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Reflux hell

6 replies

Kels1979 · 25/03/2012 20:43

Hi there, I have an eleven week old son who is wonderful but since about 4 weeks old has been suffering terribly with reflux. We've now been to a paediatrician at the hospital and after starting on gaviscon then going to ranitidine. he's now on the latter as well as omeprazole and domperidone. It's been nearly a week on all three and he's not significantly better, still very sick, and we're at the end of our tether. He screams so many hours a day and looks in visible pain which is awful. His sleep was terrible but does seem to be improving slightly but we have good days and bad days. We've done all the positioning - elevating the bed and keeping upright after a feed etc - to no avail. If anyone has any advice that would be great. Does it ever get better?!! Thanks x

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bramblina · 27/03/2012 01:08

Hi there,
I can't offer any help really, just sympathise- dd had this for many months but unfortunately for me it wasn't diagnosed until the week after she snapped out of it.
I had a dreadful time but as I say she really did snap out of it within a week it was amazing- I kept waiting for the screams to come at meal times and they never did, so hopefully that will happen soon for you.
I just didn't want your thread to go unanswered, it's so disheartening :-(
Good luck for you and your lo xx

sarahbanshee · 27/03/2012 03:47

Lots of sympathy, my son had reflux and it is indeed truly hellish. He was sick up to 50-60 times a day as a baby, but to reassure you it did indeed get better and he is now a happy healthy 3 year old with no memory of it all, and never sick now. The thing that makes the biggest difference is time but there are things that can help meanwhile.

Firstly get yourselves a sling and use it lots! We had a hugabub (actually we had three as they were always covered in puke and needing washing...) and our son lived in it for the first few months. It kept him upright and so more comfortable and able to sleep and gave me free hands.

We also bought a rocking swing thing which could be tilted quite upright and he found that soothing and could sleep in that. I know some people use a car seat, although for us that wasn't helpful as it crunched his stomach and made him more sick.

You may well need to fiddle around with the dose of the medications to get it right - it's done by weight so needs adjusting fairly often, so do keep going back to the doctor if things are not getting better. Be a bit of a squeaky wheel, I don't mean complain but just be firm about keeping going back and saying if things are not improving so they can adjust the dosage.

Not in my son's case but often reflux is associated with dairy allergy so worth getting that ruled out. If it is dairy allergy you will need to cut out all dairy ruthlessly if you bf or there are non dairy formulas. There are also formulas called 'comfort milk' which are v gentle on the stomach, expensive but you can be prescribed them so get them free, worth asking your paed about this.

I found giving Gaviscon in water as per the instructions a nightmare so started putting it in a little expressed milk in a bottle and giving it that way, much easier.

Weaning to solids was also a help for us, although we didn't wean early as when we tried a bit early in case it helped he got an upset tummy so we gave it a few weeks before we tried again. However I know some people weaned early and found it helped so again worth talking to your paed about it as a possibility.

And be very gentle on yourselves and ask for lots of help. It is awful to see your baby in pain and the screaming and being puked on is very stressful. There is an online reflux website and forum - google for crying over spilt milk - where you will find lots of advice and support. (Also it sounds horrible but some of the parents there have it incredibly hard - babies fed by GI tube and having ops etc - which helped me feel as though we didn't have it so bad after all).

Just to reassure you I am up at this time not with my son but feeding my new baby daughter who is completely reflux free!

it is really hard and I hope you see sone improvement soon.

Petesmum · 27/03/2012 04:08

My DD also has reflux (though it sounds a bit milder than your little one's)
Changing her milk to a lactose free variety had a huge impact. We saw an improvement after 2 feeds! I'm afraid we made the change without paediatrician input & informed them afterwards but we were desperate! I don't advocate this route though (before someone tells me off) just dont use baby gaviscon with comfort formula as it becomes really thick & gives LO even worse stomach ache...we learnt that the hard way Sad
We started weaning early and this helped reduce her reflux.
I know this sounds odd but also sleeping her on her front really helped with her sleep...i know it sounds wrong (and it's another parenting rule broken Blush) but it worked for her
And as previously mentioned a sling / carrier to keep LO upright.
Good luck xx

sarahbanshee · 29/03/2012 12:33

How are you doing now?

jellybeans · 29/03/2012 16:37

Hi my 3 year old has reflux and was simelar to you describe only his worst symptoms were choking and stopping breathing. It was dreadful. I thought we had lost him the first time he did it. Things got better for him when he could get about on his own but the reflux didn't get better significantly till 19 months or so. However, most people (95%) grow out of it by 12 months. The reflux had a big impact on DS weaning. He couldn't eat lumps as had developed feeding aversions due to the vomitting/acid etc. Took till 16 months to eat a normal ish diet and till 11+months to eat stage 2 lumpy jar consistancy.

Sleeping was the next worst aspect. He slept 20 mins before waking up screaming-nothing would settle him at all. He was my 5th baby and I had twins before him yet never knew such severe sleep deprivation. This got better when he went onto Losec Mupps, from 16/20 weeks we could put it into apple purree as otherwise getting meds down him was hell. Another thing that really helped was a hammockto sleep in.(Amby Nest). He went from 20 mins sleep to 5 hours sleep from the night we used it. Had a stomach monitor on for the apnea too. Also recommend a Jumperoo. Amazingly it didn't make him more sick and he loved bouncing. I think it maybe helped his stomach muscles. Music also calmed him alot; Nursery Rhymes, The Wiggles etc.

Kels1979 · 20/04/2012 07:02

Thank you all so much for your help and advice, really appreciate it. He's doing a lot better, still very sick some days but generally much happier, thank goodness. Hope you are all doing ok xx

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