Silent reflux and bf (with a bit of sleep thrown in)

[nomorelostweekends]

Not sure if this is best here or in sleep, but if anyone can help would really appreciate.

DD2 (21 weeks, fully bf) has been unsettled since she was born. Nights have got progressively worse for the last few weeks, until she was waking hourly and unable to sleep unless propped up on me. She hates lying in a pram and screams in the car seat.

Saw GP this week who has prescribed gaviscon. Having come home and looked up silent reflux she has lots of classic symptoms, Doctor told me to give gaviscon after night feeds only. Luckily DD takes it off a spoon, though its slow and messy. I give it after last feed (7ish) then when she wakes. Its definitly helping as she now only wakes 3 times - usually around 10, 1 and 4. I am fine with this - expect to feed in the night. I then sit with her upright for about half an hour and eventually put her back in the cot. She generally sleeps til next feed.

What am finding hard is waking sleepy DD after her feeds to put her in chair and spoon feed gaviscon. i then have to get her back to sleep by walking her around upright and then hold her for the half hour. This means that each wake up takes about an hour, if not longer. So i am still up for a lot of the night.I am also worrying that she is getting used to be woken up in the night which feels counterproductive.

Finally, and this perhaps should be in sleep - I am also getting her off for naps like this (walking around holding her upright). Its ok for now but am worried that she is going to be totally reliant on this and when she gets heavier i won't be able to carry on. We have two slings and she will go in for a short time but has never tolerated for naps. Any advice/experience about naps would be great.

Thanks

Slightly desperate bump

My daughter's reflux was at its worst during a feed and we changed to giving the Gaviscon before the feed. Doctor said that was fine. Could you try that?

yes gavison before the feed is fine.

I found the best way was to put powder and water into a small container with lid. Shake very hard then syringe in.

Thanks for posting RedAction. Yes, cot is elevated and seems to help. I think without doing the medication she would fall asleep on me after a feed, but she is so awake afterwards, i need to walk her up and down for ages.I tried the syringe but don't seem to have the knack - it all came out of her mouth. We tried co-sleeping but neither of us seem to get on with it. I think once she is a bit bigger and i can relax about the duvet etc then i will try again.

We use the chair a lot - i give her the gaviscon in it.

I am just realising that DD1 was a breeze (hard work at the time!!)

Sorry x posted.

Oh that sounds promising - meds first then feed. Brilliant.

Thanks

not sure if this is allowed but i sometimes give the gaviscon in some expressed milk via bottle before full feed from breast following lack of willingness of my dc to take it via a syringe after feed. mostly she was asleep or just full up after feed and wasn't interested. Best of luck.

Just to update - last night much better, only two feeds and no pacing the floor. Hopefully it wasn't a one off! Off to post in sleep about naps, thanks for helping.

Have you tried cutting dairy out of your diet? 50% of babies with reflux are refluxing due to dairy intolerance. It takes 10-14 days for all the dairy to clear your system, so don't expect instant results, but it may be worth trying it for a couple of weeks to see if it helps. If it does work then you may be able to stop using the gaviscon too.

Good luck!

Thanks GreenMonkies, its worth considering, although my diet is mostly chocolate and cheese so its slightly scary. I am also thinking about stopping feeding (not just because of this) - we have finally found a teat that DD2 is starting to tolerate, and i have kind of had enough. No big decisions yet though, am just gonna see how the next few days works out.