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Original poster

how do you know when your child has reflux?

41 replies

Jaysfirst · 13/02/2006 07:21

dd has started to violently squirm and arch her back after and sometimes during a feed. She howls in what i can only imagine to be a real bad intense pain and shes started to bring back some of her milk.... not vomit though. i know it doesnt sound much but its awful when it happens. any thoughts??

OP posts:
Piffle · 13/02/2006 07:32

how old is your dd, the squirming sounds a bit like wind and the milk could be caught on top of the wind?
My dd had mild reflux and the vomit went for miles and miles, no symptoms just opened her mouth and an ac of the entire feed came pouring out.
She did sometimes have little painful spit up type ones too like you describe.

Piffle · 13/02/2006 07:32

ac=arc

Original poster
Jaysfirst · 13/02/2006 08:12

hi, shes 6 weeks, i have had two lots of projectile vomit but they were about 2 wks ago. I fed her formula on Sat for the first time, i was wondering if this has something to do with her behaviour? Also i just noticed that her squirming co insides a bit with her trying to pass wind. Can babies this age get constipation?

OP posts:
poppiesinaline · 13/02/2006 08:20

babies with reflux don't necessarily vomit. They can also get something called 'silent reflux'. DS1 had severe silent reflux. He didn't vomit or actually bring back any milk at all but arched his back (as you describe) during feeds and wriggled and fussed and used to scream for 1-2 hours at a time 3 or 4 times in 24 hours. He wasn't right from birth but it really took hold when he was about 10 days old.

Has your DD been ok up until now? If it was reflux I would have thought it would have showed up before now but I may be wrong - I am no expert.

poppiesinaline · 13/02/2006 08:21

Plus if it was reflux it would happen all the time not just here and there.

Original poster
Jaysfirst · 13/02/2006 08:23

its been in the past week i would say that she has started to 'act' differently. Its not all the time but when she goes for it its awful. I have never heard her cry the way she did last night, out of nowhere here cry came, really heartfelt and as if she was in pain, that coupled with the severe squirming and arching has really thrown me as to what to do, should i go see the doc? As it happens shes now fast asleep in her crib, lulling me into a false sense that theres nothing wrong...!

OP posts:
Original poster
Jaysfirst · 13/02/2006 08:24

maybe it is just wind then, oh god, cant you tell i am a first timer... its so hard to know what to do ...

OP posts:
Original poster
Jaysfirst · 13/02/2006 08:33

just found this;

Clues that your baby suffers from GER enough to need treatment are:

  • Frequent spitting up or vomiting (not all babies with GER spit up)
  • Baby isn't outgrowing the "colic" and/or spitting up
  • Frequent blasts of crying that are painful cries, not just baby cries
  • Your gut feeling tells you that your baby "hurts somewhere"
  • Bursts of nightwaking "as if in pain"
  • Colicky, abdominal pain after eating, even as long as one hour afterwards
  • Poor sleep habits, restless
  • Writhing as if in pain: drawing up legs, arching back
  • Erratic feeding patterns. Refuses to feed or wants to breast or bottlefeed all the time.
  • Frequent "wet burps" or "wet hiccups"
  • Throaty noises: swallowing noises, choking, gagging
  • Frequent, unexplained colds, wheezing, and chest infections
  • Stop-breathing episodes
  • Excessive drooling
  • Spits up like a "volcano"

Id say she had about 5/6 of these, maybe its a mild dose?

OP posts:
MummyJules · 13/02/2006 08:34

It wouldn't necessarily turn up straight after birth as my DD wasn't fully diagnosed with it until the was three months old. There are different variables of how severe the reflux condition can be - My daughter had the extreme version where she would be in a huge amount of pain most of the time, be sick after every feed and choke on her milk if she laid down however this is extreme and most cases are just some sicky babies. Please do go to the doctors if you are concerned and push for it, my old doctor didn't believe me that she was unwell until she had been admitted into the hospital after stopping to breathe! Good Luck. I know there is a good MSN board for people who suffer from reflux which may help you. If you can't find it please cat me and Ill do my best to find it for you.

Good Luck,

Jules

Original poster
Jaysfirst · 13/02/2006 08:41

Thanks Jules, i am calling the Doc now! Will look up the MSN board also.. its so horrid not knowing whats wrong, but at the same time instinctivly knowing that SOMETHING is wrong!

OP posts:
poppiesinaline · 13/02/2006 10:01

Yeh I would def get it checked. You may have to be quite forthright though. Although my DS was very severe - needed hospital admission when he was 3 months old - they refused to accept anything was wrong with him!!! . Then my HV changed and she diagnosed him with silent reflux - came to see GP with me and got him put on medication and hey presto - much better baby. He had ulcers all down his food pipe poor chap.

kreamkrackers · 13/02/2006 13:32

you need to go to the doctors to get it checked out as even silent reflux needs medication. my dd has it very bad (is peg fed all her milk). you might have to go down the road of thickened feeds to stop it going up and down the windpipe and infant gaviscon to stop the acid burning at this age.

bakeacake · 13/02/2006 13:55

Yes definitely see the GP and be insistent. Some GP's are a bit ignorant about reflux. Be especially prepared for 'Well, she's still putting on weight so nothing can be wrong'. Lots of refluxers put on weight but doesn't mean they're not in pain. Most babies seeem to respond to thickening feeds with gaviscon or carobel. Good luck

bubblepop · 13/02/2006 14:42

my neice had reflux, basically she would be screaming most of the day, particularly bad in the evenings.her stool was green and acidic most of the time, she would projectile vomit,and would want to 'graze', ie, breastfeeding all day long without a break.it drove her mum mad and her mum was exhausted.she had very poor weight gain and as a 3 month old baby, she still looked like a newborn.in the end they bottlefed her on omnio comfort formula milk on advice from the pediatrician.things did'nt really improve though for months until she was about 9 months old.

MummyJules · 13/02/2006 22:49

Ditto everything that everyone else has said. Please make sure you're doctor takes you seriously!

Original poster
Jaysfirst · 13/02/2006 23:16

ok... doc was sympathetic and checked her over for any possible infection. He reasured me that he didnt think it was reflux as shes isnt constantly in pain... and is putting on weight... just what you all said, he thought it more likely to be colic, but did say i was to go back in a week if things got worse or earlier if i thought it needed re checking. Thing was, since i first posted DD has been ok. I fed her at 9 this morning and she did vomit a little, also cried violently for about 2-4 mins she then went to sleep, i fed her again about 1145 beore we went to docs and she then slept while we were there, even through his examination, and didnt wake till 2 30 when i was at a friends.....fed he then, and we didnt have any vomit, did have a cpl of mins of high pitched crying with gulping and gurging, but then she had a HUUUUGE poo, and settled down. The rest of the day has also been ok , with minimal crying and after two further feeds , no vomit. SIGH.... i cant 'read' her yet can i!
Anyway i will see how she is tonight and for the next few days and if it changes or gets any worse, i will go straight back to docs.

Many thanks for all your posts, its such a help. Keep a look out for me, i have a feeling i will posting a great many other things!

OP posts:
poppiesinaline · 14/02/2006 11:42

Glad to hear GP visit went ok. Reflux babies can put weight on fine btw. But it doesn't sound like reflux to me, as it would be all the time and not intermittently. Babies can be tough to read. I was always really crap at that!

kreamkrackers · 14/02/2006 12:02

it's good to hear that about your dd. there was a brilliant episode of baby whisperer (on discovery home and health) which showed a baby with reflux and ways to deal with it without medication. i know you probably don't need to know that now but i just thought i'd let you know.

Capie · 14/02/2006 13:14

my experience with ds2:

@ 3 weeks - lots of screaming - assumed it was growth spurt & fed more often.
Screaming didn't stop & there was milk coming up, no projectile vomiting, all this about 20 mins after feed.
diagnosis - mild silent reflux & some colic!

Joy.
Reflux apparently not uncommon in babies this young.

Treatment:
stretch feeds - so not to overfeed - so went from 2.5 hours to 2.75 & then 3 etc etc (dummy!)
dont wind too hard/press on tummy
sit baby down in bouncy chair direclty after feed for 30 mins
sleep baby slightly elevated (30 degrees)

This did bring relief, but did not "cure" it. Has something to do with the immaturity of the valves.

But he has just "outgrown" it!! :0
He is 3.5 months
what a relief!!!!

Lilliput · 14/02/2006 13:41

I took my ds to a cranial osteopath to help relieve some of the sytoms of his reflux. It didn'y get rid of it completely but he was way happier as a result of it.

ladyjess · 14/02/2006 13:59

tried to add a msg the other day but did not actually post it - derrrr. sorry.
my ds2 had reflux for first 2 months and it was horrible. threw up about 6 times a day then started arching his back and screaming when being breastfed. could not even put him in his bouncy chair.
i took him to the docs and then to the children's hospital and they gave me Gaviscon then Zantac (an antacid!). neither really helped so i then went to a homeopath and he gave us a couple of remedies and they worked. I really would recommend a homeopath. I suppose it could have been a massive coincidence and he could have just grown out of it but i really believe it was the remedies.
i went to Christian at the Dolphin House surgery in Brighton - not sure where you are based.
good luck! It is so shit at the time but now i look back on it and cannot believe that my happy baby was that screaming, pained little thing!

poppiesinaline · 14/02/2006 19:20

They don't normally grow out of reflux until 8/9 months - the sphincter at the top of the stomach (which is too relaxed) doesn't strengthen up until they start sitting and moving around. That is what I was told at the hospital anyway. DS1 was put on medication and taken off it at 9 months.

pookey · 14/02/2006 19:55

Hi Jaysmum my baby sounds similar to yours, he is 6 months now, he doesn't show signs of reflux all the time either but I think maybe he tolerates it some of the time and heartburn isn't constant in adults? I was lucky and saw a female doctor whose baby had reflux and she diagnosed it in my ds because he was making a rumbly noise in his throat during an appointment. I don't give the gaviscon very often because I breastfeed and he will only take it with a feed, but since he has been on that and colief(for wind I think) for his 7pm bottle feed at night he has been sleeping much better.

Original poster
Jaysfirst · 14/02/2006 20:33

things last night were ok till about 4.00 when she woke up screaming, no murmours or gurgles just crying ALOT. i tried winding her and walking round with her for a bit, by my timings she wasnt due a feed but she was actioning for a feed, rooting and sucking hands etc, so we had a feed, about 10 mins of good suckling and no choking (she norm chokes two three times in a ten min feed) all was well i thought but then about an hr later when she was settling down ( after more screaming) her tumy was making funny gurgling noises and she was getting agitated, i looked over in time to see projectile vomit appear like a fountain, up and all over her face , clothes, bed clothes etc.. poor thing, she was stunned with the intensity of it. Anyway, after chaning and soothing her, she kind of went back down at about 6 ish, but then at 7 woke crying again. I laid her on my chest and we dozed fo about an hr. I then got her dressed and from then till 12(5 hrs) she was grizzly , screaming, rying to sleep, not feeding well, squirming and making a clicky noise....sigh, poor thing. She eventually went to sleep in her car seat at 12 30 ish and stayed like that for a good cpl of hrs , wehn she woke she fed for ten mins again then grizzled for an hr but no vomit. fed her her 5 oclock feed bathed her about 6 15 and then she went to bed at 7 30 ish, still crying but not as strong, and as yet i havnt had any sick.... thanks for the messages it a heart wrenching subject, i hate seeing her in so much pain and distress, capie i read your post and have taken on bord all the suggestions, makes sense when you read it, have to say, i was wondering if it was heriditory ( sp) as i suffered really bad with heartburn before i got pregnant, rennies were my staple diet!
Alls quiet on the western fron, for now anyway!

OP posts:
Mirage · 14/02/2006 21:06

This sounds very familiar Jaysfirst.My dd2 was the sickiest baby ever,but the Dr said he didn't think it was reflux as she was putting on weight.I stood my ground however & he prescribed Infant Gaviscon.She was so much better whilst taking it & is now 8 months & doesn't need it anymore.

My argument to the Dr was that she was a baby,she couldn't tell us she was in pain apart from crying & if Infant gaviscon wasn't going to do her any harm,then I wanted her to have it.I couldn't bear the thought of her suffering heartburn & not doing anything to help.I had heartburn during my pregnancy & it was horrible.

I hope things improve for you both.