gastric reflux in babies

[babylonian]

hi, i think my dd has got reflux which is causing real problems with feeding, it also means that she occasionally brings back milk way after a feed and she occasionally chokes on it . now i am really worried about this, and have read stuff on the net and have put her bed on an incline so her head is always higher than the rest of her body...

am planning to take her to the gp today, but thought i would open this topic up to see if anyone has any experience/ thoughts on what to do, or for that matter what not to do...i worry about her so much it is really hard work at the moment.

Three of my kiddies had reflux. Two had it severe enough that they were in and out of hospital trying to find a suitable medication to help, and even when they did, it still didn't stop them from chucking up EVERYWHERE.

DD3 was my worst. She was a healthy full-term baby weighing in at 8lb, and was still only 15lb 11oz on her first birthday. I did all the things they told me....tipping her cot, upright after a feed etc, but she still threw up, and also cried constantly because of the acid burning her tummy.
Now tho, from being so tiny for so long (was still in 2-3yr clothes at age 5!!!), she has suddenly decide to grow, and is now the tallest in her class (she is now 6, so just one year to grow loads....majorly expensive clothes bill-wise!...shopping spurges were great!!)

It was amazingly hard work at the time, and not one I ever wanted to repeat...sadly tho, both the boys after her also were refluxers.

Luckily DS1 coped well on gaviscon, and grew out of it by 6mths, alth DS2 was as bad as DD3.

He is now out of the reflux, but is still tiny for his age....he is allergic to EVERYTHING tho, so that could be the main cause!!!!

If your daughter is a refluxer...sending many hugs, and a tip.
Get a tumble dryer if you can.....I would not have coped nearly so well if I hadn't got mine, cos the amount of clothes I went thro was huge.....7+ outfits at least per day

two of mine had reflux - both boys. youngest (5 1/2 mths) pukes everywhere. he's on domperidone which has reduced it slightly but since learning to roll over its got worse again. he's starting ranatadine (?) next week. my other son who is 6 had it till he was about 9 or 10 mths and he is huge now, can't believe its the same child. If you think its bad puking milk wait till they're doing it with solids - not nice!

sorry just in case i've really depressed you with ds 1 altho he didnt stop till he was about 9 or 10 months he was much better from about 6 or 7 mths which is what i have to keep reminding myself everytimr ds2 pukes over me!

Nickygal

It sounds possible and if she is vomiting so hard it comes out of her nose then I think you need to check with the gp. There is a condition called Pyloric Stenosis (sp?) which causes even more violent vomitting than reflux due to inability of the valve at top of stomach to close, which you may want to be eliminated as a possibility. The risk of not having checked out is that sooner or later you may find she gets ear and throat infections due to the regurgitation creating an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.

dd was diagnosed when she developed an ear infection at 8 weeks and wasn't gaining weight well. She also would not settle easily in the night and dh spent nights in a chair with her, although initially we didn't realise why. I don't know how elevated you have her cot but at one point we were up to almost 60o and having to pin her into a sheet, like an oversized nappy, fixed to the mattress to stop her slipping about !

How is your dd's weight gain and general demeanour ? If she is gaining weight and otherwise happy and healthy then you may find you just have to stick with it and hope that it eases off after a while. good luck

Thanks all for advice. It escalated today when drops of blood started appearing in baby's vomit. GP on phone suggested keeping an eye out incase it was PS too. Meanwhile I will try putting some infant Gaviscon in two expressed feds a day. She is gaining weight at suitable rate (though a lightweight) and thriving otherwise, so we'll watch her carefully and see if we need to push the Dr for further inbvestigation and those stronger drugs mentioned. & I know what you mean about stack of clothes washing...! Good luck to all who have to watch their little miracles suffering in this way - it's nasty.

just to let you know that if does turn out to be ps it can be fixed really easily by a small op. My uncle had it and it was one of the things they thought ds2 might have (he hasnt it's reflux). My uncle had a quick op and it cured it and that was in the 50s!