sicky baby - any tips?

[lalaa]

My dd (eight weeks) is sick after every feed. She usually brings up milk (approx 1/3 or 1/2 of the feed), and is then sick when she burps. Have spoken to the health visitor who suggested that it might be gastro-oesephacal (sp?) reflex and to hold her upright for five minutes after the feed, and to move the top of her moses basket up by 30 degrees. This advice was given about three weeks ago, along with a placatory 'she'll grow out of it at 3 months'. Holding her up can help, but it's fairly hit and miss. Dd is putting on weight, but seems very grizzly most of the time and is still feeding seven times each 24 hours. She is half breast fed and half bottle fed.

Have thought about using the 'stay down' version of SMA and intend to go and buy some tomorrow.....Anyone got any other tips?

Thanks

Pediatric Gavescon can help, and it helped Ds a bit. It can be given in a bottle feed, or disolved in water for a breast fed babe. Needs a prescription tho I think.

Don't bother buying different milk - there isn't a lot you can do about reflux. Changing the milk won't make any difference. Reflux is due to the baby having a weak oesophageal muscle not down to the method of feeding/type of milk. Breast is actually easier on the baby because the milk acts as a natural antaicd. Also I don't think infant gaviscon is a good idea for such a young baby - it puts a yukky sticking lining on the stomach contents. If she is putting on weight I'd not worry. Are you giving her formula after the breastfeed or on different occasions? If you are giving her "top up" feeds of formula then she maybe taking too much milk at once.

Feeding 7 times is not a lot - my ds fed every hour during the day at age 8 weeks! Probably better for her to take a little and often to not overload her tummy. I know 3 months seems like ages but it is only 5 weeks away. And you will notice a difference.

This page may help - www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/ger.html

Whoops sorry hmb I wasn't contradicting you personally - posted at the same time - if it helped for your ds then fine, 8 weeks just seems really young to me for medicine.

No advice - just sympathy. DS1 was sick after every feed for 3 months, and still very sick several times a day until 6 months old. No reason ever found, it apparently did him no harm, no suggested remedies helped. It put a LOT of wear on our washing machine, made going out anywhere a real struggle (change of clothes for ME required, let alone him), ... and we got very little sympathy from medical professionals ...

Sorry to rant on - it was 5 years ago now, and your post brought it all back. HOWEVER, he is very rarely sick now ... unlike ds2, who was not a sicky baby, but now (at 3.5) throws up whenever he has a slight fever, and whenever we go more than 5 miles in the car!

Yes, it did help to hold things down a bit. He would projectile vomit his last feed alomost every night. I tried to hold out against using anything, but cracked after I had to strip the babe, all the cot bedding, myself and scrub the floor for the 12th night in a row. He is almost 3 now, but can still throw for the first team. He has now got to the point where he starts to strip his own bed

lalaa - my youngest dd - now 19 mns, sounds exactly like your dd. She would be sick in the early days after every feed - not projectile - but even a slight cough or cry would bring up virtually all of her milk feed - she was fine and gained weight very well - probably because when she was sick we had to start again with another bottle as she was hungry again.

At about 2 weeks old the dr prescribed infant gaviscon - as hmb said - and to us it was a miracle. She stopped being sick except for her evening feed which 50% of the time she sicked up.

I personally would recommend it, and she stayed on it until 16mns, when she FINALLY stopped the reflux.

I sympathise with you because when they are sick its a change of clothes for them, you, and a floor clean !!

I didn't find holding her upright or tilting the cot worked for us, but it may work for you.

I also found that dd2 was less sick in the day when she was weaned onto solids, and very rarely brought solids up.

Hope that hepls....,

hmb - just read your message !

That was the worst thing wasn't it - the clearing up of everything - didn't know 8oz of milk could go so far!

You are soooooooooooo right! Mind you, it is a bit worse now that he vomits 'real' food. On bonfire night he covered a 2X2 yard square in the kitchen, thank goodness on a tiled floor. But he also covered himself and me. Dh was away, and I just didn't know where to start! Good job he is so cute

Eulalia, I'm really surprised that the LLL page seems to condone the use of introducing cereal over medication.

My ds who was exclusively bf until 6 mo. did the same thing. He sicked up large volumes after every feed. I changed him many many times a day and tried numerous bibs in the hope of finding one that would actually soak it all up. He sicked up on me, strangers, floors, couches, rugs (I had to have all of mine professionally cleaned at great expense). It was very very annoying. But since he was gaining weight at a very rapid pace, the doctors (both english and american) said not to worry about it and that he would grow out of it. Not being big on giving medicines unless absolutely necessary, I decided to stick it out for a while. I breast fed him every 2 hours day and night until 6 mo. when I cut out the night feeds and started solids. He stopped the sicking up within a week or so of starting solids. And now at 25 mo. the only time he gets sick is when he's in the car with dh driving!

Something you may find helpful Lalaa is to put a hand towel over dd starting under her chin and then lying right over her and you as you feed her - then at least if she is sick the towel will catch most of it and save you changing her and you.

hmb - sick really travels on a hard floor doesn't it - we found splash marks ages after - yuk !

Lalaa, my oldest son, now a very strapping 8 year old was a sicky baby too. Like your dd he gained weight throughout and was healthy in other respects. I told the doctors about it and was given the same advice about holding him upright after a feed. Never advised about gaviston and never gave it to my son.

As the spew-splattered months went on, dh and I became more and more matter of fact about it. Our ds seem totally untraumatised about being sick, usually grinning after it and sometimes through it. He had a good appetite, and kept down a lot of the milk he drank. He was less sick with solids, but if given milk to drink with or just after solids, the projectile vomit was astonishing. When you start to wean your dd, if possible, I'd advise you to try and give her water to drink with her solids.

My ds grew into a sicky toddler and it was not until he was 4 or so that we could guarantee a week of no sick.

Looking back and with the knowledge I have gleaned from reading mumsnet, I think my ds had a slight case of undiagnosed reflux, but as I believe it is not really treatable, there is little we could have done had we realised.

4 years was also about the age my ds finally stopped drooling and dribbling - I have fond memories of him drooling in delight over a new toy in unguarded moments.

Just a word of warning - my ds had, and still has, temporary hearing problems from time to time. Again, not too serious, and an audioloist keeps and eye (ear?) on him. His hearing loss is caused by the tubes in his ears not keeping pace with growth spurts and this is linked to his infant reflux - again a product of underdeveloped soft tissue. He will, we are told, grow out of it, just as he did his reflux.

So it may be worth paying extra close attention to your dd's hearing.

HTH

Its interesting about the ear problems Tigermoth, both my boys were prem, both were very sicky and both have had hearing problems in their early years. I eventually got Gaviscon from the doctor and it mostly worked very well - it has to, I'm sure no baby could remove milk thickened to such a gloopy substance from their system.

I found the whole thing very distressing, particularly with number one and tried a whole host of products - different teats, infacol, gripe water etc in the hope that the wind which seemed to bring the feed back could be dealt with before doing any harm. I tried the sitting up bit, small feeds and anything else that was suggested, but wherever we went, the pile of towels went too to catch the pools of slimey milk. Both boys eventually grew out of it - DS2 quicker than DS1 but I think they were ok by the time they were established on solids.

Just a quick one....things got worse overnight and in short, dd is now on the infant gaviscon. Still seems to be out of sorts, so we'll see how long it takes to work. She hasn't thrown up the last feed, anyway!
Thanks to everyone that posted - so reassuring to hear that other people have experienced the same thing - and I feel lucky - sounds like some of you have had it far worse! Also good to hear that dd will come out the other side.....

Dd1 could (& still can) throw for England. I have many memories of projectile vomiting all over the lounge. It wasn't until I had dd2 I realised it wasn't normal! Anyway, she's now a strapping 7 yr old, eats almost everything & will still throw up if she's the slightest bit unwell, but she can always get to the loo in time (plenty of practice) - so there are advantages! Should also add that she never seemed bothered by it, usually just relieved.

Our dd was quite similar and had mild reflux diagnosed. It did improve slightly with the introduction of solids but once she was moving around more it became more pronounced again.

We also sat her upright for up to 30 mins after a feed and raised the head of her cot, fed her little and often etc. We also used a thickener in her milk called Thick and Easy (used in neonatal units in UK particularly for Prem babies), which was a starch based thickener, not medicine like Gaviscon, and this seemed to help when she began to take bottle feeds. However the most noticeable improvement came when she got her back teeth and could chew her solids up better. Prior to that we kept on pureed or finely mashed foods, as she would gag on the slightest lump.

Having said that we also find that she will still(at 16 months) throw up at the least provocation.

lalaa, hope your dd improves soon and take comfort from her weight gain. I agree with tigermoth too, do keep you eye out for any potential ear infections as apparently the regurgitated milk is a breeding haven for bacteria. We had both diagnosed at dd's 8 week check.

hth

lizS

hth

update: seemed to have found the answer using gaviscon but now battling with a constipated 8 week old. i know that i should be feeding with water too but reflux means that it all comes up again......anyone else had this prob?

update: seemed to have found the answer using gaviscon but now battling with a constipated 8 week old. i know that i should be feeding with water too but reflux means that it all comes up again......anyone else had this prob?

I am assuming you mean the gaviscon is making her constipated ? Are you putting gaviscon in every feed ?

Our doctor told us that we didn't necessarily have to put it in every feed - we did as dd2 was initially sick at every feed. Perhaps you could try putting less gaviscon in each time, making the milk thinner, but not too thin, obviously.

As dd2 got older I used to put 2 sachets in her 7pm milk - as it was a 9oz bottle, but gradually weaned her of it totally in the day on the feeds she was less sick on.