COLIC/REFLUX - URGENT ADVISE PLEASE

[Ellradford]

In desperate need of some help.
My baby is 2 months old , since birth she has been crying in hysterics after every feed. We have been told by doctors , health visitors , midwife , hospital etc. it is ‘Colic’. I also believe she has silent reflux and you can hear it come up and be swallowed back down. Also she refuses to lay on her back.
We have had no help at all, so we have been private to a chiropractor who advised she has a lot of tension which we have had 5 sessions on & also feeding specialist who advised she has a posterior tongue tie we are having cut on Tuesday 23rd December.
We have been using cow and gate comfort milk - colic & constipation for around 6-7 weeks which has helped slightly as her normal cow and gate seemed to cause her a lot of distress , but we went to the doctors a couple days ago who have provided Gaviscon, but we have to go back to her original cow and gate as been advised we can’t use Gaviscon with the comfort milk.
We have been using the normal cow and gate with Gaviscon but we seem to be back to square one .
I am wanting to use one sachet of Gaviscon with the comfort milk, even though it advises online not too, has anyone done this before and been OK? I am really struggling now , so any advise would be appreciated!

Sorry no advice to your question about using gaviscon but wanted to share what worked for my niece.

You are probably doing these already but these are all things to try:
Having whatever surface she is on at an incline eg. her next to me
Keeping her upright for about 45mins after feeding
Bicycle legs and gas release specific massages

My niece had bad colic but after switching milk to Kendamil with their comfort drops her reflux issues massively improved.

Thank you for your message, yes we have tried all those things. The incline at night time helps a little with sleep, but she still in pain all the time after every feed and as soon as we do lay her down, she screams in pain. Can’t be for 30 minutes to 3 hours at a time.

Could it be a cows milk allergy? Unlikely if never any blood in stools I think but could be worth exploring. Hopefully symptoms will get better after the tongue tie cut.

I ended up using Colief, it's drops that contain a lactase enzyme. When I stopped them at 3 months, DC was diagnosed with a cows milk allergy

There isn’t any blood in her stools, her poo seems pretty normal x @Bethymum

Yes, we’ve been using coleif for around 6 weeks now x @gigglygrace

both of my children could not tolerate dairy as babies, either through my breast milk or from a formula. There was never any blood in stools, but constant crying and rarely sleeping. the first night we gave my eldest neocate formula she slept for longer than 40mims for the first time in 6 months. I would recommend going private to a paediatrician if you can, and telling them you need medication to treat the reflux like omeprazole and a specialist formula like neocate. Be very clear about how badly your baby is struggling after feeds. Also be careful with gaviscon as it can make them constipated and struggle even more with trapped wind.

I used anti reflux milk, thickened with cbg, which worked far better than comfort milk xx

My SIL continued to bf my niece, so no advice about formula, sorry. Well, except ti say I personally wouldn't use colief with a formula they say not to & I would be looking into lactose free milk.

my niece was better if she was upright for a LONG time after a feed, usually in my chest/shoulder (I was living with them at the time) & I can't remember how long it took, but eventually it just stopped. It will!! But it's horrible to go through 🥲

This seems like good advice.

@lostinchaos thank you - appreciate your comments!

@WinterWooliesBaa thank you for your comments , much appreciated appreciated!

Ask gp for ranitidine or omeprazole for silent reflux
I would consider dairy allergy too, one of my dc were horrible as infants same as yours, had silent reflux and colic, weaned 'early' because I couldn't cope (also was advised to by GP and was more like ~4/5 months back then) anyway turned out he had dairy, egg and nut allergy! He must've been so uncomfortable. I only did BF for him though so possible not much passed through milk as his rash/hives only started showing up during weaning.

I had a 35 weeker , 3rd baby 11 weeks ago and this one had her reflux silent and vomiting projectile here and there. Swallowing acid/ milk, hiccups a lot and not being able to wind
I changed from cow and gate as he was so constipated which wasn’t helping the constant grunting and issue with sleeping on back along with the reflux issues, it was a double discomfort for him at both ends
we changed to hipp organic reflux milk and been better- not completely cured but keeping milk down more able to do some burps and settle to lay down flat more. This milk naturally softens their stool as well so he was able to go to the toilet so much easier which helps them to settle more to sleep

We do upright after feeding for around 20 mins or so, don’t over feed try and burp every oz or so
may be worth changing the formula brand.
also check for milk allergy is having those symptoms.

we did a lot of massage, tummy time, leg movements - lots of advice on TikTok for tips on how to wind and massage

also used unfamiliar and gripe water - key with these is to be consistent with them.
anti colic bottles as well
there is also a heat pad you can get for babies to wear which is meant to help with discomfort think you can get on Amazon

be careful about inclining to cot as this isn’t recommend for safe sleep guidance
my HV advised is if cool boiled water for constipation is safe

My first born was just like this but with projectile vomiting, I'd second some of the advice above. Buy a sleep wedge to prop baby up and ask GP for a referral to pediatrician - we were prescribed omeprazole and it was the only thing which worked. I hated the idea of chemicals at such a young age but we tried everything with no avail.
Be careful with Gaviscon, it can lead to constipation which adds more tummy aches.
It's so difficult and exhausting. Sending good luck that you get it sorted soon.

Have you thought of change milk, you’ll need to give it a few days for the old stuff to leave the system. It definitely helped with my DC