Reflux?? Please help, at wits end

[OverdueFirstTimeMama]

My little boy is currently 8 weeks old and NEVER seems happy. After doing some reading we think he has reflux / silent reflux and has been on gaviscon for a week now but it doesn’t seem to help him. He is formula fed.

please can anyone share some advice, does this get better? Am I completely wrong and it isn’t reflux? 😢 I feel so helpless.

his symptoms are:

• he will only nap upright on me or his dad
• he will NOT go in his pram, he honestly screams the whole time.
• similar to the above, he will scream in the car seat (so, so distressing)
• will fall asleep on me in the day and scream the second he’s put on his back eg in a moses
• he doesn’t have watery nappies and he never vomits but will bring up a bit of milk sometimes
• he will take maybe 2oz then begin to splutter, cough, arch back and scream and refuses the rest of feed. He will then take another 2oz if being rocked about 40, minutes later.
• sneezes and hiccups a lot during the day

our world is becoming very small because we are so nervous to go out in the car or pram as we know how it end. I sling him and have him in a carrier most of the day and my back can’t take much more.

it honestly feels like unless he is asleep upright on me he is really crying and never seems settled.

does anyone please have any tips or any idea what could help him? Thank you 😢

It does sound like reflux. My dd has it when she was younger - 13 months now - and gaviscon didn't work for her. Go to your GP and ask for omeprazole - sounds like he needs something stronger. Hope it's sorted soon, I remember how miserable it is!

Oh and we also weaned early at 4 months simply because of the reflux and it disappeared v quickly.

Hi mum, I had something similar with my lil one. Has this only just started or has he always been this way? What formula is he on? My DD was prescribed gaviscon but it didn't do much for her and we were eventually asked to try a different formula as it was suspected she might have mild CMPA.

Hey @Ummeifza it probably started at 3/4 weeks and has just gotten progressively worse.

he is on Aptamil 1. My friend mentioned CMPA but I had ruled it out as he doesn’t have rashes, vomiting etc. do you think it’s worth exploring?

@OverdueFirstTimeMama We took Ds2 to the GP at I think around 12 weeks, We videoed him screaming his arching his back and refusing any more of his bottle, he was reducing his feeds down and I was feeding him like he was a newborn, ie little and often. The GP prescribed Gaviscon but it didn't help. The GP was not comfortable prescribing anything else to such a young baby.

We were referred onto a private paediatrician, I think the consult cost £200 and luckily for us Ds refluxed in front of him when he was examining him, so sudden chocking whilst laid on his back clear fluid with white flecks of milk in despite it being a long time since he fed.

He was started on an anti-reflux formula as the consultant said we will start him on a no meds route first to see if that helps. It really did help and we managed to get it on prescription so we never paid. Ds was 14 months when he finally stopped the formula, he wouldn't drink any milk though, follow on, cows, plant etc which is why we continued until 14 months.

I will tell you that he slept upright on me throughout the day and then in a propped cot (proper advice from consultant) at night and he had a dummy to help him swallow down all the time. I used a sling so I could still move around.

He still refluxes now but he is 17 years old so it has never left but has calmed down an awful lot. It means he never overeats. Film your child so the GP can see what happens when it is bad.

It absolutely is. My DD has something similar here reactions/ refusal to have feeds did not start until week 8 as well. She didn't have any typical cmpa symptoms but her refusal to drink any milk even after being on gaviscon indicated to us that it was something else. Luckily we have a friend who is a pediatric consultant who heard us out and suggested it could be sensitivity to cows milk and not necessarily an allergy. Sounds something similar to your case at the monute

My 11 week old was exactly like this, I changed him milk from SMA to aptamil and now he's perfect

Go back to the GP and ask for omeprazole. sounds like silent reflux.

have you tilted his cot? / got a cot wedge?

Thank you everyone, I will definitely mention cows milk too.

does anyone have any tips for the pram and car at all?

we have his next to me tilted and about 9pm he will finally give in and sleep in there until around 5/6am. He’s very noisy throughout the night too

Sounds exactly like my son who had reflux and CMPA. I would ask for Neocate. Honestly changed my little boy and got my sanity back.

Sending hugs. I really feel for you having been through it myself.

My little boy had silent reflux and the health visitor recommended adding Carobel to the formula. It thickens it up so it is less likely to come back up after they feed. It was fab. He went from vomiting all the time after his feeds to keeping all his milk down. One of the side effects can be constipation though (but it is with gaviscon too) so you need to keep an eye on that. In the end, my little one ended up on omeprazole until he was able to sit up on his own/we started weaning him. You can buy carobel over the counter from the chemist.