Desperate mum please help!

[Heartburn888]

My son seems to have really bad reflux. I’ve been down a and e and they have precribed some tablets for him(he’s 6 weeks old) they are lansoprazole. Day 5 of taking these and excuse my french but these are shit. Not help at all it’s just given him sticky dry poos. I’ve given him some baby gaviscon which does seek to help but it has now bunged him up so he’s screaming with pain coz he’s got a bad tummy or it could be the reflux or both. I’ve given him a bit of gripe water to help but nothing. I’m reluctant to give him anything else ( these have been administered over a week or so, not today only) and I’m running out of things to try for him. I’m cycling his legs, rubbing his tummy, baths do help but once he’s out he starts screaming again. He cried him self to sleep the other night which was heartbreaking to watch.

I’m tired too my dp tried to help but can’t settle him so I end up taking him. Tonight I felt like I didn’t want to look after him and it’s really upset me because I feel like a bad mum for even thinking that but I’m so tired of the screaming and I really don’t know what to do. Surely someone else has been in this position and something must of worked. I know all babies are different but what else can I try

He’s barely sleeping too he will cat nap during the day for like 10-15 at a time so I can’t put him down for long and can’t get anything done my house is a bomb site and it’s all really getting to me. Told my partner I’m struggling but he just offers me words of encouragement and says it won’t be forever. Fucking feels that way.

The doctor at a and e were satisfied there’s nothing major wrong no blockage and his bloods came back ok and everything was fine

Think I have included everything

Try koala feeding. (I am think that's what it's called) it's basically have the baby straddling your knee so he's completely upright and feed like that. It took a few days but worked wonders on my little man.

Bump

Keep him upright for at least 15 mins after feeds and get some good wind movements up before you put him down.

Prop up his mattress so it's slightly elevated to keep his head up slightly, being flat often makes it worse.

Is he sick a lot?

Try going back to the GP, ranitidine worked for us.

I feel for you, reflux is absolutely horrific for everyone.

The only thing that helped was a sling for me. And I gave up trying to put baby down for naps. It was pointless. The crying is horrendous. I know how you feel.

Are you breastfeeding?
If you are, try cutting out dairy from your diet. It can help sometimes.

Ah excuse my username - I've been registered a long time, and am three reflux babies down the line. A reflux baby is really bloody hard work so sending you some hugs!

I found keeping babies upright was the best way and only way they were happy. My second and third babies practically lived in a sling. I walked miles with my first in the pushchair slightly upright as it was often the only way I could settle her.

You can put a book or block of wood under the foot of the Moses baser/ crib and this will ensure baby isn't flat in their back. All of mine were far happier on their side or front. But. This is against safe sleeping / SIDS rules.

Sorry I didn't see if you are bottle or breast feeding - I breast fed all of mine and found some things I ate made their reflux worse. As I recall coffee, cheese and milk also made their reflux worse.

I also think six weeks is a leap time for babies (have a look at the wonder weeks) so this might not be helping baby settle.

So sorry you're having such a hard time it really is the worst and I remember it vividly. I know it doesn't help but it will get better!

What others have said, sling in the day. Sleep on side for naps, upright after feeds.

That really helped mine at that age with trapped wind was warm water on cotton wool wiping it round his bum. I used to do it at nappy changes or if he seemed really upset and after a few minutes he'd start trumping away and then seemed much better after. Sounds so odd I know but one of the best methods for us, read it online somewhere.

Good luck OP. You're in no way a bad mum you sound great and you are doing a great job. It is the hardest thing in the world to see your child in pain or discomfort. Again I know to doesn't necessarily help but he won't remember any of it, not a thing

If he's getting no relief at all, I would be looking at dairy and soya allergy. My eldest was like until finally she was given alfamino at a year old. My second was allergic from birth too. Reflux with no relief in symptoms is one of the main symptoms

If you are formula feeding... i suggest asking the gp to try a prescription of something dairy/lactose free. My little one was mostly bf but had formula top ups -he is cows milk protein intolerant and normal formula made him really windy and uncomfortable.

Also if formula feeding... try a few days of the pre made liquid formula... its made at a much higher temperature and easier for baby to break down than the powdered stuff you make at home.

If bf then try cut out dairy,soya,glute ect and see if he settles down.

Infacol is great. I always added a few drops INTO the bottle of milk and found much more effective than squirting it in his mouth.

We gave up on a moses basket for day naps and he slept in a swing chair so he was upright ( i was ALWAYS in the room to keep an eye on his head lolling forward!) Or a baby beanbag? Something to keep him upright?

Like others have said.. prop up his bed or buy an anti colic wedge.

I would persevere with the gaviscone but ask the GP for something like Lactulose to tske with it to.stop him getting constipated!

Best of luck x

Sorry you’re going through this - it’s absolute hell at the time! My now 12 w/o went through same at that age. Screams for hours, I look back and think how did I get through it.
Did suspect reflux but as no diagnosis just did what I could. Firstly cutting dairy dramatically helped but didn’t totally cure. Burp them, burp them then burp some more! Rocking him off to sleep holding him upright helps as he was more comfortable upright which got him the sleep he needed so he was less cranky as well as struggling with everything else.
Believe now it never was reflux more milk allergy and wind issues.
Just keep doing what you are doing you are honestly doing great x

If your baby has painful reflux (often silent with little vomiting) the lansoprazole will help. I take it as an adult & my baby daughter took omeprazole, a very similar drug. It limits the production of stomach acid & therefore baby doesn’t get awful heartburn like symptoms! It works an absolute treat. There also used to be ranitidine but there’s been a worldwide recall on it & you’ll likely not get hold of it at the moment.

I’d suggest if the lanzoprazole isn’t having any affect, it may not be stomach acid that is causing the issue but something else. Possibly an allergy to dairy? Could be wind related to an allergy or just a bad case of colic.. they do just scream for hour me with Colic & it’s an unknown as to what’s actually wrong. You just have to weather the storm & they will get over it eventually!

Baby gaviscon is really constipating. We used it along with omeprazole and found it quite hard to manage. We limited it to every other bottle which did help!

Reflux wise, keep baby upright for 20 mins after each feed. Exhausting at night but helps everything settle & not come back up. Sling can be helpful..

Def go back to your GP & ask for some advice on both the medication & issues.

Thank you for your advice and kind words.

He is bottle fed I have moved him over from breast and had no end of problems I really wish I just left him on the boob. First of all the first milk I used (aldi) was just crap for him he couldn’t get rid of it and his poo (when he went) was yellow and so thick it was like the consistency of melted chocolate. Really thick. Now it’s started up with reflux which I originally thought was colic and now constipation. He was starting to get a bit refluxxy on the boob but those who have said dairy makes it worse, it tallys with me eating loads of yoghurts and drinking loads of milk so I’ve not helped matters

I have googled the milk allergy but he has no symptoms of this whatsoever it does tally more with reflux but if your saying it should have some effect by now it may not be. They were going to give me the omeprozole but when I went to the hospital pharmacy she told me it’s too expensive to give it on the nhs as it’s a specially ordered in medicine so sent me away with the tablets. Do you find the liquid gives instant relief?

I’ve fed him and winded him but hardly anything came up just small burps and some sick and I’ve kept him upright and he’s finally gone to the toilet but his nappy is dark green, and thick in consistency. Is this Normal?

I have my health visitor coming tomorrow so I’m going to ask her as well but I have a feeling she will just say it’s normal and to persevere with it which I understand I have to do but everytime I’ve rang with any digestive enquiries they’ve just said it’s normal so I’m not really going to hold out much hope for her to say yes it’s xxx and you need to do xxx.

Yes it’s so hard seeing him in pain, he’s over tired too. We have taken him for a run out in the car to help him drift off but no such luck l. My sister has given me a pot of lactolose for him so I’m going to give him a bit before he goes to sleep and hope in the morning it will flush him out the poor little thing.

He’s my first baby as well so I’m at the panic station 😩

Also with him sleeping on his side, he has just recently started settling on me with his head in the crook of my arm and his body laid across the top of my legs so he is on his side and I thought he had just found a new fave sleeping position and I kid you not every time I put him in this position he will settle (for a short period) and his eyes will start to close.. so glad it’s actually doing him some good.

He’s like this on me now and finally fallen asleep 🎉

I forgot to mention in my previous post that i suffered with horrendous reflux as an adult. I had a huge hiatus hernia too amd had major stomach surgery to try and fix things (long story short it didnt work :/ )

However i almost exclusivly sleep propped up on like 4 pillows or on my left hand side.

The reason side sleeping offers some relief is due to the shape of the food pipe in to the stomach. It enters on the top right of the stomach so when laying on left side the opening to the food pipe is at its highest point and the stomach acid has a hard job escaping and causing such irritation. If he is much more settled on his side this would support acid reflux.

Have a chat with health visitor tomorrow but i would be suprised if he is safer sleeping on his back and possibly aspirating stomach contents... rather than side sleeping. Perhaps order a side sleep positioner to stop the possibility of him rolling on to his face?

Xx

Ohhh OP I feel your pain this was me 6 months ago with my little girl she literally would only sleep in my armpit on her side. We called her the armpit baby!

I was exhausted and really suffering so I started to take some videos on my phone of her at her worst and went to a and e about 3 times.

In the end they prescribed ranitidine 3 times a day. It took a few days to kick in but she was a different baby when it did

Hang it there!

I'm so sorry. I vividly remember the awful endless screaming and it was hell. I'm sure I got mild ptsd from it and certainly ppd so please please get some support from absolutely anyone you can.

For us things got a better once we started him on dairy free milk (amino acid based). He did seem to have a milk.allergy even though his systems were purely digestive. Worth considering. We found gripe water and infacol and coleif useless and spent a fortune on that sort or stuff. My son was put on ranitidine for reflux though we don't actually think he had reflux. He struggled aith omeprazole and had crazy explosive poos on it.

He also wouldn't nap because I guess he was in pain so was always overtired... So he cried from tiredness... a vicious cycle. We found a dummy really helped.

The armpit babu haha that’s made me chuckle and cheered me up, my son is the same.

The hv came today and I explained the situation and she said it sounds like colic as the tablets given by a and e were not working and in her opinion these are the dogs knackers and way better than baby gaviscon so in the end she advised me to take him off everything completely. I didn’t mention in my first post that I had moved him from breast to aldi formula to sma comfort milk and she said due to the changes he might just be oersted by the change of milk twice so she’s given me 2 weeks to just give him his milk and nothing else and see if it improves on it’s own. He’s had a good whinge tonight but not a screaming fit like the other nights and finally his poo is returning to yellow as the green is not normal (hv said).

Yes I have seen the diagram float around Facebook before of the stomach acid thing I use to lay on my left when pregnant as o suffered horrendously (check my username haha)

I’ve put him on his side tonight he wa slaps flat initially but he kept making noises like he had fluid in his throat and the back of his mouth and sounded like he was sick at one point but no fluid when I checked so I’ve laid him on his side and he’s settled a lot faster.

I’ve been to the salon today and I was telling my hairdresser about these problems and her boss piped up and said that I should give him cool bottles as when he drinks his milk at any higher than body temp it immediately turns to acid in his stomach. I’ve never heard of this - anyone else? Problem is my son likes him bottles slightly hotter and it’s been my life line at time’s when he’s had a nice warm bottle and gone to sleep during or after the feed

@Heartburn888 hi is it all going now? I’m struggling with a very similar situation I’d your son have a dairy allergy in the end?