omeprazole dosage

[Daffodil0407]

Hi! My 15 week old was prescribed omeprazole today for his reflux. He weighs 7kg and been told to give him 7ml per day. A few people I've spoken to about it have said that seems a quite high dosage. Wondered what dosage your little ones were put on to start with?
Also need to dissolve the tablet in water first (have read up on here that it's pretty tricky giving it to baby) so any tips are welcome! 😊

At 9 weeks, a paediatric consultant put our son on 10ml. The GP had previously prescribed 5ml and she said that dose wouldn't do much for him. Can't remember his weight but he was fairly average. As it happens, we ended up on the max dose of 20ml and it still wasn't doing anything for him. It really didn't agree with him and I wish we hadn't persevered with it. Now on lansoprazole (orodispersible so dissolves on the tongue) and it's been a dream.

No tips on giving the omeprazole. We used a syringe but more often than not baby would spit some of it out so no idea how much he was actually taking in. We eventually ended up giving it in the bath 1ml at a time and taking a break between each so a bit of a slow process. The difficulty is that the medicine is in the little beads and it's not easy to draw up the correct amount then get them out of the syringe - slightly easier once we moved to 10ml because then we were just aiming for everything but we'd still find dried beads clogged in the syringe and bottle we'd dissolved it in. I've read about people dissolving the tablet inside the syringe but suspect it'll just be a case of trial and error.

No comment about the dose, except I think it's calculated by weight.

I would suggest going back to your gp and beg for liquid omeprazole. It's much more expensive but much easier to give and dose correctly.
Like you, we initially tried the tablets and it was impossible to get right. We asked the GP to change to liquid omeprazole, explaining we just can't give the tablet one properly and they agreed.

Liquid omeprazole here. Can't believe liquid isn't the only way they prescribe it!!
Started 5ml at about 10 weeks not sure weight, bit 50 centile

When got to 5kg it went to 10ml

I think 1 mL per kg of weight is the standard starting dose for the dispersible tablets, so I wouldn't worry at all about that dose.

DD2 has always had the dispersible tablets (and has unusually persistent reflux, so still on it at 1.5), so a few tips: We mix it in a little medicine cup with the mL marked on the side. Use warm water; it breaks up more easily. The calpol or nurofen syringes are best for it – they have a bigger hole than the ones most chemists give you, so they jam less with the little balls. Give the water/medicine mix a good stir, then draw up the dose. I also give the syringe a little shake or turn it a couple of times as I'm giving it to DD2 so the balls stay mixed and you don't get a clump at the end. Rinse the syringe immediately afterwards if you can.

DD2 has actually always taken it pretty well, much, much better than the carobel and gaviscon that we tried first. When she was tiny, I had to give it 0.5 mL at a time, which was pretty slow going, but your wee one is bigger, so might already be okay with a bit more at a time.

Omperazole for infants is between 0.7mg/kg and 3 mg/kg up to 20mg. So for a 5kg baby the dose could be 3.5mg or 15mg or anything in between

7ml looks like a reasonable dose to start a 7kg baby on, slightly over the absolute minimum but it is at the bottom end of the dosing.

Phone the gp and ask for the 4mg strength liquid omeprazole. So much easier to administer.

Thanks for replying!
In what way did it not agree with him?

I see what you mean about the beads being clogged in the syringe.. wish they would just prescribe the liquid instead.

Thank you. I’m going to give them a call tomorrow and hopefully they will prescribe the liquid 🙏🏼

did it work for your little one?

Thanks for the tips! I’ll give it a try tomorrow.

did you used to give it first thing in the morning?

Thank you x

Yes it works great, my twins are on that and carobel in their bottles.
I give the liquid in a syringe into the side of their cheek, it used to be a battle but now they're quite happy about it (7m old). It has to be given on an empty stomach so we give it 30 mins before their bottle (as advised by nicu!)
We were originally given the 2mg per ml liquid but as the dose upped with their weight I asked for the 4mg per ml as it meant we could halve the amount given.
I stopped upping it with their weight a few months ago and kept them on the same dose as they've been fine, before that I only adjusted for weight when they seemed to need it (they'd gag randomly as though they had acid).

Thanks for replying!
were you given the liquid straight away or were you given the tablets to dissolve first?

Also how long did it take to work would you say?

We were given liquid straight away, not sure if that's because we were in nicu & my twins were only 3lb. But the gp changed the strength with no issues when I asked so its definitely worth an ask!
It takes over 2 weeks to work, it doesn't stop them being sick but it neutralises the acid so it doesn't bother them when they are sick as its not painful anymore.
Carobel helps to stop some of the sickness but mine are still sick constantly, but a little bit at a time now & it doesnt bother them one bit.Their reflux is severe though.
We propped them up for 30 mins after a bottle in a boppy pillow when they were littler, this helped immensely! They can now lie down after a bottle with no issues.