is it reflux?

[Henda]

my six week old cries endlessly, it has been put down to colic, but after discussion, i'm thinking it could be reflux. He isn't sick, but he has to be upright, or the crying gets worse, and he keeps making swallowing noises, as if he is bringing up acid. He screams all the time. What do they do about reflux? Is it something they just "grow out of"?

my DS (now 6months) suffered terribly with reflux and colic for the first 3 months and when he screamed (which he did LOADS) i never knew which was troubling him more. colic you can do nothing with but reflux can be helped by either adding gaviscon to his milk (have to express if BF) or if bottle feeding then you can try him on a few formulas that hold the milk down (thicken when in the stomach) Enfamil and SMA staydown are two that i tried. however they did give my DS constipation which then led to more tears. Nightmare!! so we went back to regular formule. However each baby is different so it could be worth a try. both are available on prescription (yipee! one less thing to pay for ) see your GP for help if i were you. Good luck and remember it does get better soon. Colic dissapears 8-12 weeks and i believe the two go hand in hand sometimes.

My son had reflux but luckily it didn't upset him he was just very very sicky. I used infant gaviscon and you don't have to express to use it if you are bf. You just mix it with cooled boiled water and give it in a cup/syringe/dropper or spool, like you would give calpol.

I know you can buy wedges for them to sleep on that are supposed to help. I'm sure others know more, but go to your gp anyway. A friend had her baby seen by a paed and they got a different medicen that worked too.

thank god someone knows what i'm going thru! He's in the middle of a wailing session as we speak. Cries so hard he almost can't breathe! Gonna try the Gaviscon. At least there is a light at the end of the tunnel, possibly only a couple more weeks to go! I can't even take him out anywhere in public, as he wails so loud, i get really embarrassed, thinking people are looking at me moaning. Man, it gets me down. But strangely, he doesn't get it at night, only during the day, THANK GOD

Sorry but if it is reflux is could go on a lot longer than colic. I don't know how long the painful type your son may have could last; but my son threw up after every feed for 10 months

gonna attempt to get some sense out of the gp. will take him down on Tues, see what they say. Here's hoping!

good luck. crying is hard to bear for everyone!

You're telling me

ds1 had reflux till he was about 9/10 mths - he had silent reflux where they're not sick but get a lot of pain from the acid going up and down and it nearly sent me to an early grave ds 2 (6 mths) has the constant sicking sort, definately not silent, is under the paediatrician at the hospital and is on medication, something to try and tighten up the sphincter - i think reflux is due to a flappy muscle at the top of the stomach - and an ante-acid - ranatadine (?) which altho hasnt cured it, it is better. i think they can grow out of it from about 9 mths when they're more upright and longer so that things have further to travel. We prop up ds2's mattress with a rolled up blanket or you can get a special wedge which has made him sleep better altho last night was the night from hell, typical as the clocks went forward!

thanks, we also had hellish time with the clock difference, amazing what an hours difference makes!!

Been and got Gaviscon Infant, just had first dose, so hopefully will improve, just gotta wait and see

how is it going henda i too have a dd who suffers badly with that swallowing sound and takin her breath was prescribed gaviscon infant then hv told me too stop givin it too her as it was making her feel full and so not feedin iam bf and she also is not sick just seems in pain it is hard work thou ikwym very tiring and upsetting as she is very loud fingers crossed i now have started her back on gavison it was getting me down it is very disturbing for them bless the joys of motherhood eh!!!!! thinking of you

ah, thanx Jolly, but bad news on the Gaviscon front. It gave him such a bad wind filled, painful stomach, and real loose poo, that the doc said stop it. now i've changed the milk AGAIN, so now back to keeping him upright where poss and patting his back when he has a bout of reflux. Don't know what else to do??

Hi Henda - if the Gaviscon didn't work (it didn't for my son), maybe ask the doc to prescribe special milk for reflux babies - my son improved on Enfamil AR prescribed by the paediatrician. Also, we put a wedge under his mattress but he kept slipping down and laying at the bottom of the cot, so we got rid of that. Sometimes when he was very little (6 weeks) we put him to sleep in either his car seat, or the bouncy chair, both in our room on the floor, as they kept him inclined. When in the cot, he was in less pain if he slept on his side, so I used to role up two towels and place either side of him to stop him rolling on his front or back.

When dd slipped down her inclined mattress I rigged up a sort of harness from a cot sheet folded like an oversized traditional nappy which she lay in with her legs through and then pinned the sheet to the mattress on either side (out of reach). I'm sure there is a patent to be had on it !

Yep, i've had the slipping down the cot thing. That rigging up the sheet idea is FANTASTIC, i agree, you should patent it! I'll give it a go, and also the laying on the side. Its good to know there are alternatives to Gaviscon too. The doc just said carry on with it, even though it gave him diarrhoea! No way, he was in obvious pain with wind in his gut. Thanks again xx