Any reflux survivor parents out there?

[Mamab33]

Top tips to share apart from the hold upright after feeds and raise the mattress please. Was a swing or bouncy chair helpful?

We let d's sleep in the bouncy chair
At night put on one of those weaning scoop bibs so he wasn't as wet
If there's any degree of worrying weight loss try and sideline the drs and use the hospital, much more helpful
If ff try anti reflux, did a pretty good job for us, it's £££ but if there is weight loss it can be prescribed
Try gaviscon its crap then push for ranitidine
Any offers of 'oh well if you need anything..' Snap up with oh fab!! Ok bring a load of washing round later if that's okay?
No tummy time
Change nappy before feeds not after, so they arnt lying down

Remember you will survive

Amby hammock! And a sling

Amazing, practical advice....just what I was hoping for. Thank you!

Also, it gets better. I know it's a cliche, and it never seems that way when the baby has covered most of the room in puke, but it does :)

Sling ordered. Looking for a bouncy chair. Is it better to have several recline settings and a vibrate function or is a basic one fine?

Don't worry about recline, ideally as upright as poss
Vibrate did f all but personal preferance
Have a look for replacement covers for the chair- they get smelly!
We covered ours with a waterproof cot sheet then a pillow case, reduced the need to wash the bulky chair cover as often!
I love my sling now the reflux is controlled, but I hated him being sick and it just being stuck to me.. Personal choice!!

Make sure you still cuddle them, sounds awful but I didn't cudfle my son for two months because the sick was just relentless and now at 4mo I feel like I'm only really just bonding :(

My son had it terribly but it was much improved by the time his hospital referral came round when he was 7 months.

The thing that really made the difference was when he started to eat solid food. He could keep it down much better. I weaned him early around 18 weeks. He was still easily sick on average around once a day from then, then it decreased to once a week. He's six now and rarely sick.

A 'friend' said to me recently that she always wondered why his clothes were normally a bit creased when he was little and then it occurred to her that she'd watched me change him up to 7 times in a day so maybe I struggled to keep up with the ironing.

Btw I've just dug out his old clothes for baby number 2 and although they were all washed before being stored, some of them vaguely smell of sick! It's bringing back memories and I hope I don't go through that again!

My DD has silent reflux and loves the vibrate function on her chair.

Depending on how old and how good your baby's head control is, I find that carrying her by letting her sit on my hip and then supporting her weight by having my arm across her chest and under her arms (IYSWIM) stops her crying almost immediately. I think it is the combination of being upright and some gentle pressure on her chest, where the pain is.

Also, yes to getting ranitidine!

7 months for a referral...that is horrendous!

Thanks Team. Do you mean facing outwards rather than towards you?

Sorry, yes, facing outwards. So she's almost leaning over my arm whilst sat on my hip.

Oh, my DD also has a lactose intolerance, and the two can feed off each other apparently. One sign is the poo looking a bit mucus-y. I've gone dairy free and give DD colief with every feed. That combined with ranitidine has made a huge difference.

Agree with everything the previous posters have said.

The other thing that saved my sanity was the jumperoo - it meant DS was upright, entertained and safe! It was very easy to clean and get the covers washed.

DS is 18 months now and the reflux is controlled through diet (lactose free) and gaviscon in his morning and bedtime bottles. Things will improve and get better.

If you haven't already check out Living With Reflux on facebook and also their website. The facebook forum has been amazing for us - lots of support and advice from mums and dads going through the same thing x

My ds had reflux very bad, along with a tongue tie and awful colic :-( I stopped breast feeding him after a month of hell :-( We tried gaviscon but it didn't really help, the only thing that seemed to help him keep some milk down was a thicker feed. We used aptamil comfort, but other brands do them. Also muslin cloths were my life saver, over me, him, and the floor. He would be sick and it had such force behind it...it would hit the wall at the other side of the room!! When he grew out of it by about 1, we bought a new sofa and changed the carpets!
He's a beautiful 5 year old now, and our dd who was born 2 years later wasn't sicky in the slightest. I used to brace myself after feeds but nothing would ever come up, even after loud belly burps!

Bouncy chair cheaply ones can be better as they bounce a little when DC wriggles legs - mine was the most basic of the ones with a vibrate and music function.

Sling or carrier to keep upright.

Once old enough, if still suffering, a jumperoo - DS loved it and it saved my sanity.

Early weaning is a myth and does not help, most babies just grow out of it at that age anyway (I won't lie though, it can last some, like my DS, well into toddlerhood). In fact weaning can cause more pain as it makes things more acidic.

If a combination of gaviscon (a feed thickener) and ranitidine (an acid reducer) does not help a lot then make sure allergies are explored.

Do not use gaviscon in antireflux milk as it will double dose on feed thickeners (the gaviscon packet does warn not to use with other feed thickeners but lots of people don't realise that's in antireflux milks).

My DS had a breathing problem that was exasperated by being on his back and a little by being on his side, so had to tummy sleep because of that. Tummy sleeping vastly helped and I think I would be very tempted to do it with my next if they have reflux.

Sorry that should say - tummy sleeping, not only vastly helped his breathing problem but also the reflux.

If the vomiting isn't bothering them (ie they're not in pain) and they're gaining weight ok, then try not to worry and accept that you'll be doing a lot of washing for the next few months. My daughter vomited on a spectacular scale (10x a day at its peak and a lot more than "spitting up"!) until she started weaning at 5.5 months. I didn't seek treatment for it as once she was past the first colicky 8 weeks, she was quite happy otherwise and gained weight with no problems. I think she just always over fed she's still a greedy bugger

I got given lots of old babygros by a friend and she lived in those as there's no point faffing around with outfits if you're changing them several times a day. I also covered all the soft furnishings in cheap ikea fleece blankets (easy to wash and dry).

We have had a bouncer (dd1) and a swing (dd2) and both were well loved and used. They're also useful when you need to put baby down to make dinner etc.

I put DD in bed with me and with ds and dd they slept on their left hand sides. Ds had too many incidents of stopping breathing when he was in a cot which stressed me out.

I went dairy and soya free.

No waistbands for clothes until walking pretty much. Nappies were done up loosely.

Dummy helped with the sling.

Wind gently by rubbing not patting.

A routine for naps.

Get out of the house every day no matter how exhausted I was.

Muslin behind the head when on the changing mat so if your lo refluxes the milk doesn't flow around the changing mat.

Never arrange to meet someone at an exact time-because just before you leave the house there will be a major vomiting incident

If he needs pain relief, paracetamol, not ibuprofen. Ibuprofen increases stomach acid.

My baby suffered pretty badly from reflux, I did take him to the doctor about it and she said he would grow out of it - which he did!

He couldn't cope with lying flat at all so we skipped the Moses basket altogether. He slept in a really lovely rocking lullaby thing in the end. I checked with the HV and she said it was fine, then we started co sleeping and I would prop him up on a pillow after a feed.

We had lots and lots of muslins everywhere, and would shout 'SICKYPOO' at each other as half the feed came back up.

I can't remember when it stopped ( he is 2 now). I know at one stage I burst into tears as I was so sick of him being sick and worrying about his weight and dealing with stinky clothes and bed linen. But looking back it feels like a lifetime ago.

Dd was a nightmare getting through 7 changes of others a day Dr put her in gaviscon which was a God send we are now slowly weaning her off at 15 weeks! Thought we would never get there