Reflux and fast let down

[GiftWrappedSuburbanDreams]

I'm really struggling and hope someone can help. My baby has reflux, he wants to be held upright all the time. He doesn't like lying down, he doesn't like the sling. It's exhausting. He sleeps on me and when I try to move him somewhere else so I can have a rest, he wakes up and cries. I can't nap in the day because he won't lie down in a safe place without crying. My wrists hurt from holding him so much.
I'm breastfeeding and I'm 4 weeks in, so it's still establishing. I think I have a fast let down, which isn't helping. I tried hand expressing when I feel the let down, but he screams because he wants to latch back on. When he latches on again, he's drinking too much and starts screaming.
I've been to the gp and they're advising I don't treat his reflux and instead wait for him to grow out of it.
Can anyone advise me on what to do re the let down/reflux?
Sorry if this post is all over the place, I'm upset, desperate and sleep deprived. 😢

@MNHQ Sorry, could you please move my thread to infant feeding?

I feel your pain. And his frustration. You're right to pinch off your let down when you feel that tingling, and relatch him once it's stabilised a bit. I'd also listen to him as he suckles - if the rhythm goes then unlatch and start again. You and him are still finding your groove - it will come. While not lullaby safe sleep approved, there are positions that are safer than others for chest sleeping with reflux babies, if the alternative is you fall asleep in on the sofa for instance.

Hi, I don't have advice but I had similar issues: my first was treated for reflux but suspect it was fast letdown and high supply causing similar symptoms. I lasted about 5 months before switching to formula. If I could go back I would express all of her milk to bottle feed instead. As I had a fast letdown I would get 90ml in less than 5 mins so wouldn't have been the burden it is for some.

We used infant gaviscon sachets and omeprazole. Not sure how much it helped really.

Hi Op I’ve had the exact same issue my baby is about to turn 6 months and the first 3 months this was my life.

the issue I had was a fast let down but also her oral function was really poor even after tongue tie being divided at 8 days old and multiple osteopath appointments.

What worked for me was to use a hakaa on the opposite breast to catch the let down to ensure breasts were fully empty after each feed to ensure that when they were going back on they weren’t just getting overloaded with formilk again. Position and attachment checking with a breast feeding peer or lactation consultant, as baby got bigger I found feeding upright was better as they could manage the flow, when there was a strong let down I would bob her off and wind her but also making sure I’d burp her before laying her down otherwise she would be screaming. They say you don’t need to burp a breastfed baby but absolute myth ad I discovered.
anything you catch in the Hakka you can then top her up with a bottle which if you do end up getting gaviscon for the reflux it will be easier to use that to get in them.

i can’t advise on the sleep, mine slept on me upright for the first 3 months, I researched the shiz out of this btw and I’m not suggesting you do unless you decide but I had to because it was more dangerous not sleeping.

Once the gaviscon was in her she slept on her back next to me and we have co slept ever since.

in terms of sling, it took three different slings for me to try before I found the one babe would go in, recommend contacting a local sling library as they do cheap rentals. Ones by me were 3 pound a week.

Olivia Hinge is great on insta for advice too, so sorry you are going through this.

it does get better, push the GP as things didn’t get better for me until we adjusted the position and got her on the gaviscon xx

Hello, firstly congratulations on your beautiful baby! And well done for being an awesome mum. Is it your first?
Secondly, you are not alone and this phase is not forever. It is so so hard when they have reflux and you feed them and they fall asleep and wake screaming and/or vomiting as soon as you put them down.
A few tips- can you try feeding so baby is in an upright position? A breastfeeding clinic/lactation consultant would be able to help with different feeding positions - or is there a health visitor you like that you can ask?
Try to get baby to do a really good burp after feeding literally every single time if you can (I know it’s really hard sometimes- dads are sometimes really good at burping).
Baby may also have trapped bum wind so look up how to do gentle leg cycling to encourage the wind to come out that way - if you’re not sure then look online (just need to be extra careful if your baby has any hip issues)
Finally- do you notice it is different after you eat certain foods? When mine were tiny I had to avoid dairy for a few months as that made the reflux much worse (although they are fine with it now).
hope that helps

You sound similar to me. My daughter had reflux, I had a fast letdown. I did leaned by feeding positions. We had feeding aversions and many feeding assessments. They broadly found that whilst I did have a fast letdown she was coping with it at feeds
At 6 weeks we started on gaviscon for the reflux, this made her constipated and was enough to make a difference to her reflux. At 8 weeks we started on omperazole which only had a minimal improvement during the first days but she quickly returned to her unsettledness.
By 17 weeks she was pretty unbearable and we ended up seeing a paediatrician for something else and she was diagnosed with severe silent reflux on top of her physical reflux. The GP had only been treating the physical reflux which wasn't as bad. We were put on the highest dose of omperazole, restarted on gaviscon with lactulose for the constipation and it was recommended that I removed dairy and soya from my diet. We saw a huge difference in a week! We eventually identified other allergies too and needed further medication to treat her reflux.

They absolutely can treat the reflux, my daughter is in the minority of babies that hasn't outgrown her reflux and is still on medication aged 4! She has reflux in addition to her allergies but the allergies make the reflux worse so we only got to a good place by tackling both at the same time. My biggest regret is sticking with seeing the same gp during the newborn period. She would just repeat that's she's growing and reflux is a washing problem. It also turned out some of her advice was actually incorrect and the paediatrician was critical of her medication advice. My daughter was nicely following the 9th percentile but after removing allergens and treating the reflux she moved up to just under the 50th percentile!

My daughter was in my arms for 23h a day and cried at her peak for 16+h a day. Contact naps only and we coslept at night. We started cosleeping at nap times on days when my partner was working from home so he could keep an eye on us