reflux and teething

[Erikanewmum]

can anyone help as I feel the doctors and health workers are not very helpful. my 6 month old has suffered bad colic from week 2. this was imporving unitl a bad bout of colic last week. a visit to the hospital led to a diagnosis of lactose intolerace causing reflux in the baby. i have cut all dairy from my diet, given her ranitidine with little improvement. can anyone tell me if they have had the same experience and possible solutions to ease my babies discomfort? also did your baby stop pooing and eating? my little girl is struggling to eat through the pain and has lost weight. i am reluctant to return to the hospital for further tests. she is also teething. i have heard this can cause stomach problems?

Teething can upset babies but I think what you describe is beyond what teething would do and sounds more connected to the reflux/lactose problems.

Was the visit to the hospital last week? If it was very recent then maybe there has not been time to see if the changes will help yet as it will probably take a bit of time for the dairy to work it's way from your system and the baby.

Why is it you're reluctant to return to the hospital? I think if she is losing weight and showing signs of pain I would be inclined to return TBH.

is your baby on formula or are you still bf?

I would question the lactose intolerance. If you're breastfeeding, breastmilk has lactose in it. So it's likely to be cows mill protein she's intolerant to, not lactose.

Have you cut soya out too? My DS is dairy and soya intolerant so I can't have either. He's 13 months and I'm breastfeeding.

Is she on solids? My DS has reflux and when I started weaning, I realised the reflux was made worse by acidic fruits (tomatoes, oranges, pineapples) and beef. Obviously no dairy or soya products either.

He also found it difficult to swallow lumps - he'd arch and writhe with solids. So I reined back and gave him smoother stuff. He's fine now.

There's a history of reflux in the family - my FIL's reflux is triggered by wheat so he has to be careful with bread.

You'll need to check the ranitidine dosage too as very sensitive to weight. DS has a growth spurt at 6 months so needed the dosage upped!

Also when on solids, DS got bad constipation. I think his digestive system is sensitive. I only gave him three meals a day once he got to 9 months - solids are less important than milk when they're under 1.

hi yes completely breastfed. i am reluctant to go to the hospital as the drs don't want to diagnose they just throw drugs at her. different drs then provide conflicting opinions on the safety of giving drugs. when she was born they prescribed a beta blocker that the pharmacists refused to issue as it wasn't safe. she had a big feed last night but wouldn't sleep til 5am. very unusual as she normally sleeps from 12 to 8am without waking. her routine seems to have altered completely. just off to see our gp to seek his opinion. many thanks for response. E

How did you get on at GP?

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare re the hospital. It's perhaps the case that they don't know the answer themselves so they have advised different things as a bit of a shot in the dark hoping it might give some clues.

Hello many thanks for your posts. they have been very supportive. i am discovering that doctors don't diagnose the problem they just treat the symptom with the latest drugs and hope the problem solves itself. if one drug doesn't work they just try something stronger. unfortunately, they do not find the run of the mill complaints we have "exciting" enough. i think its only exciting if you are in terminal decline. enough of my rant. just been to see our gp who is very nice. he couldn't explain why the reflux has occured and seemed to disagree with the hospital doctors but has prescribed infant gaviscon. after spending 4 days eatings steamed carrot and buckwheat i am hoping to start introducing some more foods back into my diet. though i will be staying off the dairy. thanks again. E

Glad you've got something else to try from GP.

If all else fails and you're still having problems is there another hospital within reasonable distance from your house that you could ask for referral to?

Why did they prescribe beta-blockers for your dd in the past?

What solids are you giving her? Steer clear of ready made baby food if you can.

I found DS's reflux flared up at 6 months - probably weaning.

You mentioned teething - worth trying calpol to see if that helps.

Hi cupofcoffee. the beta blocker episode started in the hospital when she was born. one doctor suspected a heart murmur though no other doctor (including the consultant) could hear anything. an appointment was arranged for cardiogram and beta blocker prescribed to slow the heart rate. when we were discharged my husband was told to call to confirm the appointment. not only would the pharmacists at 2 chemists refuse to give us the beta blocker when my husband called to confirm the appointment he received no reply. my daughter is having a spica cast fitted in dec and she has now had her echogram and cardiogram (5 months late)and all is clear. i won't go into the problems i have had with the doctors and the spica cast but you are probably getting an insight as to why i do not trust doctors, consultants or hospitals anymore. we can't even go private as we would see the same doctors!

Hi Igglybuff we are only just starting to wean now on baby rice. we had a look at baby foods but they are all full of additives. once we have had some success with the rice we will mash some potatoes etc. i think my husband is looking forward to mashed potatoes every night as it is his favourite meal.

oh well another sleepless night which the gaviscon did nothing to help. a trawl of the internet suggests it may be connected to the teething so we are going to focus on that now and cut out the drugs!

We found gaviscon absolutely useless. Ranitidine was the only thing that touched it. Does she wake up screaming in the night? DS did - we knew it was reflux because as soon as we picked him up, he'd do a big acidic burp and settle. With teething he wasn't as distressed and calpol or calprofen made a huge difference. Can you have a look at her gums? Any raised bumps which would indicate teeth?

You don't need to bother with baby rice either as that's pretty processed too. You can go straight to pureed vegs - be careful with acidic stuff, keep a food diary and introduce new things every few days to check for a reaction.