Reflux in my 5 month old - brushed off repeatedly by health visitor.

[mylittlefreya]

I have thought, for months now, that my 5 month old dd has mild reflux.

She often yells through her feedings, a cry of pain not hunger, sometimes between every few sucks. It is usually eased by being sat up to be burped. It can be really difficult to feed her, to get her to take more than a couple of ounces, and she wants to start again not long after. Usually the spit-up is average, but I have to change her clothes from significant vomiting about once a day.

I mentioned it AGAIN to the health visitor today. I have mentioned it 3 times, the first time to the dr at her 8 week check, who said it was colic. The second time to a HV who said it was me transmitting my stress. The third time to a different HV who said it was her being too distracted whilst feeding.

Today the first HV was on again. She said it wasn't reflux because Freya's weight remains along her centile line. She then said it could be overfilling, not reflux, that it is hard for little babies stomachs to take in all the milk to get the calories they need, and I should feed half the volume twice as often. She said the being sick is just because I have a wriggly baby, but if the sickiness was a problem I should see a dr to get some Gaviscon.

I'm more worried by the yelling than the sickiness, which is probably within normal limits anyway. I don't think I could cope with feeding twice as often - that would be every 75-90minutes, and I am exhausted as it is as I rarely get 2 hours solid sleep, because she is hungry, wriggly, and DP snores.

Usually if multiple health professionals are saying the same thing, I think they are right. But... is it normal to be so fussy and hysterical at feeding times? This has been going on for months now, and I look around all the other bottlefed babies at my baby group and see them calmly taking their feeds, and think that surely something is up that might be fixable?

Thoughts welcome and thank you all for being my sounding board!

Sounds like colic to me, but i'm no Dr.Is she on solids yet?

I say that as my dd1 was the same. It was the crying, having to sit there for hours just pacing up and down the room or bouncing on her on my knee. Her being sick could cover me from head to toe. Yet she put on weight remained along the 50th centile. She was bf so my hv kept telling me bf babies didn't get colic. She did!!

It settled down once on solids, sleeping got better longer nights etc.

hi. my dd2 had reflux, but was only sick- she had no pain. she took gaviscon.

however, acid reflux causes pain and vomitting, IIRC. try googling it.

your health visitors sound v unhelpful. is there a possibility that you're coming across as v anxious? it sounds as if they think you are over reacting (i dont think you are, btw) sometimes, they can be dismissive of the concerns of anxious parents

What I thought was colic - hours of crying - stopped around 14 weeks. Could it continue just at feeding times?

I am trying to hold off weaning though she did thieve a breadstick the other day - not how I imagined it!!! - but the sleeplessness is making me think surely it's worth a try!

Noonar - maybe, in that, I have a psych history, and meds that meant I couldn't breastfeed. My own GP might be less dismissive?

reflux is very common and it does sound like your LO has it
The yelping, fussiness etc is all part and parcel of it, as well as being more comfy sitting up
My DS has really bad silent reflux and his weight gain was fine because he was comfort feeding because his tummy hurt
The good thing is that reflux can be easily treated. First step get to the GPs for infant gaviscon. If that doens't work there are meds you can get
Motherly instincts are usually right - trust yourself too!!

i can only tell you what i did! I weaned at 4 months, that was the advice then, just a bit of baby rice then baby rice mixed with puree veg no meats or eggs til 6 months if memory serves me right! We used Infacol i think just before a feed, like a starter! She ony cried around feeds. It used to take around 2hrs to feed sometimes, and being bf that was a chore! She didn't settle down and eat, she would fidget around stop you would think all over put down, 15mins later up again crying.

I really do feel for you.

My HV was neither use nor ornament tbh. When dd2 didn't talk i got the fob of for nearly 2 1/2 years. In the end i got to see a specialist who realised there was a problem. At 3.5 years she had her tonsils out adenoids out and grommets in. It turned out she had glue ear so bad she was practically deaf.

So if you are not happy always seek another opinion. No one knows your dd like you do.

My ds had reflux, still put on weight according to his centile. How is she if she's laid flat after the feed?

I thought that feeding more often was meant to make colic/reflux worse, actually - you could maybe try shortening the space between feeds during the day and see what happens?

I would try Infant Gaviscon, fab stuff, and maybe some anti-colic bottles like Dr Brown's, since burping seems to calm her.

It does sound like reflux. Have you tried giving Infacol before feeds - it can help with the burping, which in turn helps with the pain. Won't stop her being sick though. You could go ahead and try infant Gaviscon - you don't need your gp or hv's agreement, just discuss with the pharmacist.

I would agree with feeding as frequently as you can, and smaller amounts.

I don't think it sounds like normal feeding behaviour, and colic would have eased by 5 months, and I agree with you that it sounds fixable - hope very much that you can get some good suggestions here.

My ds had similar issues (though he was more sicky and had less pain) but a combination of Infacol, feeding little and often, feeding as upright as possible, burping frequently etc helped make it manageable and the reflux disappeared very soon after he started on solids at 6 months. So there is hope! x

I stopped the infacol around 14 weeks because what seemed to be true colic had stopped - and there's been no difference without it. Dr Browns bottles were a nightmare for us (there are 4 going spare in my cupboard!) but I figured they were worth a try.

I am worried about:
--> firstly that feeding more often in the day would mean feeding more often at night - which I'm afraid I can't cope with just now.

-->looking like this arrogant idiot that won't listen to advice if I take her to the GP.

If she's really sleepy at night she'll go flat, but not if she's awake. But then, she's a baby that wants to be sitting, standing and looking - so it could be behavioural, if that makes sense?

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Good luck, Don't worry about what any one thinks you know your child.

Okay - not sure that feeding more during the day will translate to more often at night, but this is totally your call, I can remember how godawful and draining this period is, you need to do what you need to do. And btw, I'm afraid you need to be selfish and do what it takes to get away from the noise of dp snoring. That's just not reasonable. My dh had undiagnosed severe sleep apnoea when ds was that age, I swear that literally the entire building could hear him snore. At one point, ds slept in the master bedroom, dh slept in the spare room and I slept in the living room at the other end of the building, with the baby monitor on, just to get some sleep. If you are bottle feeding, why is dp not taking his share of the night feeds? (Or is he?)

The GP won't know what the HV has told you. Sometimes it really is just a question of keeping at it til you find a healthcare professional who is willing to listen to you, instead of treat you like some kind of moron. (This doesn't just apply to first-time mums, incidentally, I have had rows with a consultant about her interpretation of a pain condition, which included statements which are completely not backed up by any research that I'm aware of ... just the name of the game, I'm afraid).

Hi, your story sounds very similar to mine. Apologies in advance for the length of this posting....but hope it helps!

I too was brushed off weekly by HV and GP when I reported v similar symptoms to your 5 month old, the suggestion being that I had PND . Eventually I couldn't bear the screaming and protracted feeding sessions any more( sometimes it took an hour for her to take 3 oz) and took her straight to A & E who diagnosed silent reflux and provided her with ranitidine and domperidone. The Consultant confirmed that babies with this condition feed to soothe the pain in their throats that has been caused by the acid and that they don't always lose weight with it.

The lovely people here helped me out a lot, and on my posting gave me this list which may help you to identify if it is reflux and this link to a fab site infant reflux disease Good luck!

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) in infants

SYMPTOMS:
Baby may have all or some combination of the following:

pain, irritability, constant or sudden crying, "colic"

frequent spitting-up or vomiting (large amounts or small amounts ? or ?silent reflux,? where baby does not spit up at all)

vomiting or spitting-up more than one hour after eating

not outgrowing the spitting-up stage

poor sleep habits, frequent waking

pain while lying flat

"wet burp" or "wet hiccup" sounds

recurrent, painful or persistent hiccoughs

chronic dry cough

gassiness: from gulping air while crying and eating too voraciously

apnea ? voluntarily holding breath while eating or sleeping, air then comes rushing in with an audible wheeze (and if eating, choking and gagging following apnea)

constant eating and drinking (swallowing temporarily relieves the pain)

refusing to feed, arching back, crying on breast or bottle even though hungry

poor weight gain; weight loss; failure to thrive in extreme cases

swallowing problems, gagging, choking

hoarse voice

frequent red, sore throat

ear infections

constantly running nose; sinus infections

bad breath, tooth enamel erosion

excessive salvation, drooling

peculiar neck arching, Sandifer's Syndrome

respiratory problems; pneumonia, bronchitis, wheezing, asthma, nighttime cough, apnea, aspiration, noisy or labored breathing (extreme cases)

mylittlefreya - both my boys have had reflux yet stayed in the right percentiles with regards to their birth weight. Their problems centred around pain and vomiting rather than the nutrition side of things.

DS1's management involved giving him enfamil AR, a formula you get on prescription that is pre-thickened and easily digestible. It's used as an alternative to infant gaviscon because it's easier to make and the baby doesn't end up with a double dose of sodium.

DS2's management was complicated by a dairy allergy. He has nutramigen hypoallergenic milk with infant gaviscon.

Also babies can safely be given various treatments including ranitidine that suppress the acid and make baby more comfortable.

This is a very treatable condition. Go back to your GP (ignore HV) and go through the symptoms. Take printouts with you if it makes you feel better. If your GP doesn't listen to you get a second opinion from another GP. If you have no joy after that and you still feel fobbed off you can make a 'complaint' to your primary care trust, they will investigate the doctor's dagnosis and compare it to the guidelines for best practice in this area and hopefully resolve it for you.

There are two schools of thought regarding feeding for a reflux baby - lots of food not very often, or little and often - I've heard both work. We do the first method. It does also tend to improve a lot when you begin weaning at 6 months so you really haven't long to go now. I could be shot for saying this on MN but if you're not getting joy form your medical team you could try giving a few spoons of baby rice after each feed - it will help thicken the milk in her stomach and that will help the food stay down. This is basically what the reflux milks have added to them anyway. If you feel uncomfortable doing that you couls try buying sma staydown milk which isn't much more expensive than the ordinary stuff.

I hope this is of help to you - sorry it's such an essay. You'll find more info at www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/reflux.html.

Hi, mlf, several of the mums on the December thread have had babies with reflux. I'll post a link to your thread and maybe they can give some advice re: getting treatment. I know some of them had to be rather forceful before the dr. would give meds but babies felt much better afterwards.