Reflux

[Santatizer]

My DD is 12 weeks old, born at 35 weeks. She is suffering with silent reflux & painful wind & we are struggling a bit. She has been prescribed Infant Gaviscon but can't have it at every feed as it can only be administered 6 times in 24 hrs and she still feeds more than this, probably 8-10 times. After little to no improvement, she was prescribed Aptamil Pepti 1. We phased it in over a few days & she has been on it for 9 days exclusively now. We had 2 fantastic days around day 5&6 where she was settled, smiley, no real problems with wind or reflux... Then end if day 6 and since, it's as bad as it's ever been. GP prescribed omeprazole which we started yesterday & told us to discontinue the Gaviscon. This led to the worst night we have ever had with her - we are lucky that up til now, nights have not been too difficult & she has not been distressed and crying. This has kept us going through the really difficult days. GP said that day 9 of Aptamil Pepti 1 was enough to conclude that it probably wasn't related to CMPA and agreed that it seemed sensible to revert to the Cow&Gate Comfort with Gaviscon X 6 a day and omeprazole. So we've done that from this afternoon but she is immediately distressed after every feed & must be exhausted as isn't getting anywhere near enough restful sleep. I'm just looking for some words of wisdom / experience / advice. How long can it take for omeprazole to take effect? We've seen how our baby can be on a good day & it is really upsetting to see the difference, not to mention the impact on our daily lives, as it makes leaving the house pretty impossible...

It should get less as she gets older, I know that's not helpful to you now but I wanted to give you some positive encouragement. Keep speaking to your GP and HV.

Thank you @clickychicky I really appreciate that! We aren't in as bad a position as some threads I have read - DD does have at least a few good days / feeds & is gaining weight. But it's just so heartbreaking to see her so distressed and exhausting for us. It's really hard not being able to actually diagnose anything & have to use a trial and error approach when you just want something to fix it :-(

Yes, my LO is a bit older now but I hated the constant changing of the clothes, and cot sheets. Have you got lots of spare sheets and mattress protectors if you use them? It is less soul destroying if you have a nice big pile on standby and don't have to hunt one down in the night.

Do you try cycling her legs when she has wind? That seemed to help my LO a bit.

We had this with our eldest and it so, so hard. We moved from Gaviscon to omeprazole and then ended up being referred to a specialist at our local hospital who advised that we weaned her early at four months and then things got better. She’s very pukey still though, and does sometimes get heartburn/reflux even as a five year old.

One thing I didn’t realise straight away is that babies often get put on the lowest doses of the medicine they’ve been given. We had DD’s omeprazole increased a couple of times which helped for a bit. It might be worth going back to the doctor’s and seeing what they say.

It’s awful when you’re going through it though, I still remember it vividly.

Massive thsnks fir replying @MistakenHoliday - it helps to know there are people out there who get it! So far DD's reflux is mainly silent with v little spit up and only a handful of vomits do we are lucky again in that respect. It's just the distress it causes, the impact on daily life and the sense of rising panic that nothing is working. In those hours where she is distraught and screaming, you're just desperate for a magic cure & the thought of facing 3-4 more weeks of whatever milk or medicine you're trying feels utterly awful...