Reflux- paediatrician recommends weaning at 18 weeks

[violetcuriosity]

Hi,

Just looking for experiences on this as it's not something I've done/considered before. My DD is 4 months and has suffered from severe silent reflux since around 7 weeks. It was so bad that she was investigated by neurology for seizures but it turns out it was just the shock of the acid causing the symptoms, luckily. It's been really stressful and as parents of reflux babies know, Gaviscon just causes other issues and unfortunately Omeprazole hasn't really made too much difference either, despite trying different dosages.

We saw the paediatrician for a follow up this week and he has said that the next step is to wean her early to put something heavier in the stomach to anchor down the milk, effectively.

With my other children, I have been a vigilant 6 month (actually later to be honest) weaning Mum but I just want my baby to be pain free. He said to start with a couple of spoonfuls of very thin porridge in the morning and then at dinner time too, nothing too extreme, I won't be putting her on the ham sandwiches just yet 😂.

Thoughts/experiences/suggestions even opinions welcome please. As I say, I do know the guidance and have followed it for my other children so please be kind.

Thank you.

My eldest has severe reflux and I started solids at 17 weeks on the paediatricians advice (she is 13 now but at the time it was frowned on to start weaning before 6 months). I gave on top of a milk feed in the hope of "weighing" the milk down. I only gave puréed food. All worked well, no digestive issues or allergies. Younger DC had milder reflux but I still weaned her at 20 weeks.

I had what was obviously terrible reflux as a baby in the late 70s but which was dismissed as colic at the time. The health visitor had my Mum giving me baby rice from 3 weeks old! Many other countries advise weaning from 4 months.

We weaned at 16 weeks due to reflux and allergies. NHS guidelines are population
level, the advice given by the peadiatrician was specific to that child at that time. He’s outgrown all allergies and reflux and has no digestive issues.

Everyone saying their baby/toddler/child doesn’t have digestive issues now doesn’t mean anything, because the issues caused by early weaning don’t appear until adulthood.

So you all have no idea whether the risk you’ve taken with your children will have caused them lifelong damage or not yet.

Thanks for your reply. What would you do in my situation? To be fair, it could be argued that she already has quite a severe digestive issue which needs quite urgent intervention.

Well I'm 45 and have no digestive issues despite being weaned at 3 weeks.....

What studies have been produced that show a higher incidence of digestive issues in children weaned at 4 rather than 6 months?

A child with bad reflux already has digestive issues. There can be ongoing oesophageal damage caused by the reflux. OP, like many of us who had babies with reflux, has been advised to start weaning by a medical professional.

My DC are in their 20s, weaned at 4 months as was the "rule" then. Perfectly healthy.
Both had severe reflux and I was advised by a paediatrician to wean DC2 at 6 weeks. I actually ignored him because I knew from experience of DC1 that weaning didn't solve the reflux. The only thing that solved it was walking, ie being upright. DS1 was sick 24/7 until 11 months when he walked. DC2 was longer as later walking.
Weaning just meant carrot sick instead of milk sick.
No lasting digestive issues from those early problems.

A pediatrician recommended we wean our reflux baby at 4.5mo. We started with a teaspoon of baby rice once a day and then gradually increased the amount. After a month we introduced purees and at 6mo did BLW. Honestly after a week or so her reflux cleared up, it was amazing! So nice not to have to give her medication every day and she wasn't in pain or discomfort anymore.

My mum weaned her kids with purees at 4mo and even gave my brother scrambled egg for his first taste of solids! Something that today is a no no but he is totally fine. At the time we weaned DD my HV said that the reason they changed the advice to wean at 6mo instead of 4mo is that people started weaning early at 3mo which is really dangerous. If your LO can hold their head up and sit in a chair then they will be fine. Will help their tummy get used to solids very gently too.

My eldest 2 the guidance was still 4 months it changed to 6 for my younger children but then my son was only on baby rice/porridge etc nothing too full on at 4 months.

could you use a milk thickener - I think it would need to be prescribed? Carobel or similar to hold off early weaning? If the paediatrician has advised this then babyrice or porridge is made with their milk and pretty gentle you could try, it takes a while to get them to take any great amount at that age. Reflux when it’s that severe must be absolutely horrendous for you, I hope things improve for you soon op

Also there is a load of tripe advice on this thread about early weaning causing problems later in life. Don't trust a bunch of unqualified strangers who don't quote any actual studies, trust your pediatrician!

Your poor DD! I would definitely follow paediatrician advice. It must be horrible and painful for her. I hope it helps her.

We were also advised to wean at 4 months due to severe reflux by a specialist paediatric gastroenterologist. Worked well and DS is now 13 with no digestive issues.

I’d trust the professionals not the rigid dogmatists on mumsnet who don’t have the professional background to evaluate the respective risks of early weaning vs doing nothing to address the reflux and haven’t seen and assessed your child.

I totally understand your want to improve your daughters reflux, it's a horrible thing and sounds like she's really bad with it.

I would have no hesitation weaning early on the advice of a paediatrician. I know a couple of doctors and they both say to introduce allergens before 6 months, so why not wean for reflux issues? Hope your DD improves soon for you!

Dad is nearly 17 so pretty sure. And it was better than leaving her to differ the reflux, she dropped from 90% to 2% due to refusing milk due to pain of reflux.

About three months ago, my doctor told me that my then four month old DC (who didn’t have reflux or any other issues) was ready for weaning.

Apparently, the most recent research indicates reduced allergies if babies are weaned at 4 months rather than 6 months. This is the most recent research and not yet reflected in most government issued guidelines. I trust my doctor more than I trust government issued guidance.

We were also told to wean to help with reflux. Unfortunately it didn't help in our case and it turned out to be both reflux and a cows milk protein allergy/intolerance.

Switching to a dairy free diet helped more.

May be worth keeping that in mind in case your baby is the same.

OP ignore the one poster talking nonsense. Do as your paediatrician advises and think no more about it x

We did the same with DS for the same reason. It was fine and helped with some of the reflux symptoms.

Could you point us towards the evidence for this risk, please?

My 18 week old boy is chomping at the bit for some food! We’ve started giving him a teaspoon of baby rice mixed with breast milk or formula a couple of times a week, as he gets older il il start giving it everyday then around 6 months il start giving other foods