Reflux or milk allergy?

[HWB18]

Hi there I'm going to give you all a little insight to my hectic & very difficult 6 months with my daughter.

In her first couple of months we discovered she had a floppy larynx which comes hand in hand with reflux. The floppy larynx is barley noticeable now but reflux is still an issue. We have tried every reflux medication possible & the only one that seems to work for her is ranitidine, she is on the highest dose for her weight & also still taking carobel in her milk. At one point of this process we were prescribed a milk called similac alimentum as she had a little blood in her vomit (only the once) but unfortunately I couldn't get her to take this milk at all so doctor said to go back to aptimil. Things were going good for a while then in November every so often she would fight the bottle, scream, push it away, turn red in the face. She would take her dummy no problem or even the bottle no problem at times but now this is happening every single bottle. I'm at my wits end & in tears writing this I am so tired of my baby being in pain when drinking her milk. I was at the dr last week who told me it is silent reflux & we have ran out of options with all medication so it's something we are going to have to deal with. I am force feeding my baby because she needs her formula but I feel like the most horrible mum in the world doing this...I need advice. I need someone to tell me how to fix this. A friend of mine suggested milk allergy but I'm not 100% sure. Do I go back to the doctor & suggest this? I feel right now like every bottle I have to feed her I'm ready to take a mental breakdown. Before this she was taking 7 ounces 4 times daily. Now I'm struggling to get her to take 15 ounces a day. But because she's gaining weight (she's on solids now) the dr & health visitor say there not concerned.

Concluding something is a behavioural problem via the Internet and without sight of a patient is worrisome because there are other things that need to be ruled out potentially through a process of food exclusion.

Untreated food intolerances can lead to:

• longer-term feeding issues and aversions
• micronutrient deficiency
• skin and mucus membrane issues.

I am not a doc and so cannot rule in or out a medical issue. Nor should you.

Actually no, it is not necessarily.highly unlikely.to have comorbid conditions. I am not 'projecting' but unlike you I do have some relevant experience here.

And a relevant qualification.

And I’m sorry if I do consider allergies, where a baby is putting on weight, and otherwise well, not a major issue - my baby was on life support in intensive care and has had major operations and medical interventions - I guess these things are all relative aren’t they.

You have no idea what my qualifications are - and yours sound doubtful if you think every baby that refuses a bottle has your baby’s rare condition.

Hi OP. If you search on Facebook for CMPA and join the CMPA main group, you’ll be able to ask your question there and the forum is so helpful, I’m sure you’ll get good advice.

It is a specialist forum full of parents with babies with reflux, CMPA, lactose intolerance and a whole host of other issues, and it is a wealth of information.

Hope your wee one gets better soon.

This isn't illness top trumps . I'm sorry your child was on life support but that does not detract from issues others are having/ have had.

Op if you think something isn't quite right you are probably correct.

If you read carefully you will see that nowhere did I suggest that the OPs baby had EO. My point was that allergies are not necessarily 'obvious' nor necessarily benign even where a child is putting on weight. But crack on, I'm off to bed!

My goodness rainbows, I am sympathetic to your issues you had with your child but it doesn't mean that any issue with other children that aren't quiet as serious as yours are less important to another parent. As for the apple juice she has had it once! I bought it yesterday & she tried it yesterday, all I'm trying to say is she will drink anything apart from her formula! Please stop being so judgmental on other parents please. I am at a very low point right now & I'm extremely worried about my daughter & I am trying everything possible to make things easier & better for myself & her. I put this post up to see if there were other parents who had been through a similar situation & if they had any advice. The doctor today suggested I put flavoured milk shake in my daughters milk & guess what I haven't! Here you are making such a big deal about a drink of apple juice which must have been an ounce she drank at the very most.

I’ll agree with you re mother’s intuition Ragsu.

No, it isn’t top trumps, but really, don’t assume others have no idea of what it’s like raising a difficult baby without knowing what they’ve been through.

Incidentally they also thought my baby also had a floppy larynx for a while but it turned out adenoid issues were the real underlying cause.

Also we were told by paediatricians at the hospital that she had a floppy larynx because of the sound she made while breathing. They diagnosed this by a simple check over. Never once did they stick anything down her throat. Also it is a very sore cry, she will have the first couple of drinks & then start crying as if something is hurting her, it's very uncomfortable.

Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean I’m not trying to help you

I agree don’t go down the flavored shake route.

Just try working through what you give her in what form to see if makes a difference - when you give water what do you give it in. If you spoon feed her milk does she still cry? Etc

When does she make the sound? All times or worse when feeding or crying? Or has it completely gone now she’s older. They should have down a look down with a camera to confirm really.

when she was smaller I gave her drinks of water through her bottle, she wasn't too keen on it, I have tried with her sippy cup & she gets on ok. Not great but ok. I haven't tried spoon feeding her the milk, I may try this tomorrow.

Her floppy larynx used to depend on position but now she's older it's only noticeable if she's upset or excited & sometimes when she sleeps she will make quiet a loud one of noise but a lot of us may do this I'm not sure if this has a relation to the larynx

Well snoring was the first sign of my babies adenoid/tonsil issues but I don’t want to do what I’ve just accused ragsu of doing and project too much!

Ask gp to check her tonsils maybe. Adenoids can’t be seen. Large adenoids can cause issues swallowing as they can’t breath through their nose and drink at the same time.

Best of luck finding a solution - sorry if I’ve come over as snappy and have misjudged you a bit.