Baby won't keep omeprazole down

[FolkyFoxFace]

We've been given omeprazole for DS(6 weeks). It's in dissolvable form and to be syringed into his mouth. Not only does he hate it but he's just chucked up some of the 4ml we've given him!

I'm desperate to be honest - he's not a happy baby at all. He needs to keep it down and I'm at a loss. Obviously I can't give more today so will wait until tomorrow...I was thinking of maybe using a teat?

Any help would really be appreciated. I honestly really am feeling so useless. I think I'm probably bordering a bit of PND if I'm honest. DS was a desperately wanted baby after miscarriage. I spent the pregnancy a nervous wreck. The labour and birth was traumatic - home birth to mlu to theatre ending in forceps. The care in the mlu was horrendous. The labour ward afterwards was traumatic. He ended up severely dehydrated by day 5 and very underweight due to an undiagnosed TT and my milk not coming in. By the time it did I had to introduce formula so he's now combi fed. That entire week genuinely traumatised me, seeing him like that. Got no help from midwives. The only help came when I took him to children's a&e.

Now the silent reflux. He's so upset all of the time. I hate seeing him so upset. I thought I'd solved it by getting the TT cut this weekend and getting medication for him. I feel so useless.

It’s awful OP and I wish I could help but in the same boat. Fed up of being thrown up on

I’ve got an appointment with the GP on Wednesday.

Reflux is a symptom. It can be symptom of underdevelopment stomach (very common) and this sorts it’s self out or an allergy, the most common being CMPA. Has an allergy been ruled out? Are you bf or ff?

She’s combi feeding

Have you tried anti reflux milk? It was a total game changer for ds, he stopped throwing up completely

Can you ask your pharmacy for some 1ml syringes?

They are much narrower so they are easier to get further back into the baby’s cheek which makes administration much more successful.

It means having to give 4x1ml doses but you could spread it out a bit, so just give 1ml every 5-10 minutes until you’ve used all 4 syringes?

The fact that you can get the 1ml syringe further back into the cheek as opposed to just putting a larger syringe directly into the baby’s mouth means it is much harder for the baby to spit the medicine back out - as does the fact you are administering a smaller volume.

I meant to say - my baby who was on medication for reflux also turned out to have CMPA.

@Aliceandthemarchhare it's awful isn't it? I really hope you get some answers. It's so stressful and so upsetting.

@Thatwentbadly I'm combi formula and bf. He doesn't have an allergy apparently, they're saying just reflux. It's awful. He doesn't usually vomit much as it's silent - unfortunately he's been sick when given the medication. I just need to find a way of getting it down.

@ThornAmongstRoses That's a brilliant idea. I actually have some of them so I'll give it a go tomorrow and see if it helps. He's just chucked up a bit more although that could be milk as he's been fed now.

@YouCantBeSadHoldingACupcake I do actually have some, yes. The GP pushed the medication as it's quite severe but it could be worth a go, too.

I was told repeatedly that both my children don’t have allergies but both GP and paediatrician until they saw the a paediatric dietitian and they were both diagnosed as having allergies.

Based on my experience I would
a) Get help from a private lactation consultant. Try to increase the amount you are breast feeding.
b) See GP and ask for a 6 week trial of completely dairy free milk. Join the Facebook group CMPA and ask for advice on which one is best.
C) Go dairy and soya free.

@Thatwentbadly

I was told repeatedly that both my children don’t have allergies but both GP and paediatrician until they saw the a paediatric dietitian and they were both diagnosed as having allergies.

Based on my experience I would
a) Get help from a private lactation consultant. Try to increase the amount you are breast feeding.
b) See GP and ask for a 6 week trial of completely dairy free milk. Join the Facebook group CMPA and ask for advice on which one is best.
C) Go dairy and soya free.

Thank you. Aside from the reflux did your children have any other symptoms? DS has no rash so I feel that's why it's been ruled out. He has dry skin but had that at birth.

You can also get omeprazole as a liquid medicine rather than a tablet you have to dissolve, he might tolerate that better perhaps.

@FolkyFoxFace
I read your post and my heart went out to you. I was you 4 months ago. Traumatic birth, struggled with breast feeding and DS also had a tongue tie. In the end even after having tongue tie cut I still couldn't get him to latch properly. I took the hard decision to formula feed (I was devastated) but it improved my mental health so much.
My DS also is on omeprazole for reflux. He is 5 (nearly 6 months old). I feel your pain! There are lots of groups on Facebook for reflux which really helped me in the early days. There are medicine dummys you could try if your DS won't take the syringe. Have you tried syringing into the side of the mouth? Also 4ml sounds like an awful lot. My DS is only on 2.5ml and the dose changes depending on his weight. I get him weighed very 6 weeks or so by the health visitor and his dosage changes (my DS is due a dosage change this week!). Have you tried syringing into the side of the mouth? Or perhaps can you request a different brand. Ours is liquid form in a bottle (we don't dissolve or mix anything). But honestly hang in there. After 3 weeks my DS was like a different baby, so much more settled and not in pain. Now he loves his medicine and as soon as he sees the syringe he opens his mouth wide! Sometimes he is sick too but we just give the normal dose the next day. X

@Yubaba

You can also get omeprazole as a liquid medicine rather than a tablet you have to dissolve, he might tolerate that better perhaps.

Thank you! Will go back and ask for that. I think it was the granules he hates. There's only so much dissolving they bloody do. Bet it tastes foul.

[quote DisneyGirl2387]@FolkyFoxFace
I read your post and my heart went out to you. I was you 4 months ago. Traumatic birth, struggled with breast feeding and DS also had a tongue tie. In the end even after having tongue tie cut I still couldn't get him to latch properly. I took the hard decision to formula feed (I was devastated) but it improved my mental health so much.
My DS also is on omeprazole for reflux. He is 5 (nearly 6 months old). I feel your pain! There are lots of groups on Facebook for reflux which really helped me in the early days. There are medicine dummys you could try if your DS won't take the syringe. Have you tried syringing into the side of the mouth? Also 4ml sounds like an awful lot. My DS is only on 2.5ml and the dose changes depending on his weight. I get him weighed very 6 weeks or so by the health visitor and his dosage changes (my DS is due a dosage change this week!). Have you tried syringing into the side of the mouth? Or perhaps can you request a different brand. Ours is liquid form in a bottle (we don't dissolve or mix anything). But honestly hang in there. After 3 weeks my DS was like a different baby, so much more settled and not in pain. Now he loves his medicine and as soon as he sees the syringe he opens his mouth wide! Sometimes he is sick too but we just give the normal dose the next day. X[/quote]
I can't thank you enough for this message. It feels so reassuring to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm so glad your baby is doing better and that you're overcoming it all too. It's such a sad way to begin motherhood.

I'll go back and ask about dosage and the liquid too. It must taste awful all ground up like that! I tried the side of his mouth but he's so wriggly! I'm sure it's an art I'll get used to though.

Thank you again. Your post really lightened my mind tonight. X

My LO is 7 months old and we battled reflux since he was tiny! We now have omeprazole in liquid form (pharmacist will mix for you if you ask) we also swapped to kendamil organic milk. The difference in my lo was amazing, he is so much more settled! Hope your baby has some relief from it soon, there is simply nothing worse than seeing your tiny baby so uncomfortable and unhappy! Xx

I currently have a 7 week old also on the liquid suspension version of omeprazole. My older son also had reflux and we found dissolving the tablet impossible and disgusting. When we got him the liquid version it was so much easier, so definitely push for that. Both my sons also have dairy and soya allergies so I would agree with previous posters that this is something you should consider. Of course that would mean cutting it out of your diet as well as getting a cow’s milk free formula. Hang in there- with my eldest I found as soon as he sat up life was so much easier and that’s keeping me going this time too!

@Thatwentbadly

Reflux is a symptom. It can be symptom of underdevelopment stomach (very common) and this sorts it’s self out or an allergy, the most common being CMPA. Has an allergy been ruled out? Are you bf or ff?

This is an old thread of mine, but I just wanted to thank you for bringing CMPA to my attention. He does have it. He's also allergic to soya, legumes and egg. He's now 18 weeks, ebf, and thriving. Thank you. ❤️

I’ve just found this thread in desperation for some help for my 9 week old. I’ve known since she was born that she’s been struggling, TT and then finally the GP has agreed silent reflux and prescribed omeprazole. I can’t get her to keep it down at all, the tiniest drop and she is gagging and eventually vomits. She is the same with calpol and gripe water. Please can anyone help?? How can I get her to keep it down? Also how did you find out about the allergies? I am so desperate and can’t get any sleep as she won’t lie on her back. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you

Hi @Jpow . How is your baby fed? Could you put in her bottle teat if she's bottle fed? Or one of those dummy's that administer medicine?

My little boy was on omeprazole from
6 weeks to about 15 months. First few weeks were really rough getting him to take up. Distraction techniques worked best and squirting into the inside of his cheek whilst my DH rattled something or showed him mirror or ANYTHING to get his attention. After a while though, he got excited when he saw me dissolving the tablet ready to give to him and had it happily.

She'll get there but I 100% feel your pain

Hi @TeethingBabyHelp thank you for your reply. Baby is combi-fed. I have tried putting it in a teat and she will take it but it’s an involuntary reaction when she starts gagging and is sick. I don’t know what’s causing her to do it. It’s the same with calpol. It’s reassuring to hear you got there with your baby, I really hope I can get her to take it and things improve. She’s had her imms today and I can’t get any calpol down her to either as she’s just sick. Feel like there’s nothing I can do to help her x

@Jpow my DD is on Omeprazole as well so I understand your struggles.
DD is on a whole 10mg tablet once daily.
I normally dissolve this on a medicine spoon with 2.5mls of water. Once its absorbed some water i mix it on the medicine spoon with the end of a Calpol syringe so the bits are a bit finer and then suck some of the liquid up into the syringe.
There is normally a bit of liquid and a mush of the tablet left behind so ill literally put this directly into DD's mouth while making funny faces and using distraction tatics.
Then ill give the rest of the liquid from the syringe and some extra water to wash it down.
I found putting it all in via syringe into her cheek a nightmare but when put onto her tongue and then water via syringe she tolerates it really well.
After meds she has a bath (because it should be given 30mins before a feed) and she now associates this with a positive experience.

Calpol on the other hand is an absolute bloody nightmare. She only has to lick it and she will automatically projectile vomit.
Apparently, well according to our local pharmacist, babies with reflux are alot more sensitive to strong flavours like calpol which are ridiculoualy sweet and can make them gag and violently vomit. He did say giving babies with reflux any liquid medications can be a royal pain in the arse and wished us luck!
I have found Calpol does go down ok when mixed in a small bottle of milk.....