Does anything help with reflux?

[SnuggyBuggy]

I think my DD aged 7 weeks has reflux ass she has started bringing up large quantities of milk at every feed. She then wants to feed more and it gets to the point she is either screaming for milk, breastfeeding or being sick.

I try to keep her upright after feeds but sometimes she even vomits when upright. Even after being upright she is still vomiting when put down in crib or for a nappy change.

I will make a GP appointment but worry there won't be much they can do to help . She hasn't slept all night.

Ugh.
I have no useful advice I’m afraid but am also up with a fussy baby (6 weeks) with oral thrush so am posting in solidarity.

Here’s hoping you get to the bottom of the reflux problem and you both get some rest soon!

I don't think the heat is helping either. I would always at least be able to settle her in the pram and go on a nice walk to get some headspace and some shopping but she not unreasonably cries and fusses because it's too hot. I feel sick looking at the weather forecast.

DS is on ranitidine for reflux. It's really helped.

The heat definitely isn't helpful for little ones. Currently feeding my ds who is almost 17 weeks old. He's been up for 2 hours now. He went down for about 15 mins in the middle but I think he's just so warm he constantly wants a drink rather than actually hungry.
I don't have much help with the reflux other than what you are already doing.

We tried the baby gaviscon which helped for a few weeks and stopped the excessive feeding. (She was feeding constantly to try and soothe her throat)

Complication was constipation.

Now on ranitidine, she's still a bit sicky but not the large volumes anymore. She used to bring up a couple of oz or feed despite being upright.

Reflux can sometimes be caused by CMPA or other food allergies so it’s worth considering, look up the other symptoms of CMPA and see if it sounds like a possibility.

We found medication helpful, Gaviscon is really difficult to give to breastfed babies and can cause constipation, and it didn’t help DS. Ranitidine might help but if not you can try omeprazole.

Oh I forgot to say it can help to put the crib/cot at an angle if you can. So she is not completely flat when lying down.

Have you tried feeding while she sits up? It’s not a miracle position but it can help some reflux babies
m.youtube.com/watch?v=vgkUieHU2Mw

Definitely look up allergies. DS1 had severe reflux. Despite having a Gastro pediatrician since he was 11 months old, he wasn't diagnosed as lactose intolerant until he was 4 years old, poor thing. It was awful. I still feel really bad but didn't know any better

Hi, we have a 6 week old and had the same problem. I’ve cut out absolutely everything from my diet other than white meat, potatoes and veg (only carrots and peas etc, nothing that can cause gas either). There’s a tonne of other stuff but this is my staple meal. It’s HARD! But it’s finally settled his reflux. He’s definitely intolerant to milk protein (that was the big one! Very common too) but also sensitive to a tonne of other stuff so I’ve just cut out everything and will reintroduce it in a couple of months time when his body has had time to heal and develop.

Infant gaviscon seemed to work a little bit but honestly not much of a cure and it really thickened his poops up too. We also bought him a little wedge pillow from amazon that he sleeps on which helped a lot for night time feeds

Good luck

Thanks for your comments, they have given me some points to discuss with GP. Poor DD, she looks so tired.

Yes - I have 2 that we're both diagnosed with reflux and then CMPA - they both ended up on Omeprazole and prescription formula and it made the world of difference, they both became much happier babies really quickly (and are now delightful 20mth and 7mth olds). We tried Gaviscon initially with DS1 (made him constipated) then ranitidine (pretty good).

Omeprazole. DD had horrendous reflux and this was the only thing that worked. Like magic.

Trouble is, it's hard to get as your GP will start you on other options that might work but might not. If they don't, the reflux will continue to get worse and worse.

My advice, if you can afford it, is fork out for a one-off appt with a private paediatrician. Get omeprazole and never look back.

I'd have saved myself and more importantly my DD months of pain and stress if I'd known that at the start.

Good luck.

All four of mine had reflux to a greater or lesser extent. I went dairy free when breastfeeding and it was an almost instant change. It may be worth a try before going down finding the right drug route, which can take time and be stressful too. Good luck, and sympathies (but know that it is a phase they grow out of, some quicker than others).

For us, formula was the solution.

I breastfed for 4 months. Gave up dairy (hard for me and made no differenc for us), had gaviscon and ranitidine. Ranitidine worked in so much that his vomit was no longer acidic, but he still threw up copious amounts and that alone was uncomfortable for him.

We tried antibreflux formula. Available in the supermarkets so nothing specialist. Different child overnight. Putting weight on, happy and not vomiting everywhere.

I felt guilty for breastfeeding him for so long, when it was clearly making him so uncomfortable.

My DD was like yours (although a little younger) and it turned out she had a condition called pyloric stenosis. Talk to your doctor about that too. It's rare but will need immediate treatment if that's what she has.

After her PS was cured, she did still have acid reflux (so she didn't vomit but she had stomach acid coming up to her nose and throat). What helped was cutting dairy and egg out of my diet so there was none of their proteins in my breast milk. She was also on ranitidine and then omeprazole. Head end of cot tilted up a bit. Quite upright for feeds.

Good luck.

A wedge pillow saved my life

She still hasn't slept. My husband took her for a bit but she is literally inconsolably crying unless being breastfed.

If you think it might be CMPA, this blog is a great source of info and advice:
dilanandme.com/2017/01/27/confirm-cmpa/

Hey there! Ds is formula fed and sane issue. He was screaming and thrashing on the bottle and would often spit up and choke on his own stomach acid (she through foul smelling stuff)! I was prescribed omeprazol and his dose goes up according to his weight. So far so good! All he does is smile now! X

12 years ago we tried all the remedies suggested on here - Gaviscon, ranitidn (sorry, spellcheck) propping up.

Nothing worked so I researched like hell and asked the consultant to prescribe a milk thickener, turning bottles into 'milkshakes'

It was like a miracle cure - weeks of seeing my son in agony writhing around, losing weight, extreme vomiting went away overnight.

Omeprazole was also tried by us unsuccessfully just to add to our list.

Yeah ds is also on infintrini (problems putting on weight) and it's quite a thick milk which may also be contributing to helping us x

Ugh, reflux is the worst.

Here’s what we found helpful:

Ruled out feeding/ tongue tie problems via la leche league helpline and social media
Feed with head higher than bum
Keep upright 20 mins after feeding
Only one boob at a time, but fairly frequently
Try dummy to see if that settles (reflux can cause burning sensation and milk soothes, sometimes hard to tell if hunger or not. I used to err on the side of dummy if immediately after feeding, but if crying continues with dummy I reverted to boob).
Cot slightly tilted (not too much, in line with safe sleep). He didn’t really lie flat on his back for any length of time until he was about 4 months old. Oth, he sat unsupported early!

Others find it difficult but we got gaviscon at about 9 weeks and it worked for us - we used with the feed before bed and it gave enough to let him get to deeper sleep. GPs tend to prescribe gaviscon first as it’s least serious from a prescribing point of view. Nice guidelines re prescribing here cks.nice.org.uk/gord-in-children#!scenariorecommendation:2 We also had no trouble with weight gain so agreed with doctor to see how we went with gaviscon. I followed a top tip on here of using an oral syringe rather than teaspoon as they advise. Also used slightly less water, and slid the syringe in along the latch, gradually depressing the syringe. It’s a faff using gaviscon if breastfeeding so we just did one feed a day, but it made enough of a difference to us along with other management that we never looked at other options.

Some people find investigating food sensitivity worthwhile, however my take was that was last in my line of options (eliminating cows milk protein seriously limits your diet) as he didn’t show other symptoms of allergy such as rash, failure to gain weight, mucusy green poo.

I found kellymom useful kellymom.com/hot-topics/reflux/

Basically the way I found most helpful to approach it was to proceed along the options, ruling out other causes before choosing our approach. You can’t problem solve babies exactly, but you can be systematic!

Well the latest is she has managed a feed without even posseting and done a large slightly green poo and gone to sleep.

I think I will start a food diary