Reflux or normal sicky baby?

[berri]

How do you know if your baby has reflux? My 9 wk old (8wks prem) baby is sick after every feed but doesn't seem to be in any pain or distress by it - the problem comes in the night mainly when I have to change him 2 or 3 times as he wakes cold after being sick on himself. I've tried keeping him upright for 15 mins after each feed but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

At the moment I'm swaddling him as I put a bib round him over the top of the swaddle to try to soak some of it up before it wakes him, but want to try using grobags soon. Obviously this would be the end of the bib and I'd have to buy about 6 of the grobags to keep up with the constant changing!

Is this normal and will pass, or do I need to mention it to the GP?

berri, there's another thread on this for a wider view.( Sorry can't do a link in maxathon browser.)

After seeing other posts I think that there must be different causes of reflux. If your baby is thriving, feeding well and putting on weight but constantly sick, he sounds like both of mine were.But of course you should ask professional advice.

They were sick continuously through the day but nights were tricky because the baby would wake up in a puddle of it.I used to put several layers of bedding under the baby and lift it as it got soggy. I did use those baby sleeping bags which were okay because they don't come right up to the face.Still needed a couple every night though.

I had two reflux babies and it was very hard work but the main thing I learned was that it was MY problem not the babies. They were happy and thrived. Just sick a lot.
Both were BF , probably more often than normal as a good half came back. It was all day and all night.
This lasted until 10 months when it suddenly stopped almost overnight.

The paediatrician who checked for pyloric stenosis ( it wasn't). He did various tests and said it was caused by an under developed stomach valve He basically said it's just a laundry problem. Said I could try bottle feeding and early introduction of solids but no guarantees.
I did not follow his advice as I had been through it all with DS1 and knew that solid food made no difference to the reflux. Except of course that by six months he was crwling and deposting orange sick all over the house.
I still can't bear the smell of carpet cleaner.

Buy dozens of muslins (known as sick clothes in our house)
Loads of bibs.
Never get baby ready to go out until last minute.
More bibs.

berri - reflux is, i think a scale, as all babies guts go through a process of maturation, where the valve closes.
even the cranial osteopath said that reflux and colic are so closely linked it is difficult to tell which is which.
my ds, as well as being sick:
gagged / retched
would scream in pain after a feed, a piercing scream. his only comfort was breastfeeding - after a full feed, he'd scream, fall asleep from exhaustion upright on our chests and wake 2 minutes later, screaming again (was this colic? i'll never know).

we started on gaviscon and ranitidine and on the second day, his 'pain' symptoms stopped and he fell asleep before 1am! this also happened to be when he was 12 weeks old. but he did continue to show the retching/gagging thing as well as being constantly sick. he hated lying on his back.

anyway, i am waffling. i totally agree with mumwhensdinnerready - at best, reflux is an inconvenience in terms of washing. if you don't feel that your baby is in any pain, then this 'natural' process is probably worth just running its course, as they do grow out of it.

but i'd definitely mention it to your gp - tbh, i found that they were very non-interventionist with it and i had to really push my gp for meds, when ds was in so much pain in between feeds. the sickness didn't really bother me.

my ds grew out of it at 9 months, though it can happen a lot earlier.

good luck

This sounds like my DD - I changed her onto Soya milk with gaviscon and the problem went away. She was dairy intolerant but she grew out of it at about 8 months old.

My DS had Gaviscon in every feed for around 8 months. Reflux is more common with prem babies, as was mine. Gaviscon solved the problem, instantly. Thankfully!

Sounds like it could well be reflux, especially if he was prem. My dd was 6 weeks prem and had chronic reflux; my hv was useless and told me that most babies vomit milk up, so at the time I didn't think much more of it, until that was, I took her to paediatrician at hospital for her routine check up (being that she was prem), and he told me she was suffering with reflux.

He prescribed a special milk called Enfamil AR, although this didn't really help the problem, at next appointment told him she was still possetting and he prescribed Gaviscon sachets on top of the milk and that helped a great deal.

She eventually grew out of the problem. Miraculously she never lost weight and to the doctors surprise it never affected her development in any way.

See your GP who may refer you.

my lo was extremely sicky, but i think it stemmed from oversupply rather than reflux - we would get dramatic projectile vomiting every now and again, and the grobags were pointless - we stuck with blankets. I found a fleece blanket on the sofa was a godsend - saved constantly washing the sofa covers, and fleece dries fast. She still tends to posset a little but not the amounts before and no more projectiles. i think it settled around 3 months.

Thanks for all your replies, I haven't had a chance to log back on until now!

We have our 8 wk check this week (even though it's now 10 wks!) so I think I'll mention it as hopefully I will be seeing someone other than my useless HV who's favourite phrase is "....oh I don't really know..." to all my questions!

Glad to hear it's not just us smelling of puke all the time

our son had reflux up to 1 year old, but it didn't bother him after the first three months (gaviscon kicked in? grew out of colic? who knows) I really recommend asking your doc for gaviscon infant, and try raising the head of your Dc's mattress b putting something under it or raisng the feet on one side of the cot so it's a recline. We then put muslins under the head area, oh-and we bought a dryer-lifesaver! grobags are fab for getting them to sleep through thr night. Don't let the reflux put you off. We also switched to a low-lactose formula when DS was 6 months old and I stopped breastfeeding, and that helped a lot.

My ds had bad reflux and was put on a prescription formaula. he continued to put on weight (and even came right off the chart at one point) but was very sick after every single feed. I was told to keep him upright for an hour after each feed, not easy at 3am!

My little one had reflux. He was prescribed Gaviscon and we also gave him SMA milk specifically for reflux babies which worked a treat. Its a pain to make up and you have to give it to them cold or room temp. but it was worth it as that combined with Gaviscon really reduced the amount of sick. You can get the milk on prescription too. WE out a towel under our baby in his cot as it seemed to soak up the sick better and was easier than sheets to change in the night. Try getting sleeping bags from the supermarket as they are cheaper so you can buy more of them and keep changing them during the night. They are just as good as Grobags and about a third of the price. Also I wouldnt put a bib on a baby to sleep in I dont think its very safe.