Breastfeeding a refluxy baby, who is now not putting on weight!

[nixrolz]

I have a 15 week old boy who has battled with reflux for months now. I have posted a thread on Mumsnet before about his reflux and incosolable crying and fussing on the boob.... but my latest dilemma is this:-

I saw the Peadiatrician on the 15th of December, who told me that his reflux was "uncomplicated gastric reflux", and that I should take him off the Gaviscon and "just let him vomit".

Well - I had him weighed on the 10th of December and he was 5.88kgs, and I got him weighed this morning - nearly a month later, and he is now 5.66kgs!!! So he has not gained at all, but has infact LOST weight!

The HV said to come back in 2 weeks time and see what his weight is, but she reckoned he had a growth spurt and has now slowed down (he was mapping on the 50th percentile, but this latest measurement puts him on the 25th!).

DS is teething, and already has had his 2 bottom teeth cut through - so has had a runny tummy for a few weeks now, but nothing out of the ordinary at all.... just a bit cranky of late!

All in all - he is very well within himself, has at least 6 wet nappies a day, sleeps for 8 hours at night before waking up for a feed, and then goes back down again for another 4....but just is a bit cranky with his teething.

Is/ has anyone else experienced a dramatic difference in weight around this time? Could it be associated with teething?

DS, although FF suffered the same, although didn't 'lose' weight dropped considerably on the percentile charts. We put him back on Gaviscon and he is thriving now. I did talk to GP and the decent HV we have (2 have been not good) and basically both have said that he will be on it long term until fully weaned. We did change to a soya based formula as this aggrevated it, so don't know whether cutting dairy out of your diet will help.

Thanks so much for your post FiveGoMadInDorset.

I have cut dairy out of my diet (except for a dash of milk in my tea), and I think his reflux isn't as bad as it used to be... but he still brings up a bit, even hours after a feed.

sigh.... I hate that Gaviscon stuff!

I have also been recommended Enfamil AR formula for when i start weaning him. I have given him a few bottles of this lately, and he just pukes that up delux... which makes me think that he is slightly lactose intolerant!

Oh the joys.... feeling so sad about this all, why can't it just be simple?

That is the joy of babies

The 'except for a dash of milk in my tea' could be enough to make a big difference. I am dairy free but accidentally ate some nuts containing milk last week. Obviously that was a tiny amount, but before we realised that the nuts had milk in I had said to dh that ds' reflux seemed to be coming back/worsening, and that we would have to start using gaviscon again.

Surely it's worth going without for a few weeks to see if it makes the difference?

I suppose you are right Can't Sleep....