Refluxy, gassy nightmare :(

[HellyBelly2020]

Hello,

I’m hoping there’s someone out there who can share their experiences and tell me there’s light at the end of the tunnel :(

My 11 week old baby suffers from silent reflux and is very gassy. We’ve been working closely with our GP and health visitor (who have been really helpful and supportive) to make sure he’s getting the correct treatment, that there aren’t any issues with his feeding (EBF atm, but I’d love him to take a bottle!), and that we’re doing everything we can for him. I’ve trawled the internet and tried everything from raising his moses basket to cutting things from my diet, but nothing seems to make a huge difference.

I realise that, ultimately, I just have to wait for him to grow out of it but in the meantime I’m really worried about his happiness and his posture and physical development as I have to hold him upright most of the time. I try to put him down to play on his mat for a few minutes each day but he just gets spluttery and acidy really quickly and is then very unhappy for hours afterwards. I’m scared he will never learn to roll or play independently because he never has the opportunity to lie down. I’m terrified that holding him upright all the time will damage his back or something. Everyone tells me it gets easier, but it seems to be getting harder if anything :( especially now he’s older and has more awake time so there’s more time for him to be cross and uncomfortable. He’s almost never happy :(

Did the doctor not prescribe infant gaviscone? My DS was on it by 8 weeks. It made a huge difference. He's also BF and gassy, bad trapped wind etc. Lots of burping every 5 mins on the breast.

Thanks for your reply :) yep, we’ve tried infant gaviscon but it didn’t seem to help and made him very constipated. We’re on Omeprazole now which seems to have stopped the extreme screaming/acidy pain, but hasn’t made him any more comfortable - if anything it’s made him more gassy. The doctor initially prescribed renitadine after the gaviscon didn’t work but there seems to be a shortage at the moment and we can’t get our hands on any from any pharmacies. My mum works in a hospital and she said they haven’t had any at work for months so I guess there’s some kind of issue with the supply at the moment.

Im pretty sure renitadine was recalled as it has ingredients linked to cancer. May just be the adult pills though (I was on them for a while!). Im sure I read on here the infant one was too. Sorry, not sure what to suggest. The gaviscon takes away my sons acidic pain but doesnt stop regurgitation. Doc wont change meds as he's not in pain anymore but has choked a few times! As the weeks have gone on its happening less though. I used to let him nap on my chest during the day (not ideal I know but it gave him comfort and eased the regurgitating). Id lie back at an angle to take pressure off his spine. We have a next to me cot that tilts so he was ok at night. My HV suggested carobel in case gaviscon didnt work, you can buy it at the chemist without a prescription. It thickens milk in the tummy & makes it harder to come back up. I never got it though as his pain was gone and he seemed happier. I dont think the regurgitating bothered him too much.

We are going through exactly the same with my 10 week old. Weve had omeprazole, prescription milk and now on infant gaviscon. He is so constipated too so we give him lactulose morning and night and it has softened. Spoke with the doctor today as we had another bad night and he told us to give up to 2oz cool boiled water inbetween feeds and if that fails to give a t spoon of apple juice and if that fails to give a 3rd dose of lactose. We have noticed a massive difference in him since using it so I'm reluctant to stop if I can get him constipation under control x

My dd has this I gave up all dairy completely and long term it made. A huge differences turned out dd was intolerant to diary. Took a few weeks though to see quite clearly she was in a lot less discomfort.

DS was very similar. The omeprazole will stop the pain but not the milk coming back up.

You can get a thickener, called cow and gate Carobel, that you mix into a paste and spoon feed to him before breastfeeds. It will weigh down the milk in his stomach. Or if he ever does take a bottle, you can mix it into that. However, it can cause a bit of gassiness / loose stool (or, in our case, constipation) until they get used to it. I used way less than the recommended amount and allowed it to thicken in the bottle in the fridge for several hours. I know that won't help you for breastfeeds. I also added an extra 1oz of water to 2 of his bottles every day which also helped.

The gassiness went for DS almost overnight at about 12 weeks! He still has the reflux at almost 15 months however so they don't all grow out of it as quickly as doctors say they do (I was told it would be gone at 12 weeks by 3 nurses, a GP, and a Paedetrician).

Weaning at 17 weeks massively helped the reflux too.

Lying them on their bellies (before meals, not when full) will cause the flap in the oesophagus to close which stops the acid coming back up. Lying them on their backs opens it, making the reflux worse. DS actually rolled early and crawled at early because he spent so much time on his tummy so don't worry too much about that.

It's so different for everyone though - good luck with it all. It's very hard in the early stages but by 20 weeks DS was like a reflux-free baby thanks to omeprazole, carobel, prescription formula, and starting solids. It really does get better!

Thanks everyone for the replies :) With the lockdown, we haven’t been able to spend time with any other babies his age since he was born so I’m just guessing what’s normal and what’s not. Also means I can’t have anyone come round to help for a few hours, which I’d planned to do. I’ve got a review with the doctor this week so will discuss the medication again and try and improve the constipation. Agreed - the sickness doesn’t seem to bother him, just the acid. As long as I’m not doing anything majorly wrong, and there’s hope that he’ll improve, I’m sure we’ll be okay! Everything seems worse when you’re exhausted!