xx

Samind · 02/03/2019 17:40

Hiya OP did you get sorted??

FuchsiaG · 02/03/2019 19:03

We tried infant Gaviscon first but it didn't make any difference and was a pain to administer as breastfed. Ranitidine worked for us (took about 3 weeks to see a difference). He's been on it since he was about 8 weeks and he's now 22 weeks. He's not the happiest of babies but I think that's just his personality. He definitely seems much more comfortable and we don't get the hours or screaming, writhing and back arching that we used to get.

Good luck! It's so distressing seeing them in pain.

NameChange30 · 02/03/2019 19:10

Have you ruled out cow's milk allergy? My son's reflux was caused by that.

www.allergyuk.org/information-and-advice/conditions-and-symptoms/469-cows-milk-allergy

dilanandme.com/2018/01/15/cmpa-faqs-1/

If the symptoms sound familiar, the way to check is to exclude all dairy from your diet for 6 weeks, if symptoms improve it's likely to be that, and to confirm you do the "yoghurt test" (eat a portion of yoghurt and wait 72 hours to see if baby reacts).

If it's not cow's milk allergy, and "just" reflux, I recommend the book "Colic Solved". Basically, meds, keeping baby upright after feeds, and a wedge for the cot (we have a wedgehog).

MrsMcW · 02/03/2019 19:11

DS had reflux and has only just grown out of it at 11 months. You really have my sympathy, it's a nightmare. He was on ranitidine which did help (luckily my GP is pretty relaxed with prescriptions so we skipped the gaviscon only stage, as I hear terrible things about the constipation) but to be honest the thing that worked best was moving him onto anti-reflux formula. Sorry, not hugely helpful if you are EBF but if nothing else works for you then I'd really recommend giving it a try.

Original poster
PeggyO · 03/03/2019 13:58

Thank you @Gingermammy, so glad to hear your son is doing better. I'm finding it hard to tell if DS is constipated or not - his poo is now thick and paste like, but not hard. He's had a few massive screaming fits before pooing but since he screams so much anyway that might just be coincidence.

OOH GP increased his dose of Gaviscon yesterday (our GP had him on the wrong one) but reiterated that no-one will prescribe ranitidine till we've done a week on gaviscon. Last night he kept gagging on his vomit again so I was awake from 3am holding him upright. Today has been the worst day so far for screaming so I don't think gaviscon is going to work for us. It seems so hard to think that DS might be in this much pain for 4 more days before we can try something different Sad

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Samind · 03/03/2019 14:15

That's why we stopped gaviscon and got rantidine and out baby screamed before passing but hers ended up like playdough. It was horrible. Have you got a sling to keep him upright and close to you?

Pippinsqueak · 03/03/2019 15:24

Just my experience.
I have a six week old girl with silent reflux. Tried gaviscon for about a week but she ended up with horrendous constipation. Moved onto ranitidine and it's gone slightly the other way. Both helped with the reflux though.

Original poster
PeggyO · 03/03/2019 18:03

@Samind he's in the sling a lot as I have a 3 year old to look after too! He hates going in it if he's even slightly unsettled but if he's calm/ sleepy then it sends him to sleep quickly and he'll nap for a couple of hours in it.

Thanks @Pippinsqueak, glad to hear ranitidine is working well for your DD. Did you stop the gaviscon when the constipation got bad or keep taking it for the reflux symptoms until you could see the doctor? I'm worried the gaviscon is the cause of DS's increased pain today as it's come after increasing his dose yesterday, but don't know whether stopping it might make reflux pain worse...

Aaargh, this is so hard. Feel like the worst mum in the world right now for not being able to soothe my baby, and for not being able to give my older DS the attention and energy he deserves Sad

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Pippinsqueak · 03/03/2019 19:10

I reduced the gaviscon down from 4 times to two times (one before bed and one during the night as that was her first times) then saw the doctor asap

It made her really constipated to the point where it was ping pong sized hard lumps.

I was told by my gp previous to try and give a little cooled boiled water in a syringe or bottle as well as my breast milk to help soften the stools. Again difficult when exclusively breast fed but she did take the medicine through a bottle so she got water from that as well.

She takes the ranitidine from a syringe no problem and we really going to start using a bottle with expressed milk this week so the meds can go in that.

Hope it helps, definitely ring first thing in the morning and really push for a change in meds if that's what you want

Original poster
PeggyO · 03/03/2019 20:28

Thanks @Pippinsqueak, I've managed to express and give the gaviscon in a bottle today (feels like a minor breakthrough as he hated having it with water from a syringe!) so will add in a bit of cooled boiled water too to try and stop the constipation getting worse. Fingers crossed!

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