Omeprazole infant reflux experiences

[Pelly8]

Hello

After much too'ing and fro'ing with various health professionals we have started our 5month old son on omeprazole for infant reflux.

Baby only feeds for 1-2 mins during the day but will feed for longer at night. Weight gain has been slow. Symptoms started at 8 weeks. He's irritable during the day but will laugh and smile as well so it's not all bad.

GP initially prescribed omeprazole a month ago but I tried cutting out milk, eggs and soya before giving it to see if baby improved. GP also referred us to paeds consultant because of slow weight gain and they agreed with this approach to changing my diet. The paeds consultant didn't prescribe anything and was not worried about the weight gain (he was 75th centile at birth but is now on 14th).

Baby doesn't vomit as much after my diet change and because he gained 300g in 2 weeks, the paeds consultant said he didn't need meds, and discharged us but referred us to the dietician for weaning help in case of a cow's milk intolerance.

I spoke to the dietician on Friday and told her the baby is still only breast feeding for 1 or 2 minutes at a time despite the change in my diet so the paeds dietician, after speaking to the consultant, suggested that I give the omeprazole prescribed by the GP a go.

We have given a dose today but I'm now worried that I should have been giving the omeprazole from the outset and that my baby will have developed an aversion to breastfeeding as a result of my resistance to the medication.

I'm also worried that his irritability will impact him when he is older and make him an unhappy little person.

Perhaps I am being irrational but I don't know anyone else who has had similar experiences with their baby. He can be quite happy and smiley at home but is no where near as content as other babies in the various postnatal groups I have been to.

Please don't beat yourself up about this.

I've had two reflux babies. The first started on omeprazole around 3.5 months, the second at 8 weeks. I knew the score second time around and demanded it immediately as omeprazole was the only thing that made a difference to my first child.

My kids are still young - 2.5 and 1 - but they are very different in personality. My first child is quite challenging and the second is fairly easygoing but I would never have attributed this difference to them starting omeprazole at different ages.

Even with reflux, my second (who arguably had it worse) was easy to cope with during the day, whereas my first was always highly strung as a baby and continued to be so while taking omeprazole. In her case, she would vomit in her sleep and the omeprazole stopped that. So, she slept better but was no easier to deal with while awake, if that makes sense.

My kids were off omeprazole by 9 months (the first) and 7 months (the second). It doesn't feel like it now, I know, but it is such a short period of time really and even though my second has only just turned one year old, it already feels like ancient history to me.

How often does LO feed? Lots of reflux babies prefer to snack rather than full bottles, and take in more over 24 hours that way.

I have a 19 week old on omeprazole for maybe 2 months now. It's made the feeding slightly easier, but he does have a raging feeding aversion. It's hard. He is taking much more now though (through trickery and tears) than with previous meds, so weight gain is finally good :)

He feeds for no more than a couple of minutes or so about 5-6 times a day but will have longer feeds before bed and throughout the night (15-20 mins x4 although I’m not sure how much of this is comfort nursing).

@liland sorry to hear about you lo’s Feeding aversion. It makes it so hard. I’m hoping I can try and coax mine out of it so I can at least try and enjoy bf.

Thank you for sharing your experience @lampshade and @liland, I really appreciate it.

Hi there, sorry to resurrect an Old thread but was wondering if the Omeprazole helped baby to feed for longer / gain weight after giving? I’m going through exactly the same thing right now and hope there is light at the end of the tunnel!

My DD had gastroesophageal reflux disease with cows milk protien allergy diagnosed at 6 weeks. She was a premmie and tiny, she vomited every single feed and then need more as she was empty. It came out both ends to be honest! I was literally breast feeding round the clock. I was breast feeding as well and like you tried the elimination diet ( no dairy, egg, soya, fish or wheat). Unfortunately, even with none of this DD continued to worsen, and we went onto various meds including omeprazole. This absolutely helped but was not a golden bullet, it took a combination of meds, hypoallergenic milk which helped but not enough for the weight gain, so gastroenterologist had me wean at 16 weeks as milk just wouldn't stay down). With a thickener the food helped and we turned a corner.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, I promise, you'd never know it to look at DD now but we spent her first 3 years in / out of doctors and hospitals. I never thought it would end, but 95% of children grow out of it!

I am also looking to get my baby on omeprazole hea 8 weeks and crys with pain because of reflux and keeps bringing up milk anyone else please share your experience ?

Silent reflux at about 8 weeks. Omeprazole prescribed. I think it took about 4 days to see a difference and 2 weeks to really have a lasting impact. Glad we didn’t wait bcos there was no need to prolong the pain however we didn’t have a child that wasn’t gaining weight or showing any signs of any allergies or intolerances. Even so diary was cut down just in case. DC is now almost 6M and has been weaned and we are reducing the dose which remained at the same level throughout. It worked for us and we have a happy child but every child is different and it really is trial and error.

Hi I’ve been given omeprazole for my son it’s in liquid form already and I syringe it in but find it so scary as it’s so thick and it sticks to his throat I’m scared he’s going to choke on it any advice how to administer easier he’s bf

We had tablets which dissolved in water. Left tiny granules suspended until the fluid. I used to syringe that in. DD lapped it up so must have tasted good