Reflux - meds, weaning and starting to sit, but still sick 30+ times a day. WHEN will it get better?

[Snowboarder]

my DS was 3 months prem, and although has gained weight and fed well he is very, very sick. He is on Omeprazole and Domperidone to control it but is still sick between 10 and 60 times a day. I thought things would improve when we started to wean him onto solids and he started trying to sit up by himself (he still needs support) but nothing seems to be helping so far.

Luckily he doesn't seem too bothered by it but our whole house smells cheesy, the washing machine is always on and I am starting to get paranoid about taking him to other people's houses or letting people hold him as invariably he chucks up everywhere.

Please tell me it's going to get better

My DS wasn't nearly as bad, but he was sick around 20 times per day, normally after milk but it could be anytime. I also felt like I didn't want other people to hold him in case he threw up over them, and I remember my Mum being offered a hold and her saying "no, it's ok, I don't want to get changed"

Anyhoo, he slowly grew out of it, and is now 13 months, and this morning did a tiny dribble of milk vom and I thought "I cannot remember the last time you did that". I reckon it was around 7 or 8 months that it really tailed off. He is very occasionally sick now, but normally only after his morning milk if he really guzzles it. And even then I reckon it's something like once a month.

DD didn't have reflux but was a very posset-y baby and was sick at least once after every feed. She's still quite a sicky toddler, to be honest (2.5) though obviously nothing like as much. But if she has too much eat/ gets dizzy/ is slightly ill - up it all comes.

Thanks both. I just can't see him getting any better. It almost seems worse no I'm weaning him because instead of a mouthful of milk every few minutes, it's a mouthful of bright orange sweet potato and cheesy milk combination. Already today he must have been sick on me 6 times, twice in our bed, twice in his cot, on himself numerous times, in his play gym and twice on the (formerly cream) carpet. I've changed my top twice and I'm a bit ashamed to admit that today I haven't bothered to change him out of his sleep baby grow yet although he's already gone through 8 bibs. Feeling very low.

My two (now healthy teenagers) were the same. Sick easily 60 times a day.
Weaning, sitting and crawling had no effect other than the milky sick became foody sick and instead of just on the baby it was deposited all over the house. Both boys stopped being sick around 9/10 months, and have never been sick since.

I developed lots of strategies for dealing with, what is a major laundry problem. Multiple bibs and sick clothes. Layers of bedding so you can peel off the soggy top ones during the night.
Please don't let it spoil your enjoyment of your baby as I did first time round. Second time I was confident and knew it was just a phase, albeit a long hard one.

Incidentally I refused to give up BFing and refused to wean early , which neither would have helped.

I promise it will get better.

Thanks for the advice SecretSquirrels, I'm trying to see the sick for what it is, a major annoyance but nothing serious. Every time he throws up I make sure I tell him that I'm not cross and give him a cuddle.

I so hope that the sickness stops soon. He is only 5 months corrected though so I'm guessing I could have another 4 or 5 months of it left. Gah!

When DS2 was born the midwife nearly had a fit when she saw how much he was sick. I was completely unworried from his health point of view as I'd seen it all before. Nevertheless I did as I was told and took him first to the GP and then to a Paediatrician.

They did a scan on his stomach and it was very interesting. I could see the milk in his tummy and a little valve at the stomach entrance that is meant to let food in but not out. It was opening randomly, hence the constant vomiting.
Apparently these valves sometimes take a while to mature and function properly.

As I said before there was no difference when they went on to solid food. They both crawled at 7 months. The only thing that was a little different at 9 months is that they were starting to pull and stand upright a little. It may or may not have been a factor in stopping the sick.
Whether 9 months is the same for others I don't know.

There was no internet 15 years ago and I thought I was the only one with this problem. Looking on here it's not uncommon. Lots of babies seem to be given various drugs for it. Do they help at all? I wasn't given anything. The paediatrician just told me to wean him at 6 weeks but I chose to ignore that advice.

Hi secret. I suspect that if DH were to have a scan we would find the same valve issue - he really just does chuck up at random times. Sometimes when he's on his back or his tummy but most of all when I'm holding him stood up (which he's just decided he wants to do most of the time).

His consultant and GP are aware but aren't overly concerned because he has always gained weight well. He is on two medications for it, one to neutralise the stomach acid so it's not burning his oesophagus and another to increase the speed that he digests his food so he doesn't have a lot of milk/ food sitting in his tummy at any one time. I started being skeptical a few months ago about how effective these meds were given that he was still being sick on them but I tried him without and didn't I know about it - he was literally sick 100 times per day. He was like a tap.

Given that standing up seems to bring up sick, I don't know if crawling/ pulling himself up will make things better or worse. I'm sure I read somewhere that when babies with reflux first start to use their stomach muscles through sitting/ standing things initially get worse before they get better but I don't know how true this is. Did you find that?

Yes like a tap. That describes it. It's a long time ago.
Both boys gained weight well, in fact were huge, so no worries on that score.
I do remember propping up the head of the cot mattress in order to raise the babies head a little. Whether it had much effect I 'm not sure. I would have tried anything.
I remember that I found the crawling stage to be a new challenge because they would deposit blobs of sick all over the house - floor, furniture etc. There was a permanent whiff off upholstery cleaner in the house (which I still can't stand).
Both babies crawled at 7 months but DS1 walked at 11 months while DS2 was 14 months. They both stopped the sickness at the same time though - around 9 months so it may be nothing to do with being upright.

It's ironic but lots of kids throw up when they have a virus or get D&V at the drop of a hat but mine have literally never been sick since they were babies.

He's happy. He's healthy. It's just poor you cleaning up sick and washing mountains of sicky clothes and bedding. It won't be forever.

It sounds like I'm definitely in the same boat you were SS, thanks so much for the kind words - it means a lot to know I'm not the only one. Thing is, otherwise he is such a lovely baby. Just a shame that family and friends focus on the sickness and not on him. I'm not going to make the same mistake.

The constant scrubbing of carpets, furniture, baby gym and changing clothes not to mention the smell all get me down but in the grand scheme of things it could be a LOT worse!

Hi Snowboarder, I see your question has been answered really, but I wanted to come and say hi because I remember your pain SO WELL Whenever I fed my daughter she always went through 11 bibs, not counting the ones she went through in-between feeds.

God, her first..say...8 months were essentially a constant round of vomit. I remember one day when she was about 10 weeks she opened her eyes in the morning and a huge shower of spew came about a foot up in the air and landed in her eyes, ears, hair...that was a low.

But...you can only wait it out. I would think 8 months was when it stopped and she hasn't been sick once since then. It was gradual though; I remember thinking oh today was a good day, then oh the last few days have been good, then oh...4 days and no puking!

So, sorry, you've just got to hold on, keep scrubbing...(we had to throw out our baby gym...) and keep doing 2 loads of washing every day....

Hi Foxy, thanks for your message. Nice to hear from another reflux survivor! Everything you say rings a huge bell for me. People actually laugh at how many bibs we have - we must have almost 100! - and the fact that he always, always has one on.

Funnily enough, apart from a bit of possetting whilst he was being winded we had a really good day sick-wise on Saturday. Then things went back to normal the day after and since. I was hoping this might be the start of things getting better.

My first DC had reflux quite badly - it was just like a tap. My DC also took Gaviscon powders with his milk - that seemed to help matters a bit.

The meds helped him be more settled and happy but didn't stop the vomiting. Weaning and sitting helped a little, but it was all very gradual. I think from weaning til around 12 months it was a manageable/nuisance level of vomiting. For my DS it didn't completely stop until 18months, but from 12-18 months it was mostly just sick when lying in his cot. The vast majority of people I've heard have it stop much earlier though.

Think you're probably at the peak level of stress with it though - because with weaning it gets more colourful vomit and soo much washing. It definitely used to get me down - looking at everyone else's babies that could be plonked down wherever without the obligatory muslin behind the head or just having to be kept upright for 30min after every drink/bit of food. And you don't get that much sympathy in general cos everyone just thinks 'its only a bit of vom' - but it does affect more than that.

Anyway....it WILL get better.

Oh and the photos.
In order not to have bibs and muslins on every photo I would have camera ready, whip off bib, click, then bib back on

my dd suffered from reflux, she is 8 months now and it is starting to get better

we did stop her meds as they caused more problems then they solved

keep going it will get better

Both my twins have severe reflux and are on a vast combination of drugs and formula on prescription. One has silent reflux, the other has ordinary reflux and vomits CONSTANTLY. our paediatrician has recently added a long term (2 months initially) low dose erythromycin 4x a day which in combination with domperidone, has made a huge difference and has reduced his vomiting by about half. Worth asking about I reckon.

My prem baby is 10 years old tomorrow :o !!!!

Can't believe an entire decade has passed since he was a teeny, sicky baby. Always bibs, never wore any clothes other than babygrows until he was about 6 months old as they were too much hassle to change him out of... Yes, you're right, it is almost worse once they start weaning ( cauliflower cheese I remember being particularly disgusting). I also remember being very envious of others who could pick up / prop their babies without plastering the walls with protectors first... But have faith - it will pass. I have always fed DS a variety of foods and now he has a vast taste in food (favourites are spinach, haggis and snails). I'm sure meds and advice have moved on in 10 years so I can't offer much helpful advice other than keep going and to let you know how many others have been there - and moved past it, and it will happen to you too. :)