Does anyone here have experience with infant reflux??? Please as I'm struggling

[sheepgomeep]

Not sureif this is the right topic to put it in but here goes.

I would appreciate some advice or experiences regarding infant reflux.

dd2 who is 15 weeks today was 9 pound 8 oz at birth but from day one she has has problems feeding. From birth we would struggle to get milk down her as she would would fuss and whinge but we persevered and she has steadily gained weight and I put it down to her being very colicky.

The last 3 weeks she has got much worse and every single feed has become a nightmare as she goes hysterical at every feed. she will take a few sucks maybe take an ounce before she throws herself off and screams. She draws her knees up when she is being fed and arches her back as if she is in pain.

sometimes she will get 3 oz down her then we have to soothe her, try and get her to sleep then feed the rest of the bottle when she is sleepy! .

She also:

is sick afterwards although admittedly not a lot
Is also a poor sleeper
dribbles loads and also nearly gags herself on her fists
seems to cry most of the time.
her weight gain is slowing a little too.

I am really annoyed with my hv as she has suggested giving her some baby rice or rusk as she thinks she is hungry! I did follow her advice because I thought so too so please don't lynch me or call me ignorant. I have found it has helped giving a few mouthfuls of milky rusk as she then shows more interest in the rest of her bottle. (She only gets this at teatime.)

She didn't mention reflux at all which she bloody should have done. she's been a bloody hv for 15 years and she should have recognised the signs!

I made an appointment with the doctor this morning but could only speak to the nurse which I wasn't happy about but I did end up breaking down as I am very down about my dad and stuff, I still can't believe he's gone.

Anyway she did mentione reflux but said that because she is gaining weight and looks bonny then she couldn't have it that bad! Is that right??

She did give me a short cousre of infant gaviscon and I'm hoping it will work?

Its her sleep thats causing me distress. she never used to be that bad but now its awful. It seems to be everyhour she wakes up and she is so sucky! even on her dummy and she is always rubbing her nose and mouth like its bothering her and I'm sure it wakes her up. I used to swaddle her but now can't as she fights her way out of it. She will sleep on her front better than her back 'I've even tried co sleeping but no luck with that either

How do you cope and will it get better, I feel so down about everything. All I seem to do here is moan lol

Just wanted to add my smpathies. Reflux can be soul destroying - I am sure it played a HUGe part in my PND. Everyone has already given lots of good advice and I can't add much but wanted to agree that the best advice is to keep going back and NAGGING until you get help. If one thing does not work go back and sit on them until they give you something else. Sorry to sound vehement but my GP was useless and did not even want to refer me to a specialist until I insisted and said I would go privately. Weight gain is not an indicator. DS put on weight with a vengeance (breast milk is a natural antacid and, whilst milk is going down, nothing can wash back up...). Gavison did help in our case, but we also needed an anti-spasmodic to help stop the pain. This was not a usual treatment but it was a godsend. Sleep was one of our huge issues -definitely keep the mattress on a slope (books at one end) and be obsessive about winding. Good luck.

I only stopped winding ds2 when he was over 1 year old!! I rubbed his back in the usual upward only motion no patting as this can make reflux worse and a huge man like burp would come out, still makes me laugh to think about that now

Agree with Mummypig re the drugs which is why we were happy with the formula route, rich starch in the milk.

Re weaning, I spoke to my HV who is a nutritionist as well and she recommended starchy stuff like potato and sweet potato to help keep the milk in their tummies.

Thank you all so much!

Thanks for the links to the websites too

The gaviscon has helped or has seemed too, she takes her bottles now with a little less fuss and last night took 4oz at 7pm another 4oz at 8.30, woke up screaming at 11.15pm and promptly drained a 6oz bottle and then the little git slept till 6.15 am this morning! pure fluke I think

This evening she drank a 10oz bottle this is the first ever and we had to keep going back for refills lol and then an hour and a half later went back for another 2 oz all done without much of a fight and she is not very sicky either.

I dont think we are totally out of the woods yet though and I'm execting the doctor to refuse to give her more gaviscon.

Can babies stay on gaviscon for long term relief? and does it stop working after prolonged use.?

We bought a baby walker too ( never had one before) and she will finish a bottle in that sometimes plus it helps keep her upright

Hi Sheep, glad the gaviscon seems to be helping. Yes, babies can stay on it long term if they need to - this is not a quick fix. All you are doing is helping to deal with the symptoms until the body can sort out the cause in its own time. If the doctor does not want to prescribe any more, slap him/her (joking - but only just) The reason doctors tend to start with this is that it is far more gentle than a drug like ranitidine (zantac) which is a 'true' antacid, rather than acting as a 'barrier', which is actually what gaviscon does (it is not quite the same as the adult stuff). DS stayed on his for about 11 months (although we had gradually cut the amount he had as his milk feeds decreased). A lot of babies(not all - some will be earlier and some later) do outgrow this awful condition around nine months or so when the guilty valve has grown and matured more. There is no reason why the gaviscon should stop working although, again, this can vary and I do know some babies who have had to move on to stronger medication after a few weeks (no hard and fast rules here I'm afraid - every baby is different!). If it does stop working, go back to your doctor. Be aware though that, even with medication that is working, they can still sometimes be sick (if they eat too much or too fast or one badly timed burp... etc. - so do beware of too many 10oz bottles as this is a lot for a tiny tummy to handle - sounds as though your lo is making up for lost time ) the main thing is, you have started on treatment and you are coping REALLY WELL - you are on the road for this to get better -and it will, I promise.

Cranial osteopathy should help. I don't know where you live, but there is a fantastic charity called the Osteopathic Centre for Children (OCC). They have a centre in London and Manchester. You could give them a ring and ask if they can recommend anyone near you. Their osteopaths volunteer their time in order to gain experience with babies and children. I would highly reccommend it - worked wonders for my DS1 and DS2.

i haven't read all the posts here so maybe someone else has suggested this:

my DD has severe reflux and GP would only give me infant gaviscon and carobel (which helped but was still in a lot of pain - just like u desribe). I had to push them HARD (phoned every day) until they referred her to the hospital paeds. Since then she has started on ranitidine and domperidone (think she might be going on to omeprazole instead soon) and this has really helped A LOT!

I was told after 4 hours screaming (after taking 1 1/2 oz) that feeding problems are NORMAL!!!! so GPs know nothing IMO!!

Maybe u have managed to get some treatment by now but i just HAD to reply as i know how distressing it is when u have a reflux baby and noone is listening to you.

Hi - I dont know if what I'm about to post is helpful or not but here goes ......

Ds 2 had really bad reflux from about day 1 really. He used to chuck up whole bottles after being fed but as somehow he was putting on weight GP & HV didnt think it was a problem. I did - big time. I couldnt go out of the house (I probably could have done but felt like I couldnt) for about 6 months. Everything in our house revolved round his reflux. Our GP eventually referred him to a consultant although I think this may have been because he was sick of the sight of me. When DS2 started with solids at about 5 months, the sick got less frequent but more messy - you do not look nice when you have puked up veggies on you - and we kind of muddled along for a few months. DS2 lived on me for the first few months, he used to have endless hiccups, he could be fast asleep but if I put him down he started back arching & screaming. I already has 3 kids so I knew this wasnt normal. One day when he was about 10 months we suddenly realised he hadnt been sick that day or the next or the next & then we realised he'd stopped. The consultant we saw put him on domperidone & ranatadine which although wasnt great was a bit of an improvement. We'd already had ds1 who had reflux that wasn't diagnosed till we saw the consultant with ds2.

My dd had this but didn't often bring back feeds, just remember feeding was a nightmare- used to have to give an ounce at a time and endure the screaming/arching of back. HV watched me try to feed her and said she had never seen any baby struggle so much to feed but still never suggested it might be reflux/abnormal!! I felt so alone(didn't use mumsnet then!). Gaviscon didn't really work for dd but I used a cranial osteopath and a kinesiologist and also changed her milk to SMA Staydown(I bought myself, never tried prescription,you can buy at LLoyd's or Boots chemist). Together these things worked miracles and she was a different baby after a couple of weeks. Hope it gets better for you soon!