reflux baby

[donna12a]

Hi, my baby who is now 8 months old has reflux (diagnosed At approx 3 wks) she has 2 sachets of gaviscon in each feed and also ranitidine 0.5ml 3 times a day.
Basically, she's been really miserable over the last few days and I'm sure its her reflux. I thought it would start getting better now :( really want to take her off meds but tried it 8 wks ago which was a nightmare. Pediatrician Said to try again at 12 months. Hope it all settles for her soon. Hate seeing her grumpy and miserable.
Anyone else's babys had reflux and if so, when did they come off meds.
Thanks x

my baby was very refluxy, hospitalized at 10 days old. she used to feed and vommit, feed and vommit. She was initially on Gaviscon which did nothing for her - Until I forced the doc to change her medication. Even then we changed it and experimented with different dosages occasionally, experimented with taking the medication at different times of the day. Gaviscon works I think by thickening up the feed in the stomach so it has a hard time coming back up, LOSEC (generic name omeprazole) inhibits the acid in the stomach. I think that rinitadine is an acid inhibitor? think LOSEC is the strongest one. I would ask your doctor why baby needs to be on both? Gaviscon makes babies quite constipated too. I eventually took my baby off medication at about 5 months old, I told the doctor I was going to do so. i found that gps I spoke to did not seem to volunteer any information and I had to ask them to up her dosage - I had overheard that the dosage was calculated according to weight and as she was growing it was there getting less effective. was happy to medicate her for stomach acid but not just if there was a little vommit and it had much improved by that stage. If your GP won't give you answers, push to go to a specialist - only got referred after a year for my baby - she still had a small appetite but when I thought about it logically, if I had spent 5 months vomiting round the clock, I wouldn't want to eat either! speaking to local mums with the same problems too helped a lot and I was able to draw conclusions from what they had experimented with too.

hang in there, it's tough!

There are formulas you can get on prescription to treat reflux (Enfamil) being one of them. They are more expensive than gaviscon do docs don't routinely provide them. Could be worth asking about.

Ds had Enfamil from 6 months and although he was still sick every feed it was more 'posseting' than throwing up a whole milk feed. Enfamil works by thickening when it comes into contact with the stomach acid iirc.

Thank you for replies. I asked about her dosage and they said she was on max that she could have for her weight.
I tried different formulas, the enfamil she wouldn't drink. She's on lactose free now. I think like u said, I've just got to 'ride it out'. X

My sympathies it is so hard - my dd2 was on gaviscon until she was nearly three years old. Each time I took her off it she was throwing up full meals. It is hard - keep fighting for whatever help you need.

Hi sorry your LO is suffering. DS has reflux & has been on ranitadine since he was 6 weeks. I would say the dose is nowhere near enough.

DS is 6 months, weighs 7.2kg & is on 1.4 mls four times a day. His starting dose at 6 weeks was 0.7mls three times a day.

I can find you the recommended dose /weight ratio if this would help?I would definitely go back to the dr. Reflux is no
Fun. The GP should be able to help.

Also have they ruled out a cows milk protein issues? Dairy & soy account t for 50% of reflux cases in babies.

Hallo mine has just started to improve on Nexium at 8 months. There is no way I will consider taking her off until 12 months.

Have you tried thickening her feeds? I found Gaviscon to be useless.

My 7 month dd is really refluxy. She's on 1.5ml of ranitidene 3x a day and domperidone 1.5ml 3x a day. Were trying to wean her off it but no luck yet. Now she's more upright she's a bit more comfortable and solid food has helped a bit. But peadiatrician did say it could be 18 month till she grows out of it

Just read your are FF, if you do suspect a diary/Soy problem formulas such as neocate are available on prescription.

Omg! Sounds like she's not on the right dosage then! I've taken her bk to the doctors several times and they said that's the max she can have! Hmmmm, will be seeing gp asap!
We've tried several milks and this one seems to suit her the best.
Thanks guys xxx

GP's are rubbish with reflux. I had a sit in at mine just to get gaviscon. If you've seen a peadiatrician your best ringing them or their secretary. Mines been really good and as long as I have an up to date weight for dd he's able to sort dosages over the phone

!!! My dd was on 3mg x 3 a day which is admittedly high. She ended up with an NG tube before we tried Nexium.

Xanthan gum is a great thickener - one level teaspoon in 4oz hot water. Shake vigorously in a pot or bottle and put in fridge overnight. Add 15ml or level tablespoon in every 4oz of feed. Shake! This is from our feeding specialist and has been working well for us.

FYI we found baby rice made it worse and that only getting the right meds and dose truly knocked it on its head.

My experience is now a few years ago but I agree that you need to get the ranitidine dose checked, it is massively weight dependent and DS used to have his dose 'tweaked' every few weeks.

Another vote for thickeners too - Carobel saved my sanity. It basically makes bottles into a 'thick shake' consistency and the milk too heavy to throw up. It takes a bit of experimenting to get the right consistency for your child but once you've sorted that it's little short of miraculous in my experience. This would enable you to ditch the gaviscon as well which if Infant Gaviscon is still the same as it was 7 years ago is basically a bit crap in my experience, especially once babies start moving around - it's supposed to form a sort of heavy floaty barrier across the top of the stomach contents but it doesn't seem to work for many people.

Also and you might not want to hear this but it is kind of meant to be reassuring - my experience with DS was that his reflux got worse whenever he was ill (regular tonsilitis) or he had teeth coming. It's horrid at the time as you feel you're going two steps back and you start dreading the feelings you had previously etc...BUT....if you remind yourself that it is temporary due to teething then I found it easier to get through those times.