6w old baby reflux driving me mad, pls help.

[Aw12345]

Has had mild reflux for a few weeks but now has got a lot worse, I feel so sorry for DS and it's driving me crazy.

24/7 he feeds for a couple of minutes then scrunches up, bright red face, grunting etc then 5 minutes later he wants to feed again. I'm literally struggling so much now because I never even get a full hour to sleep or wash or do anything. We've tried car journey, walk in pram, walk in carrier, vibrating baby bouncer, DH taking him so he can't smell milk, bath, baby massage... ... ... Nothing has helped. He is getting worse by the day 😪😥

He's on gaviscon, exclusively bf on demand.

Please any help or words of wisdom needed as I am absolutely going insane and I'm desperate to help my poor baby :-(

[if you do give up dairy, take a top tip from me and don't waste your money on vegan cheese. Unfortunately for breastfeeding mothers of CMPA sufferers, vegans don't know how to make cheese]

Thanks again, DH is at Tesco now and I've decided based on everyone's advice to go dairy free as of tonight. I'll miss milk chocolate and ice cream but will give up anything to help my baby !!🙂

Good decide to try going dairy free and see if that helps. This website/blog is an excellent source of advice:
dilanandme.com/dairyfree/cmpa-faqs/
There is also a FB group “Breastfeeding with CMPA

Also see www.allergyuk.org/information-and-advice/conditions-and-symptoms/469-cows-milk-allergy
This is a good place to arm yourself with info before seeing the doctor.

In the meantime I suggest you keep a food and symptom diary which might show some links between the food you eat and baby’s symptoms.

You could also give baby probiotics (eg biogaia) which might help.

Lastly I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it yet, did/does your baby have tongue tie? There can be a link.

Typo, gah. Good decision.

Now you come to mention it he does actually have a tongue tie... Thats a really good point. They have always told me not to wind a breastfed baby yet he always burps when I do wind him ... That could all link with the tongue tie and reflux I guess?

Has the tongue tie been divided then?

Tesco have vegan versions of chocolate, ice cream & cheese - you don't have to miss out!

This is a pretty good explanation of why tt causes reflux
www.thebabyrefluxlady.co.uk/single-post/2017/09/21/Latch-and-Tongue-Tie?amp

Good decision! It IS hard going and it's ok to miss those things but honestly (speaking as someone who's in the same boat) if it makes your baby feel better you'll be so glad you did. If it doesn't, you can start eating dairy again in a few weeks but otherwise, console yourself with the additional benefit that your weight loss will almost certainly be accelerated as milk features in so many junk & snack foods. The main thing of course is that your baby stops suffering so much and my fingers are crossed for you.

My baby had reflux, the quickest way to solve it was to formula feed with gaviscon in the bottle. Might be worth a try for a quick solution.

Op for now you could try Colief, a pharmacist says she swore by that and it really helped her daughter. I bought it in sheer desperation and still have sealed bottle in cupboard but thankfully ranitidine worked and I never had to go down other routes and never needed to cut diary (which would have probably been the last straw in my case ) as I was breastfeeding and extremely drained and tired. So sorry you had trouble at the gp, that’s awful. They wouldn’t leave adults in such pain so why tiny babies? It’s not right. Hope you get some answers soon for your little one x

Forgot to mention you can get it over the counter and it doesn’t have to be on prescription.

Did they say how long it would take to see a paediatrician? Because if it's more than a few days, and they are planning to leave your baby in pain for long, then that is absolutely outrageous, and I would be kicking up the mother of all stinks about it. If the CCG want Ranitidine to be prescribed only in secondary care, then the CCG needs to ensure it provides enough appointments in secondary care to guard against unnecessary suffering and delay.

On another note, I think it is a good idea to see how dairy-free goes. As a pp mentioned, you should cut out soya too, as most babies who are allergic or intolerant to CMP are also allergic/intolerant to soya.

GP said she'd do an 'urgent' referral but she didn't know how quick that was. Thanks for advice about soya, I didn't know it's so similar to dairy.

Tongue tie has never been sorted because he was feeding and gaining weight well so they said didn't need sorting.... 😟

I'll be at the pharmacy as soon as it opens for colief, anything/everything is worth a try 🙂

I'm so grateful for everyones input, I'm desperate and now feel a bit like there's somethings I can do to help

@melissa455 wrong thread?

@melissa455 I'm so sorry to hear of your very very sad and distressing situation :-( awful for you. I hope you have friends and family nearby who can support you at this really difficult time x

“Tongue tie has never been sorted because he was feeding and gaining weight well so they said didn't need sorting...”

Gah, I’ve heard this so many times! Parents told the tongue tie “isn’t causing issues” when it blatantly is (or will)!

If you can afford it, I suggest you pay to see a private tongue tie practitioner. They will be able to (re)assess your baby and do the division if necessary. The sooner the better. You can find one at www.tongue-tie.org.uk/Mobile/m-tongue-tie-important-information-for-parents.html

The NHS option will be harder because you’ll need a referral and may well need to argue your case and wait for an appointment, but it’s still an option. Ask your GP or health visitor. Local breastfeeding drop-ins may be helpful too in terms of advising on local services. NHS-run ones might be able to refer you directly (although I’m not sure).

Ignore that poster, it’s not the wrong thread - it’s spam! I reported it.

Might be worth ringing your gp surgery on Monday morning and asking how long a referral to the paediatrician will take. They will have a timescale they have to follow and I find sometimes a phone call back up will help (if necessary several phone calls). Hope you get some answers soon. I completely sympathise because ds used to scream the house down with what we later found out was silent reflux. Gaviscon was hard to administer with a breastfed baby too and I used to express to mix it in and I noticed ds wasn’t getting any better and became constipated on top of the relux; constipation is even more likely if on formula. Hope your baby is feeling better soon, it’s so awful seeing them in pain and not being able to fix it. x

Colief is a good call - it was the only thing that worked for our colicky baby. About £13 a time though!

Ah, OP, I've been there, and I remember that feeling of desperation. Things will definitely get better soon. It's just a matter of hitting on what solves the problem/finding out what the problem is. You're on the right road to doing that now.

My son had reflux & I took him for cranial osteopathy at 12 weeks old ... completely cured within 2 weeks!! No drugs needed ever again... my son was prescribed all the drugs going by the doctor nothing worked apart from the cranial osteopathy.

Hi,
My daughter too has reflux and on gaviscon and coleif. Doctor has ruled out a milk intolerance but seen a huge improvement since adding coleif to formula.
Gaviscon not caused constipation but not improved reflux either.
I personally dont like the side effects of ratadine ( sorry if spelt wrong ) so reluctant to try. Am i not seeing the bigger picture ?
Looking for other alternatives if anyone has ? May try hazelwood necklace heard good reports. We used amber with my first daughter teething and worked a treat so its worth a try i guess ?
Open to any suggestions please.
Hope all babies get better soon x

sweetcheeks

I also used a cranial osteopath and she was amazing and a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. I first took my son when he was 9 weeks old and it was actually she who first suggested he may have a milk intolerance based on his symptoms.

He had four sessions in total and it really helped and I recommend her to anyone I know whose baby suffers from bad reflux and prolonged crying and screaming episodes.

Also, cranial osteopathy is very beneficial to babies with tongue tie so that’s another reason why perhaps you should consider it OP.

My son had a tongue tie and she felt issues with his feeding were probably exacerbating his symptoms and even after the first session with her his feeding dramatically improved.