Is it reflux?

[Devvers]

Hi everyone,

I would be grateful for some advice re my 8 week old DS. Since about two weeks old he has been quite a sickie baby, however over the last few weeks it seems to get quite bad sometimes. Its odd because some days there can be very little sick, other days it seems like he must be bringing up half what he's taking at every feed and it can get very frustrating when you end up covered in it time and again! There have also been ocassions when he seems to be quite uncomfortable/fretful just before he's sick. This may be too much info but the sick itself can be quite milky, watery consistency or can also be cottage cheese like - partly digested. The GP suggested he may have a bit of reflux (I hadn't realised you could have 'a bit of reflux' I thought you either had it or not) and prescribed infant gaviscon which I haven't yet given him as I'm not convinced that's what it is. Other than these symptoms he seems to be a very happy, healthy baby and is putting on loads of weight (I mention weight as I know reflux is often associated with poor weight gain which he doesn't suffer from).

He does also seem to be a bit colicky from time to time, draws knees up and shouts a lot before passing wind or doing a poo.

I know there is a lot of experience out there and would be interested to hear if you think this is reflux, if so should I go with the Gaviscon (am breastfeeding so any tips on how to administer would be great), and also if anyone has had any luck with homeopathic/herbal remedies for colic type symptoms?

I realise this is loads of questions but have just thought of another, I had read that dairy products can aggravate refluxy symptoms and so have started to try and cut down on dairy - any experience on this topic? and does this mean that the baby will be allergic/intolerant to dairy later on?

Thanks so much for your help!!

Could just be a sicky baby. My LO was sick most of the time up until about 4mo.

He sounds more sicky than refluxy to me. My DD was sicky (and so is her younger sister who's 4 weeks old) but DS had reflux. I'd say the difference between them was the sheer volume of sick - DS never stopped being sick, it came out of him in a steady stream 24/7. And it started from the moment he was born. On a good day we got through a dozen bibs, a bad day was more like 20. And even then he was constantly a bit damp. He was also uncomfortable when he fed, pulling off the breast and crying in pain. He had sleep issues because lying flat made him uncomfortable. He also had terrible colic - screaming for hours at a time in the evening. He DID put on weight well though.

We tried gaviscon and it didn't work - iirc it was a right faff to give too. I think I had to give it in expressed milk or boiled water - in a syringe I think.

Cutting out dairy completely helped the colic but not the reflux. I wouldn't recommend doing this though unless he's in a lot of pain...it's really hard going and you need to stick at it for weeks to see a difference.

Ultimately it's your decision of course, but I think if he's happy and well I'd not give him anything for the reflux.

I see you put this topic in 2 places. I've replied on the other thread. Also reckoning sounds more sicky than reflux.

Hi, I have had similar experience with my DD who is now 13 weeks. GP thinks her sickness it is just different variations of normal as there is no real pattern and, like your DD, some feeds she is really sick, others she is not. We can go days where she is fine. I was prescribed infacol and then gaviscon. My GP said that gaviscon doesnt alwys work and it is pretty tricky when breastfeeding. You can either prepare it with water and give it via a syringe or put in a small amount of expressed breast milk. I have not tried the gaviscon - largely because GP said it might not help. We are still using infacol before every feed.

I think that dairy is linked to my DD's sickness. A few weeks ago I was sure that there was a pattern emerging - i.e the days I had more milk, the following day she was sick more, and much larger quantities. Ive tried to cut out eating large quantities of dairy at a time - so no cereal with cowns milk etc. Still having milk in tea and coffee and other dairy, like cheese.

This week I started to doubt my theory and on Wednesday I had a bowl of cereal with cows mik. On Thursday when we were out shopping she was really sick during her feed. This was the most sick I have seen so far - it just kept coming and was even pouring out of her nose. What a fright we both got.

So...Im convinced its related to my dairy intake, particularly milk.

Try cutting dairy out of your diet for a couple of days and see if this helps? Its really hard to cut it out completely, but I find its only when I have large amounts, like in a bowl of cereal, that it makes DD so sick.

Sorry for this long reply!

And sorry for the typos, wrote it in a rush

This sounds like DS who had silent rflux, try him on the Gaviscon and see what happens.

I tried DS on Gaviscon as it is quite benign. It isn't like adult Gaviscon; it just thickens the stomach contents making it harder for them to be brought up.

I'm breastfeeding, so I just mixed it with some cooled boiled water and fed it to DS in a bottle before feeding him. You could also try a spoon.

It helped a lot with the sickness, but not with the colicky symptoms that you describe. I ended up with a prescription for Colief (only after eliminating dairy as a possible cause) and that seems to have solved the problem.

One word of warning about Gaviscon - DS had some very interesting poos afterwards... Nothing to worry about, just different.

Our ds (now 1yr) had reflux, it was hard going and like you say some days it was fine and then next day again he would get very sick. We used nothing for it, just let it pass with time (I think it was about 3/4 months it stopped) It's funny I thought about it so much I even had a nightmare about it and then without ,you even noticing it's gone. So don't worry, it will pass. As long as he's still producing enough dirty nappies and gaining weight which you say he is, he should be fine. It's hard on the mother, a relaxing feed suddenly ends with you being covered in milk. And tiring because you have to produce it all again because if he's left with an empty stomach it will only get worse.

My only advice is wear pj's or a nightie, something that can easily be thrown into the washing machine. And eat a very healthy bland diet.Oh, and stick with the breastfeeding, it'll clear up quicker then.

Hi everyone, thanks for the comments and advice, had a particularly pukey weekend so have been seriously thinking about trying the Gaviscon! would rather not medicate though if there's no real need.

I tried cutting out on dairy all last week (no milk, cheese or butter - I realise that there are bound to have been traces of dairy in some of the things I ate though - its really hard to cut out completely) however, didn't see any improvement and then had the really pukey weekend so am doubting whether this is doing anything at all, I realise I would probably need to wait longer to see any real change but would have expected some sort of difference after 5 days or so if it was going to have any impact.

I've been trying to figure out whether it could be certain foods that cause more of a problem, eg, I had a curry on Thursday evening, could this have impacted the weekend? Does anyone know the time lag between what you eat and when it will affect your milk? and then when it will be out of your system and no longer in your milk? am keeping a food diary to see if I can see any pattern but its tricky...

Have decided that today will be a better day!