sept 2014: babies are here (or coming soon!)

[allisgood1]

Even though dc3 is end of August, thought I'd start a sept thread :-)

How are you all doing?

dS1 is 9 dats old. Feeding well and surely sleeping well but it's hard to know as I keep falling asleep at night feeding him!

Aww jay the first day at home without DP was always going to be hard. It's ok to be tearful, it will pass. Make sure you get lots of baby snuggles this afternoon when baby is settled, they always make me feel better. My DH is often at work 5am - 7pm as well, it's hard but manageable. You're usually both up at night anyway so make sure you can squeeze in a chat and a cuddle wherever possible.

Acorncat - have you tried cutting out dairy? We had several nights light that last week & the week before, Ellie was constant inconsolable crying and looked in pain, and would arch her back as soon as we tried to put her down. I guessed milk intolerance (didn't bother with GP) and midwife also suggested garlic, and I've cut those right back - I have butter on toast and lactose free milk in tea, and she's like a different baby. So calm, and will just squeak and grunt when she's hungry (and cry and squirm when she's got wind or doing a poo!) try cutting dairy out for a couple if days and see if it makes a difference (garlic, spices and onions can also be culprits I gather).

I second cutting out dairy. Dd2 had dairy intolerance and she was a different baby when I cut it. She was also on omeprozole for reflux but main success was diet. She's still dairy intolerant.

Acron I've been to hospital once for ds reflux - as he was crying after each feed arching his back
They prescribed Gavisgon and I started immediately. He is breastfed. I gave him gavisgon in bottle 6 times to start with then reduced it back to 3-4 and he was comfortable.
I cut back on diary but it didn't help - the specialist told me if I want to make sure it helps you have to cut it back completely, not even eating food that have any diary...

Gavisgon helped a lot but Ds is still unsettled, so we went to gp who refused prescribing ranitidine- saying it is for the specialist to decide and referred us...

I started Emily on Infacol today on the hv advice.....cue projectile vomit all over me, her and the couch, this happened two feeds in a row so I didn't give the infacol for the third feed and it's all stayed down so clearly there is something in it that doesn't agree with her.

The hv said to try colief if the infacol didn't help so I have got some from the chemist, you mix it in with her bottles which is nice and easy, but as its an enzyme it needs time to work so I'll just have to be a bit more organised with the timings of her feeds. Fingers crossed it makes her a bit more comfortable and we all get a bit more sleep tonight. DH returning to work Wednesday and we don't have a spare room for him to escape to so its our bed or the sofa bless him.

We are having some professional pictures taken of Emily tomorrow, I wasn't sure about having them done but think they will make lovely xmas presents for the Grandparents etc and I'm more likely to regret not having them done than regret having them done if that makes sense.

Sorry to hear about all the other colicy babies it's horrid when they are obviously in pain and there's nothing you can do to help them. A friend recommended baby massage to help move the trapped wind around, I'm going to look around and see if the nct or anyone do a course as I think the waiting list for the NHS one is going to be pretty long.

Yes you any half heartedly cut dairy. It's all or nothing. Which means foods, drinks, everything or anything containing dairy. And that's a lot of food!!

Misog - hope your photos go well, I did a newborn session with Ellie myself (I usually do wedding photography, so newborn was new to me, but loved it) but regretting not having any with me in them already, so going to go to a local family photographer in November to get photos of the 3 of us when she's a bit more smiley (and baby acne cleared up by then too I hope!) think it will make nice Christmas gifts for grandparents :)

Interesting that cutting dairy does work for some. The gp just said that it's so rare to be intolerant so don't bother, or just drink soya milk instead and yet looking online there's tons of people who swear it's helped. It's worth a shot, don't drink milk anyway so it'll be all the hidden dairy I struggle with (ie chocolate!). And in the meantime he won't sleep unless he's upright so no sleep for me . These babies are a worry.

Acron it is as if you are describing our problem- why don't you give gavisgon a go - I know it is hard for bf baby and too much of it cause constipation but in contrary to some gavisgon is very safe for babies...
I'll let you know what the specialist says once we see him.

Stupid question alert, is this normal gaviscon or a special baby gaviscon? And can you buy it over the counter? I have had A on Infacol to start with, and now he is a month old I moved on to Gripe water yesterday, but last night he just wouldn't settle, and looked really uncomfortable. I am going to give the gripe water a few more days to see if it works, but need something to move onto if we have no luck with it.

Its baby gaviscon which you can buy otc.
I personally dont agree with cutting things out of diet without specialist advice as there are lots of different factors that can effect reflux. Reflux has taken over our lives for the past4yrs. Ds2 and3 havent been half as bad as ds1. Who was sick last night and was refluxing this morning. Its such a horrible thing for these little babies and fully sympathise with all those suffering! Since ds has had his tube in and all meds maxed hes much more settled but it was every night he was up screaming being sick. Food that he ate 16hours before being sick would come out undigested. And because he was sick thatupset him even more. I had llaminate flooring put down in my room specially for him. I was living at my parents house hubby in a different country so had to deal with it alone. Was horrible and scary.

Those who are suffering please pester your gp for specialist referral which usually starts with paediatrician at the hospital. If they won't refer take your lo to a+e about them being sick and your worried before discharge ask fir follow up.

Put your foot down. It toom 18months for someone to take ds seriously (he had been under paed but he was an arse)

sorry for the long post. Ds needs his meds hes complaining his tummy hurts (hes refluxing plus constipation)
Also want to add its very rare that reflux lasts this long and is more likey going to be apart of his long term illnesses. Most reflux corrects itself by time baby can sit up and is being weaned then something like 5% still have it at 1st birthday which corrects by time they start walking. So just because our case is bad doesnt mean you will have 4 years of cleaning up sick. I catch his sick in a bowl now.

Acorn dairy is in a lot of stuff. Ds is cmpi but the kinder thing for us to do for him is let him eat what he wants as he eats so little and je wont eat what he can.

Your baby could be missing our on essential vitamins/minerals etc by cutting so much out of your diet and so could you. If you really suspect there is a problem I recommend you pump and dump and try lo with the soya formula which you can buy I think cow and gates is called infasoy. We've tried that too.

No one has to listen im just trying to help and speaking from experience of 4yrs with reflux with ds1

ilove what you're saying makes sense. I really hoped the doctor would have given some advice about cutting out dairy, would much rather do it under supervision. The problem is cos DS is not being sick she just dismissed it. But as soon as he falls asleep he's flailing, grunting, frantically rubbing his face and then starts choking/gasping . Before it was just if he was lying flat but now it's all the time. Ended up putting him on his side which lessened it. Really want a referral but seems to difficult to be listened to.

And now he has a rash so back to gp this afternoon. So bloody worried, not sleeping doesn't help.

I know some may not agree but I would take lo to a+e esp if they have a rash too.
Dont mean to scare you but at 5weeks ds1 had meningitis and sepetcmia. They can sort the reflux out too. Better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks ILove

Acorn hope your little one is ok and the rash isnt serious.

I agree with all what ilove says about reflux and changing diet...

Cumbrian have a look at reflux signs before you give Gavisgon to your baby-
Is he arching his back constantly during and after feeding? Is he throwing up constantly? Is he unsettled after each feed (and not in the evenings only for example) arching their back is a typical sign... Gavisgon is a sort of no risk medicine so far as I know but giving ds full dose made him constipated, so I am on half maximum number of times allowed -

The way gavisgon works is very different from other things you have tried; gripe water will help your baby burp and if he is gassy it is useful ; but gavisgon thickens the milk so it is more difficult to vomit and the milk stays down then...

Good luck and hope he gets better soon

Nazly is right about constipation. Baby went through 2boxs of gaviscon and I realised he hadnt been sick for a week so stopped it. You can also try the comfort milk or reflux milk

Gp says rash is just a milk rash that'll clear on its own, she got another gp to double check. I was worried re meningitis but all other signs are ok. I asked her about the reflux and she was also non-committal and said something like they can't/won't diagnose reflux .

Wtf. They can't diagnose reflux? !?!?!

I would take baby to a+e when hes most unsettled so they can see the extent. I absolutely fucking hate gps like that. I blame so much on the gp for ignoring my concerns. I used yo take ds 2/3 x a week to see the gp about his reflux and not eating drinking etc. At 18months old his only oral in take was 2oz of high calorie milk which was 60cals a day. He was diagnosed with failure to thrive because of reflux and food aversion. Our gp wasnt up to date with reflux.

I highly recommend the book colic solved by an American dr cant remember the name. Google it. Its on ebay too. I was told about thr book waaaay too late but it would have helped if I was told earlier. So I hope I can help someone by recommending it.
Poor little babies

Acorn please don't pump and dump and give formula unless a pead tells you to do so. This will have a negative effect on supply. Also formula is much harsher on the tummy compared to bm. I can't see the problem in trying to cut dairy for a week and see if it makes a difference. Why do you need a dr to oversee this? You can get the calcium and vitamins in milk from many other sources.

I would personally be pushing for a referral to a pead. Speaking from experience, I knew something was up with dd2, GP fobbed me off, I went privately to see a pead who promptly referred us to an ENT (Dd only symptom was a stuffy nose). He stuck a camera down her throat and saw she had very red throat and nasal cavity from reflux. She was never once sick, she had silent reflux. Luckily she didn't suffer long as I had all this done at 3 weeks old. I told the pead I had heard about cutting dairy and he said to give it a go but research doesn't support. It solved our issues. And dd today is still dairy intolerant (nearly 3). I'm glad I listened to both my instinct and mumsnet.

The reason of pumping and dumping while trying an anti reflux milk or soya milk is to see if cutting out dairy does help whilr baby is still getting everything they need. Im sure nhs website also says the same thing dont start cutting things out without the help of a hcp. I personally wouldnt start cutting things out for a week or so as for some children it takes longer for their bodies yo recover on the inside to see any effect on the outside within a week sometimes that week isnt long enough and yiu got back to dairy and your still stuck. Took us 6 weeks to see a difference.

Should have also said stopping bm and using baby soya milk will give you more of a true picture as its harder to cut all dairy out esp if youve never had to do it before. Dairy is in a lot of stuff. By atill pumping your maintaining your supply just in case soya milk doesnt make a difference. If it does then its upto you to make the choice of carrying on with thst feed or cutting dairy out with thr help of hcp.

Sorry about multiple posts keep remembering things... ds who is 4 is still on neocate advance which is a predigested milk that is free from all dairy and soya and lots of other stuff too.