Reflux on the playmat

[AmyByTheTrain]

Laying my 9wo DS flat is nearly a guarantee for baby sick. So, we have a wedge in his moses basket and he spends a lot of time in his bouncy chair. But I'm worried it's bad he doesn't get much time lying flat or on his tummy to move about. Yesterday, I waited until a few hours after he fed to try him on the playmat, but he still sicked up, it was just mostly clear instead of milky

What do the rest of you with refluxy babies do? Do you still put them on the playmat, floor, etc. and just mop up after them? (Often, he is unhappy being flat, but sometimes he's ok with it even if he is sick.)

Am I overreacting--is it normal that lying flat almost always makes a baby of this age sick? This is my first, so I just don't know.

If he's happy even if being sick you could just put a folded muslin under his head so that if he's sick it doesn't go onto a playmat. Or you could try putting a rolled up towel under his chest so that he's not flat.

If he's not happy go speak to gp - I think they can prescribe something.

I just used to pop a muslin cloth under my DS. He preferred being upright in a Jumperoo or a door bouncer as soon as he could support his own head though. HTH.

Oh and I don't know if it's normal or not, but my DS (8 wks) isn't always sick when flat - I would mention it to HV or gp.

My dd did this as a baby, but she had reflux and was prescribed gaviscon to treat it. I used to use a wedge pillow so that she wasn't completely flat. She was always sick when lying flat and it worried me that she would choke. She grew out of it at around at 8 or 9 months.

Did you know that time in arms/in sling counts as 'tummy time'? There really is no need for playmats if they don't work for your baby. A 9 week old has no biological need to be on the floor

I'm on reflux baby number 2. Both have enjoyed their playmat despite the vomit! Just pop a muslin under your DS' head as others have suggested and keep an eye on him to prevent him lying in a soggy puddle.

I have a sicky 8 wo who doesn't have reflux. She normally vomits when I've forgotten to burp her but generally spits up quite a lot. I keep a small towel under her head at night and a muslin cloth around her neck during the day. They do grow out of it by 3-4m ime.

The playmat/ tummy time is totally non-essential, so don't worry - wait till your LO is older.

Thanks all. After thinking about it more, I realise I'm probably overreacting a bit when DS vomits but is still happy enough. We had trouble establishing bf, he lost weight, and we went through a time of being very strict about making sure to top up at least every 3 hours and being really focused on getting him to eat and gain weight. We're past that now, but I think it's made me a bit emotional about seeing him bring back up milk that I'd like to see stay inside him.

At DS's 8 week check, the GP did prescribe Gaviscon to try when I said I was concerned about reflux, but DH and I are still deciding whether or not we think things are bad enough that we want to try it, as we hate to give medicine to the little guy if he doesn't need it.

WaxyDaisy, thanks for pointing that out about tummy time. DH sometimes puts DS on his tummy on his chest, and that's pretty successful for head-holding practise, but I hadn't thought about it that way.

None of my four dc ever enjoyed tummy time on the floor. They did like being laid on my or dh's chest. None have had problems with learning to support their head or movement, they just didn't like being flat on their front.

DD had reflux. She had no tummytime on the floor until she could roll over herself ....and very little time flat on the playmat at all until about 3 or 4 months. Lots of time in the wrap/in my arms. It does not seem to have done her any harm.

I think you're wise about the gaviscon. I was prescribed it for DD but found that it just made her bring up thicker sick than previously (it's a thickener and not really designed to deal with sickness). DD is actually a fairly happy chucker now at 10wo so I'm glad I decided to ditch it rather than giving her medication which wasn't resulting in any discernible improvement. If you're managing even to go 3 hours between feeds you're doing well too - both of mine have wanted to feed every 2-3 hours at least!

We were prescribed ranitidine which worked so much better than gaviscon..