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Cows milk allergy? Reflux? Help

6 replies

Nannon145 · 10/06/2021 13:51

My daughter is currently being treated for reflux by the GP. She is on infant Gaviscon and has been for 1 week 1 day now but it seems to have only helped with her pain and stopped her constantly crying, she is still getting other symptoms. GP is ringing today so I wanted to ask advice on what to do next.

The symptoms she is having are:

  • bringing up milk after every feed. Sometimes it can be projectile and loads of it (this happens at least once a day) and other times it’s just 3 or 4 mouthfuls which can be caught with a cloth. Sometimes she cries whilst doing this as if she’s in pain, other times it doesn’t seem to bother her.
  • she tends to poo at least once a day but when she does, it is really difficult for her. She strains, grabs hold of something really tightly and really cries but then the poo is soft.
  • she hiccups nearly after every feed. This tends to bring up the milk.
  • she coughs/gags whilst feeding sometimes. At least a few times a day.
  • she can get quite upset during feeding times but is easily calmed down (last week she was constantly crying and nothing calmed her down)
- she brings up her gas well during feeding, she has lots of gas, seems to be trumping all the time.
  • she seems to always have a blocked nose and sounds ‘sniffly’
  • Sometimes I notice her breathing sounds a tiny bit wheezy but nothing I have ever been majorly concerned about.
  • She isn’t a baby that screams all the time but is grizzly most the time but she does have her happy moments.

My partner, Darcie’s dad, had a cow milk allergy when he was a baby, is this worth me mentioning to the GP?

Do these symptoms still sound like reflux? Is it something that can be helped with or is it something I’m likely to just have to put up with.

Her weight was checked on Tuesday and they were happy with her weight gain and measurements.

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cindarellasbelly · 10/06/2021 13:56

How old is she now? Is she breastfed or formula fed?

I would mention your partner's allergy, my DD had CMPA and so did her dad as a baby. She also had reflux. If you're breastfeeding its worth keeping a diary of your food intake and her symptoms: I did this and it was incredibly clear quite quickly she was worse when I'd had dairy. Then it was easy enough to 'trial' cutting it out of my diet.

Its harder with formula as the symptoms you're describing could just be reflux, or they could be allergies. If the gaviscon isn't working there are other things they can prescribe, but it all depends on how 'bad' it is, and how young they are: my dd was 4 1/2 months when we were taken seriously, up till then they described her as a 'happy spitter' because she was still gaining weight but she absolutely had severe reflux and an allergy. I think the most helpful thing to do is keep a detailed symptom diary, and then you can see what changed in reaction to what treatment.

They may just want to give her a bit longer, but I'd definitely be raising the family history. Those symptoms sound like a CMPA issue to me, but they can be quite reluctant to start changing formula and I know a lot of babies don't take to the hypoallergenic ones.

Nannon145 · 10/06/2021 14:12

@cindarellasbelly she is 7 weeks old today. I was ebf up until 5.5 weeks (I don’t eat much dairy at all) and she had minor symptoms but not much. Since changing her to formula they have all become quite severe x

OP posts:
Fitforforty · 10/06/2021 15:12

It could be either. CMPA a an cause reflux or it could just be developmental reflux. How old is the baby?

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Nannon145 · 10/06/2021 15:43

@Fitforforty 7 weeks

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Fitforforty · 10/06/2021 16:03

The struggling to poo is developmental normal stage. It’s called infant dsychzia (I’ve spelt that wrong!). It’s were the push the poo out but close their anus at the same time. Eventually they learn how to coordinate to poo properly.
Bring up some milk is normal, many babies have reflux and this is caused by the top of the stomach not been fully developed. As humans have evolved our heads are larger to babies have to born early and physically they are not as developed as other mammals. Wind is normal and many babies have colic ‘unexplained crying’. Having said that yes it could be CMPA. It’s worth speaking to the GP.

Figmentofimagination · 10/06/2021 16:27

It could be CMPA. My son has CMPA and really bad reflux up to 15 months old. I would definitely mention it and get referred to a paediatrician as soon as possible. It took until my son was 1 to be diagnosed because the Drs didn't want to treat it as anything other than standard reflux for a baby. But it wasn't standard.
He went through numerous outfit changes a day and would wear a muslin like a bib to catch most of it. HVs and GP's said it would get better when he was weaning but it just got worse.
He's 4 now and can have dairy but not lots or else he feels ill (tummy hurts, hiccups constantly, may be sick, terrible wind).

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