Does this sound like reflux ??

[sectionquestion]

Baby is 5 days old. I think she has reflux bless her, she is being sick alot during/after her feeds, hiccuping, not comfortable on her back, seems to want to feed very often like every 2 hours almost!

Can they have the gaviscon off a doctor at this age ?

Hi, yes does sound like reflux.

Yes they can be prescribed gaviscon but it’s extremely common that it constipates babies, so ask for lactulose as well.

Thank you. My dd2 has cmpa first of all we thought it was just reflux so she was given gaviscon at 2 weeks old, she was okay with just two sachets a day. But baby seems much worse this time. She also had had a couple of episodes of bringing up a clear liquid while on her back and choking on it !! What would the clear liquid be ??

Sounds like reflux to me. Call triage and ask for some advice. Triage were great with me when mine was newborn and I needed advice. I tried gaviscon which didn't work so I ended up using anti reflux milk alongside omeprazole and that did calm it down x

It sounds like reflux but bare in mind that not all reflux needs treatment.
Feeding every 2 hours is normal for a 5 day old. My daughter fed every 45-90 minutes until she was 4 months old during the day but very short feeds.
It might be worth getting a feeding assessment as tongue tie can cause reflux or you might have a fast letdown they are struggling with or if they have a little mouth they might be struggling with a normal flow of milk.

Hi me again. Just wondering how long it normally takes for gaviscon to start working ?
Dd still really struggling with reflux, it's just getting worse rather than better.
She hasn't regained her birth weight so that is now stressing me out. She is most unsettled in the evenings but seems to sleep better through the night, but I think by that point she is exhausted from all the screaming!!
Any help please ?!?!

How do you know she hasn’t regained her birthweight? Is this from being weighed by a HV or by you?

Honestly as the weight is a concern I would contact the hospital for advice

HV. And to weigh her today. So I now have to take her to be weighed on Monday. She was 7.12 6 days ago and is now 7.14. She was 8.2 when born.
Apparently she has until day 21 to regain the weight before it is then on a monitoring thing

Sorry that should've said the hv came today to weigh her

Is your baby pooing normally? Gaviscon constipates the hell out of many babies.

She hasn't had a poo today, but was going once a day before this. We only started the gaviscon yesterday afternoon. She's having x3 half a sachets a day so I'm really hoping it doesn't cause constipation.
She's just had a bottle, only had an ounce of that one

I would then keep an open mind about the screaming being partly constipation.

If the screaming continues tomorrow, consider calling 111 and also see your GP next week.

Okay thanks

Reflux is normally a symptom of something. CMPA, tongue tie etc etc. How is she when feeding? Does she swallow excess air? That can cause reflux. Definitely get her checked for a tongue tie if you haven't already. Hope you see some improvement soon :)

Sorry this isn’t accurate.

Reflux CAN be a symptom of other things mentioned but the main cause is simply that the baby’s oesophagus hasn’t fully developed yet. It’s a mechanical issue which allows the milk to come back up.

She does seem to struggle with the bottle. I was Breastfeeding at first and she kept slipping off my nipple, now on the bottle sometimes it's like the teat is too big for her mouth !

Sometimes she'll be suckling away for ages and then when you take the bottle out it hasn't gone down, she's had nothing ?

Has she been checked for tongue tie? As a PP said reflux is often due to the oesophagus not being fully developed yet.
My 4month DD had the exact symptoms you described including issues with weight and feeding. Choking on clear liquid at night on her back. I know it's worrying.
Tongue tie can cause these issues, so get her checked out if you haven't already. Frequent feeding is totally normal at this stage, she's trying to establish your milk supply.
Just be wary of being steered into formula top ups if your aim was to EBF. You can end up in a vicious circle of topping up with formula, but the less your baby takes from the breast the less they'll make, so you end up topping up more and bf less.
Do you have a breastfeeding support group locally?I know it can feel like a lot with a newborn but I found the support groups and la leche league more knowledgeable than the MW and HV.

I am formula feeding now. She was so hard to latch with breastfeeding she kept slipping off my boob, just sucking the end of my nipple and it was so painful

@sectionquestion did you want to continue BF? You've not said if tongue tie has been checked. My DDs tongue tie was present but didn't meet the threshold for NHS treatment so we had to go private. Having it cut and her growing bigger made all the difference to her latch. When their mouths are so tiny it can be really hard and I don't think that's mentioned enough from MW and HV.
If you don't continue to express your milk it will decrease and dry up, but it depends if you're wanting to continue breastfeeding. There's a helpful FB group I'm on https://www.facebook.com/groups/840215063492320/?ref=share

Gaviscon is pretty instant as it thickeners the feed right from the start
It also a pretty gentle way of treating reflux and often won't work on its own. Go to the GP to ask about omperazole
Get a lactation consultant to assess for tongue tie - I know you are no longer breastfeeding but these are the best people to assess for tongue tie. on reflection the assessments the infant feeding team did on my daughter were pretty poor and she probably has a mild tongue tie that wasn't picked up.

The omperazole could make things worse for the first week or so as the body tries to override the meds and produce more acid. You might need a high dose too. My daughter only had a benefit when she was on the maximum dose.

If this doesn't work or you get to the point that they haven't regain birth weight in the appropriate time frame push for a dairy free formula. You would start of partially hydrolysed formulas which has broken down dairy in them which was ok for some babies more sensitive babies will need to move to an amino acid formula that are completely dairy free.

My daughter has food allergies that made her reflux worse but has reflux in addition to her allergies she is 3.5 and reflux caused her more issues than her allergies and she is still heavily medicated for the reflux and under 2 paediatricians for it.

Hi, no I don't want to continue breastfeeding anymore. My milk has pretty much dried up now aswell.

No she hasn't been assessed for tongue tie but it's something I'm going to mention at the weighing clinic definitely!
She has done shit better with her milk today, not as much spit up or struggling in pain so I'm hoping the gaviscon is starting to help 🤞🤞
Horrible seeing them in pain.

Really worried though about her not regaining her birth weight yet though, I know she is gaining just slowly but my other children were so greedy and never had this problem, infact my last baby never even lost any birth weight, they put weight on!