anyone have an older baby still with bad reflux?

[mad4myboys]

11 month old ds2 has bad reflux and on omeperazole and domperidone plus neocate. His consultant thinks he is'turning a corner' and that his age will help over the next few months (ds1 hadit till 1)

Im seeing no improvment. The worst part of it is the night wakings. He wakes every few hours from the reflux(he was in kings hosp few weeks ago for more indepth ph study which showed his night wakings were due to reflux) so there is no 'sleep training' or anything i can do about it. I cant even think about this going on for even longer. REally taking its toll on me.

if the settling in bed means giving formula when in bed then definitely not a good idea. Gravity helps keep food/drink down so being upright as long as possible while digesting it helps.

I know you say the omperazole isn't helping but when I first started it took a month to have much impact and taking it last thing definitely helped. And you mention him having been off it completely recently. So try the double dose at night for a bit longer before losing hope.

How high is his cot raised? Maybe you could raise it a little higher so that gravity is helping.

His teeth are not permanent teeth so while its good to speak to the dentist this isn't going to affect him permanently.

Hang in there and sleep whenever you can get someone else to mind him.

he has cot blocks. he always slids around the cot, ends up upside down etc so i dont really think it helps a great deal...

i am def going to give a month before really worrying about it. What i dont understand is night before last, when he woke in pain, gave just water, he was waking every half hour between 11 and 3.30 then last night he woke at midnight so i took him downstairs (in the dark him still half asleep) gave him milk, sat up with him for bout 10 mins then but him to bed, he woke at 3am, same thing and then 5am same thing....

so i have a better night if i DO give him milk. Doesnt make sense?

My friend has something like this wrap for her baby - used with a wedge. It stops the upside down problem . Don't know what cot blocks are - are they similar?www.babyreflux.co.uk/products/Snoozzz-Sleep-Wrap-Positioner.html

Maybe the better night is because he isn't hungry. How about trying soild food instead if he wakes, keeping him upright after it?

just found the bed blocks on the same website!

thats where i got them from. i was just looking at an american site with those odd wrap things! There is no way he'd like that. Esp now being 11 months old. Maybe if i had one when he was tiny.. he likes to sleep on his tummy.... always rolls onto it when going to sleep

don't ask me why but sleeping on your left side is supposed to help, something to do with the position of the stomach, I guess.

Think tatt is right about left side. Osteopath recommended for DD and has helped a lot at night. For the first few nights had to prop her on her left with pillows(was easier as she is younger) but now she automatically lies there herself.

So hard and understand what you're going through but no real help to offer, just sending a hug!

thanks guys, had another bad night...no idea why. he has been hiccuping loads yesterday and today and that isnt a good sign. Always reflux induced. Hes so tired. Already down for a nap but wont be asleep long enough

just bumping really to see if anyone else out there been through this and any suggestions?

hi mad4, had a read of your nutri write-up in Allergies at last.

For us, nutri approach has done more than some drs, inc a consultant or two - but this is with a lot of hindsight now. There is a lot of logic and common sense with nutri approach, but whether nutri or drs, use your gut feeling and go with what you are happy with. What did the nutri say on omeprazole and formula?

It seems to me your ds is locked in a vicious circle of formula and omeprazole and you have to do something to break out of it. If it was me, I would decrease formula intake, either by diluting it (and)/or eliminating evening dose altogether.

I would also steer clear of omeprazole long-term, because prolonged use can be quite damaging. By stopping him from producing digestive enzymes (which is what omep does), his digestion will not normalise and you will be faced with malabsorption and/or prospect of autoimmune conditions, not a good idea.

It could well be that his constipation is due indirectly to omep, which sends signals to his body to further slow down digestion. Also, the standard full quota of ALL ingredients in the formula may not be right for him if his elimination is unable to cope.

However, don't take my word for it, as I am not a dr, but maybe when you are seeing any of your experts, ask their view on long-term use of omep and/or on reducing/discontinuing formula.

As for foods (speaking from experience), you can't beat a home-made soup or caserole; in the meat stock you will have very easy to digest aminoacids, which should be a very gentle introduction to protein. But stay clear from wheat as a thickener, you can use cornflour or ground rice if you have to, but you don't even need that if you use lots of veg.

Did you know that sauerkraut is a natural probiotic? That's because it's fermented naturally. Of course you can't dish up a portion of it to a 11month old, but you can chop up some into a caserole or a soup to add flavour, or just spoon some of the liquid from it into an individual savoury dish.

Hope it gets better for you soon.

hi nightcat. thanks for that message. Today i asked gp about changing formula, she said as he's 1 this month just put him on full fat cow milk, i said no to dairy, she suggested goats milk, i said didnt want to introduce at mo. As he is already eating soya yoghurt i have decided to try him on soya milk. i gave him alpro earlier (forgetting not supposed to be main drink until age 2!) and he drank it really well so tomorrow will be buying wysoy or something and see how we go...

just bumping really incase theres some expert out there that has a magic wand

i had a real break down last night. Just couldnt stop crying about how i cant belive he is still so poorley a year down the line (his birthday is the 20th)

its making me so sad now that he is still suffering and that i am still so so tired. It affects EVERYTHING. Poor ds1 gets neglected IMO. I barely get 2 minutes with him a day, i try to spend time with him but easier said than done. He understands ds2 is poorley though.

why why why why why is he showing no signs of growing out of it????