Reflux taking over our lives

[Paris93]

Hello, my son is nearly 5 months old and has always suffered from reflux. He has tried gaviscon (which made him constipated so we stopped) and he is now on liquid omerprazol. When he started on these medications we noticed a huge improvement. However recently he’s gone back to throwing up every single feed.

I’m at my wits end, I really don’t know what to do. We’re up all night as he’s starving all the time but whenever we feed him he projectile vomits everywhere and then wants to be fed again straight away. It’s just a vicious cycle. I feel like he’s really suffering as he’s hungry all the time. We’re constantly washing sicky clothes/towels and our sofas and mattress are pretty much ruined!

Does anyone have any advice? Our doctors just keep telling us he’ll grow out of it but it’s getting to a point where I feel like I can’t cope. I have an 18 month old daughter too.

Thanks x

I think someone else mentioned a milk thickener. I’ll get another appointment at the doctors and see if they can prescribe one x

If he’s got CMPA, doesn’t lactulose contain milk? Isn’t it made from lactose? If so that could be why he seems worse

Oh I never thought of this!

I think it should be okay as he is allergic to cows milk protein, not lactose. But I will check with the doctor. I’ll be so annoyed if they’ve prescribed him something he shouldn’t be having!!!

Now you’ve mentioned this I’m wondering if maybe he could be struggling with lactose too. It’s definitely something to get checked out! Thanks for the thought!

I’ve got two children with CMPA (although eldest has now grown out of it) and both have reacted to lactose. I’d go back to your GP and ask for a different laxative personally

Is it possible there's a whole allergy and not just to cows milk protein? Soya too?

Thanks for this, I’m definitely going to!!

I'm making an appointment next week and going to insist on changing his laxative and seeing a specialist - my mums going to come with me for some reinforcement! I’ll also see what they say about weaning early.

Weve just had him weighed as he’s 10lbs. He was born 6lbs 6oz so to only have put on that much in 5 months is so worrying to us!!

Thank you for all the replies, they’ve honestly been so helpful! We don’t know anyone who’s baby had reflux so getting advice has been hard. Also whoever said doctors don’t know how to treat it is so right! We’ve never felt like they understood.

Hi, no advice just solidarity as I'm in exactly the same position. My son is 4 months old and his reflux is terrible. We thickened his milk, which worked brilliantly for the reflux but constipated him. We then went on to gaviscon, which did nothing for the reflux and he was still constipated. We're now on liquid omeprazole, which he is thankfully no longer constipated with but makes no difference to his reflux. I can't even count how many times a day he vomits and I do mountains of laundry. They've just upped the dose of omeprazole and if anything he is worse. I feel like no one is bothered because he is gaining weight, I just keep being told he'll grow out of it and like you I'm at my wits end with it. I've kind of accepted nothing is going to change until he grows out of it/he weans, but it's horrible for my son constantly throwing up :( You have my sympathies

Cow and Gate Anti Reflux formula changed my daughter's feeding for the best. She went from throwing up after every feed to not throwing up at all :)

Get referred, GPs are not the experts in this which is why it is important to get referred to a consultant. I am glad your Mum is coming with you.

Ds1 had reflux and basically stopped when he started cruising furniture as he was upright a lot more. Ds2 had horrific reflux, screamed in pain, reduced the amount he would take in a feed, it was like having a newborn again. First we went to the GP but when they couldn't sort it with gaviscon he openly said I am not comfortable doing anything further myself on such a small baby and referred us. Consultant was brilliant and Ds refluxed on cue for him. What happened with us and agreed with the consultant

Prescription anti-reflux formula until 14 months old (16 years ago so times have changed, didn't actually drink milk until he was 3, had dry cereal. Had to make sure he hit his calcium intake every day with yoghurt and cheese)
Weaned at 4 months with starchy veg (didn't make any difference so weaned at usual 6 month mark)
Propped up after feeds in a bouncer or on a human
Never laid down even for nappy changes, was propped
Slept upright on me during the day (sahm)
Slept in cot that was on proper cot props to keep him angled.
The consultant also recommended a dummy so that they keep swallowing down all the time

He lived in bibs, every photo he is wearing one and I hardly used a pram, instead he was in a sling, upright, until he could sit up unaided confidently.

Mentally, accepting that he had reflux and that at some point he would grow out of it. He still has it today and he is 16 years old. He would wake up in the evening until he was about 8 years old, maybe once a week and need a drink and a cuddle. He has never eaten portion sizes that I would expect as he has learned that he can reflux and it hurts. I have reflux too as an adult. He blames me but in a damn your damn genes way. He is adorable.

Meant to @ you @Paris93

I promise you it will get better!
my baby (now 8.5 months) seemed to produce extra milk by magic to reflux back up he was sick that much. It got particularly bad around 5 months which I think is when NHS say it peaks and this is due to them moving around more.
a few things, my lo also had cmpa and is on neocate. You could try carobel to thicken instead of gaviscon (been there for first four months of his life and made him constipated). However, some babies like mine also react to carobel.
The higher the dose of omeprazole the more likely your baby will suffer from tummy discomfort so it’s a fine balance between reducing pain from reflux and more wind and tummy pain and often the latter can make you think it’s reflux pain so you up the dose and the cycle continues. We also did a stint on omeprazole and in the end it wasn’t worth it as he still kept sicking up.
It’s very unlikely your baby is lactose intolerant but again lactulose can cause tummy discomfort. We were prescribed that as well but since nothing was actually helping keep the milk down and all the gaviscon and medication was causing other problems, I made the decision to try stopping them all and realised although the sick was constant he stopped being bothered about it and it just became a laundry issue.
We were given the go ahead by the infant feeding team at Alder Hey to start weaning at 5.5 months and that was the real game changer. Now we only have sick if he’s had a bit too much food or milk or is unwell so hang on in there as you’re so close to weaning age.
it is hell though. I remember one day where there was so much sick, I just passed him to my partner and left the house without saying a word. It’s relentless but does get better! I’ve nearly all but forgotten and that’s after 5-6 months of feeding hell.

Oh also to say as long as your baby is tracking percentiles don’t worry about weight. I became obsessive as mine always drank suck small amounts (3-4 ox max) and i’d see babies chugging 7-8 oz and worry as mine was born 75th, dropped to 50th and then 25-29th where he’s stayed ever since.
some babies are small drinkers and research has show amino acid formulas like neocate make babies put weight on at a slower rate than standard formulas and at a rate similar to breastfed babies because the amino acid formulas tell them they’re fuller faster.
Sitting up unaided really helped the reflux too as they have a much stronger core and tummy muscles by then that help keep everything down.