Acid reflux. Gaviscon infant

[K2012]

Hi I need some advice on how to give gaviscon infant please.

Baby is 4 months old and bringing milk up almost after every feed and GP prescribed infant gaviscon. He is bottle fed and I’m unsure how to give it. On their website it says:

”Bottle feed: Mix each sachet into 115ml of bottle feed. Shake well and feed the infant as normal. Once the feed is over, use a spoon or bottle to administer Gaviscon Infant.”

He has 150-180ml of milk, do I mix it in when he’s got about 115ml left?
what does “once the feed is over, use a spoon or bottle to administer gaviscon infant” mean?? Isn’t it already mixed in the milk?
He is over 4.5kg so does that mean I can give x2 sachets 6 times a day?

Or is it easier to mix with cooler boiled water (as if he was breastfed) and give it after the milk?

https://www.gaviscon.co.uk/products/gaviscon-infant-sachets/

Thank you in advance.

I'd just mix it into the bottle.
My daughter was breastfeed when we first went on it and I prepared it in some cooled boiled water and gave it by syringe after she had fed.
Once she was older and formula fed with added it to a bottle. She's still on it now before bed and it gets stirred into her oat milk

@Superscientist thank you for your reply.

How long did it take to work?

You should see an improvement quite quickly if it's going to help. You might find it triggers some constipation.

It helped quite quickly with my daughters physical reflux but it didn't do much for her silent reflux and to manage her reflux we needed high dose omperazole as well as the gaviscon and lactulose for the constipation.

Her reflux was also partly due to cmpa and other allergies although she does have it still when not exposed to allergens. She's in the minority of children that don't outgrow the reflux. Most babies get better at 6 months and nearly all of the rest by 12-18 months

@Superscientist thank you for your reply. How quick are we talking, a couple of days or…?

I‘m a bit at my wits end and don’t know if my son has acid reflux, gas and have problems burping or both? In the morning and during the night he never brings milk up but after that he brings up milk every time.. it’s not a lot a lot and not vomiting either but I can see that he’s struggling.

Would gripe water help with this or gaviscon or both? I don’t know what to do.

Within a few days. It thickens milk immediately so you should know if it's going to help within a few feeds definitely within a few days.
Gripe water made my daughter projectile vomit so I don't have much experience of that. By 4 months I'd expect they are handling gas better up but you could try infacol
How's the weight gain?

@Superscientist Okay. I’m a bit confused though, he’s over 4.5kg so can he have 6 sachets in total a day (2 sachets per feed so only for 3 feeds) or can he have 12 sachets in total per day?
He’s handling gas a bit better than before. I tried infacol when he was a few weeks old but it didn’t really do much but I will try again.
I think the weight gain is okay but he hasn’t been weighed since his 6 weeks check. I got an appointment with health visitor in 3 weeks to check his weight.

Can you give gaviscon and infacol at the same time?

Just go with the gaviscon first and give it 2/3 days, you will see an improvement. I gave 2 sachets per 200ml and only when I gave 2 sachets 3 times a day did I see an improvement. It's really hard isn't it x

To add, I'm sure you are probably already doing this but give him little breaks during the feed and keep him upright after for about 15 mins or longer if you can and of course gas him.

Also ...sorry....make sure you stir in the gaviscon and mash up and lumps against the side of the bottle with a teaspoon, it can get lumpy and go right to the bottom of the bottle.

We kept with one sachet as she fed little and often so one sachet allowed us to give her gaviscon in more feeds.
Due to the constipation risk I would start with one sachet and increase in a day or two if it doesn't help.

It can clump if not careful we prepare it in an Oz of boiled water and make sure it's all dissolved now we are giving it in oat milk when doing it in formula we added it to the hot water just before adding the formula.

Thank you to both of you @JaneEyre40 and @Superscientist for the advice.

@JaneEyre40 @Superscientist does Gaviscon change the poo? My son did a poo today after 22 hours (last poo yesterday) and it was kinda solid and with small lumps in. Normal brown colour.. he was straining a bit to get it out.

Is this normal? He had 4 sachets yesterday and 2 today.

@JaneEyre40 @Superscientist does Gaviscon change the poo? My son did a poo today after 22 hours (last poo yesterday) and it was kinda solid and with small lumps in. Normal brown colour.. he was straining a bit to get it out.

Is this normal? He had 4 sachets yesterday and 2 today.

Yes it causes constipation as the milk is thicker when it goes in it's thicker when it comes out too
My daughter ended up with rabbit pellet like stools that we had to help her pass. We ended up needing lactulose alongside the gaviscon. We were on and off gaviscon for ages trying to find the right balance of gaviscon that helped the reflux but didn't cause constipation. I wish we had accepted the lactulose sooner. Give the drs a call in the morning for advice.
You might want to try omperazole which helps reflux by reducing the amount of stomach acid.

Thank you @Superscientist I will call GP in the morning.

@JaneEyre40 @Superscientist
Gaviscon has made a big difference in just 2 days but he’s constipated now :( He hasn’t had a poo since yesterday morning (sorry tmi)

GP prescribed lactulose and he’s had one dose today so hopefully it’ll work tomorrow.
Thank you again to both of you for the advice.