Gaviscon for baby

[lottierich]

Anyone know if you can give adult gaviscon to a 7month old for silent reflux?

Doubt it. My baby had gaviscon but it was in sachets and it must have been a smaller dose.

No, Infant Gaviscon is a completely different product to 'adult Gaviscon'. Adult Gaviscon is an alginate - it sits on the surface of the stomach contents to form a raft, protecting the GI tract from acid. Infant Gaviscon (like Instant Carobel) is simply a thickener - it thickens the milk so it less easily refluxes back into the oesophagus. Adult Gaviscon is very high in salt and would not be recommended for a young baby. For babies, Drs will try Infant Gaviscon, ranitidine, omeprazole and occasionally domperidone. Silent reflux is a distressing condition for all so please see the Dr. Good luck, hope this helps 🍀

That's really helpful thank you so much 😘

Bundlebuns thank you so much!! I went to the GP and although he said there's no real 'test' for silent reflux my DS ticked most of the boxes and he couldn't believe I hadn't been sooner! I'd just been struggling on. Anyway...exactly as you said DS started on ranitidine yesterday (1ml) and after 2 doses he is completely different baby!! He slept 7pm- midnight, fed then slept 12-6!! I'm in absolute shock! This is a baby who was waking hourly and mostly sleeping on me.
Incredible x

So pleased to hear your DS is more settled. There is no straightforward test for silent reflux other than invasive procedures in a hospital setting, which is only carried out in severe cases. Ranitidine worked well for my little ones too - all our lives were so much better once the reflux was under control! The reflux went away once they were well-established on solids so we could stop the ranitidine. Here's a tip though (ex-pharmacist here)... ranitidine is a very weight-dependent drug. So if you find the medicine isn't working as well as previously then get DS weighed and his dose increased accordingly. Enjoy your happy baby!

Thanks again 😀 That's interesting as DS wasn't weighed?! He must have just guesstimated??! He's on 1ml (150mg/10ml) so I guess I just see how we go for a now. Maybe when I need a repeat prescription I could ask for him to be weighed x

The dose for his age is 2-4mg/kg twice a day. Assuming DS is around average weight, then 1ml (15mg) sounds like a very sensible starting dose. A 7 month old won't be growing super fast like a newborn so no rush for a weigh-in. It's more important to consider whether his symptoms are under control, which it sounds like they are. I'm glad you had a knowledgeable and helpful doctor. Some can be quite dismissive of reflux in infants as "normal". It's not okay for a baby to be screaming with pain when there's basic medicines available to relieve it!

GP was great...and it was a bloke 😂 He basically said there's no harm in trying and if it makes no difference then we will stop it but if he's a happy baby then we will assume it's helped and we can continue 😀
He's on 1ml 3xday tho! Hope he's not overdosed!!
He's honestly like a new baby! I've just fed him and laid him down awake in cot. Went to sort 3 year old briefly expecting to go back to baby to rock/comfort etc, looked at my monitor as he was quiet, and he's asleep!!

He's well within normal dose range so don't worry about that! It's lovely to hear he's now a settled and content little man