Anyones child had recurrent infections in their first year? Bad reflux too- need some advice

[bakeacake]

This is my 2nd thread on this board today (apologies) but I'm getting really worried about 10 month old DS. He has a history of projectile vomiting (once a day normally- various times) of whole feeds/meals. To this day he cannot eat any lumps or finger foods without gagging and puking.

Then the last 7 weeks have run like this:

Got a cold- developed into tonsilitis and a ear infection
Had AB's- gave him an upset tummy and didn't clear the tonsilitis
Got cold 2, with throat inf. still lingering as I refused to give more AB's
couple days (not exaggerating) back to normal eating/ sleeping through etc
Got cold 3- that night had difficulties breathing. Paramedics took us to A&E- dignosed croup, given 1 shot of steroids
last fri- still coughing, went off food a;together. GP diagnosed bronchitis
today- chest much better but GP diagnosed ear infection, given another ste of AB's (his 4th in 10 months)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what to do anymore. I feel an absolute failure at the moment. Anyone been through this? My current theory is that the months of being violently sick on a daily basis have weakened his immunity or damaged something in some way. Yet, our consultant for the reflux said 'weight ok so I don't need to do anything'. PLEASE HELP...am now wrapping him up incotton wool but that doesn't appear to be working either.

Oh, he also had a throat infection in May too!

I don't think his immunity is weak. I think it is more likely that the AB's are leaving him more vulnerable to infection if that makes sense? It IS the season for picking things up, especially if he goes to nursery/toddler groups etc

If he has had croup and a lingering throat infection then it's really no surprise that he's off his food! As long as he is having plenty of milk he should be fine!

True about the AB's Starlover, but how am I ever going to break the vicious circle if GP keeps insisting on AB's? I'm REALLY worried about giving him all these AB's. They're probably only 25% effective (sheer guess sorry) as he has such an upset tummy with them. Is it a good idea to totally keep him away from other babies/ children? I have been really limiting things for 7 weeks anyway, to no effect.

bump

It does sound like he has been very unlucky. Poor little thing. I would think you would probably have trouble for the rest of the winter but by next spring his immunity might have built up and with the better weather you should see an improvement. Both of mine were quite poorly during their first winter.

DS has just started reception and had a similarly bad run although not as bad. Bad cough which he didn't shake, immediately followed by tonsilitis, followed by a cold etc etc. Didn't do a full week at school all through October.

I'm thinking back to when dd was small. I do recall her being sick an improbably high number of times, and think I may have posted here about it.

She mostly had diarhhoea (sp?) and vomiting episodes - about 5 or 6 spells of this in her first year (concentrated over the winter months), but she also had croup since I drove her to A&E in the early hours of the morning one day to get a medical attention (they gave her a steroid injection)

She is now a very hale and hearty 3 year old. When she gets ill now she seems to shrug it off remarkably quickly...although she still gets quite a wheezy cough at times

Kids can develop temporary lactose intolerance (which makes them vomit intermittently) after a tummy bug (it arises due to damage to the lining of the gut after a tummy bug, but it is only temporary)- ds had that, and I gave him sort sort of treatment (can't remember what)...I'll goggle this and see if I can jog my memory, as it is entirely possible that your ds had developed this

Cut and pasted from a web page on the subject - see secondary deficiency (3rd paragraph):

There are two types of deficiencies of lactase enzyme :

the primary deficiency which is a permanent state. The congenital form is very rare, while the delayed lactase disappearance, also called primary hypolactasy of the adult, is much more common. The lactasic activity generally starts to decline as from the ageof 2 ; however this phenomenon can also appear only towards the age of 20

secondary deficiency is generally a temporary state due to a deterioration of the mucous membrane of the small intestine. It lasts approximately one week after recovery. Young babies (infants) and children suffering from gastro-intestinal infection or malnutrition are particularly vulnerable to this type of secondary deficiency of lactase enzyme. It can also be caused by a coeliac disease, by an allergy to cow's milk, by certain drugs and by gastro-intestinal surgery.

Could it be secondary (temporary) lactase deficiency as a result of a recent gastro-intestinal infection in your little boy causing the projectile vomiting? Like I said, my ds experienced this for a while

I was told reflux made them more prone to upper respiratory, ear and throat infections becasue the regurgitated milk provided an ideal breeding ground for bacteria at the back of throat nmad nose. dd had an ear infection when she was first diagnosed, followed by bronchiolitis about 6 weeeks later, another ear infection, uti.... Many babies do have a rough first winter as their immune system is not developed sufficiently to deal with their first exposure to the various viruses and bacteria around. I think you need more advice with the reflux and perhaps to boost his immune system generally. Certainly ime one illness can leave them vulnerable to the next one whcih they may have fought off if fully fit.

He has got a milk protein intoleance which gave him and upset tummy and blood in stools but this was diagnosed at 8 weeks and no probs since changing milk. Dr's say this is a separate issue to his reflux/ vomiting problems.

DS doesn't seem to be able to have a good old cough to clear his congestion so it dosn't surprise me he keeps getting infections. Is this his problem or do all babies have trouble coughing to clear things?

LIZS, I think you are right about the vomiting being a great breeding ground for infections to develop. TMI, but 50% of time the vomit comes through his nose too and I can see that some of it doesn't make it all the way out. Stands to reason really and I'm surprised his body fought it off for as long as it did. I feel really angry at my consultant for fobbing us off because DS' weight was ok. It's only ok because I have the patience to re-feed him if he'll take it

thanks for posting that info HMC. The projectile vomiting came long before any respiratory probs but the 2nd type might explain the diarroeah (sp?). He is not vomiting any more frequently than 'normal' with the AB's.

Think babies often have problems coughing and, of course, can't blow their nose, often end up swallowing copious amounts of mucus, vomitting it up etc etc and so you have a viscious circle. I do agree with hmc that babies struggle in their first winter. DD is now 18 months and a very healthy toddler but last winter she started in October with chicken pox plus a cold and then started nursery immediately afterwards and had constant colds and tummy bugs all through the winter - probably half a dozen tummy bugs before March but none since.

bakeacake, have you thought about giving your ds baby probiotics (which will hopefully replace the "good" baceria that the ABs kill off)? You can get soemthing called ABC Dophilus by Solgar, which should help his gut and (I think?) by association his immune system. I have put dd on it fairly regularly since I stopped bf-ing (lots of natural probiotics in breast milke, less so in formula), and I think it is supposed to help babies who have had colic and reflux. It is a bit expensive (about £15 for a pot, must live in the fridge once opened), but they have so little in their bottle it does last for ages.
Good lcuk, have no other advice re: infections (apart from manuka honey? just read a thread here about it...), but do think the probiotics will help re: all the AB's he's been having. Good luck!

Orangina,

I used that! Can get it from health food shops

Orangina, probiotics are just what he needs! But he has a milk allergy and apparently Solgar has got milk products in . There is also something else called adophilus (I think) but Holland and Barrett say it's not safe for under 18's. Lots of ppl say they used it with no ill effects but I don't think I can risk any other probs at the moment. I reckon he may have another throat infection now as he won't drink more than an oz at a time. Seems like a neverending nightmare at the moment.

I am sure that you can get acidophilus which is formulated for children...I'm going to try and find an old thread about it

I've just put acidophilus into the search terms for archived messages under health and it brings up loads of threads...lots of examples of it being given to lo's.

Is there another health food outlet other than Holland and Barrett that you could discuss this with?

bakeacake.... you are probably right about the milk and solgar's probiotics.... BUT, if you go to a really good health food store or independant chemist (not Holland and Barrett!), I'm sure you will find something that will be suitable for vegan children (which would deal with the milk business, no?). If I come across any more info, I'll post again....

I found this...

"Biocare?s Bifidobacterium Infantis is safe for newborns and older. It costs £22.50 for 60g. Mail order direct from the company on 0121-433 3727 and mix a quarter teaspoon with a little warm water daily."

I know a lot of the Biocare stuff is formulated for vegans, you could call them on the number above and ask them directly yourself.....

Sorry, last post from me! FOund this on a website...

"BioCare also do Bifidobacterium infantis, which contains the main intestinal bacteria in breastfed babies. It is dairy free. The recommended dose is one gram in water twice daily. 60g of powder costs £23.95"

Should do the trick. Maybe call Biocare just to make sure though....

bakecake, although my dd is now much older, we had a similar start to her life as you are having with ds.

Dd's reflux was never taken seriously because her weight was OK (never brilliant) and in fact, we only got to speak to a consultant about it because of her other problems (she had allergies and a UTI).

I totally agree with LIZS. Reflux definitely seems to make them more susceptible to all these infections - this is especially true when they are vomiting and inhaling stuff back at the same time (we used to get a lot of croup/throat infections).

I would also get your GP to check the size of his tonsils when he is not unwell. We found that dd had large tonsils that were definitely aggravating everything else (not that we could do anything about it but at least we knew).

Also, hang on in there. It's awful when they are ill so much but if you've managed to get to 10 months, hopefully you have less than a year left of reflux related problems. It's not your fault so don't blame yourself. If it is any consolation, dd (now at primary school) has not had more than a day off school since she started - I'm sure it's because she developed so much immunity when she was little!

Orangina, don't apologise for the posts I need all the help you can give me! I have just phoned Biocare and ordered some of the stuff you found. Thanks very much for looking it up. It sounds like the same stuff I wanted to get in H&B but then I got put off the whole idea after what they said.

foxinsocks- thanks for the reassurance. I think I just feel awful as I'm not enjoying DS at all at the moment. Really want a bit of family life back without being worried about every germ around or watching him like a hawk when we're away from home incase he vomits everywhere.

I am seeing a private paed gastroentorologist (sp) tomorrow and am so worried he will just fob me off again. Any ideas to avoid being patronised and labelled as having PND instead?

Is he your first child? I found most doctors we saw were much more dismissive with me when I only had dd than they were when ds came along and got ill - they seem to take you much more seriously second time round (and in truth, I suppose you do learn what is serious and what isn't).

Are you seeing the gastro for his reflux? I think to be taken seriously you have to go in there and point out exactly what is worrying you. I imagine one of his first thoughts will be that ds is not losing weight - you can understand it if you look at it from their point of view -if he is not losing weight and the vomiting is caused by reflux (which is a condition they do generally outgrow), then the doc won't be overly concerned. From what you have said, I would ask

-can he definitely confirm it is reflux (if you haven't had this done already)

• point out that you are concerned that the reflux may be contributing to his other illnesses (this can happen)

Just state the facts, good luck!
PS what milk is he on now?

by the way, I consider myself a fairly confident, happy person and my two having reflux really hit me for six. It's one of those things that health professionals don't really take into account - the impact it actually has on those who look after babies with reflux.

Thanks, will give it my best shot. IKWYM about them not caring about those who look after reflux babies and in way, why should they?! The difference now is that I believe DS' health is being damaged by the reflux problems. Plus I don't think he's gained weight in a month which may help the cause. He's on nutramigen btw!